The Hunger Games: Wroetostar, Merome, Pooflan & Minizerk

⫷Chapter 28⫸

Pete's P.O.V.

I had kept my head down for most of the games after Kara's death, watching and waiting for my opportunity to strike and win. By late afternoon of day 10, after two cannons earlier in the day, there were only 5 tributes remaining- myself, and 4 of the 6 others, the girls from 3 and 10 and the boys from 12, 11, 9 and 5. I wasn't sure exactly who was alive but I would quickly know later, when the faces of the dead were displayed in the sky.

The only time I ever interacted with other tributes was during the feast, barely managing to snatch up my bag with some basic supplies before getting out of the way of several other tributes, all going for their bags too. It was only because of that bag I managed to survive too, I had sustained an injury falling from a tree and needed medical supplies.

So I pulled through. I kept myself hidden, hiding out in caves or up trees and just focused on surviving- all the while my heart was filled with pain. I had had my revenge on Kara's killers but I wanted to win for her, I wanted to go home to my family and mourn her. I knew that if she wasn't reaped both of us would be at home, planning on our engagement and eventual marriage. Sure, we were only 16 but we knew what we had wanted from life- a comfortable home, a job that paid the bills, kids, and a happy existence.

Now I couldn't have that. Kara was gone, and I still didn't know if I would ever go home either. I had been reflecting on what I was going to do and after a few days of lying motionless at the base of a tree, I decided I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

I was going to do it for her. I was going to win.

------------------------------------------------------------

My footsteps were soft as I trekked through the forest, avoiding stepping on any dry leaves or twigs to not let any possible nearby tributes know of my presence. I couldn't be sure there wasn't anyone in the vicinity so I pretended there was, tiptoeing around and constantly watching my back.

We were in a big arena and with only 5 of us left, some possibly allies depending on who had been killed, and it wouldn't be long before the gamemakers pushed us together. We would have tonight, I knew, there had already been two deaths that day, so I would sleep safely that night before finally going on the hunt.

But of course, it didn't pan out that way.

The sun was beginning to set, casting orange rays through the trees. I was sitting up a tree, waiting for the anthem that would tell me which tributes from which districts had died. As it turned out it was the boy from district 5 and the girl from 10, which left one alliance, given the boys from 12 and 9 were still together. They probably were, I had seen the way the older one was protective of the young blonde boy, he wouldn't just leave him.

I shrugged it off, settling back against the tree trunk, closing my eyes.

Before I heard a low sob.

My head shot up, a knife clutched in my hand, and my eyes immediately fell on a young boy, stumbling through the forest with a bag half held on his back. He was crying his eyes out and I quickly realised who it was and why he was crying- it was the cinnamon skinned 14 year old boy from district 11, who had just lost his ally, the other young boy from district 8. He was unarmed, visibly uninjured, and wandering completely aimlessly, tears blurring his eyes.

My grip on the knife tightened and a small smile appeared on my face- this boy could possibly be my first real kill other than the two that had killed Kara. Silently, stealthily, I slipped from my perch and slid between the branches, my eyes tracking him as he stumbled to a stop less than a few dozen metres away- within sight, but not within earshot. I landed on the forest floor with a soft thud, my impact muffled by the layer of pine needles. He didn't hear me.

I almost felt bad for a boy as I watched him, slumped against a tree with his head buried in his hands. He had lost an ally too, likely the only person he trusted during the games, but it didn't mean I wasn't going to kill him.

I wanted to win, but I wasn't going to make him suffer. The poor boy had already suffered enough and I wanted to make it quick for him- one less tribute, one step closer to me going home.

He didn't see me as I crept up behind him, he was too preoccupied with sobbing. I paused just behind him, taking in his trembling form and relishing in the fact that this would be any easy kill- he was tiny, unarmed and curled over crying, so he wouldn't fight back. He would dead in under a minute.

I laughed pitifully at his high squeak of fear that came as my knife touched his throat, drawing blood when he whirled around to see who I was. It wasn't even my fault, the first blood, and it earned a cry of pain that was like music to me.

"One less tribute." I said with a raised eyebrow, pulling the knife tighter against his skin. He stared with wide, chocolate brown eyes that were full of tears, but never uttered a word. "One step closer to going home."

And with one swift motion, I slit his throat.

The cut was deep, deep enough that it rendered him unconscious almost at once, and I watched with steel in my eyes as his body fell forwards with no resistance, twitching as the blood poured onto the ground. He had probably felt a flash of pain, nothing more, before he died.

Cannon fire boomed in the distance and I delicately wiped my bloody knife on my trousers, giving the small body, curled up in a tight ball, one last resolute and triumphant look.

4 tributes left.

Me, the girl from district 3 and the two allies- the boys from 12 and 8.

And I was determined to win.