ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴏʀ [ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜɴɢᴇʀ ɢᴀᴍᴇꜱ]

Chapter 19

The arena is a forest. The leaves on the trees are purple. To my left is a lake which must be the main water supply. The sky is grey.

The Cornucopia is silver which throws off an eery shadow.

I look to my left and right briefly. I was beside Phoenix and the boy from 8.

The countdown begins and I focus on the Cornucopia. I look desperately for a trident and see none. I spot a bow and arrow just outside the Cornucopia and a jacket with throwing knives inside the Cornucopia.

I decide to go for the throwing knives and then run and claim the bow and arrow. The breeze blows the loose strands of my hair and I'm glad Dusk tied it up.

I'm brought back to my senses when 10 seconds are left. I get into a running position and the minute the timer hits 0 I leap off my podium.

I race towards the Cornucopia and I am the first one there. I've secured the jacket and picked up the bow and arrows by the time most people have grabbed a weapon. I slip on the jacket and look for my first target.

I see the boy from 5 come at me with a sword and turn around and shoot an arrow at him. It punctures his shoulder and I shoot another arrow and it catches him in the heart. Killing him instantly.

I wince. I've never killed anyone before.

The boy from 8 foolishly creeps up behind Amber, who is trying to kill the girl from 5. I throw my knife and it lodges in his back. He spits out blood at Amber who kicks him away. She spots me and does a thumbs up.

I run into the Cornucopia and see the girl from 8 cowering behind a crate.

"Please don't kill me!" she begs, attempting to run away. I hold her back with my foot and smack her hard on the forehead with the bow which forces her to fall down. I load an arrow and it penetrates her throat.

I run away from the dying girl and crash out of the Cornucopia. I see Willow approach me and throw an axe. I duck as it sticks in the metal of the Cornucopia behind me. I throw a knife but she deflects it with the axe. It still lands in her thigh.

She growls at me and runs off into the wood. I yank the axe out of the Cornucopia and put it in a slot in my belt.

As the remaining tributes clear off into the woods I look around at my allies who are all still alive. Amber has a bloody nose and Dion is holding a piece of fabric up to it. Artemis and Bryce are picking over weapons. Someone is missing.

"Where's Dylan?" I cry.

We all realize he's missing and look around until he reappears from behind the Cornucopia, his face splattered with blood. He throws his sword up into the air and catches it again.

"Boy from 12 thought he could camp out behind the Cornucopia unnoticed." says Dylan wiping blood off his face.

I go inside the Cornucopia and throw the out the body of the girl from 8.

"We need to clear out," I say. "So they can collect the bodies."

We move temporarily in the corner of the plain. We still have a clear view of the Cornucopia though. We see a metal claw go down and collect the bodies. When it's done the canons begin. We count them on our fingers.

"Nine dead," I say. "Not bad.

"Besides us 6 there's nine more left." says Bryce.

"Who's even left?" asks Dion.

"I don't know," I say shrugging my shoulders. "I guess we'll see tonight."

We go back to the Cornucopia and pick over what's left. I pack a backpack with food, iodine, a 2L water bottle, a med-kit, night vision goggles and a sleeping bag. I search the Cornucopia again for a trident but find none. I grab another spare quiver and sling it over my shoulder. I take some spare knives and keep them in my backpack although the vest I have has 30+ knives of all sizes.