The 70th Hunger Games- Fliss' Story

20

The sound of splashing wakes me up. I lay there frozen thinking I may have imagined it. But then I hear it again. I silently make my way over to the crack in the rocks and peer out. That's when I see them. The careers are sat in a boat. A boat! That must be one of the biggest sponsor gifts I've ever seen. There definitely wasn't a boat at the cornucopia. They come a bit closer and now I can hear what their talking about.

"Come on Crystal she's not here." I hear the boy from One say.

"Oh she's here alright, Hale." Crystal replies menacingly.

"Anyone could have lit a fire." The boy from three states. Why is he with the careers?

"I think you're crazy Crystal, going after 4." The girl from 2 says.

"Don't you see, she's our main competitor?"

"Your main competitor." The boy from three says under his breath but I can tell immediately that Crystal heard it.

"I'm not going to let her get away with making a fool out of me at training. She is going to die a long and painful death."

"We've only been in here two days and you're obsessed with finding her. Why don't we take out some of the weaker tributes first?" From the way Hale looks I can tell he knows 3 has made a mistake challenging Crystal.

"Then it will be too late. She's here and I will find her," There's a long pause before she speaks again, "But maybe I will take your advice."

I see three start to smile but then pale and look very distressed. That's when I see the knife plunge into his heart. He's dead in seconds.

"Now I think you all agree with me that we have to find 4." She says with a calm tone to her voice. To calm for my liking after what she's done. The others say nothing.

"Shall we make camp for the night before we start our search again? Let's not waste our energy and it's not like she can outrun a boat." Hale suggests.

I'm absolutely horrified when they climb up onto my rock.

I stay by the opening in the rock to afraid to move in case I make a noise. I keep a straight face as I know the cameras will be on me right now. The careers sit down and build a fire with some wood they get out of the boat. They must have cleared out the cornucopia. Some food appears and they huddle around the fire. They make small talk about the other tributes and who they want to kill. I hear Rowan from seven get mentioned a lot, probably because of his big muscles. And let's face it he could kill us all with an axe.

Then the conversation gets on to how many ways Crystal wants to kill me. It's clear she wants to make it as painful as possible. At the moment she is leaning towards cutting me up into tiny pieces. Yay.

I slowly move away back to my camp careful not to make any noises. I slide into my sleeping bag safe in the knowledge that I will not be able to sleep tonight. I am still confident in my hiding place but the girl from two, Alodia I hear someone say, would be small enough to squeeze in here.

I must have fallen asleep as I wake with a jolt when I knock my torch over. I wince. I pray they haven't heard that but the one on watch certainly has. It's only a matter of time before all the others are awake. I roll up my sleeping bag and put it into my backpack. I turn off the torch. I see that the sky has turned grey, morning will come soon.

I weigh up my options. I can sit here and pray they don't find me. I can go out the way I came in or I can see if the water in my cave does lead out to the sea. I know I will not be able to stay here, my nerves won't take it. I'd prefer to be on the move. Going out the way I came in is not an option. I can fight but I'm more suited to attacking at range. Going out through the gap is practically a death trap. That leaves the water.

I walk down to the other end of the cave and slip into the water trying not to make a noise. All the careers are up now looking to see where the noise came from. They will soon work it out that it came from below. I follow the water blindly into the dark. It is slowly getting deeper and deeper. Then I walk into the rock. I feel below me and see that the tunnel carries on under the water.

I go to turn around but then I see the torch beams shining into the cave. They haven't actually come in yet but if they see me they will. I can either die at the hands of Crystal or I can die trying to escape. The latter sounds more appealing. I take a deep breath and dive. I put my hands out in front of me trying to feel the way the tunnel takes me. I twist this way and that and I have the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that this is never going to end. My lungs start to burn, begging me for oxygen.

When I think I'm not going to make it any further I am suddenly in air. I gulp up the oxygen thirstily until I remember I am meant to be quiet. The careers are still looking around my rock. I stay treading water ready to make a move if needed. I think they believe no one is in the cave as they get up and start to move. Thank god I made my escape as otherwise I'm sure I'd be on my way home now. They start to get into their boat, probably thinking someone tried to trick them. I wait until they are out of site until I climb back on my rock. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Knowing I will not go back to sleep I stay up and watch the sun rise. I know it's probably artificial but a part of me clings onto the idea that it might be real. I force myself to eat some fish. I have to look calm even though the events of the morning scared me to death.