The End of Innocence: The 72nd Annual Hunger Games

The End of Innocence

The dizzy daze doesn't allow me to see properly for a few seconds, but I wake up properly from it when he punches me again in the face. It's only when a knife goes whizzing by his head when he stood. Lesa.

Seizing the opportunity, I grab a knife from my belt and stab it in the side of his stomach in one fluid motion. He lets out a scream, his weight drops a little bit and I shove it in his stomach yet again. He drops fully now, blood pouring out all over my jacket from above. I get up and try to get my bearings for a second whilst Vickin tries to save himself from dying on the floor. 

"Behind you!" Lesa screams as she rushes towards me. Ion has a rope in her hand in the distance, she isn't doing much which makes me question her role in this planned attack. I don't have a clue what she'll be using the rope for.

Darkness is falling upon us, but it still doesn't block out the bears running towards me from all angles. They twist and snarl with every jagged movement. They are huge, although I don't believe they are the same type of bear Coil and I witnessed before. I know for a fact this is the most action going on right now. All of the other Tributes will be disregarded as I know this battle will be the one on everyone's screens.

Looking at the carnage that is ensuing, I have no choice but to rush straight into their open camp. I look back as I run and watch a bear hop on Vickin with its hind legs and begins to lash out at him with its gigantic claws. It is appalling but Vickin fights on despite blood oozing out from the stab wound. I look at the other Careers' faces. It almost makes me laugh at how awkward they are. Shocked, disgusted. Scarlet and Greyson stand beside each other, not knowing what to do. On one hand, it is slightly sad to see what we just did, but on the other, they deserve to be wiped out in an instant.

Cleeara sees me standing in the open, and immediately grabs her sword. I grab a knife from my belt and pull it behind my ear to-

An arrow goes straight into my leg. I look down and see a medium sized metal stick protruding through the middle of my right foot. On further inspection, I notice it's a hunting arrow, it's going to be lodged there. I immediately scream in shock as the pain surges up my thigh. I know this moment would be commented on by Caesar or Claudius, a shocking moment to them and the crowd knowing I've finally been impaled.

I look over at Greyson who seems to be alone now, his sister vanished. It looks like he used his last loaded arrow on me. Vicious baby bears are surrounding him, fast, and I hope they kill him first. I can feel the blood filling my boots, but I have no choice but to aim my knife at Cleeara who still tries to advance on me from the distance.

"Get out of there!" Lesa screams from behind and distracts me. I look back and see more bears rushing towards me, some gigantic and others lesser in size, but fearful nonetheless. Vickin isn't dead though, he has his sword and is lashing out at two bears at once who equally fight back, his face gushing down blood, you can barely see his face with it all. One thing I'll give him is he's a fighter. There's no way in Hell he's going to go down without a fight.

When I turn back I see Cleeara, her hair swinging with every stride she takes. But it's too quick for me to throw a knife at her as her boot hits off my face, sending me back onto the muddy ground. My face half lies in it, and it is in this moment I realised we failed. I look up at Cleeara who towers over me. She could kill me right here, right now, but instead, she stares further down in the distance at something. In a split second, she turns her back then starts running back to the other Careers, it's only then I realise what's coming.

I stand up despite the pain surging through my foot, but then I'm knocked back down by a furry creature. Its weight is like nothing I've ever held before, a foreign object falling onto me. I hold its face from tearing my neck open with my two hands. It snarls and its saliva drips down on my face, its breath stinks like a rotten corpse and it makes weird noises that don't seem like they should come from a bear. My hands are only a few inches from its mouth. It's angry, yes, but gives almost robotic like movements. Naturally, or compared to how normal bears work, I would have imagined this bear could have killed me in less than a second. They seem to be holding back tearing us to shreds, but at the same time making sure we put up a fight.