Part 13- THE HUNGER GAMES!!!!!!

(contains possibly triggering topics- suicidal thoughts)

Bruce and I find each other and smirk. Oh this will be fun. It's lots of little islands, separated by water. There's a reason we're behind the mouth of the cornucopia. This will be the easiest bloodbath we've ever been in so I'll make the most of it. There's backpacks strewn around on buoyancy rings, and luckily I know exactly what they're like, how they act, how heavy they are, how much weight they can carry. I'll swim right around, collecting all the backpacks, which are most likely waterproof. They wouldn't be that mean. I can swim fastest out of all of us probably, so there's an advantage. Most other districts can't swim so there's lowered risks. Once i've gotten what i want from the inside, i can come back to anything left. I'm so lucky i got picked for this year, if i was going to be picked at all. The only other time I can remember where the Cornucopia was surrounded by water was the 3rd Quarter Quell. I was 3 then.

It's boiling hot. I feel like I'm sizzling and about to burn to death, so why the outfits? We have to wait 60 seconds to leave. Usually it would explode if we get off beforehand but i don't know what would happen this year and i don't want to find out.

11. 10. 9.

I'm ready

7. 6. 5.

I'm built for this

3. 2. 1

The gong hits and I dive in like a dolphin. I'm father's little dolphin. The water is a neutral temperature with not many fish. I swim around the cornucopia island, picking up everyone else's backpacks and piling them onto a buoy. I get to the mouth and pick up all the other backpacks. There's no food or water crates. I knew there was a catch. In front of me is a display of knives. I drop the backpacks and take my pick, shoving as many as possible into a duffle bag to the side. I can hear someone behind me. Instinctively, I take a sword, kick backwards and spin around, swinging the sword with it, slitting the neck of the girl from district 12.

I throw the sword to the side, take the bags and run off, taking everything I see, loading them onto a buoy and swimming to the island with the woods. I sit on the beach and take off the jacket, watching the bloodbath. Then I realise. I just killed someone. Her life, gone. Her family is probably weeping and I don't know her name. And it happened so quickly, too. Just like that. A kick in the stomach, a swish of a sword, and an entire human being is just gone. I'm a monster. Everyone hates me now, especially my family. My family's watching the bloodbath now, hating me. My sister at school, vowing never to speak to me again. I'll get back and Panem will hate me as much as I hate myself right now. I'm a criminal. I broke the promise I gave myself. I killed her, and I don't even care. I don't even care. I only care about the repercussions. I'm a murderer, a killer. Thinking about it, it felt good in the second. No. No, I can't be like that. I refuse. I'm becoming like what i envisioned last night. A blood-hungry, cold-blooded killer. My worst nightmare. I should kill myself right now, it would be easier, and prevent the fate that's coming. I could, but it wouldn't be a good show. But who cares? I stand up with a knife and draw it back, pointing it at my stomach. I'm scared but i deserve it.

I know the cameras are on me. It's probably a split shot between me and the bloodbath. My shaky hand is about to plunge the knife into my stomach, like i was going to do last night. Now I understand what that meant. That was a prediction for now. I'm about to do it, continue the story. But something stops me. I drop the knife to the sand and sink to my knees, sobbing. I can't do this. I take my bags and run into the woods.

~

I count the bags. 14. I empty the contents onto the forest floor and line the bags up in size order. There's a lot of stuff, and I'll go back for more after this. I put everything in each bag, smallest to largest, and check for space. There's one near the end of the line that does the job. It even fits the rest in if I fold everything tactically and fill bags and put them inside bags etc. I make more room by loading things into pockets, but once i've loaded the jacket i have to put it away again. As I'm making my way back, the cannons start. I count 9. One of them because of me. There must have been at least 1 person drowning. I get to the beach and check if the bag is waterproof, as i'm not sure if it was on a buoy or not. It is. I dive in and it feels like home.

I go right underneath, twisting and having fun, flipping. I get to the island in about a minute and rummage around, keeping shelter. There's a lot of blood. I take everything, cleaning blood off anything before darting back under shelter. I was never squeamish but I'd rather not have blood stains everywhere. I swim back, not going deep under as the bag is heavier than before and I don't want to get stuck. I get deep into the woods and the thirst hits me. My next task is finding water, but not before I hide from the voices coming. I scrabble up the easiest tree I can find and listen. After all, the most dangerous one is the one who knows the most,

"I swear she went over here,"

"Yes, but where is she?"

"Has she broken the alliance?""No, she wouldn't. She was probably scared and wasn't thinking," The other careers! I think they're talking about me. I stay in the tree, studying them. They seem normal, but I feel a need to stay wary. After all, last night felt so real,

"I'm coming down," I shout, "It's me, Brianna," I jump down and go to them, "Knives down, it's fine,". Bruce drops his weapons and runs to hug me,

"Oh thank god, I thought you were dead!",

"I'm not, don't worry," I won't tell them about the beach, "Oh, and I have supplies. My bag is practically bursting,"

"Have you found water yet?" Evangeline asks,

"No not yet. I was about to go searching," I say,

"Let's go then," Mars says,

"And then we hunt down Dominic!" Titus laughs with the rest of them, but it makes me uneasy. We walk for a long while, finding a raspberry bush, which we put in a metal container from the bag Bruce is now carrying. The juice keeps us going a little longer,

"Can't the sponsors send us some? We definitely have sponsors," Em asks,

"No, we must be close. They wouldn't waste money on water if we were near," Bruce,

"Oy, shut up a second, i think i hear something," Mars says. We follow him for a minute or so until we come to a stream. We all hug Mars and yell in happiness. Only we can do this. We practically own this place. I empty out my bag and search through, finding 13 bottles, flasks and canisters. We find lots of iodine and once filling them all, adding iodine, and waiting, we drink a bottle each,

"What time is it? It feels like it's been forever," Em asks. I look up into the sky,

"6-ish," Bruce and I answer at the same time.

We decide to claim a beach to the side of the woods,closer to the stream, and some woods there. We sit down, looking through the bag for food. We have the raspberries from before, lots of crackers, dried meat, and some blueberries. We eat, and though the day will be coming to an end in a few hours, there's still persisting, searing heat,

"I swear, if this heat doesn't calm down, I'll go insane," Evangeline complains. Then i remember the second layer underneath the pants and t shirt,

"Hold on," I say, stripping down to the cropped top and shorts, "This is much better. I knew there was a reason for these," Everyone else follows my lead. Turns out the boys have full tank tops. Mars runs up to a tree with a knife and etches out a target on the trunk,

"Who can hit closest?" Mars says. We all run up with throwing knives and a bow and arrow. Evangeline uses a bow at first, hitting perfect every time, until we decide it's unfair that she has a different weapon. We throw knives until the sun starts to set. Mars wins, and I lose. We stop and watch the sunset and it honestly doesn't feel like we're trying to kill each other. It's all beautiful. Maybe last night wasn't some prediction?

The sun sets fully and the Capitol seal appears in the sky, with the Panem national anthem playing out, Horn of Plenty. We sing along as the faces of the dead tributes show up in the sky. The girl from 3, boy from 5, girl from 6, both from 8, boy from 9, girl from 10, boy from 11, and girl from 12.

The girl from 12. The one I killed.

As soon as the sun is gone, it's freezing. We find 7 night vision goggles and put on every layer we possibly can and go into the woods to sleep. There's 14 sleeping bags so we decide to double wrap and wear one inside the other. Em finds a tent in the bag, one I probably picked up but forgot about. We all only just fit. I then get an idea. I collect all the fallen branches I can and tie them together at the top with rope, making a teepee type of thing. I lay an insulating plastic sheet over the top and on the bottom, and connect a little entrance to the main tent. Once I started forming the shape, everyone came to help. We all sit inside. It's like another tent, giving us twice the space, and it merges together quite well. We lay down to sleep but I just can't. I won't let myself, in case that thing happens again. I can't do it right now, especially in the arena.

"Hey, 4, come here," Mars whispers to me, noticing this. I move my sleeping bag closer to him and he puts his arm around me. Somehow, this really relaxes me and I feel myself loosen up and I'm not so tense. Not to mention it's much more comfortable. Yet i still can't let myself sleep.