THE 150th HUNGER GAMES

The Bloodbath (also Day 1)

Mollie Berns's (District 4) POV:

The arena is a jungle.

The air is hot and humid, and I'm sweating just from standing here for less than thirty seconds. Leafy green trees with vines spiraling down their trunks creating a bit of a cramped environment, and thick roots are splayed out across the ground. I'll have to watch my footing as I run. Noises of animals chittering are drowned out by the computer voice counting from one minute, though by now it's reached 28, 27, 26...

I get ready to race to the Cornucopia, which my allies and I will defending to get the most loot to last us these next three days. I need to get to the knives first so I can help pick off the other tributes trying to get supplies. There's going to be a lot of competition for them, based on how many people said they use them at the interviews. I need to make sure that I'm the one who does obtain them.

The countdown reaches fifteen. I glance over at each of the people in my alliance- Randall, Caspian, and Cain. I might leave them sometime to try to survive on my own. It's kinda nerve-wrecking to be in an alliance with three guys who are all a considerable number of years older than me, and they all have skills with weapons. If anything happens, I'm leaving right away. Assuming they don't kill me first, but I can't afford to think like that right now. I have to win this. I've been training all my life.

You know, maybe I should just kill them first and not risk it.

I don't have time to contemplate the matter anymore. The countdown hits zero, and I spring off the pedestal, landing with a soft thump on the soil, and sprint as fast as I can toward the Cornucopia. I can do it. I can get to the knives first. I know I can. I don't focus on anything else, just running as fast as I can toward the weapon.

But suddenly I see Naya from 5 grabbing them first, mere seconds before me. I put on the final burst of speed and run straight into her, knocking her onto the ground. Before she even realizes what happened, I yank a knife from her hand and slit her throat with a smile on my face. I know it could be seen as cruel and heartless, to smile as I kill her, but there's no better feeling for me than getting what you want by taking it from others.

I stand up from her body and spin around just in time to see Onyx from 1 trying to escape the Bloodbath. At least, I think it's Onyx- he looks a little different than usual. I don't think about it, though, and chuck the knife into his back; he sinks to his knees and then falls face first into the ground. Dead.

I look around for my allies to see how they are doing. Randall is slaughtering the girl from 6, Gracelyn, I think her name is- with his butcher knives, and blood and guts are spewing out all over the now red patch of ground. It is a very gruesome sight, but he seems to be enjoying it. Caspian is successfully beating the kid from 10- Mickey- to death with his bare fists. Cain is using a mace to kill the weakling from 8- sorry, the weaklings from 8, Carlie's already dead at his feet. Assured that none of them are in need of assistance, I scan for tributes still trying to get items. I casually hurl a knife at Hayden from 10, and it sinks straight into her forehead. I'm about to also kill Damon from 11, who is running into the trees, but he falls before I manage to do so, taken down by one of Randall's butcher knives, which he can also apparently throw.

I walk around the back of the Cornucopia to check for any last stragglers. There's nobody left.

Or at least, that's what I think until the world goes black.

Etney Haimon's (District 12) P.O.V:

I punch Mollie as hard as I can and manage to knock her out, which I am pleasantly surprised about- my punches must have gotten better from the training in the training center. I yank the knives from her hands- they're what I want- and stab her in the back (literally, not figuratively. We were never allies.). With a quick glance around to see if anyone had noticed me kill her, I bolt into the jungle. I keep a watchful eye out for roots that could trip me as I dart along. When I feel as though I've covered enough ground, I climb up into one of the many trees, careful to avoid grabbing onto any of the vines spiraling around the trunk in case they do something to me- better safe than sorry. As I settle onto a branch high up in the tree but still solid enough to hold me, the cannons begin to go off. I count the blasts as they echo around the arena. "One...two...three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine..." I whisper. After the ninth, the booms end.