The 64th Annual Hunger Games

Chapter Twelve

I don't know how to describe the way I feel when I wake up. The lack of pain in my leg is such a relief and seeing Ceffa still asleep makes me happy. My leg is certainly not perfect, but I could probably jog if I needed to. All is quiet and dark. Everything is deceptively peaceful. Something else is wrong. I know I must have slept for a whole night, but its still dark and no signs of sunrise are on the horizon. The perfect temperature is unsettling. I hate to think it, but the end might be soon. In a matter of hours one or both of us could be dead. I peek at the compass and can barely make out the new colour in this light. The entire back part has turned to either a very dark blue, or a pure black. I reach for Ceffa and we act fast.

We finish off almost all the remained of the food and water in a hurry. We pack all the supplies, besides weapons, in our backpacks. Ceffa now has all of the knives and I am armed with the remaining six spears in my sling. We decide to leave the bow and arrows up in the tree so we don't have to carry it with us. We have all of our stuff loaded on our backs, but we don't move just yet. We sit and look at each other for a bit. Both of us won't be able to go home and we know it. When lighting strikes the tree near us we embrace in a hug and head down towards the ground.

Moving my leg from branch to branch doesn't give me any problems, so I think it should be fine. When we land on the ground our feet splash in the dirty water. The entire area, for as far as I can see, is starting to flood. The torrential downpour that starts when we run doesn't help either. Our clothes are soaked all the way through before we've even made it fifty yards. We throw our jackets, shoes, and some other outer clothing on the ground so it doesn't weigh us down.

When we arrive to what's left of the meadow, the water has risen to our waists. Supplies are starting to float around in the water, and by some strange miracle Ceffa picks up an axe again. I look at her face and despite the rain I can make out that there are tears running down her face as we make our way to the cornucopia. It only now occurs to me that Ceffa probably can't swim like I can. We eventually make our way on to the horn and the water is at least four feet high now. We catch our breath on top of the cornucopia and then there is a scream coming from the lake area.

The girl I helped earlier is attempting to swim against the current to get to this area. Our feet on the cornucopia are now covered in water again because of how fast the water is rising. When I look up at the girl again my heart sinks and I'm completely struck with fear. Through the darkness, rain, and my not perfect eye sight, I see the outline of the monster I saw on the first day. It swerves thru the water at a terrifying speed and engulfs the girl in the distance. This is the end of the games.