The 80th Hunger Games: A Time for Revenge

Prim's Day One

Chapter Fifteen:

I know last chapter was the Reaping, but this will be the first day of the Games in Prim’s POV.  Yes, this chapter should be Prim’s train ride, but I ran out of ideas for this, as well as the training center, individual sessions, etc.  Here’s a brief overview of what happened though:

·         During the train ride, Prim, Cyrus, and Katniss decided to stay out of the Bloodbath, form an alliance, and to stay alive.

·         Prim was humiliated during the chariot rides when she was dressed as a coal miner, but the audience still loved her.

·         Also during the chariot rides, Prim found someone glaring at her, but she didn’t know why… I wonder who that was…

·         Prim made an alliance with Samantha from District Eight, and they did stuff at the survival stations instead of weapons.

·         Katniss finally tells Prim that she killed Aqua’s brother, and they figure she’s out to get her.

·         Prim showed skills with edible plants during her individual session, earning her a seven.

·         Everyone loved Prim at her interview and cried the whole time, and she even mentioned something about forgetting about what her sister did, and making an alliance with Aqua.  (Obviously this never happened.)

·         Now we’re at the first day.

        Sixty seconds.  I’m sixty seconds away from sure death.  When I look around to my left, two people away is Aqua.  And my only ally, Sam, is on the opposite side.  We lock eyes.  We’d decided that she would get something from around the Cornucopia while I ran away.  Fifty seconds.  I can only hope she doesn’t die, but she’s too fast to catch, so I shouldn’t be worried.  Forty seconds.  On the other side of the Cornucopia are a bow and a quiver of arrows, right in front of Sam.  Thirty seconds.  To my right is the huge boy from seven, Chuck.  I’ll make sure to stay away from him.  Twenty seconds.  There aren’t any more Careers near me, thankfully.  Nobody who could easily kill me.  Scanning the ring of pedestals around the Cornucopia, I see the alliance of Rayn, Victoria, Asher, Alex, and Blaze about to run.  I heard them talking about fighting the Careers at the Bloodbath.  I would’ve intervened, but if they would all die, I’d have a better shot of winning.  Ten seconds.  My heart is beating like a drum as the timer keeps decreasing.  Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.  Zero.

          I run like the wind over the hill and smash myself against the side of it, between two bushes.  BANG!  The first cannon goes off.  BANG!  BANG! BANG!  BANG!  BANG! BANG!  Six in total.  I hear someone running towards me.  It’s Sam.  Before she can speak, another cannon goes off.  BANG!  Eight lives lost in the Bloodbath. 

         “We have to get out of here, now!” Sam exclaims.  We run to the forest section of the arena.  I know there will be plenty of cover.  We don’t talk; just keep running until we’re far from the Cornucopia.  My knees are shaking from the sprint, but Sam looks barely fazed.  Under the shade of a tree, Sam and I make what we can of a camp.

           “What did you get?” I ask her.

         “The bow and arrows of course, and this pack,” she replies.  She opens the pack, and inside was a small loaf of bread, a metal water bottle, not filled, and a pack of something used for purifying water.  I don’t remember what it’s called. 

          “I guess we should find a source of water.  The sooner we start searching, the better chances of finding one,” I say.

           “Yeah,” she says, “we have to stick together though.”

          We start out walking away from the direction of the Cornucopia.  Eventually, I find a wet patch of dirt. 
        “Sam!  Look over here!”  She comes over quickly, and her eyes widen when she sees the watery soil.  We follow a trail of it to a small pool of water.  I’m about to dip my hand in it, when Sam pushes my hand away.

          “You don’t know what’s in there!  You could boil your hand off by just touching it!” She’s right.  I was stupid.  “Put it in the bottle and then the purifier.”  I take the bottle and use it to scoop up the water, then pour a little bit of the packet into it.  I put the lid back on and shake it.

         “How do we test it?” I ask.  She looks puzzled.  I take a risk, and pour the slightest bit onto my arm.  I await a burning sensation, but nothing happens.  “It’s fine.”

          “We shouldn’t drink any until we really need to.  Same with eating the food.”

           “Okay.”

           BANG!  Sam and I hear another cannon.

          We stroll back to the same area where we originally settled.  Everything is so surreal and quiet; it’s not at all what I’d expected.  Nobody around us, no anything.

           BANG!  A cannon sounds from far away, signaling another dead tribute.

           “So Prim,” Sam starts, “what’s the deal with that girl from Two?”

          I guess I’d never told her.  “You know how my sister won the Games?  Of course you do.  Well anyway, she killed this one guy named Cato; he was a Career from Two.  It turns out Aqua’s his younger sister.  So obviously she wants me dead as revenge.”

          “Wow.  That’s not good,” she states, “at least we have the bow.”

        “Yeah…  But did you see her in the training center?  And she got an eleven!  And also, she clearly said during her interview she wanted to kill me!”

         “Don’t worry too much about it, I bet her and the other Careers will be too caught up in killing the tributes around them to worry about anyone hiding in the forest.”

        I know what she says is partially true.  Yes, they would start with the slaughter of the tributes nearby and not go after us, but they would eventually.  With Aqua’s obsession with my murder, I’m bound to die.

          BANG!  It’s getting dark, another tribute has fallen.  That makes ten in total for day one.

        When the arena’s sun goes down, the faces of the fallen come up:  To my surprise, the first is Hunter, from District One.  It seems unusual that a Career would die so quickly.  Next are Victoria, Rayn, Blaze, Karlie, Edward, Rayvenn, Bob, Asher, and Alex.  The entire alliance fighting the Careers was killed, plus some more.  I think through who’s left:  There’s Stingra from One, both Aqua and Parker from Two, Tonya and Edison of Three, Rosie and Jack of Four, nobody from five, Maya from Six, Chuck from Seven, of course Sam, nobody from nine, Constance from Ten, Sophia from Eleven, and Cyrus and I from Twelve.  It’s no surprise the Careers are mostly still alive, as well as Chuck, Maya, and Constance, but the others surprise me.  Sophia was only twelve, and I really thought Cyrus would be gone quickly as well.  I guess I underestimated them.

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