The Eleventh Hunger Games~ A Mags Fanfic

Chapter Ten: First Night

LONG TIME NO SEE LOVELY READERS!! Hey guys I am so sorry for the lack of updating. Unfortunately, I lost the paper that had my entire plan of Mag's Hunger Games on it. *smacks palm on forehead.* 1) Guys I can't thank you enough for reading my story and for the sweet comments!! It means a lot. 2) I apologize that this story is a bit shorter than usual and admittedly a bit...idk...not-as-well-written-as-most-of-my-semi-good-written-chapters. But despite that, I really hope you enjoy this chapter!! First night in the Games! *Crowd gasps.* Update should be soon :)

Chapter Ten

It's not the hushed voices that awake me, but the unmistakable rustle of leaves. My eyes snap open. The sky is still dark, tinged with a faint orange glow on the horizon. Many times when tributes are asleep in the games, they wake up confused, as if they fell asleep in their own bed and suddenly wake up to an arena and become frantic, revealing themselves to any other tributes around. But thankfully for me, I am aware of my surroundings before I even open my eyes.

The sound of heavy footsteps crunching the leaves grows louder. My heart leaps into my throat and I instinctively burrow deeper into my leaf protection, careful not to make noise.

"Please? Just one more?" A deep, hushed voice asks.

"No. Now stop asking." A harder, stern voice replies. I think back to the interviews and try to place the voices to faces.

"C'mon man, I'm starving." The first voice begs. I hear a heavy sigh and a zipper slowly unzip.

"Fine. But just one. We need a break anyway." The voices come closer and I hold my breath. I hear a sudden crunch as the boys sit down. They are so close now that I can hear their heavy breathing as if they've been hiking since the games this morning. I press my lips together and try to push away the urge to brush off the dry leaf that has fallen over the corner of my eye, the edges of the leaf sending minuscule stabs through my skin every time I blink.

"You know the least they could do is give us shoes. My feet hurt like hell." The first boy, who I recognize as the boy from District Seven, complains. After a long stretch of chewing, the second boy, a boy I recognize from District Nine, sighs. Seven must be getting on his nerves. A sick thought comes to my mind. I wonder why he hasn't just killed him yet...

"Let's call it a night. We're going to have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." His voice is stern as if making the suggestion more of a command. "We need to find a place to camp out of these leaves, or else we'll be dead by morning with all this noise." I hear the boys stand up. Suddenly a foot lands right by my hand, only an inch away from crushing my pinkie. My heart pounds in my chest and I hold my breath, squeezing my eyes.

The foot stops. "C'mon man hurry up, it's going to be daylight soon." I hear the boy from Seven stumble through the leaves.

"I'm comin' I'm comin'." He grumbles. Suddenly the foot takes a step away from my hand and plants itself a breath away from my ear. I clench my jaw and tense my body.

Halfway in the air, the foot pauses. "Dude. Did you just hear that?" Seven whispers. I bite down on my lip until there's a faint metallic taste in my mouth.

"Hear what?" Nine asks, annoyance seeping into his voice.

"I thought I heard....leaves rustling...." Seven trails off.

"It was probably just you being as loud as friggen possible. C'mon man, we're wasting time. Let's go." I hear Nine swiftly brush past Seven and continue to trudge through the leaves. With a sigh, Seven finally pushes off and retreats away from my head. Their footfalls finally fade away. I count thirty seconds even after I can no longer hear them and at last release the breath I had been holding for far too long.

That was close, Mags. Too close. You have to leave. Haha. Leave. Like what you're lying in right now. I let out a quiet chuckle. No. Not the time to make jokes. My smile ruefully slips off my face as I begin to form a plan for what is to come. I need food and water, that's for sure. And weapons. I need something to defend myself with. And dear God a far better hiding place. But most of all right now, I need sleep, desperately. Though when I close my eyes and images of home and various possibilities of my fate begin to suffocate my mind, I know that I won't be able to sleep. Sleep is for the dead. And as long as I have the energy to move, then I plan on staying alive as long as possible.