SILVER • THE HUNGER GAMES ¹

| 11. COUNTDOWN CLOCK

BOOK ONE

CHAPTER ELEVEN

( COUNTDOWN CLOCK )

     SIXTY SECONDS BEFORE I WAS DEAD. It was obvious. Everyone else was so much stronger and older than myself, who would instantly kill me, and it would quickly descend to twenty-three tributes. My only chance to survive was to grab the knives and a backpack about twenty feet away from me and run. But I couldn't yet. The only thing holding me back was the large metal ring surrounding my feet for the countdown, if I stepped off - I was dead meat (literally).

     Thirty seconds left. The careers glared at me. I was the target. The easiest to kill, without a weapon. I had given up practically all hope on myself and the only thing I could rely on was instinct. Don't worry, you are strong Silver. You can fend for yourself. Don't give up on hope. Hope is the only thing stronger than fear, I told myself as I peered around to find James. He must have been on the other side of the Cornucopia.

     Twenty seconds left and my heart began to race. Were there any safe places to go once I'd retrieved the knives? I struggled to see anything through the golden horizon. That year, the Gamemakers decided to turn the Arena into an average sized desert with vast jungle forests dotted around the outside. The many trees staggered themselves in the distance, standing proud and almost seemed ready to run too.

     Five. The Cornucopia shined a metallic grey as the red hologram timer changed over the contours in the clear sky.

     Four. I glanced over towards the knives that hung from a railing, calling my name to fetch them.

     Three. The Careers all began to take their stance.

     Two. My last chance.

     One.

     Let the Games begin.

     Sprinting with all the speed my legs could conjure, I raced the others to the Cornucopia ahead of me. All I focused on was the knives within nine meters of my podium. Thankfully, no one particularly specialised in knives that year, except for Rey, who might have gone for them if he got everything else he needed first.

     I stretched my hands to grab the belt of them hanging on a railing but another person joined me on the handles. The District Five boy - called Watt or something unusual like that - was already weighed down by a couple of full, heavy backpacks, therefore I pushed him aside and retrieved the largest one. He got distracted by this, leaving the knives untouched so I could snatch them instead. His body dropped to the floor from the rebound and his head hit the edge of a box. The blow didn't knock him unconscious, but he released a shrill scream once he had realised what I had done.

     I soon reversed out of the horn, watching the Careers kill many of the other Tributes. My eyes diverted to a streak of ashy blonde hair in the corner of my eye. Flax was being beaten to a plup by Rey as Althea held his sister's body in front of him, a knife digging into her throat. I gagged on my own breath as I ran away from him, his eyes looking up to me for the last time. Even though nobody was on my tail, I couldn't stop to help as I would be severely outnumbered. No matter how much I wanted both Flax and Penny beside me, running free; they were both gone.

     Blood overflowing from my right hand where the boy gashed me as we fought for the knives, I raced away from the Cornucopia and into the tropical woods. Where was James? I didn't know. Although, it was too far late to go back to search for him and my worrying flared into my thoughts as I ran.

      I couldn't deal with the pain. Heading the exact opposite way from the Cornucopia, I dissolved myself completely in the darkness of the trees. My hands throbbed with pain as I searched through the deep forest many branches swinging in front of me. Everything looked the same, as if I was going round in circles, and I managed to find myself lying next to a huge tree far away from action.

     Almost passed out from exhaustion, I lifted myself onto the tree, climbing higher with every breath. My feet slipped into each crack, each branch, and every hole inside the giant tree. I appeared to be higher than I thought. I could see the sand through the sides of the leaves before my face. The Cornucopia hurried into view, covered in fresh blood and the bodies of innocent people. But no sight of James. He promised me that he would stick by my side, but I guessed that, when your life is on the line, you've automatically got to break some words.

     My eyes began to close and I rested against the bark. I didn't need to sleep, but I made myself comfortable in the jungle branch. The beats of my heart were loud as it tried to pump as much blood as it could around my weak body. I was exhausted from the chase. My head throbbed in response to my focused thinking, warning me to relax. It was almost as if someone had squeezed my brain, adding to the pain that already resided up there.

     I could tell it was going to be a long day, yet the Hunger Games had only just started.

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