Hunger Games (DNF)

Part 1, Chapter 12: career chase.

George POV.

Sun was shining through the gaps in the trees and hit me in the eyes to wake me up. My second day in the Hunger Games, I didn’t think I’d last past the bloodbath but I did. Before I climbed down from the tree I looked around to see if there were any other tributes on the ground, when I saw that there weren’t I made my way onto the ground.

I landed on the soft grass and stifled a yawn as I stretched, then laid mybackpack on the ground so I could look through it for some food. There wasn’t much, only enough to last a day. An apple, some bread and a bottle of water.

I would need a way to get some food, maybe a sponsor or just go looking for something edible and a fresh water source, anything besides returning to the Cornucopia.

A soft wind blew, playing with my hair which had gotten noticeably longer since the reaping a week ago. Despite the jacket I felt a cold chill. The gamemakers were making it get a lot colder, probably trying to freeze us to death, which means they want to rush things if it’s only the first day.

Ignoring that, I ate the apple as I continued downhill, heading in the direction that I thought I saw the river from before the bloodbath yesterday. I wasn’t in any rush, since the water could last me the day, plus. I didn’t want to waste too much of my energy walking downhill.

After an hour of walking in the quiet I heard the cannon going off, signaling a death. It caused me to flinch, but what caused me to flinch more was the fact that I heard laughter coming from nearby. A group, possibly 3 or 4 guys.

“That was so easy! What an idiot that guy was!” The first one laughed harshly.
“I know right, it is so funny, especially when they think that we’ll spare them when they beg for mercy!” Another added.

The voices were getting louder, and footsteps could be heard too. Immediately I ran over to a patch of shrubbery and climbed inside of it, not caring about the thorns digging into my pale skin.
“We need to find Nick, after he snuck off with some of our food and weapons, and I wanna make him fucking pay!” A third voice spoke.
Nick? Isn’t that one of the guys from District 4, Clay’s District? He stole their weapons and tools?

Before they could speak I heard the chime of a parachute, someone had sent one of the four tributes a gift. I gave a glance up at the small gray compact container blowing daintily in the wind over the group of boys which were now gathering in front of me. One of the guys in the group grabbed it and opened it.

They read the note that was inside of it then pulled out a flashlight that could be useful, especially at night. I now saw that they were the career tributes, the ones that were from District 1 and 2. None of them seemed in a hurry to leave and so I adjusted my position to try and get myself comfortable when a branch suddenly snapped from beneath me.

Shit!!!

The 4 tributes all looked over to me, all grabbing their different weapons. One of them walked over to me and was a few feet away when I jumped up and immediately began sprinting downhill. They started yelling at each other eagerly and gave chase.

I weaved between the trees, trying desperately not to trip or slow down as the careers taunted me, daring me to slow down so that they could kill me. Eventually I saw the river below me and sped up, ignoring how badly my chest was aching.

As I got down onto the rocks I dove into the water, scraping legs on rocks in the shallow, murky water. Living in the technology district I didn’t have much experience with swimming and before I got too far out I got stabbed in my shoulder with a sword from one of the District 2 tributes.

I yelled out in pain and gritted my teeth but continued to pathetically swim over the river. Another stab got my leg and I swore loudly as it tore my calf. No more stabs came my way and I reached the other side of the river, pulling myself onto the bank.