Stargazer • The Hunger Games

FIFTEEN

"The finale is upon us." I whispered, closing my eyes to block out the world around me. Now that we were at the end, the final day, everything felt wrong. Now I was certain that I would finally look death straight in the eye. Today will be the day that I die.

"May the odds be ever in your favour." Eric quipped sarcastically, leaning backwards so he could lie on his back to study the manmade stars above us.

"I wonder what our doom will be?" I questioned, joining Eric on my back. "Most likely it will be Mutts but maybe they will leave us to our own devices. Imagine it they cut all sources of food, making the four of us starve. Then we would have a real Hunger Games on our hands."

Light chuckles escaped Eric's lips before he added in his own wager on doom. "I think they'll lure the other back to the Cornucopia before unleashing the Mutts upon us. So then all four of us have to work together at keeping the Mutts at bay while at the same time also attempting to end another tribute's life to save your own."

I was just about to agree with Eric when a shrill scream startled us. It came from the flats, where the river was probably and the scream no doubt belonged to Frankie.

"I guess the real games have just begun." Eric said through gritted teeth. Frankie then screamed again, this time it sounded closer. Frankie's screams were then joined by Moss's own gravelly shout of terror. It looked like Eric was right, the others were being brought back to the Cornucopia, where the whole thing started and it all shall end. A strangely poetic touch to the games.

Many moments passed as the others continued to scream, slowly they came closer and closer. It was when the ground started to grumble and the tree's started to sway that alarm coursed through me. I leaned forward, grabbing a sword that I had found earlier today. Beside me, Eric already had his trident and rope in his hands. Leaning up against a crate half full of apples was an unused crossbow. It was sleek, looked simple enough and if looks could kill I think I would be dead already. Quickly I reached out to grab the crossbow, just in time thankfully because mere moments later the clearing surrounding the Cornucopia was filled with my ending.

The Mutts had arrived.

They were bears, mud brown bears of various sizes that I had only heard of in folk tales. Up in the river regions of Four, Grizzly Bear's fished for salmon. Fisherman avoided the bears since they were known to be a bit on the vicious side of things. These bears were definitely vicious. They had long yellowing teeth with pointed tips, eyes that were cold with bloodlust, paws that could crush your skull. These bears may look typical but they were Mutts so of course they had that little extra something to make even more lethal. A dozen bears faced us, snarling and growling. In amongst the brown flurry of fur was the ash blonde hair of Moss and the lithe body of Frankie. Both were fighting tooth and nail to save their own skin, too busy to even bother to scream anymore.

"Should we help them?" I questioned Eric. Looking over to him, he was poised ready to fight, eyes ablaze with terror.

"We are about to be busy with our own fight." Of course Eric was right. The bears had spotted us and three were on a collision course for our tent. Eric charged out at them, obscenities poured from his mouth. While he took everything in full throttle I was the polar opposite, standing frozen in place as my line of vision focused on the ferocious teeth of the mutts. It did not surprise me when one of the sets of teeth found its way to my arm that I had outstretched in front of me.

"Ouch!" I hissed, snapping myself back to reality as I took in the fact that my arm had just become a snack for the humongous grizzly. "Get away!" I hissed, prying my arm free from its strong jaw. Blood seeped through my jacket and pain sizzled up my arm. The bear did not like me retaliating, it pinpointed me, charging ever closer. Instinct made me scramble out of the bears way, running towards the cornucopia just to escape the rancid breath of the Mutt.