Unbreakable

0.1

When I was six years old, there was a crazy man. An ex-Peacekeeper, discharged from service, took his gun and massacred the entire Town Square of District Four. He gunned down over 30 people before the Peacekeepers took him down. I remember standing in the square, people screaming and crying all around me. I remember the sickly sweet scent of blood.

That's what it smells like here. The air is hot: heavy with the scent of blood. It filters through my lungs, making it nearly impossible to breathe. I have to stop for a moment and catch my breath. My right side burns something awful....I think that I was stabbed at one point. I'm not entirely sure of anything right now. All I know, the only thing I know for certain, is that I need to get out of here alive. I'm close. I can feel it. I am one of the last tributes left standing. I just need to keep it that way.

The crackling of the fire grows closer, flames nipping at my heels. I need to run. Coughing, I clutch my side, and take off once more in what can only be described as a miserable shamble. I am pretty sure that there is a river somewhere around here. If I find it, I'll be safe. Safe, at least, from the forest fire.

Over the sounds of the fire behind me, a blast of a cannon sounds, signalling another tribute death. How many of us are left now? Three? Four? There can't be more then four. There won't be four for much longer. I have the feeling that this is it. The Game makers are pushing us towards each other. They're as ready for these hellish games to be over as I am.

Suddenly I see it. The river-directly in front of me.
Hallelujah
I hobble faster towards it, desperate for its cool embrace to soothe my scorched skin. I've always been a child of the ocean: I grew up in the sea. Fishing, swimming, bathing, diving; the water is my home. I throw myself the last couple of steps into the river, and land facedown in the water. It instantly calms me, washing away all the blood and soot that I have acquired over the course of these Games. I flip over onto my back, clenching my eyes tightly shut. The sounds of the burning forest behind me are muted as I breathe, trying to slow my racing heart. I made it to the river. I won't be scorched to a crisp. Not yet anyways.

Suddenly there is enormous pressure on my chest, and I am below the surface with no air. I thrash, my arms and legs frantically trying to bring me back to the surface, but I am stuck. There is a boot: a large, heavy boot forcing me under the water. I try to fight back, but the person holding me down is too strong, and I have no more breath in my lungs. I am going to drown. What a fitting way for a District Four tribute to die.

As my vision begins to go spotty and my chest aches, I open my eyes. Through the rippling water, I see a distorted image of my killer. What I see-who I see, shocks me. Of all the people in this game, he is the last person I thought would kill me this way.

But that just goes to show, a liar can never be trusted.