Don't Play Games

11

200+ reads. My brain is screaming.

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The cornucopia is bigger than I remember it being. Or maybe that's because the last time I was here someone was throwing a knife at me and I couldn't really pay attention to size.

I see someone, who's back is turned to us, holding an axe and guarding the front of the cornucopia. I sigh quietly.

"How are we gonna get supplies now?" Clora whispers.

"We kill the guard, duh." I say bitterly. "But how?" Again, my brain makes me want to puke.

"Who has the best long distance weapon?" Coral asks out loud.

"Hazel and her throwing knives." Jason says.

I sigh. Of course. I take my throwing knife and aim at the back of the person, who isn't really moving that much, just standing there.

Then they move. The knife jabs into the tribute's shoulder, and he cries out in pain. I gasp when I see his face.

Birch.

I wave us all forwards.

"This isn't part of the plan!" Jason whispers.

"I don't care. New plan. Run in, grab what we need and go before Birch is able to attack any of us!"

Everyone seems fine with the improvised plan. We all run forwards as fast as we can. Birch is still clutching his shoulder, his eyes squinted shut.

I am the first to reach the cornucopia. I start with food. I stuff packs of crackers, dried meat, and dried fruit into my bag.

Next I grab canteens. I stick about 5 full water canteens and 3 more small bottles of iodine in my bag.

Hmm...how about a new bag?

I grab another backpack - one that's about twice the size of the one I have - I throw everything I have into it. It was empty, luckily (well, sort of luckily) and is only half way full now.

I move on to first aid. I grab a black bag labeled with a cross and stuff it into the bag.

Next I grab paints, for camouflaging ourselves.

I notice everyone around me, grabbing food, water, and weapons, so I grab other things like sleeping bags.

"Hazel grab you some weapons!" Coral shout-whispers to me. I obey and grab a belt full of throwing knives. I count 10 of them. I grab a couple more of these belts and put them in my bag. I grab a machete for close hand fighting and run back towards the trees, my allies following close behind.

I glance over my shoulder when I reach the tree line and see Birch taking the knife from his shoulder and staggering into the cornucopia for something to help. Lucky him, he gets to work for the Careers.

We keep running far into the tree line, then loop around in the direction of the river.

"Guys...please...rest." Clora calls out, crumpling to the ground. She takes ragged, desperate breaths and sits up again.

"Lets find a tree to spend the night in, the sun will be setting soon anyway." I say, looking around the area for a good tree.

I finally settle on a 30 foot high tree with thick leaves at the top and sturdy branches.

I help everyone up the tree. It's hard to believe its only the third night.

"Lets see what we got, shall we?" Coral says.

I nod along with everyone else.

Coral starts. She managed to grab mostly dried fruit, but she got plenty of it, so its okay. She also got a bow and a quiver full of arrows.

"You can shoot?" I ask her.

"Yea, I'm like most Four kids, I trained. Just not with a trident or a sword. I'm the only one who did a bow."

I nod.

Jason opens his bag next. He found another long coil of rope, about 10 full canteens, a few packs of dried meat, a pack of crackers, and a small bag of blowgun darts with poison. He hands that to Electra because she has the blowgun. He also grabbed a small sword for himself.

Electra goes next. She picked up a pack of 20 blowgun darts and a bottle of poison for them. She also grabbed about 10 sleeves of crackers, 3 water canteens, a bottle of iodine, a machete, and pack of dried apples.

Clora picked up 10 fresh apples, which we applaud her for. She also picked up a first aid kit that has rolls upon rolls of bandages, disinfectant cream, pills, bottles of medicine with needles, and a small booklet of the symptoms of an infection and how to treat it. She also grabbed a small sword, 6 supply belts, and a small knife.

Ingrid grabbed mostly food. She has several packs of dried meat, dried fruit, and crackers. She also picked up some water. Lastly she picked up a machete.

I open my bag, showing them the packs of food, sleeping bags, and the first aid kit. Clora manages a small smile when I hand her the paints. I use one of supply belts she got to house a water canteen, a belt of throwing knives, and a pack of food. I'll hold my machete at all times, but there's a slot for that too if I want to use my throwing knives.

When we're done looking through our things, the sky is dark. Clora volunteers for first guard shift, and I volunteer for the second one.

I tie myself onto the branch and stare up through the leaves at the sky. Then the sky flashes with light, and the anthem plays loudly. I crane my neck to see through the leaves.

Velma's face appears in the sky. I sigh. There's 16 of us left by my calculations now. Its going slow by Game maker standards. There's going to be something to make it go quicker. One death a night won't suffice with them.

Birch is with the Careers. He's alive. He could know it was me. I almost willingly killed him.

I'm a monster.

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Yea I know, really short chapter :(

This was almost like a filler chapter, and another chapter will be up as soon as possible.

Thanks for 200+ reads!!!

-Zane