"BOOM! BOOM!" The sound of cannons wakes me with a shock. After recovering from my minor panic attack, I sit up quickly. As I re-do my hair, I think about who could have died. It could be Rue, or the boy from 3 or even one of the Careers. Then I think about Ellie, the girl from 4. Poor little sweet Ellie. I know she won't make it that long in theses Games but I still feel sad. I sigh and then realise I shouldn't be thinking about her. It's not a good way to get through the Games. I shake it off and pick up the water bottles and step before I start to crawl out the cave. I look around but nobody is there. I stand up and start to walk towards the centre. I approach the middle and see the ground has now been even more dug up. I pick up a stick and throw it. A landmine goes off. But only one. My eyes widen in shock. The Careers must have been testing the boy from 3's skill. I just hope there's no more. I shudder. I need to look through the Careers supplies to find a bottle of iodine. I learnt that from the survival station. I also learnt about two other ways but they take too long. I don't have time to find a stream or water 10 hours for my water to be purified- I'll be dead by then. My mouth suddenly feels dry. I grab some more sticks. I place the stuff I brought with me on the floor behind a bush. I throw another stick. Nothing happens. Them another and another. One explosion goes off. I'm creating a path that I know is safe. Once it's complete, I carefully start to walk on the sticks. I manage to walk all the way to Career's supplies without a landmine going off. I'm surprised the Careers haven't appeared. I place down my step at the bottom of the huge pyramid. I reach for the nearest bag and start to search through it. Iodine is a yellowish-brown colour so that's what my eyes search for. I search through lots of other bags but find nothing. I see a small bag at the base of the pyramid and lean down. I pick it up and open it. Inside I see a small bottle with yellowish-brown liquid inside. Iodine! I smile to myself. At that moment, I hear talking. I look and see the Careers approaching. Without hesitating, I pick up all my stuff and run into the woods. I hear some shouts but I don't stop. I run until I think I'm far enough away. I sit down behind a nightlock bush, which kills you instantly, and hope nobody approaches me. I sit quietly for a few moments, making sure nobody followed me. When I hear nobody, I start to open the water bottles. I pour some iodine into the bottles. I close the lids and shake them a bit. I have to wait 30 minutes before I can drink them. I look around for my step but I notice it's missing. I shake my head in frustration. I want to go get it but it's getting dark. It's too risky especially since the Careers could be looking for me. I lie down and look at the sky. The anthem starts to play. I see the faces of Glimmer and Ellie. My heart aches when I see Ellie. I guess I kind of knew it was her. The anthem stops playing and the arena is silent as I fall asleep. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wake the next morning with my mouth being dry. I could barely speak. I reached for my water bottle and took a huge sip. I swallowed it and my whole body sighed in relief. I lay on the floor a bit longer, my body still needing to process the water. As I lay there, I thought about my strategy for the next few days. I may have to be more careful when taking the Career's food since they might be alerted I'm taking their stuff. I know I need to grab more food though. I lie there for a few more minutes before sitting up. I look around while I stretch my legs. I stand up and pick up my stuff. I start to walk through the forest. I walk for a few hours before I hear voices. I'm not near the Cornucopia and unless the Careers are hunting, these are some random tributes. I hide behind a tree and peek out. I see the girl from 11, Rue, and Katniss. Katniss is sleeping and Rue is changing the leaves on Katniss' face. She has what appears to be bites on her face. Rue hums to herself while changing the leaves. It's a four note tune and it's pretty catchy. "Mh-uh-mm-mh," I hum to myself. Rue pauses for a second and I think she has heard me. I hide back behind the tree. I hear nothing for a while but then Rue continues humming. I relax and try to think of how to get past. Rue is probably not going to try kill me so I could walk quietly past her. I think before coming up with a plan. I throw a rock into nearby bushes opposite to me. Rue looks over and starts to approach the bush. "Hello?" she asks. I use the opportunity to sprint quickly and quietly deeper into the forest. I don't look back. I finally stop when I can see the lake. I walk a bit more around to the other side. I hear talking again. This time I'm sure it's the Careers. I pause and hide. "So you put those landmines in, right?" a deep voice asks. "Yes. They should work. Just don't step on them or you'll be blown to bits!" a quieter voice giggles nervously. "You think we'll step on them? Do ya? I guess you hope we do. They better work you know or YOU'RE DEAD!" yelled an angry female voice. It was Clove because I Glimmer was dead. "They work. Definitely," said the quiet voice again. "You sure?" asked Clove. "Yes mam," the quite voice mumbled. "She can't hear you District 3! Say it louder!" yelled the same deep voice from before. "Yes mam!" the quiet voice from before now yelled. I rolled my eyes. The Careers were such bullies. I then realised that they were very close. I hid behind a nearby bush. It was prickly and poked into my skin. I held my stuff tightly. I then noticed my step was on the floor. I saw the Careers walking up through the forest. "What's this?" asks the deep voice that I now know belongs to Cato. He picks up my step and examines it. "Someone made a cute little step," he snickered. "Do you think it can hold me?" he asks to the rest of the pack. They all shrug. Cato steps on it and there is a cracking noise. The step brakes in half and Cato starts laughing. "Poor tribute. Lost their step!" he laughs. Clove starts laughing and Marvel and the District 3 boy start laughing as well. I wondered where Peeta is. He was part of their pack and he's not dead. I shrug. The Careers throw the remains of the step into the bush and start walking the opposite direction I'm going. For a second, I hesitate and go for the step but I realise I can't fix it so I leave it. I walk towards the Cornucopia knowing the Careers aren't around. Around the Cornucopia, are huge mounds of dirt. The boy from 3, what was his name again? Oh yeah, Noah. Noah put in landmines around the Career's supplies so I pause figuring out a strategy. I could just throw rocks at the landmines but that would most likely alert the pack that I'm here. I look at the ground. How did they dig up the ground and where did the landmines come from? There are landmines around our platforms when we start the Games, during the countdown. They are deactivated as soon as the timer hits one. That's probably where they came from and Noah must have reactivated them. As for the digging, I have no idea how they did that. Suddenly its hits me, if I wait for the Careers to come back I can watch where they go. As if they could read my minds, I mean they could I don't know what the Capitol does to those children, the Careers come stampeding into the clearing. I hide in some bushes and I cover myself in leaves to disguise myself. Noah jumps and directs the others where to go. I watch them closely. I know the pattern now. I start heading back around to my cave. There's no point trying today because the Careers are back. I finally reach the cave as it starts to get dark. I've been walking for hours so I easily fall asleep.