The Capitol's Tribute

For hours I ran through the forest terrain. I kept running and zig-zagging and pushing forward. I had to keep going or I was going to lose it. The bloodbath kept splashing into my mind and how I had thrown an axe into some poor kid’s back.

Eventually I eased up, cursing myself for wasting away energy. My throat burned from repeatedly sucking in raw air and my shoulder hurt from Ridley’s quick knife skills. My whole body ached for water, to be replenished. I had yet to pass a spring or any sort of body of water. I painstakingly remembered there was a water source by the Cornucopia a ways, but I had taken off in the other direction. I was on my own out in the heavy wilderness.

I was hours past burning aches through my throbbing body. I was numb and shaky and as I slowed to a stop, I tumbled forward, unable to hold up my weight any longer. I took it as a sign to get a little rest and check out my pack.

Slumping against a fallen log, I pulled my back pack clumsily over my overheated body and popped it open. One by one I pulled things out:

Three knives. Some sort of binoculars. Bandages. Granola. Rope. A fire starting kit. A tent. A blanket. Some red pills to fight off infection. Extras bows. And a hard loaf of bread.

No water or a way to carry water around if I found some. I could have sworn a water bottle was the first thing I grabbed.

But, then I remembered: Freddy had my original pack.

So, I stared at the loaf of bread, smelling it, painfully reminding myself of the boy I would never see again. Peeta.

I ripped a rather large chunk on the bread. It was only going to strengthen my thirst but I didn’t care. I was hungry and tired and alone. At that moment, I prayed Malum would find me to put me out of my misery.

The sky was falling now. It wasn’t the real sky so I wasn’t entirely sure if the sky really was falling in the Capitol or District 12 or if the Gamemakers were just making us think so. My head hurt to think like that. All I wanted to do was sleep. My drowsy lids began to close but I snapped them open, forcing myself up to find a better spot to spend the night. If I stayed out in the open, I would be another face for the nightly death count.

Gathering the remainder of my strength, I heaved my body up one of the bushy trees that provided good coverage. Once I was far enough up, I pulled out a piece of rope and cut it with one of the knives, tying it around the strings of the bag and a branch by my head. I used the rest to secure myself around the trunk so I didn’t fall out. It was a trick I learned watching Katniss last year.

My hand rummaged through the secured bag. The tent was useless in my current situation, but the blanket wasn’t. I took another bite of bread and sat up rigidly against the bark.

It was going to be a long night.

My eyes shut for a few moments. When they flickered open, it was pitch black with a few specks of stars. The Capitol anthem was blaring in my open ears. I winced at the sound, my body ached terribly. Through an opening above in the branches, I could make out the projection of tonight’s victims. The victims of the initial bloodbath.

I braced myself for any news: good or bad. The first three Districts were alive. I knew that because the first thing that lit up the arena was Narina’s smile. Then it was Reid’s stony face. My heart dropped to the forest floor. Narina and Reid, District 4, top contending careers: dead. Dead on the first day. And I was the reason.

I had to be. Malum and his career pack had ganged up on them for talking to me, for siding with me, for sticking up for me. Finnick had lost both his tributes and I had just lost two powerful allies. Things were only going to get worse from here.

Now, I was alone. I had no idea where Freddy or Brant were, just the general direction they had scampered off in to get away from the bloodbath. Retracing their steps would be useless. They probably did the same thing I did, zig-zagged around the arena to keep anyone off their tails. They didn’t want to be found. So, I was alone.

Alone to die of dehydration if Malum didn’t get to me first.

The projection kept playing to inform us that we should be keeping track of who we didn’t need to take care of anymore: The male from District 5. Both tributes from District 6. The girl from 7 appeared and I prayed that Freddy was dead, too, so I wouldn’t have to worry about our stupid promise and he wouldn’t have to live through this hell. But, the spot for him came and went, and the next face was the girl from 8. After, Anna’s sweet and terrified face covered the screen and my heart tugged.

Then the boy from 10 popped up. He was the one Freddy had finished off. After that was the female from 11. Then, it was the moment I had truly been waiting for.

But, I didn’t have anything to worry about. Brant’s face didn’t show up, and he knew I was still alive as well. Now all we had to do was find each other in this deathly wilderness. Easier said than done.

The anthem faded out and the screen disappeared, being replaced with the starry sky once more.

Ten down, thirteen more to go.



I awoke at dawn the next morning. It was for no particular reason but to let me know that my body was in desperate need of water. Slowly, I untied my things and crawled down the tree, careful not to scream too loudly. I muffled my whimpers by biting down on my lower lip. Blood beaded down my chin. I wiped it off with the back of my hand once I was on the firm ground.

I tossed the pack over my shoulder and headed north. I didn’t have much of a reason for going that way; I just needed some place to start.

For a few hours I trudged my way through the forest. The sun rose steadily on my side, keeping me warm. My head was swarming with incoherent thoughts. My throat burned white-hot. My shoulder felt like it was going to burst open. I had to stop and find water or I was going to fall over dead.

And that’s when I heard it. The soft trickling of delicious liquids. My dry mouth began to water at the thought. I pushed forward, towards the sound. It was behind a bush the size a train car. I threw myself in it; the pointed limbs scratched me carelessly. When I popped out the other side, I fell on my knees. My head rose gently, my eyes opened wide.

But, there was nothing to see. There was no tantalizing waterfall filtering into a crystal blue spring. There was nothing. It was just my wild imagination, desperate to re-hydrate itself.

I felt like screaming but my throat couldn’t force the sound out. For a few moments, I stayed on my knees, blinking, hoping that the water would just magically appear. My shaky hands gripped the earth, ripping up dirt and tossing it back down.

If Haymitch was going to send me anything, now would be the time. I felt like giving up and shouting out to Malum, “Come and get me, you bastard!”

But I didn’t. I was interrupted by a voice.

“Rixa!” It shouted. I knew that voice.

“Peeta?” I breathed, squinting up at the sky.

“Rixa, help me!” His faint voice shouted.

They had Peeta. I jumped to my feet, wobbling a little in disorientation. “Peeta? Where are you?” My voice trembled. I couldn’t think straight. They had Peeta.

“Rix,” It was a different voice. It was Finnick.

My vision was blurry. I didn’t feel right. My hands rubbed my face as I stumbled forward, “Finn?”

“Rixa, help!” Peeta shouted. He sounded so distressed.

“Peet, I can’t—” I whispered, leaning against a tree for support.

“I’m over here, Rix,,” Finnick murmured frantically. “Please, save me.”

“I don’t…” I pushed off the tree, following the sound of their shouts for help. Peeta let out a high-pitched scream and I picked up my pace. Why were Peeta and Finnick here? They weren’t tributes, they were Victors.

“They’re killing me!” Peeta screamed. Their voices were projecting in opposite directions. One way led to Peeta, the other to Finnick. I could only save one. Who would I choose?

“They’re killing me! Rixa, do something!” Finnick’s voice boomed in my ears.

The Capitol was watching to see who I would choose. I whimpered, whipping my head both ways as if I could see them.

“Rixa, please, I’m so sorry.” Peeta’s tear-stricken voice whispered through the air.

“You can’t help him, Rix. It’s gotta be me.” Finnick told me. “You know it has to be me!”

Tears streamed down my face. How could they make me choose?

“I’m so sorry.” And I took off running in Finnick’s direction.

“Finnick!” I screamed, running through the low trees, whipping myself continually with sharp branches. “Finnick, where are you?”

“Rixa?” A different voice called. It was lower and lacked the panic of the others. It wasn’t scratchy or muffled.

It was Brant.

“Brant?” I shouted sprinting straight even though my body screamed for me to stop. “Brant, it’s Finnick! They have him!”

My foot caught on a log and I stumbled through the leaves into a clearing. I fell hard on my wrists, popping something in the left one. I yelped, releasing my left hand and looking up to see that Brant was not the only person in the clearing. To his direct side stood a menacing Malum and behind them was the rest of the career pack, leering hungrily upon me.

I gasped, not believing my eyes. It was another hallucination. Like the water and Finnick’s and Peeta’s voices. It wasn’t real. “Brant?” I squeezed my eyes tight and opened them. He was still there. And so were the careers.

“Look what the Gamemakers dragged in?” Malum sneered, smiling with his almost pointy teeth. “That was almost too easy. I’m a little disappointed to be honest.”

I didn’t think, I just shuffled my body off the ground and ran to the right. Ridley laughed cruelly and Malum barked orders to follow me.

“Rixa, run!” Brant cried. I was running. I was running towards a sharp cut-off that dropped almost at a ninety degree angle. I was trapped.

“Sorry, darlin’,” Malum spin his spear coolly in his hands. “Looks like your pretty face is going to grace tonight’s sky.”

“No,” I muttered stubbornly. Malum reared his spear hand. As he released it, I stepped backwards as a reflex. But, there was nothing behind me to step onto. My boot slipped on the slant and—almost in slow motion—I fell backwards. The spear grazed my right shoulder, reopening (and worsening) the wound Ridley had inflicted.

A scream erupted from the back of my throat as I tumbled down the hill. Dust and dirt flew up as I scraped across it. I couldn’t stop myself. I couldn’t throw out a hand to grab anything. I just tumbled further down the twenty foot drop.

“Rixa!” I heard Brant yell.

I wanted to cry out, but I couldn’t. The wind was further knocked out of my back with every pummel to the ground.

But it couldn’t go on forever. And it didn’t. Finally, my head collided with extreme force against a thick tree at the bottom. As soon as I did, a canon went off, and everything went black.