Four Weeks to Live

I heard the loud buzzer ring as I brought myself from my thoughtful state back to reality. I was actually doing it. I was in the Hunger Games. I quickly grabbed the closest thing to me I could find, and ran away from the bloody battle that was happening. I could always find Moss later if he hadn’t died yet. I looked at the object in my hand and realized it had probably been thrown at me as a weapon. It was a small silver blade with a bit of blood on it. It’d probably already been used to kill someone. I almost fell off of a cliff before someone grabbed me and pulled me onto my back. It was one of the careers, who was already holding a knife to my throat. I quickly used the knife I’d gotten and stabbed the girl in the stomach. She let go of the knife in shock, which I used to stab her with again, this time in the chest. I took both of the weapons and left her bleeding on the ground, this time watching my step as I climbed down the face of the cliff. Less than ten minutes into the games, I had already drawn blood. I killed a girl. I think her name was Shine. I didn’t have very long to think about her. Everything she could’ve been, how she could’ve won, and how I would’ve died. All I could focus on was not falling to my death. After a pretty long climb downward, I found a small ledge. The cliff was starting to level off, turning more into a small incline. I looked out at what was before me. There were trees, so many of them. Some were tall, some were short, but I was above them all. I looked back at where I came from and all I saw was rocks, and small bits of snow here and there. I knew where we were. We were on a mountain. I sat on the ledge and took it all in. I couldn’t hear anyone else coming after me. I started to wonder about Moss, and if he’d survived. I wanted him to survive so badly, but I knew it would be better if he died. What if it had come down to the two of us? I knew I wouldn’t have had the heart to kill him. I knew he wouldn’t have had the heart to kill me. I didn’t know what we would’ve done.

I alternated between thinking and dozing off for what felt like a couple of hours. I was woken up by the sound of the cannons being fired and started counting. There were twelve shots. Half of us were dead already. The odds were against Moss living. I looked up to discover the sun was already almost down. I’d lost a day. It would be cold out soon, and most of the other tributes had probably found shelter already. I then figured that this could be used for my advantage. Sleep during the day, do things during the night. It sounded like a decent option. I started working my way down the mountain, stopping only when I heard the anthem playing. I looked through the faces of the dead tributes. I didn’t see Moss’ face. He was still out there somewhere. He might’ve even been looking for me. That was one of the happiest moments of my life.