Four Weeks to Live

I was running for my life with Moss by my side, the three surviving careers chasing us through the trees. It had been a total of twenty eight days since I arrived at the Capitol. Four weeks exactly. Moss and I had started throwing our smaller knives behind us, hoping they would hit somebody. We might be able to take on two of them if we were extremely lucky. In the state we were both in, we’d need some luck if only one of them was chasing us. We came to a clearing, stopping for just a second to rest our aching lungs. For a second, I really believed we had lost our pursuers. I didn’t realize how wrong I was. They burst through the plant infested border of the clearing to face us. The careers formed a triangle around us, making sure that if we tried to run our deaths would be slow and extremely painful. Moss handed me several knives as we stood there, back to back. I could feel my heart beating on every inch of my skin as they circled us. They were like predators and we were their prey. One of them, the only girl, lunged at me. I desperately slashed at her, hoping I would hit something important. Moss was taking on one of the boys while the other was helping his fellow careers. I kept slashing, waiting for a scream of pain. Nothing. I could feel my leg starting to give out under me, but I kept going. A knife caught my arm as I could feel the boy smashing rocks onto my head. Moss was having a similar problem. Actually, he looked like he was fairing slightly better than me. That is, until I saw one of the boys do something. I don’t know what it was that he did, all I know is that it made Moss fall to the ground and stop moving. They left him alone after that, focusing on me instead. Moss was helpless. I could see his blood pooling underneath him. It filled me with all kinds of different emotions. Sadness, grief, love, heartbreak, but most important of all, rage. Burning, blind, adrenaline-fueled rage.

“No.” I whispered. The girl laughed at me.

“No.” I said a bit louder. They kept laughing and beating me with whatever they could find.

“No!” I screamed, stabbing the girl in the stomach and watching her spit up blood. The boys turned on me with their own renewed rage, but I was ready. I wrestled one to the ground while the other tried to stab a knife in my back. I rolled over at the last second, making the knife catch my arm instead. I quickly slit the boy’s throat and went to face my final foe. He was nearly a foot taller than me and easily twice as strong. He slammed my body to the ground, starting to choke me with his bare hands. I stabbed as many times as I could, wherever I could. He got off of me, still trying to kill me even with his damaged body. I was still trying to do the same. It was his fault Moss was dead. I couldn’t let him get away with it. Though I was lightheaded and weak, I ran at him as fast as I could and drove the biggest blade I had into his chest. He struggled for air and then finally stopped moving. I had killed four people in total. Three cannons went off as I made my way over to Moss’ body. His eyes didn’t see anything, but they were still full of fear. I closed them and hugged his body close for the last time.

“Ladies and gentleman,” A voice said from somewhere. “May I present to you the winner of the seventy first Hunger Games!”