Neverending Game

“You’ll do fine,” my designer, Andy, comforted me. I was shivering and crying. “But Andy, I don’t want to kill anyone!” I cried. He sighed and sucked on his lip ring. (a nervous habit of his.) “Kellin, believe me. You will be the winner of the hunger games. First winner from district 12. You’ll go down in history. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” He consoled. I sighed. Suddenly, an automated voice spoke from the loudspeaker.

‘All tributes go to your pads. Liftoff in 15 seconds.’

Andy rushed me to the liftoff pad. Tears fell from my eyes. “I don’t want to go!” I yelled. Andy smiled at me. “You’ll be fine. Now man up, they’ll think you’re weak if you’re crying. That’ll make you a target.” He said. I sighed and tried to comfort myself with the thought that I didn’t have to kill anyone.

‘Liftoff in 5 seconds.’

“May the odds be ever in your favor, Kellin. Good luck.” Andy said, sucking his lip ring. I smiled weakly and waved goodbye. The pad started to ascend, and Andy waved to me as I disappeared up the tube. I looked up and saw the synthesized light seeping in through the tube from the Arena.

My pad slowly surfaced into the Arena. 24 innocents stood on the circular pads around the Cornucopia. Two pads away from me, I saw the other tribute from my district surface. His name was Vic, and I barely knew him. We had talked on the train ride to the Capitol, but that was it. He was a tall, lanky tan boy with brown shoulder-length hair. He looked insanely nervous, and that worried me. What if he died first?

The automated voice started counting down from 10. Tributes all around me prepared to run for the Cornucopia. I was told to go straight for a river or a tree, because the Cornucopia was a set-up for a bloodbath. The voice said zero, and I took off running. Vic looked confused, but he ended up running for me. We ran to the forest, hoping not to be seen.

We found a tree and I climbed it shakily, with Vic on my tail. I found a branch high out of harm’s way and sat down, panting. He climbed up across from me, and sat on a branch there. I heard a bloodcurdling scream. The first death of the Hunger Games. I sighed. I missed my younger sister, Katelynn. I don’t know what would happen to her if I died. Maybe Jesse could take care of her
.
Jesse was my friend from district 12. We hunted together, we sold our kill together. I missed Jesse, almost as much as my sister and father. “We need weapons,” Vic said, breaking my train of thought. I looked up at him and nodded. “They’re probably all gone from the Cornucopia by now.” I said. Vic nodded sadly. “Is there anyone still out there?” he asked. I shrugged, and then turned around. The Cornucopia was bare, but the ground around it was littered with murdered bodies. Then, the cannon fired, signaling those lost at the Cornucopia.

Four times, the cannon blasted. The names were projected into the sky, reflecting against the stars. Austin and Alan from District 7 had both gone. One from District 5 (Lee) and one from District 9. (Rian) I sighed. This whole thing was pointless. It was just a bunch of sadists behind a computer screen, watching teenagers drop like flies.

“It doesn’t look like there’s anything left; I think the Careers took it all.” I said. The Careers were the more experienced kids from Districts 1 & 2. I turned around and Vic sighed. “We better go check, there might be stuff left that we could use.” He said. “I’ll go.” I said. I’d rather not risk Vic’s life. He hesitated for a bit, his brown eyes shining with fear. “I’ll be fine, there’s no-one out there anyways.” I consoled. He nodded, and I slid out of the tree.

I tried to hit the ground as quietly as possible, so that the Careers didn’t hear me. I slinked across the woods and stepped out into the dark area where the Cornucopia was. The Game-makers had sped up the speed of the day so that it was nighttime. I tried to hide myself in the dark, but it really wasn’t any use. The area was just grass and bodies and the Cornucopia in the middle.
I ran quietly to the mouth of the looming Cornucopia. Sadly enough, the racks were blood-splattered and bare. I cursed under my breath. I snuck my way out. I looked for the tree that Vic and I were had been in, and I saw him sitting impatiently. He looked at me. I shook my head, and he slammed his fist against his jeans in frustration.

Suddenly, I heard joyful voices. “Oi! There’s another one!” called a voice with a thick British accent. I gasped. It was the Careers. All four of them came running out of the woods, one of them holding a double bladed sword. I recognized them all from the interviews. District 1 was Oliver Sykes and Danny Worsnop, and District 2 was Benjamin Bruce and Gerard Way. I couldn’t go back to Vic, because that’s where the Careers were coming from. I couldn’t go the other way, because they’d catch up with me eventually.

I was going to die.