Finnick and Annie

Victor

After I saw the dead tributes on the sky at night, I figured out who was left: Jem, Emerald, The boy from two, the boys from nine, ten and eleven, and me. The three boys amazed me; I was surprised the career pack hadn't hunted them down already. I heard a cannon and chuckled darkly. Unbelievable. I'd given up on my hopes the careers would kill each other. I knew they wouldn't do that while I was still alive, unless I lured them towards me and caught them off-guard...

I looked around the forest for firewood and set the branches on top of each other in the clearing where I had found the boys from three and twelve. I was pretty glad in that moment that I'd learned how to set a fire in training, and soon the clearing was well lit and full of smoke.

As the fire grew, I set up a trap with my net, and covered it with sand and twigs. My camouflage skills were satisfactory, so I retreated to my hiding place. I went over the plan in my head and hoped it would work.

When the careers saw the smoke they would come to get me. They'd walk into the clearing, where I had set up the trap in the direction of the lake. I would be waiting behind the bushes outside the clearing, and once they triggered the trap, the other two would look around frantically, or try to set my captive free. I would then step out from my hiding place, and throw the spear that I had retrieved from my first campsite. I would hopefully kill, or at least injure one, and then, I would kill the other with my trident. I was confident that with that one I wouldn't miss.

I waited for a while, nervous. What if they didn't come? Then I heard their voices. There were only two of them, though. I heard the boy from two and Emerald, but there was no sign of Jem. Maybe he had chickened out. I heard a cannon. What? Was he hunting? Had they already turned on him and let him there to die? What was going on?

Emerald and the boy from two entered the clearing. They looked around, and didn't seem surprised to see the clearing was empty. I crossed my fingers and hoped someone would trigger my trap. They walked around it and circled the clearing, trying to find me. Emerald came dangerously close to my bush, and for a second I thought she had seen me, but she turned around to head back to the lake.

"Let's go, he's not here. Jem was right, he just wanted to distract us," she said. They walked back the way they had come in, and then finally, the boy set off the trap. He tripped and fell on the net, which pulled him up and hung from a tree branch, swinging back and forth.

"I'm going to kill that boy!" he yelled. "Get me out of here, Emerald," he grunted as he struggled to break free. She sighed, took out her knife, and turned her back to me to cut the rope. This was way too easy. I stepped out from behind the bush and smiled. The guy from two watched in horror and tried to warn Emerald but by the times she'd caught up, it was too late and my trident was sticking out of her rib cage. She fell to the ground in a heap, and I heard the cannon.

The boy from Two screamed and continued to struggle with the net, but he had no chance of escape. I jerked my trident out of Em's dead body and then looked him in the eyes. He cursed me and called me every insult he could muster.

"There's kids watching," I said condescendingly, and stabbed him in the stomach. He went limp as the blood poured from his body. Some of it fell on Emerald, who was splayed under the swaying net. The cannon went off again. There were only three of us left. I had to fight against Jem or the boys from nine, ten and eleven. The only way I had to figure out who was still alive was waiting until midnight, but I had a feeling the games wouldn't last that long.

I sat by the river and drank a lot of water. Mags would be sending my meal soon enough since I needed energy for the finale. I spotted the silver parachute soon enough. I had lost track of how many of those I'd received. I ate my lunch heartily, and rested for a while, then I gathered my things and headed for the lake.

I was near the edge of the trees when I heard the noise. It was unlike any human or animal I'd ever heard before. It was loud, and it came from the grassy fields to my far right. I watched as two huge beasts rose from the ground. In the distance I could spot a tall, skinny boy, chased by the beasts. At least he was very fast.

The male tribute from district eleven kept running until he reached the lake. He did what anybody else would have done and jumped inside. The mutts stopped at the shore; they couldn't swim. He seemed relieved but moved a little deeper in the water just to be safe. He stood and watched as the mutts backed away and ran back to the grassy fields.

"They just let him live?" I wondered. It didn't seem very like the gamemakers.

I spotted Jem, hiding behind a tree on the opposite side of the lake, where Serena had died. The fish! Of course. The gamemakers had called off the mutts because they knew the fish would get him instead. Jem seemed to be thinking the same thing as he stepped out from behind the trees to watch the spectacle.

The boy, "safe" from the mutts, relaxed. He stood in the water and washed some blood off his skin. Then he felt the first bite. He yelped and tried to move out of the water, but by that time, he was already surrounded. The fish jumped at every piece of flesh they could find. I was dangerously close to throwing up my lunch as I watched him squirming around in the water as the mutts ate him alive! The boy sunk and the fish continued to swim and jump around him, and Jem actually laughed from the other side of the lake. After a few minutes the lake went still, as if nothing had happened, and the cannon went off.

"All right, Odair!" called Jem from the other side of the lake. "Just you and me now!"

"Yeah," I whispered and stepped out from behind my tree. He saw me, grinned and grabbed his sword. I let him run towards me. Let him get worn out. I leaned against the tree with my trident grasped firmly in my right hand. It wouldn't be too hard to kill Jem if I managed to get rid of his sword.

He reached me after a while, breathing heavily, though he tried to hide it. Careers were so stupid. Then he charged. He raised his sword and swung at my head. I sidestepped and in that second he lost his balance. I slashed the right side of his body with my trident and his blood started to spread through his shirt. He winced in pain, but the wound wasn't a fatal wound, and I'd just made him angrier.

He raised his sword again and I blocked it with the shaft of my trident. I stabbed and pushed him with my trident and managed to hit him on the head once with my hilt, but he was tough to beat. I received a deep cut on my leg, and my vision got cloudy with pain, but I pushed through it and managed to knock the sword out of his hand. He had a nasty gash on the right side of his chest, and I had stabbed his good arm. My leg was bleeding heavily, and I was starting to feel lightheaded.

Jem panicked. He tried to recover his sword, but I drove him away with the point of my trident. He turned around and sprinted towards the cornucopia. Though my leg made it difficult, I limped after him and took and raised my weapon. The first thing my father taught me was to take a deep breath before each throw. I took aim and watched my trident sail through the air and land on its target, like he was nothing but one of my practice dummies.

Jem collapsed on the ground. He screamed and scrambled, but he was bleeding out fast. He turned on his side and started coughing up blood. He sobbed and coughed up blood as his pierced lungs ached for the air. He went unconscious first, though he continued to squirm and make strangled sounds, and then finally, he was dead.

The pain on my leg was gone, and my vision turned blurry. I was on the ground but didn't remember getting there. "Ladies and gentleman, Finnick Odair, Victor of the sixty-fifth annual Hunger Games!"

I saw the hovercraft flying in to get me. I stood rooted on my spot as the ladder unfolded in front of me. I held on to it and was frozen in place. The arena looked a lot smaller from up high. Then everything went black.