Chapter 6

I can't believe this is happening. I just can't. 60 seconds. 60 precious seconds before the word 'Start' flashes on the sky and the siren is off.

I look around me, trying to find him. I do. But he's far. Really far. Luhan catches me looking at him and he mouths the word 'Run'. I nod, knowing exactly what to do. But the goodies in front of us... Bags, full of survival stuff and possible food. Weapons, too. They're so tempting. I know that this is exactly what they want. What the Gamemakers want. They put all these stuff here just so that they can see the 32 of us kill each other in this bloodbath. I know I can't get the weapons because they're right in the middle of the Cornucopia and plus, the Careers will definately be there. But I know I can get one of the bags. The question is, how long will it take me to get the bags and get the hell out of there?

I look over to Luhan again. He somehow knows what I'm thinking. He glares and mouths 'No'. I look away. The goodies are way to tempting. I have to figure out I'm going to do quickly because I've only 10 seconds left. I look around again. Kris, Jessica, Sehun and Seohyun are all ready. But they're not looking at the direction of the goodies. No. They're looking at the direction of woods. I should too. But my eyes are glued onto the goodies.

It takes me approximately 3 seconds to realize the bag closest to me has been snatched away. The word 'Start' has been flashed 3 seconds ago and the siren has already been off. And I'm still on my metal plate. Why am I not moving? Because my feet are frozen.

Suddenly, I feel someone grab me. This is it. This is where I die. I close my eyes, expecting a sharp stab of pain. But nothing. Nothing happened. I wait a few more seconds. Still nothing. The person is not trying to kill me, I think. But I can feel his or her hand on me... We're running. He or she is running. Wait a minute...

"K-Kris...?"

He shushes me. After a while, he sets me down. "Okay, here's a tree. Climb it."

"What?"

"Just do it now!" He whisper-shouts.

"O-Okay... Jeez." I do as I was told and climb the tree. It's easy but I have no idea why I'm doing it. "Kris, would you please tell me--" He shushes me angrily and climbs after me. I come to a stop at the branch that Kris told me to stop at. I begin to open my mouth to ask him more questions but he covers my mouth with his hand as the Career tributes walks past our tree.

I look up to Kris who is on me, covering my mouth. He holds his finger to his lips. I can hear the Careers talking.

"Which way do you think he and she went?"

"I'm guessing this way."

"Damn, that guy is fast..."

"Let's just keep walking."

When I'm sure they've walked far enough and can't hear or see us, I look up to Kris again. As I was about to say something, he interrupts me. "I know you've got a lot of questions bus let me explain ." I nod. "But first, why the hell didn't you run when the siren went off?!"

"I don't know! I just... I don't what happened to me. I couldn't move my feet."

"Well, you should've known better than to stand there. Those people were after you and they still are." I know that he's referring to the Careers.

Just then, I begin to hear the cannons. It goes off 6 times. 6... It's a little less than what I've expected. There are 32 of us... There should be more than 6. I am suddenly thinking of Luhan. Nah. He couldn't be one of the 6... Could he? "K-Kris...? Luhan... Did he--"

"He's fine."

"How will you know?'

"I saw him. He dashed straight into the woods. If I remember correctly, he had a chance for a bag since it was right in front of him. I'm very sure he's fine. Don't worry."

"Alright." I realize that Kris is missing his half. "Where's Jessica?"

"Oh... I guess we got seperated. But I know how to find her. She told me that if we ever get seperated, she'll leave clues for me. I don't exactly know what that means but she says to trust her. So I will."

"I see. But how am I going to find Luhan?"

"I don't know. Listen, Sooyoung. I can't stay for long. I need to find Jessica. You know that the Careers are after you. You can't fight them. They have weapons. Loads of them. If you want to find Luhan or your other allies, you gotta stay hidden while doing so." Kris gets off me. "Stay here and don't go anywhere until tomorrow. We'll meet again, Sooyoung." With that, Kris disappears deaper into the forest.

"I'll see you around, Kris." I say after he has left. It's going to be night soon. I know because I'm starting to get a little chilly. I start to regret not taking a bag. If I did, chances are a sleeping bag would be in it. The tracksuit doesn't help me at all. I might as well be . I do prefer having the tracksuit on, though.

My back feels very uncomfortable. Maybe it's because of the tree bark. Wait a minute... I reach my hand behind me and pull out a bag. When did this get here? I'm thinking that Kris had something to do with this bag mysteriously appearing behind my back. I open the bag and dump the contents onto my lap.

A flashlight which is completely useless since anyone can spot me if I use it. A water bottle! I unscrew the cap of my bottle and hold it to my mouth. Nothing. This bottle's empty! Dang it. A knife! Score! At least I have a weapon to protect myself. And the last thing is a sleeping bag. I'm entirely grateful to Kris for giving me this bag.

As the air becomes cooler, I try to get into the sleeping bag. It's hard. I try my best not to fall off my branch. Not only will it make a loud sound but it will also cause me injuries which I cannot afford to have. 

I struggle for 10 minutes or so and finally got my body into the sleeping bag. The direction that I'm facing has a good view of the moon. It's a full moon, tonight.

As I'm about to close my eyes and drift away into sleep, something bright catches my half-closed eyes.

Campfire. Someone actually thinks it's a good idea to start a campfire at night. Don't they know that anyone can spot the light of the fire? I feel sorry for whoever that person is. I know it can't be Jessica or Kris. Seohyun and Luhan are too smart. And I'm sure Sehun is, too.

It's only a matter of time before the Careers finds this person. I'm not sure if I helping this person is a good idea. The Careers are after me. It's really not wise to be helping whoever this is. And plus, Kris said not to leave this tree until tomorrow. I also remember Leetuek telling me the same thing before the games.

The sound of a piercing scream and then a cannon fire interrupts my thoughts.

Well, too late to do anything now.

I look up to the sky as the Capitol anthem plays.

The Gamemakers are going to flash 'the fallen tributes' otherwise known as the dead tributes in the sky. I heard 7 cannon shots in total for today. The first four are the female Careers. To be honest, I sort of expected that. Next, the girl from 9, the girl from 10 and the girl from 14. After the girl from 14, the anthem stops and that's it. What? So that just means that all the boys survived. 25 tributes, including me, survives the first day. I guess more will die the next few days.

I lean against the tree, my legs stretched on the branch and my eyes slowly closing. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to find water and Luhan so I need to be well rested.

His smiling face pops into my mind. How whimsical his laugh sounds. I certainly hope that I won't have to silence his laughter forever. And I also hope that he won't silence mine.

Hey, everybody.
So the first day of the Death Games has ended with 7 tributes dead and 25 alive. I'm sorry if this chapter didn't excite you.
I really do hope that you enjoyed this and sorry if all my chapter are short and boring.
Don't forget to check out the next chapter when it comes out. :)