District 12's First Victor

CHAPTER 14 - PREPARING FOR THE FINAL DAYS

Hey guys! So I know I never write messages to you but this chapter is being dedicated to my amazing friend, Sophie. She is not only an amazing friend, but an amazing fan. Last night she was bugging me about updating over message! So thanks, Sophie, and I hope you enjoy reading about what happens to Anya next. If you guys could follow her, @CraziClovely is her wattpad. Oh and I will also take this chance to tell you that I am planning a sequel which I probably won't start writing until next year since I have another joint project to do after this. Hope you enjoy this chapter! It's more for building suspense till the last days but anyway. I'm gonna stop. Thetinymockingjay <3

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When I wake up, I head off immediately. I'll eat along the way. My plan is to hide out at the lake until at least one more career has died before luring them there somehow. Then, I'll trap them in my net under the water and they will drown. That way, no physical killing is required which is good, since I'm so sick of it… I begin to regret leaving my small nets behind because I will need to practice setting up my trap in small scale to make sure it actually works. The hut seems to be the better of two pretty terrible options; the other being to go back and get the nets which wastes time and increases the risk of being caught by the careers. I guess it is too late for me to be a good, non-cheating tribute anyway so I may as well take advantage of the hut.

When I arrive at the lake, I think carefully about where to set up camp. It can't be too close to the lake since I assume the careers will look around here first since they know I spent a few days here. It can't be too far either because I need the lake for my trap. Maybe I should do my small-scale practices away from the lake. The strawberry patch would be perfect because  it's well hidden, not that far from the lake and the storage room is full of nets, meaning I wouldn’t have to leave the arena again! I change my course and head to the strawberry patch as quickly as I can. The careers will definitely be hunting me by now and I can't move as fast as they can.

It's midday by the time I reach the strawberry patch. I haven't seen or heard the careers but I now that doesn't mean they aren't hunting me. I squeeze through the storage room door and close it behind me. It's going to be pretty crowded with all  my stuff in here as well as the nets and collection boxes but I doubt the careers will ever find me. The first thing I do is eat because I didn't actually get around to having breakfast. As I eat, I set out my sleeping bag in the same layout as I had it last time I was here and cut off some net to practice and experiment with before heading outside.

I think I know how I want to set up my trap. There are trees on either side of the narrowest part of the lake so if I could reach a long branch across the lake that would work. The ned would be camoflaged a little way away so the careers could somehow walk into it before I cut another line which keeps it open and in place. When it is cut, the net will close off and fly back to the lake and the careers will be suspended over the lake. Then I will climb up and cut the last wire which will send them down to the bottom of the lake to drown. The only problem with my plan is that I'm not entirely sure it will work. They might be able to escape or the snare line might not snap back the way I want it to. It's worth a try. I gind a branch and reach it across a couple of small saplings before rolling out some snare line and cutting it into three pieces. I then tie this to my branch and saplings. From there, I tie the net on, stretching it out a little way since I will have to do that for my actual design. Now that it's all set up, time to try it. I cut the first wire and nothing happens. Great. What do I do now? Maybe I could try lure them into the water where the net will be which can then snatch them into the air. Once they are there, I would get out, climb up and tie all the wires together before releasing them from the trees and sending the careers to the bottom of the lake. Hopefully that will work better  since it is also a little easier to set up and spring. Since it's getting late, I decide to try my new layout in the morning so I bring all my stuff inside, just incase the careers decide to hunt me at night and stumble upon my stuff.

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When I wake up, I get straight to work trying out my trap. I really need to get it right to be able to trap the other careers. If all of them died, that would be nice but it's very unlikely. I set it up and to my relief, it works! Now I just have to practice it a few more times and then I will be fine to set it up at the lake this afternoon.

By lunch time, I have perfected the trap so that it works every time. I have also tested it with rocks to represent the tributes and since they didn’t fall out, I think it has been successful. Once I have grabbed all the stuff I need for my trap, I close the door to the storage hut and head for the lake. Hopefully the careers decide to stay away from the lake today. When I get there, the lake looks the same as it did yesterday, which I think is a good thing. First, I need to find a branch to reach across two trees. I also need to choose the trees so I'd better do that first since I need to find a branch of the right length. To my surprise, it is very easy to find two trees with forked branches in the right positions at the same height so I set to work finding the branch. This is the hardest part of the set up since so many branches were burnt in the fire.

I look around for about two hours before I give up and decide to stretch some snare line between the two trees. That might actually work better since it will stay on the branches easily if I tie it well. I climb up the first tree and manage to tie the line to the branch before dropping down and landing hard on my back. I struggle to my feet and head over to the other tree which looks a little harder to climb, especially now that I have a sore back. I manage the climb after a few tries and tie the other end of the snare line to the branch. The last thing I have to do is set up the trap. Since it's getting dark, I quickly tie the rest of the lines together and attach the net before heading back to my 'camp', well, storage room thing.

I am about half way back to my camp when I hear a cannon and the last tribute from district 2's image appears in the sky. As I walk the rest of the way to my camp, I wonder if this career dying really is a good thing. The others probably think I somehow killed him, which would make surviving a lot harder. When I arrive back at the storage room, I pack all my stuff into one of my packs and leave the other one against the wall. I then settle down to get as much sleep as I can before tomorrow, which will probably be the last day.