The smallest little snap in the brush made my instincts go crazy. The first knife I grabbed was flicked out of its case and in my hand as fast as my reflexes would let me. I did a slow 360 degree turn and scanned the dirt floor all the way up to the tree tops high above me. Then I heard it again. Snap! This time, I can tell it is coming from my left and I automatically slash my knife, my adrenaline pumping through my veins. My breath comes out in a long, heavy sigh when I hear a rustling and see a bright, rainbow bird up in a tree. After the silence, it snaps off a small branch with its beak to eat bright green leaves off of it. Sneaking down the path, I waited patiently for a while before throwing the knife with all of my force at the bird and it falls, dead, to the ground. After cleaning and stashing it away, I turn 90 degrees away from the clearing and continue down the path facing northwest, parallel to the location of the cornucopia. Noting that the artificial sun had started to set down into the beautiful orange and pink clouds, I headed toward the thicker part of the jungle. Maybe it was time to call it a night.

After scaling up a lush tree, I heard the smallest whisper… ”Hey, hey you.”  I jumped out of my skin and looked around. At first, I thought I had imagined it and was going insane. That was until my gaze finally laid upon a dark shadow about three branches up in the tree. I took out a knife and held it in my sweaty palm. When the person swung to the branch right above me, I slashed out my knife toward them but their reflexes took them back a branch, which blocked them from my wild swing. Warily, they put their hand up and quickly said, “Wait, I don’t want to hurt you. I want to offer an alliance. It would be you and me, what do you say?” I study her for a minute as she climbs back down. Why all of a sudden does she ask me? Now, I recognized her from training, the one who I would sometimes work with. I assumed that was why she asked me. She moved back down to the branch that she was on before I had my fit. “Come up here, it is a barrier of leaves. No one can see us… we’ll be safer. I’m sorry, but I never caught your name.” I slowly climb up the tree and sit next to her but with enough distance to protect myself. “Juniper… Juniper Stowe. District 11”, I mumble quietly. “Cool, nice to meet you Juniper. I am Jasmine Benton, district 12. I have an idea on what we should do”. She started to explain a brilliant plan as I cleaned my knives, one by one, until all seven of them are blindingly shiny. I tucked them back into their case and folded it up, putting the whole thing into my small camouflage backpack. After she finished her plan, she waited and looked at me in silence, waiting for a response. I couldn’t help but marvel over all of those carefully thought-out words and I gave her a quick yet reassuring grin. We worked all night, making a deadly, poisonous contraption that anyone who passes will have to suffer a painful death until their last breath.

At the first rays of daylight, Jasmine talked to me again for the first time since last night. “Now, we wait.” she says with a sadistic grin. I respond with a smile and quietly say, “I feel bad for the sorry tribute that crosses our path. We are unstoppable.”