Jay
'Okay?'
He looked at me with a troubled gaze.
'Jay? Are you listening?' the touch of his hand on my shoulder shook me out of my thoughts.
'What? Yeah, yeah I heard you. Get a bagpack and run. That way I might survive at least half an hour.'
'No, it's your best bet at winning the entire thing'
I scoffed.
'Win? Have you seen them, Daniel? Edmund, Byron, Vincent, murderous beasts. I only stand a chance if they decide to all murder each other.'
'Then I'll pray for that to happen'
We looked at each other.
The buzzing of the elevator slithered around the room, mockingly, like a snake waiting for its prey to give its final breath.
His eyes wandered around my face, taking it all in for the last time, I presume.
His lips quivered as he sought for words.
Final words.
A woman's voice interrupted the quietness.
'5 minutes remaining.'
Daniel sighed.
'I'd better go see Barb, seeing how well she's holding it together'
I exhale as the corner of my mouth curls up into a miserable smile.
'Not all too well, I imagine'
Poor Barb, the girl had gone through so much. Her mother had died when she was born, throwing her father into a severe depression. They were forced out of their house and stayed with family members after Barb's father was fired from his job. Barb had to take matters into her own hands to feed herself and her father, when the family members decided they could no longer afford to keep providing home for two broken souls. One day her seat in the classroom was empty. Some thought she had died, but that quickly changed into other rumours when she showed up at the local market. Every Sunday morning she'd be there, trembling. As months went by her shaken, anxious eyes turned into a broken, heartless gaze. The shaking of her knees stopped, and her careful, pure footsteps turned into a dire, disinterested drag. And then, at 14 years of age, she was named in the reaping, followed by me. I was frightened, yet Barb seemed at peace.
The capitol's anthem echoed through the room in harmony with the countdown. The echoing caused the music to be slightly distorted, causing it to be even more eerie than it already was, all things considered.
The glass tube closed around me and I could feel myself getting slightly claustrophobic. My reflection dampened as my breath started to rise together with the elevator. The white lights started to fade as the metal room started to sink. One last time I glanced at myself in the glass. Possibly the last time I'd ever see myself. A panicked face which I could hardly recognize returned my stare before vanishing into a deafening black.