Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.
A/N: A little long, I've tried to add in more detail and thoughts of the D9 boy. I'm thinking of adding an epilogue, could be from another character's POV or maybe Clove's about killing him, let me know what you think about that!
I awake to the shrill sound of my district's escort yelling and pounding on my door for me to get up. I've never been an early riser and as I stretch and rub the sleep out of my tired eyes I give a start. It's the day of the Hunger Games. I flashback to the few days of training. What have I learnt? A couple of handy skills with weapons and basic survival skills. With all that I've been planning and preparing mentally and what I've learnt, I might stand a chance.
I go out of my room and bump into my mentor almost immediately. I'm anxious and flustered. What do I do if I die? When I die. My mentor holds my shoulders to prevent me falling to the ground and looks into my eyes. "Remember, don't go to the Cornucopia. Choose a straight path to the forest and grab whatever's in front of you. I'll send you anything you'll need from your sponsor money."
I nod, though I highly doubt that anyone has sponsored me. If I'm going to rely on anything, it's my own skills. I have no allies except for my district partner, but she's not going to last for long out there. She wants to go into the bloodbath to get a weapon for defense, which made me choke with laughter that night when she said it. Is any strategy more crazy than that?
I meet my stylist soon and she brings me up to the roof where I obediently grip tightly to the rungs of a ladder dropped down from a hovercraft. It turns out I don't have to grip that tight since I'm frozen by an electric current once I touch it. Something frightfully large is injected into my arm and the pain is nearly unbearable. My stylist tells me it's just my tracker and I nod numbly while biting hard on my lip to keep from screaming out from the pain. If dying is worse than this, then I'm really unprepared for the arena.
We get to the launch room in about an hour and I change into my tribute outfit. My stylist rubs the cloth between her fingers and says thoughtfully, "Expect cold nights. Your jacket has some reflective material. The boots are for trekking through terrains and forests. Seems like it'll be something like a forested area this year." She pauses and just stands there looking at me. I'm about to ask her why the hesitation, then I realise, she doesn't want me to go. As a tribute who has known her for a week only I don't feel that much connection to her, but I still say, "Thanks for everything. I'll miss you."
She smiles sadly and to my surprise, she pulls me into a tight hug and I can smell her scented perfume. A mechanical voice breaks our hug, saying that there are thirty seconds to launch and both of us stand up. My stylist helps me onto my launch tube and I step up. A glass cylinder lowers slowly and our hands break apart. I break my gaze and watch as I'm lifted into darkness, and then a bright burst of sunlight hits my eyes and I try to adjust to the light. That's when the Games officially starts.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games begin!"
It takes a while before I can clearly see everything. There's the Cornucopia, with all the supplies and items scattered around, and behind that is a dense forest. Yes, that's where I'll go. I turn around and behind me, slightly off to the left, is a large wheat field. To the right is some sort of hedge area, probably part of the woods. I look for the best way to get into the forest and since it all looks the same to me, I choose the path that is far away enough from the Cornucopia to be safe but yet has valuable items to scoop up on the way. My eyes light on a bright orange pack sitting just sixty, seventy metres away. I could get that. When I've decided and placed myself in a position ready to sprint off, I glance around for my district partner. She's a couple of tributes to my right and staring at the Cornucopia, with all its knives, swords, spears and supplies. She doesn't look at me though, her eyes fixated on the booty spewing from the mouth of the horn. And it's just when I'm turning back to face that orange pack when the gong decides to sound and everyone sprints off their plates.
I run off myself, mad that I didn't pay attention, that I wasn't ready, and head straight for the orange pack. I reach it at the same time when another tribute, the girl from District 12, does and I notice she's already got a loaf of bread and a plastic sheet. We both grab the pack and grapple for it; just when I think I'm about to get it, a sharp, excruciating pain pierces my back and runs up my spine. I've been hit by something sharp, is it a knife, or a sword? A spear? Something thick and metallic is choked up in my throat and I cough it out. My eyes are narrow and though my vision is fading, I can see the crimson spots of blood that I coughed into the District 12 girl's face. I can feel myself falling and my head is swirling with the dizziness and the pain. The mayhem around me fades away slowly and everything darkens. I'm sorry, I think. Sorry I let you down. Then the pain overwhelms me and everything fades out completely.