Prologue
Decision
„Right. On the seventy-fifth hunger games we should use the idea of an arena that resembles a clock. In each section there will be a new horror awaiting the tributes, for instance, a monkey-mutt attack, blood rain, annoyed tracker- jackers or pain mist. The Capitol will love it."
„We should set the arena in the ruins of district thirteen amongst the rubble and dust. The tributes will be fighting to the death on district thirteen´s ashes, which will be perfect to remind the districts of what happened there"
Plitarch Heavensbee sat at the end of the long table and sighed. „look, I think we should go for the district thirteen idea, we won´t have much to build because we would want the tributes to recognise they are in thirteen, and we don´t have enough time to build an arena from scratch anyway.
President Snow wants these plans soon.
Chaoter I
1. The Arena
Sickened and terrified, I feel my plate begin rise. „Ladies and Gentlemen, let the seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!"
Something clouds my vision. Where am I ? There is what looks like a swirling whirlwind of, what, soot ? I struggle to see through it as it stings my eyes. It settles at my feet after a few seconds, and I can finally see clearly. I can see the golden cornucopia in the distance, which looks so out of place in this grey world around me. It seems I am in an abadoned city, but all that remains of it are a few unstable looking concrete buildings which are empty and lifeless.
No trees. No plants. No form of life. Then I realise something. I can´t see the other tributes.
„Peeta," I scream. The gong goes and then I´m running. I don´t know where I´m goin, but I have to find him. I Scream his name over and over and then I see a figure in the distance. He´s running towards me and I´m running towards him. Then I see the golden bronze glint of the figures hair.
Damn it. It´s not Peeta it´s Finnick. Istart rinnung in the opposite direction, still screaming Üeeta´s name, but Finnick is fast. Before I know it he is jogging beside me and talking really fast. I don´t have any weapons and it should be impossible to outrun Finnick if my life depended on it, which right now it does. So I turn to face him and start out with why he should kill me quickly, but Finnick interrupts. „We´re on your side"
Now I´m confused. Because this is exactly what Bonnie said when I met the escapees from district eight in the woods. I don´t know if he means on the side of the rebellion and the mockingjay or just an alliance and also I´m not sure who he means by „we" but right now it doesn´t matter.
„Where is Peeta?" But Finnick comes up blank. I turn and start running again. He is following me, but if he wanted to kill me he could have done it earlier, so I ignore him and just keep going. I can hear a distant voice screaming my name; the plates must be spread out by about a kilometre.
I can see Peeta, who is frantically running as fast as he can, so I scream his name louder. He turns to look and for a moment I just stare into his clear blue eyes, but then I stop dead. Because i´ve just realized something that I´ve missed. I slowly turn around and scan the arena, I´ve seen it before. Not as an arena, but something much more important. Then I see a mockingjay.
Chapter II
So we are in district 13. It looks totally abadoned, nobody must have been here for years, but if what Bonnie and Twill said was right, there is a whole city of people underground. Although it doesn´t seem likely or else the games wouldn´t be held here.
Just then the mockingjay i have been watching bursts into flames. I am wondering if what I am seeing is real, as it is so strange, but then I see another one go down, engulfed in fire.
I don´t get it. Why would the gamemakers do that ? What would make them want to kill the mockingjays be setting them alight ?
Peeta has been watching the display too as he slowly makes his way over to me. He hasn´t taken his eyes of the mockingjay. „We´re in district thirteen." I say bluntly.
He nods his head. Suddenly, his eyebrows shoot up and I can see he´s trying to keep a straight face, as though he has figured something amazing out. Out of the corner of my eye I see him tear his eyes away a second to look at me with such a worried expression that I´m scared. „What?" I say .
„Katniss, I don´t think you are going to get out of this arena alive." He says in a Shaky voice.
Well, I knew that, but i never thought Peeta would say something like that. He is determined to get me out alive, just as I am with him and I am dreading to know what made him come to that conclusion, but I have to know. „Why!?".
„Because your are the mockingjay!..."
Well, you just have to look at the dead birds scattered around me to know that he´s not making it up. The message is clear, it means me and everyone I love will die because of me being the girl on fire.
All the destruction will be my fault. They want me to know that the Capitol always come out on top and the games will always go on. Well if I´m going to die I better go out with s spark as I am the girl on fire. So as a mini rebellion of my own I lay out the bodies of the mockingjays carefully in a line. When Peeta sees what I´m doing he goes and picks up some flowers nearby, I´m just about to ask why when he bends down to carefully lay the flowers amongst the birds and I immediately think of Rue. I wanted to cry, but I can´t show weakness at this point in the games.
I start wondering how all the other tributes are doing, or even if anyone´s dead yet, baecause the arena is so spread out and we are only 30 minutes into the games, when I realized Finnick had wondered off ´. I have no idea where he went, but I don´t care, because me and him would have never got on anyway.
„Let´s head towards the cornucopia," Peeta suggests and I agree because if I want to get Peeta out of here alive I´m going to have a bow and arrows. He takes my hand and we head towards the cornucopia. We are nearly there when I see a dead tribute. It´s Kayle, which doesn´t surprise me, as he looked a bit clueless in training. But what is weird is that beside him lies a dead old man that I´ve never seen before. He deffinetly wasn´t a tribute on these games. I go over and look for a clue and see a nametag around his neck.
It read;
Samuel West
District 13