The tributes rise up the tubes, filled with anxiety and dread. They feel trapped and helpless as they ascend into the hell that awaits them above. The hell designed by the Capitol. The pedestals they are standing on offer the tributes up and out of the underground tubes, and the arena comes into view.
Grey. Everything seems to be dull and grey. Twenty-four tributes stand on podiums, which form a semi-circle facing the harsh metal Cornucopia. As usual, in front of the large metal horn are large racks of weapons and supplies, and miscellaneous backpacks, smaller weapons and less useful items are littered across the ground further out.
The ground is covered in ash. It's as if the entire arena had suffered a terrible fire recently. The sky is not visible due to a vast expanse of miserable cloud. Behind the Cornucopia, a chilling sight is noticed by some of the tributes. A graveyard.
To the right appears to be some kind of ruined settlement, and in the distance a large mansion-like structure can just be seen through the ash that floats in the cool air. To the left, there appears to be a large lake of water. A couple of tributes notice a large mountain behind them, in the distance, its summit not visible due to the ominous clouds that surround it.
The large circular clearing the tributes are in is enclosed by forestry. Although these trees are not the kind which tributes from District 7 may recognise. These trees were dead. Black, leafless and dead. The entire arena is dead.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let the 13th Annual Hunger Games begin!", booms the voice of Antonius Templesmith, the announcer for the Games. "May the odds be ever in your favour."
The countdown begins. Sixty seconds.
The eerie atmosphere of death in the arena chills the tributes to the core as the seconds tick by. The Career tributes give each other smug, self-assured nods and assume positions preparing them for the sprint to the Cornucopia. Some tributes who originally thought they would run in the opposite direction are eyeing up the weapons and supplies. The temptation may prove too much. The younger tributes look skittish and nervous.
Thirty seconds.
Aleannah from 12 ponders her life. She was sick of living in District 12, constantly starving and dealing with her abusive parents. She had nothing to live for. She has nothing to go home to. She contemplates a way to end her life on her own terms.
Garner, the boy from 9 who is considering abandoning his plan to flee the Cornucopia, scans his eyes over the vast array of weapons before he finds what he is looking for. A vicious-looking sickle, a weapon he has experience with from harvesting crops in his district. He knows he stands a chance if he can get to it. Little did he know, other tributes had their eye on that same weapon.
BOOM!
A huge explosion throws the tributes off guard. Thread, the little 12-year old boy from 8, saw the District 12 girl fall backwards off the podium, causing the mines around her podium to blow up. The force from the explosion almost knocks him off his podium as well. The reality of the situation collides with him, and he feels more afraid than ever.
Flic, the girl from District 2, looks over to where the 12 girl used to be and laughs, shaking her head. She had heard the Seam girl had cheered when she was reaped for the Games. Why would a weak, pathetic girl from 12 be happy to go to certain death? She must have been crazy.
The gong sounds. Most of the tributes are still in a daze from the explosion at Aleannah's podium, and remain on their pedestals. The Careers are just as focused and determined as ever, though, and sprint toward the Cornucopia. Other tributes begin to make their way to the Cornucopia as well, while a few hesitate.
The Careers reach the Cornucopia first. Laycie, the beautiful District 4 girl collects a large array of daggers and throwing knives. Her long, flowing blonde hair and pretty blue eyes give the tall 17-year old an innocent aura, but she is lethal. Her district partner, Emerald, grabs a large spear and the pair guard the nearby supplies.
Jackson, the boy from District 10 with fiery red hair, runs cautiously behind the Cornucopia, searching for some rope he could use. If he could find some, he might be able to create a trap later on.
"Hey, carrot top!" calls out Flic, the vicious District 2 girl. Jackson turns round only to see a spear flying towards him. It impales his stomach before he gets the chance to move, and he falls to the ground. A rabbit foot falls out of his pocket, his token from home. Flic runs over and twists the spear in his gut, laughing. "Funny, I thought those things were supposed to be good luck." She wrenches the spear out of him and leaves. His last thoughts are of his father, and how he will be alone now.
Siri, the girl from 3, and Blade, the girl from 10, both head for the pair of knives lying near the edge. They collide, and Blade throws a punch toward Siri's face.
Siri blocks it effortlessly with her forearm, before using the 14-year-old's momentum to throw her off balance. Siri kicks Blade to the ground, who then gets up to defend herself.
"What the hell?" blurts Blade. "You only got a 4 in training."
Siri smirks before flying at Blade, punching her in the gut, spinning the girl around and getting her in a headlock.
The last words Blade hears are whispered into her ear: "Never judge a book by its cover". Siri snaps Blade's neck and lets her fall limp on the ground. She grabs the pair of knives and a backpack before fleeing.
Hawthorn, the 7 boy, sees an opportunity to find a hatchet. He runs toward the axe lying at the mouth of the Cornucopia, but before he can make it there, the large boy from 11 with tanned skin steps in his way, carrying a sword.
"I'm sorry", says Valencio, his black eyes apologetic but determined. He swings his sword and decapitates the younger boy.
"Died in the bloodbath, just like his pathetic little sister last year," snarls Azalea. She kicks Hawthorn's head into the depths of the Cornucopia, which stirs eerie clouds of ash in its wake. Valencio turns round to see the blonde District 1 girl hurl a knife in his direction. He dodges it, turns and runs toward the forest, grabbing a backpack on the way. Azalea decides he isn't worth the pursuit.
She's been looking for her favourite weapon, a bow. She has trained to use bows since she could walk, because she thought it looked pretty when she was young. She glances around and finds her target, only to see the girl from 5 running towards it.
"That's mine, bitch!" Azalea yells as Voltarina grabs the silver bow. She runs toward the 15-year old and tackles her to the ground. The Career has the girl pinned down and helpless, the bow at their side.
"You volunteered for your little sister, didn't you?" the District 1 girl says in a feigned sympathetic voice. "Pity she's going to be all alone now." She slashes twice across Voltarina's neck, and she dies instantly. Azalea leaves with the bow and two sheaths of arrows, looking satisfied.
She sees the little girl from 6 and the little boy from 8 wrestling over a backpack. She strings an arrow and yells, "Playtime's over, kids!" before firing it straight into Lori's head. She falls to the ground, dead. Horror fills Thread's eyes, and runs as fast as he can in the opposite direction with the backpack, colliding with his district partner Felicia. The two twelve-year olds take hands and flee for the ruined settlement.
"So cute", she spits mockingly. She lets them go. She'll get them later.
Meanwhile, Hack from 12 and Alix from 2 are fighting on the ground. The Career is winning, but Hack knees him in the crotch and reaches frantically for the pickaxe leaning against one of the crates. Alix tries to get up from his crippled position, but Hack shoves him down and brings the pickaxe down through his heart.
Flic saw this happen, but was too late to save her district partner. The Career howls with fury and sends a spear flying towards Hack, but it misses by an inch.
"I guess District 2 are useless this year", mocks Hack. "As usual."
Flic is enraged, and chases after the boy. However, Hack grabs the nearest backpack and throws it at the ground behind him, causing Flic to trip over it. Hack runs in the direction of the mountain, carrying his pickaxe and laughing.
Static from 3 and Julius from 5 had agreed in training to form an alliance, and are currently running towards the mountain with a couple of backpacks and a knife each which they grabbed from the outskirts of the Cornucopia. Yew, the young girl from 7, also fled the bloodbath straight away after grabbing the nearest backpack.
Glory, leader of the Career pack, is frantically searching for the weapon he is best with, the sickle. He carries a large sword with him, which he used earlier to cut down Crank from 6 while he begged and pleaded for his life. Pathetic.
His eyes finally fall on the vicious, curved blade he was searching for. However, it seems to be a popular choice. Garner from 9 and Irelia from 11 arrive and reach for the sickle at the same time. They begin to fight over it, when Glory calls out "That's mine, give it to me or I'll cut you to pieces". Irelia instantly lets go of the blade and sprints away from the Cornucopia with nothing. Garner wields the blade defensively as Glory runs towards him. Garner is caught off-guard when the District 1 boy performs an elaborate somersault, before landing and twirling around, his arm outstretched. His sword slashes down on Garner's arm, causing him to drop the sickle and scream. Glory kicks the 17-year old square in the chest, and he flies backwards over a crate of supplies.
Glory snatches the sickle up and admires it. Its blade is curved in a vicious way, and he imagines the damage he could do with it. He walks around the crate to finish off his victim, but he's gone.
"Bastard", spits the blonde District 1 boy, before running his free hand through his hair and winking to the audience.
"Glory!" Azalea calls. "Over here, pretty boy!"
Glory arrives to find the Career pack have assembled and pinned down the little girl from 9. Flic and Emerald are standing on her arms, while Laycie and Azalea hold down her legs. Tessa is letting out relentless, blood-curdling screams. Tears soak her young face as she begs the Careers to spare her.
"We thought you'd like to finish this one off", grinned Emerald.
Glory steps over the helpless young girl, who is shaking with fear and sobs. He raises the sickle in his hand.
Then something triggers in his brain. The little girl before him is no longer Tessa. It is his little sister, Splendour. Sweet, innocent, Splendour. He would do anything to protect her. Tessa's eyes are the same as Splendour's. The image of ending his little sister's life with the sickle in his hand is unbearable, and his arm lowers.
"I- I ca-", he stutters.
"Oh, for God's sake", groans Azalea. "I'll do it".
Tessa lets out one final, chilling scream, which is silenced as the girl from 1 brings a knife down into her forehead.
Tessa's moist, glassy eyes stare sightlessly into the distance. Something in Glory breaks a little, but he steels over his emotions and looks up. This is the Hunger Games. She had to die. All these people have to die.
"Where's Alix?" Glory asks to distract the other Careers from his brief moment of hesitation.
Flic's eyes falter for a moment, before she states coolly, "Dead".
"Are you freaking serious?" Glory asks, incredulously. "I know he only got a 7 in training, but that's just pathetic. He's supposed to be a Career!"
"He was", says Flic, coldly. "We all are". The atmosphere chills them to the core. She's right, only one of them isn't going to end up like Alix: dead.
Most of the remaining tributes have fled to the forest surrounding the area of the bloodbath. Garner, Tessa's district partner, hides at the edge of the forest and makes a makeshift bandage with his undershirt for the gash on his arm. It wasn't deep. He had witnessed the cruelty of the Careers as they killed poor Tessa. He couldn't help bonding slightly with her in training. She was sweet and funny. She didn't deserve to die. He makes a silent promise to avenge her death.
The little kids from 8 take shelter in one of the decrepit shacks in the settlement, comforting each other as they try to fall asleep. Thread in particular is very shaken by the events of the day. The pair had bonded in training and enjoyed many games of hide-and-seek together in the training center.
Hack from 12 was making his way up the mountain. He knew he wouldn't sleep that night, but he was used to functioning on very little sleep. He would be safer the higher he goes. Meanwhile, Static and Julius had settled inside a cave at the base of the mountain, looking through the supplies they had acquired from their backpacks.
They unpacked the sleeping bags from their bags and Static climbed in to get some sleep. Julius agreed to take the first watch. The pair had hit it off during training, as they had a very similar sense of humour.
He sits at the entrance to the cave, staring into the gloomy night. The anthem begins playing loudly throughout the entire arena, and the Capitol seal appears in the sky.
THE FALLEN
District 2 – Alix
District 5 – Voltarina
District 6 – Crank
District 6 – Lori
District 7 – Hawthorn
District 9 – Tessa
District 10 – Jackson
District 10 – Blade
District 12 – Aleannah
A Career died in the bloodbath? Julius can't help being slightly overjoyed, before realising he shouldn't celebrate the death of a person. Still, one less Career makes it that bit easier. His heart sinks when he sees his district partner's face in the sky, even though they never agreed to ally. He makes a mental note to tell Static that his district partner is still alive when he wakes
Meanwhile, the Careers assemble their supplies inside the Cornucopia and gather weapons. They would get some rest and hunt tomorrow.
