The First Hunger Games

Chapter 7

Pierce told Ryan and me, when we got back "home", that the following day would be our last day of freedom. Okay, well, he didn't use those exact words, but that was the gist of it. We were free to do almost anything we wanted; we could even go outside, though it wasn't recommended. Who knew what might happen once we were exposed to the elements?

I went outside anyway. After looking out the window, to make sure there wasn't some angry mob with pitchforks and torches, I figured it was safe enough for me to take a walk. I invited Ryan, who was sprawled on the floor in his room watching the holograms projected on the ceiling. I could tell he was restless and happy to come along.

Our block was pretty empty; I didn't even see any kids playing at the park down the street. My brother and I took a stroll around the corner and saw that there was actually a small wooded area across the street. It wasn't very large; it probably only existed to give the Capitol residents a sense of nature, since there was almost none of it around.

The two of us wandered into the trees and found that they were very uniform in appearance. Every branch was perfectly straight and there weren't any leaves on the ground. Still, we liked the reminder of home.

"Thirteen?" A voice to our right stage whispered. It was one of the other tributes. I only had an idea of who he was because I had seen him at training. He waved us over from a denser section of trees. I figured we didn't need to worry about going with him, since he'd have plenty opportunity to hurt us during the games, so we followed.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Oh, you don't know? I thought we had notified everyone. We're having a meeting."

"Who? For what?" Ryan interjected. The boy looked at him and told us that all of the tributes, well, almost all of us, had agreed to meet here today to brainstorm how we could all survive.

"I guess you two just got lucky showing up here. By the way, I'm Stockley, from Nine. You're from Thirteen, so that makes you… Stacey and Brian right?"

"It's Ryan. How did you know our names?" Stockley looked a little confused before answering.

"The Tribute listing. Our escorts all gave it to us. Didn't yours?"

"So, what it just has all our names on it?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah and which District we come from."

We arrived at a tiny clearing. The small forest must have been deeper than I was able to see from my block, because I couldn't even see the edge of the treeline from where we stood. In front of us were most of the other tributes. The only ones I knew were Henry and Chickie, from the train ride. They waved at us.

Everyone formed a warped kind of circle, with the boy that had been dragged away during training for trying to kill himself, standing next to me and a girl with blonde hair that was so light it was almost white standing on the other side of Ryan. They introduced themselves as Corey, from One, and Angel, from Four. Stockley took a spot across from us, next to two girls who said their names were Goldie, also from Nine, and Mckenna, from Three.

"Well, I guess it looks like we're just missing Two and Five." It was clear that Stockley had taken on the leader position with the rest of the tributes. I didn't mind, neither did any of the other girls by the looks on their faces. He was pretty good looking after all.

When the remaining members finally joined us, Stockley started the discussion. I followed the idea of a few other kids and sat down on the ground. It looked like we were going to be there for a while. I wondered how long it would be though before our escorts started looking for us. I couldn't imagine Piece would like that we were conspiring with the other tributes.

Nobody had much to bring to the table. The brainstorming session was a bust. At one point a girl, Avia, from Six, suggested that we all just kill each other then to avoid the bloodbath that waited for us. That option was immediately shot down.

After a while, it was getting dark and Ryan and I got up to go back to our house. Pierce was probably passed out in his room. I guessed he really couldn't care less about us after all. On our way through the maze of trees, I felt someone lightly grab hold of my wrist. I stopped and turned to find Stockley.

"Stockley? Is something wrong?" Ryan stopped with me and was watching the light haired boy in front of us.

"Oh, uh, well no. I just wanted to give you my copy of the tribute list. I know the games start tomorrow, but…" He glanced at Ryan. "I don't know. I thought it might help, since your escort didn't give you one."

"Oh, thanks Stockley." He didn't move away. "I'll take a look at it."

"Ok," He hesitated before pivoting in the other direction, back to the rest of the group.

"Weird guy," Ryan commented as we continued on our way.

"I think he's just trying to be friendly."

"Yeah, before he kills us." That fact put brought down my mood. We could die tomorrow, or wind up killing somebody. I wasn't sure which was worse.

When we got back to our house, Pierce was passed out on the couch, drink in hand. I walked over and took it from him, dumping it in the kitchen sink. Ryan ha already gone to his room when I reentered the living room, so I followed him up and knocked on his door. When I heard him respond for me to come in, he was lying on his bed, string out the window.

"Hey."

"Want some company?"

"Yeah, sure." I climbed on the bed with him and propped a pillow up behind me so I could lean against the headboard. The lights were off in the room and, since the sun was going down, there was hardly any light at all streaming through the window.

"Are you scared?" It had been a few minutes since either of us had said anything, so his questions made me jump a little.

"Yeah." Of course I was scared. I was terrified. The next few days would decide our fates, if not the very next day. How would I die? Would it be quick? I hoped so. "You?"

"Yeah."

"I won't let anything happen to you."

"No. We need to watch out for each other." He turned to face me, even though I could hardly make out the features of his face. "If there's no hope for me. If I-If…." He had to clear his throat. "You need to leave me behind."

"Ryan, you know I can't do that. You're my baby brother."

"I just mean, if you can make it out, just do it." I didn't want to talk like that anymore, so I just nodded, closed my eyes and lay my head back against the headboard.

Pierce woke us before dawn, obviously confused that we were both in Ryan's room. I had fallen asleep there. It wasn't strange to us; growing up Ryan would sometimes crawl into my bed if he was having a bad dream, since our dad's door was usually closed and I left mine open just for him. Apparently though, it was strange in the Capitol. Pierce looked a bit scandalized. He continued ordering the Avoxes around, to get us ready for the last days of our lives.

All of the tributes had been given uniforms to wear for the games, leading me to believe that I wouldn't be killed off immediately. I would have to fight for my life. The uniforms were flexible, with a simple black t-shirt, long black pants, matching black boots, and a rain jacket built for chilly weather. I wasn't sure if there was a reason they gave us these specific clothes to serve a purpose, or if the outfit was generic enough to give to boys and girls that whoever was planning this thought it would be good enough.

Our car was waiting for us outside, once again, and I could see a few other tributes sliding into their own. Ryan, Pierce and I got in the car and it pulled away, back towards the center of the city. Eventually it brought us to the City Hall, where a hovercraft was waiting to take us to the arena where we would die.

As Ryan and I walked onto the craft, I saw that there were several other tributes already seated and buckled in. A Capitol official was walking to each of them and sticking a needle into their arms. I over heard that they were injecting trackers into them. I wasn't sure why they would need to track us if we were going to essentially being in a cage and would be dead in a few days. Still, I took a seat next to Ryan and held out my arm when the official stood in front of me. He wasn't very gentle when he jabbed the needle in my arm. I figured he was probably happy we would all be dead soon. Did everyone in the Capitol hate the Districts?

After a while, the craft filled up with other tributes, the door closed and I felt the jolt that meant we had taken off. This was it.