The next morning, Milo and I say our goodbyes to Finnick and Minnie before boarding the hovercraft that will bring us to the arena. Minnie, to my surprise, hugs me tightly and gives me a kiss on the cheek.
'I wish you the best, Jude. It has been just such a pleasure to work with you.' When she pulls away there are tears in her eyes. I'm touched that she actually seems to care that we are going to our deaths. Most Capitol people don't seem to understand that. She moves to Milo and Finnick stands in front of me.
'You can win. For all of us, okay?' Finnick hugs me tightly. 'Do what Luke said,' he whispers in my ear. I nod, he gives me a final kiss on the forehead and then they are gone, leaving me and Milo alone. Ladders come down from the hovercraft and we each take hold of one. Once my hand touches it, I can feel some strange force holding me to it. It's not a nice feeling, knowing that I couldn't escape if I tried. Milo catches my eye and smiles. Seems like he isn't mad at me anymore.
On the hovercraft, a pink haired nurse takes my arm and injects something into the upper part. 'Just a tracker, deary. We wouldn't want to lose you in the arena!'
'Oh no we couldn't have that,' I say sarcastically. She doesn't seem to pick up on the tone of my voice and just nods enthusiastically, proceeding to tell me a story about some kid who got lost in one of the Games about 10 years ago and was completely forgotten about. Like I care about that right now.
What feels like hours later, we arrive at our destination and I am brought to the underground room from where I will be lifted directly into the arena. Unfortunately for me, my last few minutes are spent with my vapid stylist, Xavia. She jabbers about absolutely nothing as I dress in my simple attire of a jumpsuit made of light material, and comfortable leather boots, until I find myself wishing I could just get the the arena already so I don't have to listen to her anymore.
Then the time comes for me to step into the elevator tube that will lift me to the arena, whatever that may look like. With a lump in my throat, I climb in. I close my eyes as the tube moves upwards, and don't open them until I feel a breeze ruffling my ponytail. Then I look around me.
Wow.
We tributes are arranged on our platforms in a circle around the glistening cornucopia. Stuffed inside and littered around the cornucopia are essentials for survival in the arena. The Careers have already made their plan; to stick beside the Cornucopia, gather all of the weapons and supplies we can and kill anyone who tries to take anything. This part of the Games is called the bloodbath, because often up to half of the tributes die within the first hour
As the sixty second countdown begins, I look around me properly. The arena is a massive canyon of reddish rock. For at least a mile around there is nothing to be seen but the jutting of cliff faces and a small river running near the cornucopia. In the distance on one side I can see the dark green of a forest. Most of the tributes will probably make for the forest because, here in the centre, there is nowhere to hide.
Ten. I look around me to see where the rest of the careers are.
Nine. I spot Ruby, 4 people to the left of me, her gaze intent on a bow and sheath of arrows that are tucked right in the mouth of the cornucopia.
Eight. Lex is directly to my right, his hands curled into fists.
Seven. On my left is the tiny District 11 girl. I hope she runs, I don't want to have to kill her.
Six. Milo is on the opposite side of the cornucopia to me, shifting his weight from foot to foot, preparing to run. He catches my eye and nods tersely.
Five. The nearest weapon to me is a set of knives about 10 feet away.
Four.
Three. I clench my teeth and prepare to run, my heart pounding.
Two
One.
The gong sounds and I'm off my platform in a split second and running for the knives. I grab for them but before I can grip them another hand swipes them. I look up and it's the District 6 boy, a look of desperation in his eyes. He grasps the handle of one but I swing for him, catching his jaw with my fist and knocking him off-balance. He tips over slightly and then a sword swings out of nowhere and slices into his torso.
'Already need me to come to your rescue, eh Jude?' Lex, the bearer of the sword smirks, then finishes the District 6 boy off by stabbing him through the heart. I flinch and hope Lex doesn't notice how much that bothered me.
'I appreciate your help, my knight in shining armour,' I force myself to reply dryly, picking up the knives. He laughs and runs over to where Ruby is in hand to hand combat with another girl.
I look around. The bloodbath is already well underway, with 5 dead bodies lying around the cornucopia, and several hand-to-hand fights going on. Milo looks like he's fighting a losing battle with the District 12 boy and before I even have time to think, I'm running in his direction. I throw a knife at the boy and it embeds between his shoulderblades. He cries out in pain and drops his weapon, allowing Milo to deal a lethal blow with his sword. Oh God.
I look around and see that the bloodbath seems to be over, Ruby, Lex, Cleo and Milo have all won whatever fights they were in unscathed, and are now picking through the goods littered around. I don't see Mikai, but then I notice him on the ground about a hundred feet away, a spear protruding from his chest. A girl with flaming red hair is darting away from his body, holding another spear. I think she's the District 8 girl. She makes a run for the forest and boy is she fast. Cleo starts to chase her but realizes quickly that she has no chance of catching her, so turns back. I can see about 10 people altogether running in different directions away from the cornucopia, some carrying small amounts of supplies and weapons, some empty handed.
Ruby picks up the bow and arrows, a satisfied expression on her face at finding her favourite weapon. I walk over to her.
'Short bloodbath, huh,' she comments as she pulls an arrow from the sheath. She sends it flying in the direction of a figure running away, and doesn't miss her mark, hitting him dead centre in the chest. He falls immediately. I think it's the 12 year old boy from District 11. 'Dammit I think the rest have gone too far to hit with this.'
'Yeah don't waste the arrows. We'll track them down. There's nowhere to hide in this canyon and that forest looks pretty small.'
'It does look small. If they all try to hide in there they'll start fighting with each other. Less work for us!' Lex adds.
'Less fun, more like,' grumbles Cleo as she picks up a huge mace. 'I want to get that bitch who took out Mikai.' There's a dark glint in her eye as she swings the brutal weapon around, testing its weight. She seems to be enjoying this way too much. She is the last person I am going to trust.
Ruby nods, 'You can have her Cleo.' She catches my eye and winks. 'If you can catch her that is.' Lex laughs loudly, earning himself a glare from Cleo.
We begin to pick through the supplies, seeing what's available. We all pause as the cannons start to go off. There are nine blasts.
Fifteen tributes left.
