Chapter 9

I am full, but I still feel completely empty inside.

I am in a room, underneath the arena. Alone. There is a table and clothes, which I hastily change into – a pair of jeans and a dark grey T-shirt. A lightweight jacket. Combat boots. I'm twitching now, my hands sweating like crazy, and I can't zipper the jacket.

"You need help?" a quiet voice says. And then Mabel appears, zippering my jacket. I know she can tell I'm nervous – who wouldn't be – but I try my best to hide it anyway.

I look up at her. Mabel, my trainer, my mentor, my role model. Soon, she'll be my lifesaver.

She suddenly bends down so her eyes are level with mine. "Listen to me, Thyme," she says, her voice stern. "Don't do anything stupid out there, you hear? Just find food, water, and run. Keep running. Don't try to fight anyone unless you know it's an easy win." I notice how she avoids the word kill.

I nod quickly, almost getting dizzy. "And remember," she says, "there are people waiting for you back home, aren't there? Who's waiting for you to come home?"

"My father." My voice quavers slightly but otherwise stays stable.

"You remember your father and know that he'd hate to see his little girl suffer out there," she says, her voice rising. "Go out there and make him proud."

There's a short silence before I whisper, "It wouldn't make him proud to see his daughter a killer."

"One minute," an automated voice announces. My heart catches. In one minute, I might die.

"Do you have a token?" Mabel asks.

I nod and point to my neck, where a beaded necklace is knotted in place. "It's from my dad. He says I'll be strong as long as I wear it."

She grips my arms. "And strong you will be."

"Thirty seconds."

Mabel takes a shaky breath. "Come." She guides me to the capsule where I will be inserted into the arena. I stand outside it, looking at her, when it opens, and I step in. "Twenty seconds."

I take a last pleading glance at Mabel and see fear there. Fear for me. I wonder if she sees it reflected in my eyes.

But then the glass seals, and I'm cut off from her. The few seconds of darkness frightens me, searing my nerves even more.

And then I am in the arena, standing on my little circle of safety. I am surprised at what I see.

My circle is on sand. As I look around at the rest of the tributes, they are all on sand, too. Behind me are woods. In front of me is a lake, and at the center of that lake, on a sandbar far out, is the golden Cornucopia.

Just find food, water, and run, Mabel had said.

For the first time, I find myself wondering what my father is thinking right now. For the first time, I find myself wondering what my mother is thinking right now, and what she'll feel when I die.

Because in just the time of twenty-four hours, I could be long since dead.

I feel myself finger my necklace, feeling the imaginary strength course through me. It's probably just adrenaline.

"Ten," the announcer speaks in a dead voice. I swallow. "Nine."

"Eight." Eight more seconds and I'll be running for my life.

"Seven." I scan around, seeing Kurt a few capsules to my left. He doesn't look at me.

"Six." I see a few faces I recognize – the fierce District Three Girl, the secretive girl from District Seven about ten capsules to my right."

"Five." Five seconds.

"Four." The countdown to the end of my life.

"Three." I will die at a merciless hand.

"Two." I won't let my father see me suffer.

"One."