Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. Sigh.
I am the only one who will ever this launch room. After I win, it will serve as a monument to my victory. Liza helps me into my insolated jacket. It's designed to block out heat and moisture, not the cold, she tells me. Good. I can handle heat and sweat. After all, I do live in District 4. Anyone who can't handle heat and sweat in 4 apparently hasn't been there for long. I just can't stand the cold, though. It feels so weird and unnatural to me.
Water-proof boots are tightly laced up to my knees. The pants are made of tight fitting (like they hug the skin VERY tightly) water proof material, which keeps cool in and heat out. The shirt is made of the same material, but it's not as tightly. I look like a ninja from one of the stories that my mother used to read to me when I look in the mirror. The clothing suggests the arena will be hot and wet. It's either a swamp of a jungle. I'm hoping a swamp, so there will be water to swim in.
Liza clips my necklace on around my neck, because a peacekeeper had taken away from me when I got on the hovercraft. I had tried to lunge at him to get it back, but other peacekeeper held me back. When they made me sit down, I had burst into tears. I got some pretty weird looks from the other tributes, including that extremely rude girl from Five.
We sit in the two chairs provided. Liza hands me a large cup of water. She tells me to drink it all, because I'll need it. By the end, I feel like I'm about to explode. Finnick walks into the room.
"Liza, I think Theon needs your help." She nods. She walks over to me and hugs me.
"Thank you for making me beautiful. I look forward to you doing it again," I say. She nods and runs out of the room. I don't know who Theon is, but I couldn't really care less at the moment.
Finnick takes Liza's chair. "So, princess, let's talk about the arena. In there, the gamemakers will twist your mind until there is nothing but fear left. It's like tracker jacker venom. Ever been stung been one?" He doesn't even wait for my answer. "Good. I hope you never do. I got stung by one in my games. It was horrible." He shivers at the memory. "Anyway, what I was saying is that it's happened before that a tribute has gone insane."
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. I know he's thinking about Annie. Has she really caught his eye? If so, I hope he lets her down easily. I know he never stays with anyone for long, especially in the Capitol. I want to ask, but it seems rude, so I don't. "Here. Drink it." He hands me another cup of water. I groan. What, do they want to make me have to go to the bathroom the second I get in the arena?
"When will I see Marlin again?" I ask.
"Depends on how long your games are. I promise I'll try to get him to come to the Capitol if you win."
"Thanks. And you mean when I win, right?"
"Remember that every single tribute has a chance, even if it's miniscule. And arrogance like yours is a big problem in the arena."
"It's not arrogance, it's confidence. And it's all an act. If I act confident, the Capitol will see the act, not the real me. The real me feels crappy."
"Twenty seconds," a cool female voice emanating from the tube in the corner says. I walk over to the tube, and Finnick follows.
"Okay. Try to make the games as short as you can. Let your conscience slip away. Become brutal. Kill as many as you can in the bloodbath. You're going to have nightmares anyway once you get out." I gulp. Nightmares? Marlin has never said anything about nightmares about the before.
He plants a fatherly kiss on my forehead. "See you in a week or two, mentor dearest," I say, smirking, as I step inside the tube. The doors slides closed. I look up and see darkness. I breathe what will be my last breath of safe air until second place is decided. I am determined that it will not be filled by my broken body, waiting to be sent home in a clean white coffin. The tube starts to rise and I put my hands on the sides to steady myself. I look up again, and see trees this time.
We rise into a swamp. I glance at the two tributes next to me. Caroline from three is on my right, and the snobby girl from five is to my left. I'll have no problem sinking my axe into HER chest. I glance at the cornucopia. There are narrow paths curling through the swamp, all leading to the big pile of weapons. No food. I smirk. Oh, I will laugh about this later. I set my sights on a set of throwing axes. I look down. I can see the bottom. The water is about a foot and a half deep.
I remember that in first grade, we were taught that if the water was deep enough, swim. It takes too long to trudge through knee deep water. I glance at River, who's about five or six pedestals away from me. He's already in diving position. The water must be deeper by him. He glances at me and gives me a look and a small jerk of his head. I know what it means, too. Together, us two will dominate this arena.
The gong sounds and River dives straight into the water. I hop off my pedestal and begin swimming. I get to the cornucopia second, behind River. He already has a sword in hand, waiting for others to get to the island. I grab the axes, then I throw a belt of knives to Maddie, who's a few yards away, and bow and a sheath of arrows to Anna. River throws two spears to Alistair. Oliver trudges up onto the bank of the tiny island that the cornucopia sits on and grabs a mace. "Only weapons," I tell him. He rolls his eyes and I smirk.
I set my sights on the girls from five, who's eyes a few axes in the pile. Those are mine, I think as I go to intercept her. I focus on only her and send my axe flying through the air. It lands with a crunch in her chest. She look down at her chest, and then up at me. She gives me a look of pure loathing, and then her eyes roll into the back of her head. She falls to the ground. I feel sick. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Anna's arrow whizz past me. Judging from the scream, it found its mark. Oliver makes a big deal out of turning the poor kid he's towering over into mush with a giant mace.
I focus on the girl from Eleven, and the axe embeds itself into her skull. She falls immediately. I have vomit in my mouth, but if this is what it takes to get home, I'd do it a hundred more times. I sense a presence behind me, and turn around just as the boy from Eight sink his two-inch blade into my shoulder. I cry out as my axe swings through the air on instinct. He falls to the ground in two pieces. I fall to the ground , retching, as I pull the knife out of my shoulder.
When the bloodbath is over, I stand up. "I got three. The girls from five and eleven, and the boy from eight," I announce. Oliver got three, Maddie and River got two each, and Anna and Alistair got one a piece. Twelve cannons boom. Half the field is gone in less than an hour.
A silver parachute floats down. River grabs it and opens it. He pulls out four drawstring bags and a slip of paper. "For food," the note reads. It's signed, too. From Finnick Odair. God, he's quick. Since there's no food, I decide that since Maddie and I did survival stations, we will each take someone with us into the forest to hunt for food while two others guard.
"Who made you pack leader?" Oliver interjects angrily.
"I did. Does anyone besides Oliver object?" I say sweetly. Nobody does, and I smirk at him. He scowls. "Okay then, Anna and Oliver will guard, and I'll take River with me and Maddie takes Alistair. Don't at anything until we get back. We can double check each other to make sure nothing is poisonous."
River and I fill our two bags in thirty minutes. When we get back to camp, the other four are sitting around a fire with a rabbit roasting on spit. We double check the berries, then pass the bag around. Anna explains that she shot them with her bow when they lazily hopped passed her. Then she says that they found six water bottles at the bottom, with some iodine, and she hands us our bottles.
"All right, I'll guard tonight. Anyone want to help?" I say. Maddie immediately says yes. We finish eating. Anna grabs her bow and an extra sheath of arrows from the pile and waves goodbye to Maddie and I. I kind of feel bad making her the only girl to go hunting, but I'm secretly afraid that Oliver and Alistair might gang up on River and kill him, and I know Anna will stop them from killing them. They walk down the narrow path, single file, out to spill the blood of others.