Avena Mayes, 17: District 9 Female
Now I'm in the bathtub, cryin'
Think I'm slowly sinking, bubbles in my eyes
Now, maybe I'm just dreamin'
Now I'm in the sad club, just tryna get a backrub
As the sun fills my bedroom with its morning light, the feeling of dread fills my body. Waking up to face my potential death was never something I wanted to do. The Hunger Games always seemed to be something that could never happen to me, but here I am, about to be shipped off into an arena where not even the next second will be guaranteed. Thinking of all the ways I could go out makes me shudder.
When I get out of bed, I notice that my legs feel extremely heavy. Slowly, I make my way out of my room, sitting down once I get to the dining room table. Demeter, Tiller, Otho, and surprisingly Cannoli, are all already eating breakfast. My plate is already prepared, filled with scrambled eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, and bacon. I try to take a bite out of the eggs, but my hand isn't steady enough. I drop the fork back down on my plate and take a piece of the bacon, barely managing to take a few bites.
"You need to eat some more, Avena," Demeter says.
"I-I can't," I say, voice unsteady.
"You don't know when you'll get to eat again," she says. "Food is almost always scarce in the arena."
As much as I don't want to eat any more, Demeter's right. There is a good chance that I'll be going days without food. If I don't eat now, I'll only starve quicker. I've heard that starving is a painful way to die, and I definitely don't want it to happen to me. I manage to force down a little over half of the food before I've had enough.
"The hovercraft should be here to pick you up soon," Otho says. "You'll be taken to the arena from there along with your mentor. You'll have about twenty minutes to get changed into your arena uniforms and get in your tubes. From there, you'll be lifted up into the arena."
I gulp down a huge breath of air. This is really it. These are my last few moments before I either die or become a victor. I really hope I end up being the former and not the latter.
Tomaz Wellflower, 12: District 5 Male
Day 'n' nite
The lonely stoner seems to free his mind at night
He's all alone, some things will never change
The lonely loner seems to free his mind at night
At, at, at night
We're part of the first batch of tributes to board the hovercrafts. Our hovercraft lands and a trap door at the bottom opens up, letting us in. We all take our seats and strap in. A peacekeeper comes around with a needle to each of us. She gets to me, jabbing the needle into my forearm and injecting something that feels cold. The injection gives a faint blue glow before fading away. I flex my hand to see if I can feel it in my arm, but I can't feel a thing.
"That's your tracker," Ion says.
"So this is how they keep tabs on us in the arena?" I say.
"Yes," Ion says. "Don't try to take it out or the gamemakers will detonate it."
"I had no plans of doing that," I say.
"I know you probably didn't," he says. "I'm just warning you because I've seen it before, and I don't want it to happen to you."
"Okay," I say. "I won't mess with it."
The hovercraft takes off, rising above the Capitol skyline. Soon, we are above the clouds, traveling at who knows how fast. I lean my head against the window, watching as the clouds rush by. As I look down, a very morbid thought comes into my mind. I can't help but wonder if anyone has ever tried to escape at this point. It probably wouldn't be possible to get out when the hovercraft is in flight, but that probably wouldn't stop a tribute that's scared out of their mind from trying to find a way out.
After a few minutes of steady flight, the hovercraft starts descending. The lights on the inside go out and the windows are covered, making the hovercraft pitch black. We're jostled a bit before the engines stop running, meaning we must've landed. The large trapdoor opens, but there isn't enough light pouring in for us to be outside. The peacekeepers come in and escort us out district by district, and since only half of the tributes are on this hovercraft, I'm one of the last people off. A peacekeeper leads Ion and I down a dimly lit hallway and into a small room with a bench, a closet, a mirror, and a tube against the far wall.
"This is the launch room," Ion says. "This'll be your last stop before the arena."
Tyler Lockette, 12: District 7 Male
I just wanna cop some heat
What's that on my feet?
That came out this week
When I walk it squeaks
I stare at myself in the mirror in my arena uniform. It's a dark green hoodie, tan cargo pants, and black boots. The uniforms often give hints to what the arena might be, and I can only assume that it might be a little bit chilly this year. Other than that, anything else could be waiting for me above ground. There's only so much I can infer from such a simple outfit.
"Tyler," Arbor says. "You've been staring at yourself for a while. Are you okay?"
"I mean, I guess I'm about as okay as you could get in this situation," I answer. I take a seat next to him on the bench, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. My leg starts bouncing involuntarily; most likely because of the nerves. I can feel my heart rate rising and my breath starts to become shallow. I move my hand up to my face and feel my cheeks burning. I start trembling all over. I'm on the verge of a panic attack. Arbor rubs my back, trying to calm me down.
"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks. After a few seconds of mulling over how I should respond, it finally comes out.
"I-I really don't know," I say. "I can't tell if I'm okay or not. I could very well be dead in less than thirty minutes. I keep trying to convince myself that this is all just a bad dream, but it's so obvious that this is all reality."
"I understand," Arbor says. "It's a tough pill to swallow, and I'm sorry that I couldn't help you come to terms with that."
"Don't apologize," I say. "It's my own fault. I should've come to terms with it before I even met you."
"I can't let you put the blame on yourself," Arbor says. "If it isn't my fault, then it's no one's fault."
As much as I want to tell Arbor he's wrong, I just can't do it now. I can't have our possible final conversation turn into an argument, even though I'm pretty sure it's impossible to have an argument with Arbor. I lean back against the wall, staring up at the plain white ceiling, letting out a huge breath. I can feel my eyes watering up, but I blink the tears back. I've already cried enough over the past few days. I'm finally able to calm myself down a bit.
"Five minutes until launch," a robotic voice says over the intercom. My focus snaps to the tube against the back wall. The anxiety immediately sets back in, and this time it's much more intense. I turn back to Arbor, making eye contact with him. His eyes soften as he pulls me into a warm embrace. Much like they have before, Arbor's arms protect me from the horror that lie ahead, but when I step into that tube, I won't have that protection to rely on. Even though I have a good alliance, there's only so much Tomaz, Azo, and Isaak can do. I'll have to rely on myself to survive and that starts now.
I pull away from Arbor, standing up and walking over to the tube. I stand in front of it, glaring at it defiantly. I won't let myself be intimidated. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever again.
"Arbor," I call out, voice steeled.
"Yes?" he replies.
"I'm ready."
Callum Selkirk, 18: District 12 Male
Oh, every time I'm walking out
I can hear you telling me to turn around
Fighting for my trust, yeah, you won't back down
Even if we gotta risk it all right now
"One minute until launch," the voice over the intercom says. The tube on the back wall sits there, waiting to take me to a world filled with nothing but death and destruction. I have people in that arena that I need to protect- Avena, Kaven, and even Kaliah, but I don't know if I'll be able to keep all of them safe. The first few minutes of the Hunger Games are always a bloodbath, and there's no way I can keep an eye on all of them amongst the inevitable chaos.
"Tributes, please enter the tubes," the voice says. I slowly step forward to the tube, Jasper following close behind. I stop right in front of it, fear preventing me from moving any closer.
"Tributes, please enter the tubes," the voice says again. This time, my body acts on its own accord and I step into the glass tube. I turn around to face Jasper, who gives me a small smile.
"Good luck, Callum," he says.
"Thank you," I say. After my quick expression of gratitude, the plate under my feet begins to rise. I slowly ascend through the darkness of the vertical tunnel until the ceiling above me, allowing the light of the arena to pour in. The plate stops once it reaches the top of the pedestal above the ground, smoothly locking into place.
My eyes meet the mouth of the shining silver horn that is the Cornucopia. I take a look to my left, seeing Elecc, the boy from District 3, on the pedestal beside me. I turn to the right to see North, the girl from District 6, standing on her pedestal. I can't see any of my allies from my pedestal, which immediately fills me with worry. I can only hope that they're close to each other on the other side.
It's sunny in the arena, but there's a cool breeze blowing through the air. Looking past the pedestals, I see massive trees taller than any building in District 12 surrounding us in every direction. They block the rest of the arena's landscape from my view, but I can detect a general upward slope in most directions.
"Tributes," a male voice booms through the arena. "Welcome to the 72nd Annual Hunger Games."
Umm so yeah, we're finally here. We've made it to the arena. I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I never thought I would get to this point, but here we are. Before all the madness begins, I just want to that all of y'all for sticking with me. This has been a wild ride, and it's only gonna get wilder. So strap in, because it's going to be a rollercoaster ride for all of us and I hope y'all are ready.
Questions:
What do you think the arena is?
How many tributes to you expect to die next chapter?
Who do you think will die?
Alliances:
The Careers-Cyrus, Annese, Alto, Ancatha, Jason, Cece
Team Wholesome-Tomaz, Tyler, Isaak, Azo
Bad Bitch Party + 1-North, Niobe, André
Lesson Learned?-Avena, Kaven, Kaliah, Callum
The 3s-Elecc, Arti
Moody Kids-Cannoli, Eris
Daddy Issues-Alice, Piper
The Lone Loner-Taj
There's also a poll up on my profile so check that out if you want.
The next chapter is the bloodbath!
Until next time,
Ty