Elyssa Adverteese, District Three female (16)
The platform rose underneath me and I was lifted into the Arena. My head rose above the ground and I was astonished. I'd never seen anything like it. There wasn't a single building in the Arena. Everywhere I looked there was golden grass. There were parks in Three but when I was in them I could still see the buildings surrounding them. Here there just weren't any buildings. As far as I could see over the tops of the grass there was just more grass. It was open air until the horizon swallowed it up. I couldn't believe how wide and exposed it was. It was like an entirely new world.
The Bloodbath passed in a blur. When the gong sounded I found myself running. I didn't remember picking a direction or even looking where my allies were. It was just as well I didn't. The Careers had planned everything and knew exactly where to go. Logan, Anise and Lanie were all dead before the Bloodbath was over. Tariq found me a few hours later but he had an arrowhead embedded in his ribs and he faded away before the Anthem played.
It was a miracle that Olivier and I found each other. In the tall grass it was impossible to see someone who was more than five feet away. It was almost weirdly like being inside. Or it should have been, anyway. It seemed so close but there was something so different and alien about knowing there was nothing around me but living vegetation. And I could run as far as I wanted and never hit a building or something man-made. I could run for minutes on end and feel nothing but grass tickling my cheeks and the breeze. It made me wish I'd been born in an outer District or could at least have visited one. It must be a beautiful life even if it's hard.
"I'd say it's pretty," Olivier said as we gathered the little grain seeds from the tops of the grass. They didn't taste good but they were edible, so we hadn't starved. "It's nice when the wind blows across the fields. It's like an ocean."
It must be wonderful at night, I thought. I'd never known the stars could look like that. I cried the first time I saw them. I'd never known that color existed- the dark purple-black sheet that stretched on forever dotted with glittering pinpricks. If I ever got out of here I wanted to paint it.
A cannon boomed, sending reverberations through the air. Bambi and I both jumped, the grass rustling around us. We looked at each other with both surprise and dread. We'd expected Olivine would find us and one or both of us would be killed in the fight. I never imagined she would go just like that.
"What do we do?" Olivier asked quietly, his face ashen. In the dim light of evening, his skin tight on his face and his eyes sunken from malnourishment and exhaustion, he looked like a death's-head.
"I guess…" I started. I didn't know what to say any more than he did. I cast around for anything to stall for time. "Let's gather some more grain and discuss it while we eat."
Olivier turned away and reached for more grain. I pulled apart one of the heads, slowly separating each tendril with far more care than necessary. I wanted it to take as long as possible. Out of the corner of my eye I looked over at Olivier. He pushed an arm ahead of him to clear his way and took a step forward. He took another step and-
-the ground opened up. A ring of dirt ten feet across rose up like a can of beans peeled away. Insectoid legs shot out and tangled around him. I saw the look on his face as he fell and was pulled. He was gone in a second, the grass behind him pulled up where he'd grabbed at it and flecked with blood from grass-cuts on his fingers. The dirt closed over him as he disappeared into the pit and I saw a last flash of eight dull flat eyes.
It was like he had never been there. I looked at the spot and saw the faintest divot in the ground outlining the ring the mutt hid under. Past it there was another mark. Oh my god. They're everywhere. They've been here all this time. I looked down and my body went cold. Three inches from my foot there was a curving divot in the dirt.
I was very still as I waited for the hovercraft.