Chapter 11
I must admit, my tribute is pretty.
This is probably the most suspenseful time of my life. The one minute that the tributes are required to stand on the metal plates. Apollo is quietly sipping his water.
"Your leg is shaking," he says.
"Shhh..." Twenty seconds. Fifteen seconds. Ten seconds. Five seconds. And...
There goes the buzzer. And of course, my tribute starts a few seconds later. She sprints as fast as she can to get to the Cornucopia. The tribute lunges forward to pick up some bread, and then sprints another twenty yards to pick up a backpack. The tribute from District 9 grabbed onto the same backpack. The two tributes fight for a moment, but an object sticks the District 9 boy's back. He coughs, and blood splatters over my tributes face.
"Oh my god," Apollo covers his mouth with his hand. I giggle. Blood makes me giddy. Apollo turns to me with a look of horror. "You are a disgusting creature, Hera Mozelle Vasik. You are going to hell."
"You, Apollo Crius Gray, are a pussy. Watch the games." There are always a lot of bloody deaths the first day. All the tributes are getting to know the area and each other's fighting styles and choice weapons. The camera switches to the tributes who have been killed, which so far are the females from Districts 6 and 7 and the males from Districts 7.
"What do Districts Six and Seven produce?" I ask Apollo. He's looking a little less irritable and hungover.
"I think that Six is transportation and Seven is lumber. You think that someone who carries around and chops wood all day would have a better chance of survival," he takes another sip of his water and reclines on the couch. "I can understand transportation, though. The only thing they do there is assemble trains and cars... I think..."
After giving us a look at the pale, bloody, lifeless bodies, one of the cameras go to Apollo's tribute, Thresh. He's running through the woods. He seems to have grabbed some food. No weapons, but he looks strong enough to fight on his own. Another one changes to my tribute, running, and being startled by a rabbit. Wow. Some of the other tributes, including the District 12 male, seem to have made a sort of alliance with each other. Smart. The only thing I don't like about the Hunger Games is that it's kind of hard to focus on each of the tributes. You don't really know what's happening until the night or when there are about six tributes left. But, usually by then, the tribute I bet on is dead.
The cannons start to fire more around the afternoon. Most of the deaths were over at the Cornucopia. Eleven deaths in all. The Gamekeepers don't even bother to fire the cannons until the initial fighting is over, since it's so hard to keep track of everything. As it starts to get darker, the cameras goes back to the other tributes. My tribute is resting in the woods, Thresh is in a field of tall grass somewhere, and the other District 12 tribute is with the rest of the Career pack. The Career packs happen almost every game, but I've only seen it work well once.
Nothing really happens for the rest of the first day except for a small fight with the tributes in the Career pack. The person who seems to be the leader is the tribute from District 2. As night falls, my tribute settles herself in a sleeping bag that was kept in her ugly orange backpack. She's in a tree, which is smart, unless someone shoots her down or she falls.
By this time, Apollo is better, but still in his dressed clothes. During the break, he changes into the others and comes back down. Nothing of importance happens and I recline on the couch, Apollo is asleep on a chair, and like my tribute, I close my eyes and let my muscles relax...
I'm jolted awake by a blood curdling scream. Three members of the Career pack are beating another one of the tributes, and thoroughly enjoying it. Beating her, stabbing her.
"Twelve down, eleven to go!" Cato exclaims, which receives a round of praise and excitement from the other Career tributes. I look to my left, Apollo is watching with a horrified expression. Such a woman. When I look back to the television, the cameras are on my tribute, who happens to be situated within ten yards of the dying girl. I kind of feel bad for her. She was stabbed in the stomach, and stomach wounds are long, agonizing deaths. It must be horrifying for my tribute, having to watch/listen to this... Unless she's a really heavy sleeper, like Apollo. The Career pack members are arguing about the death of the tribute. Friggin' idiots. It takes a few hours to bleed out from a stomach wound. I roll my eyes. I know they can't hear me, but it makes me feel better. They argue about the death of the girl, until District 12 boy finally goes back and stabs the girl in the chest. Oh my. I seriously did not expect this. Well, Bread boy is much more dangerous than I thought he would be. Apollo is staring at the television in disbelief.
"Did he just..." he says, pointing at the picture.
"Eeyup," I say. I need a soda.