Countdown

The crowd went wild, and the people of the Capitol screamed, applauded and laughed.

As I left my seats I was instantly thrown back to reality, thoughts of my tragic past receding back behind the emotional wall I had formed. I was thrown into a gigantic throng of people. As I was pushed, shoved, and had my hair pulled, I made it to the stage just as the Tributes were escorted out. A plump, brightly colored woman screamed, hitting her friend and pointing at the District 10 Tribute donning a dress with an array of feathers.

" OOOOOOOOH! Venia!" The plump woman bellowed. " That dress was beautiful. Feathers just MUST be at my birthday party!"

Shaking my head at the shallowness of the situation, I made my way into the crowded streets. Then, my car drove me home. I had to get some sleep, tomorrow was the big day. My Head Gamemaker debut. Last year, after the funeral of my wife and daughter, President Snow had come to my house, for I had completely severed my emotional connection to the world, and informed me Denmark Crabbleston was retiring and I was to be Head Gamemaker. This was my debut.

I woke up just before sunrise. Jumping into my robe, I walked to the door. I stood there a moment, preparing myself, and then walked out into the cold, dark morning.

I was driven to the Presidential mansion, where the biggest Hovercraft ever made, literally the size of 12 football fields, was waiting. Outside I saw the other Gamemakers awaiting me. I walked right through them, and they silently followed me into the Hovercraft.

" Wait for me!!!" The legendary voice called.

I swiveled around to see a very short, stout, white comb-over man in yellow robes. Claudius Templesmith had made it just in time.

I escorted Claudius to his room, and then made my way to the small elevator. The cramped steel cage rose to the top of the Hovercraft, above the cockpit. It was a large, circular, lavishly comfortable lobby with 360 degrees of windows. A sliver of sunlight escaped the horizon just as we lifted off.

I was amazed, the gorgeous view, so this was the head Gamemaker's penthouse. I ran to a large, plush chair in the center of the room and plopped myself down to watch the landscape roll by.

The Capitol vanished, and mountains extended as far as the eye could see. As we flew by, I could just make out the very first Hunger Games arena, surrounded by mountains that had locked the players in.

The mountains slowly vanished, replaced by lush green vegetation. Yes! There! There it was, the 50th Games arena, I could see the green hill that erupted into a volcano.

The green died off and the land became more hilly. The increasing forests began rising higher on Mountains. And there was District 12, surrounded by that unintimidating gate. The trees dropped off, revealing a barren wasteland. It was like we had fallen off the face of the earth. This was the remains of District 13.

Grass soon returned as we turned Northwest. And yes, there it was, the huge, shimmering blue lake. I believe it used to be called Lake Eerie, but now it was just a part of the games. A pad shot up and I had to enter a code in order to let the Hovercraft through the forcefield.

The craft descended, and I ran out to the elevator, riding it down to the docking bay. All of the Gamemakers and Claudius had boarded a much smaller Hovercraft. I got into this one, and we left the large Craft.

This carried us down to the Cornucopia. Once there, The green grass next to the Cornucopia opened up to reveal a staircase deep in the earth, below the arena.

Claudius was taken with the others under the arena, and the small Hovercraft flew off. I could see many other HoverCrafts, 12, landing just on the edges of the horizon, depositing there Tributes. The final Countdown had begun.

I didn't have much time to do anything, so I just grabbed a piece of plastic from the pile and threw it closer to one of the starting points. I heard the hum, meaning the land mines were activated, and knew time had run out. I sprinted to the stairs and dove down below the earth just as it closed. As the mouth closed behind me, I heard

" Ladies and Gentlemen, Let the 74th Hunger Games BEGIN!!!"