Ludo greets me underground, as we prepare for the games. I am dressed in a rock brown uniform, with long pants made of a thin, net like material. This is the kind of material that we wear in the summer in two, and I can only guess that means that the arena will be hot. But, the jacket he puts around my shoulders tells a different tale. It's heavy, with a thick, fur like lining. He lowers my tribute token, a piece of stone attached to a necklace, around my neck. This was devised by Ludo and Geni's stylist, who decided we should have matching tokens. Finally, it is time to go, and Ludo hugs me tight to him. "Best of luck," he smiles, and I realize for the first time that I've grown slightly attached to my stylist. I back into the glass tube that will raise me up into the arena, and smile a wide smile, just as I move upward.
My first reaction is gasp. We are at the base of three mountains, each of them snow capped. In the center stands the large golden cornucopia, surrounded by back packs, weapons and tons of food. I take in my surroundings. Jani looks at me, and I wink once, part of the system we've devised. Geni and Hugo both offer smiles, and the two from district four acknowledge. We have a plan to quickly and utterly gut the competition, by taking what we need a destroying the rest. It's was almost impossible to get this planning in, but somehow we managed. A piece of paper dropped here or there, under the eyes of only the mute servants.
I scan the area, and notice a golden spear shining at the head of the cornucopia. I keep my eyes locked, and when the gong echoes, I dash forward, and wrap my hands tightly around the weapon. I slash forward, making contact with the neck of the boy from district twelve. His neck instantly slumps, barely attached. But I have no time to think. Geni's knives land here and there, meeting victims with terrifying accuracy. Hugo has mounted the cornucopia, and stand atop it, out of most of the fighting. No one dares take him on. Lucy, however, is in the center of it all, brandishing two blades with her tiny hands, pulling throats out with motions I assume she uses to gut fish.
After a fairly short amount of time, we have taken the cornucopia, and eight tributes lay dead. The rest have made due with little or nothing.
"I got the kid from eight with a knife, but he kept going." Geni snaps. Her braided hair is frizzy in the heat, and it reminds me more of the girl from home. "He'll die soon. I saw that cut. He doesn't have long." I hardly recognize the deep voice, then remember that the only other boy in the group is Hugo. The kid from four didn't do so well, and a stray knife caught him the chest. Geni reclaims it. "Sorry Lucy." She says, and immediately realizes that she shouldn't apologize for this. It shows weakness.
"its fine." Lucy looks up from her dead comrade, and hands Geni a blade that lodged in the ground. "He would have held us back anyway."
We all stand in shocked silence as we inspect our surroundings. The mountains seem to be equal distance from each other, and rope bridges connect them all at some point. We quickly decide to claim one mountain, the center, and make plans for our climb. Hugo volunteers to carry the food, and we quickly pack all that lays in the cornucopia into six different bags. I take a few more spear heads, and we all begin our ascent.
By the time night falls we are almost halfway to our destination. A vast tunnel system runs between the mountains, and we set up camp. We decide to start a fire in the cave itself, to avoid allowing the smoke to fly into the air. Suddenly, as we all gather around and begin boiling water to drink, a voice echoes down the caves, one that didn't belong to any of us. Hugo and I take up weapons, and Geni wraps a cloth around a stick, before lighting it on fire. I hand the torch off, and Hugo and I rush forward.
At the end of an enclosed tunnel, lies the boy from district eight, his jacket tied tightly around his wound. The girl from his district looks up, tears streaming down her face. The boy is far past death, but it seems the hover craft could not get to him. The girl lurches back in fear, and begins huddling against the back of the tunnel. I swallow my humanity, like I was told, and take a spear head from my belt, tossing it just like I saw Geni do. It makes contact with her eye socket, and the cannons fire. She's gone.
Later into the night, we find out just how many casualties have occurred. In all, twelve have died tonight. A few from falling in their various climbs, most from us. One boy was killed by mutts, bat like creatures that have talons long enough to gut a man inside out. Now that there are only half of us left, the capitol has already begin to play games. The cornucopia, and the area around it have since flooded with toxic water, that stops just below the bridges between the mountains.
Geni and I volunteer for night watch, since we have trouble sleeping. We wake Lucy when necessary, when one of us really needs a break. Tonight, I sit at the mouth of the cave my feet dangling a little over the side of the cliff, just above the water. It has been four days since these games began, and since then, no one else has fallen, and to be honest, we're all a little bit restless. I toss rocks in the water below, as Geni brings me some hot water.
"This is getting ridiculous. They're going to get really angry that no one else has died. I'm shocked they haven't done something crazy yet." I smile at her in the flickering light from our fire, and realize how pretty she still looks, even after days of not showering. I reach across and entwine our fingers. She smiles, and leans in, and our lips meet for a moment. Just then, a little package falls from the sky, a silver parachute guiding its way. It lands in our laps, and we pull it open.
Two knives, both with a large 2 carved in it. I know immediately what they are. Stone cutters blades, these are encrusted with diamond dust, creating a sharp, deadly edge.
That's when the explosions go off.