Katniss
I'm not sure I have slept when Cinna arrives with the dawn. He looks pained, even though I can tell he is trying to hide it."Five minutes."
I nod and he leaves me to wake up Prim."It's time, little duck."
She clings on to me as if she has no intention of releasing me ever again, choking back a sob."It'll be fine,"she says, but I'm not sure who she's trying to reassure."Just stick with Madge and your allies and stay alive. Okay? Just stay alive."
"Course I will,"I tell her. I'm not as confident in whatever Haymitch's plan might be but I can hardly say that."I love you, Prim. You have to be strong, okay? I'll be very cross if I come back to Haymitch complaining."
She laughs a little at that and I kiss her forehead, untangling myself from her hug. Forcing myself not to hesitate, I get out of bed and into the hallway to Cinna.
Cinna, who will help dress me for the Games, accompanies me to the roof. A hovercraft arrives to collect us. The electric current freezes me in place on the ladder until the doctor injects the tracker into my left forearm, just like Prim described. Now they will always be able to locate me in the arena. The hovercraft takes off, and I look out the windows until they black out. Cinna keeps pressing me to eat and, when that fails, to drink.
When we reach the Launch Room at the arena, I shower. Cinna braids my hair down my back and helps me dress over simple undergarments. This year's tribute outfit is a fitted blue jumpsuit, made of very sheer material, that zippers up the front. A six-inch-wide padded belt covered in shiny purple plastic. A pair of nylon shoes with rubber soles.
"What do you think?" I ask, holding the fabric out for Cinna to examine.
He frowns as he rubs the thin stuff between his fingers. "I don't know. It will offer little in the way of protection from cold or water."
"Sun?" I ask, picturing a burning sun over a barren desert.
"Possibly. If it's been treated," he says.
Then we just sit together, holding hands until the voice tells me to prepare for the launch. He walks me over to the circular metal plate and zips up the neck of my jumpsuit securely. "Remember, Katniss," he says, "All you need to do is stay alive."
He kisses my forehead and steps back as the glass cylinder slides down around me.
"Thank you," I say, although he probably can't hear me. I lift my chin, holding my head high the way he always tells me to, and wait for the plate to rise. But it doesn't. And it still doesn't.
I look at Cinna, raising my eyebrows for an explanation. Maybe this is normal. He just gives his head a slight shake, as perplexed as I am. Why are they delaying this?
Suddenly the door behind him bursts open and three Peacekeepers spring into the room. Two pin Cinna's arms behind him and cuff him while the third hits him in the temple with such force he's knocked to his knees. But they keep hitting him with metal-studded gloves, opening gashes on his face and body. I'm screaming my head off, banging on the unyielding glass, trying to reach him. The Peacekeepers ignore me completely as they drag Cinna's limp body from the room. All that's left are the smears of blood on the floor.
Sickened and terrified, I feel the plate begin to rise. I'm still leaning against the glass when the breeze catches my hair and I force myself to straighten up. Just in time, too, because the glass is retreating and I'm standing free in the arena. Something seems to be wrong with my vision. The ground is too bright and shiny and keeps undulating. I squint down at my feet and see that my metal plate is surrounded by blue waves that lap up over my boots. Slowly I raise my eyes and take in the water spreading out in every direction.
My heart is hammering uncontrollably in my chest, it feels like Cinna's name is still stuck in my throat. I can't think. I can't breathe. I can't, I can't, I -
"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!" The voice of Claudius Templesmith, the Hunger Games announcer, hammers my ears, jolts me back into reality. I have less than a minute to get my bearings. Then the gong will sound and the tributes will be free to move off their metal plates. But move where?
I can't think straight. The image of Cinna, beaten and bloody, consumes me. Where is he now? What are they doing to him? Torturing him? Killing him? Turning him into an Avox? Obviously his assault was staged to unhinge me, the same way Darius's presence in my quarters was. And it has unhinged me. All I want to do is collapse on my metal plate. But I can hardly do that after what I just witnessed. I must be strong. I owe it to Cinna, to Prim, to Madge. Most of all, I owe it to Peeta. I have to stay alive to help my sister bring down the Games that killed him.
Where are you? I can still make no sense of my surroundings. Where are you?! I demand an answer from myself and slowly the world comes into focus. Blue water. Pink sky. White-hot sun beating down. All right, there's the Cornucopia, the shining gold metal horn, about forty yards away. At first, it appears to be sitting on a circular island. But on closer examination, I see the thin strips of land radiating from the circle like the spokes on a wheel. I think there are ten to twelve, and they seem equidistant from one another. Between the spokes, all is water. Water and a pair of tributes. I can't see Madge. She must be on the other side of the golden horn.. I have to find her once the Games really begin.
That's it, then. There are twelve spokes, each with two tributes balanced on metal plates between them. The other tribute in my watery wedge is Olive Kentwell, who is staring at me rather than the arena. That is such an odd thing to do that I forget to focus and stare at her in return. The second she realises she has my attention she slowly lifts her hand and pats something just above her heart. I have to squint to make it out but it can only be one thing. Prim's pin.
I promised my sister... I give Olive a nod and she returns it. Then I turn my focus back to what really matters.
When the gong sounds, I don't even hesitate before I dive to my left. It's a longer distance than I'm used to, and navigating the waves takes a little more skill than swimming across my quiet lake at home, but my body seems oddly light and I cut through the water effortlessly. Maybe it's the salt. I pull myself, dripping, onto the land strip and sprint down the sandy stretch for the Cornucopia. I can see no one else converging from my side, although the gold horn blocks a good portion of my view. I don't let the thought of adversaries slow me down, though. I'm thinking like a Career now, and the first thing I want is to get my hands on a weapon. Stay alive.
My eyes instantly home in on a golden bow just in arm's reach and I yank it free.
There's someone behind me. I'm alerted by, I don't know, a soft shift of sand or maybe just a change in the air currents. I pull an arrow from the sheath that's still wedged in the pile and arm my bow as I turn.
Amphitrite, glistening and gorgeous, stands a few yards away, with a trident poised to attack. A net dangles from her other hand. Shee's smiling a little, but the muscles in her upper body are rigid in anticipation. "You can swim, too," she says. "Where did you learn that in District Twelve?"
"We have a big bathtub," I answer.
"You must,"she says. And then,"Down!"
I react without thinking about it, dropping low at the urgency in her voice. The trident goes whizzing over my head and there's a sickening sound of impact as it finds its target. I turn to see one of the girls from Eight collapse.
There's no time to be shocked. I work the sheath of arrows free. "Each take one side?" I say. She nods, and I dart around the pile. About four spokes apart, Diana and Glamour are just reaching land. Either they're slow swimmers or they thought the water might be laced with other dangers, which it might well be. Sometimes it's not good to consider too many scenarios. But now that they're on the sand, they'll be here in a matter of seconds.
"Anything useful?" I hear Amphitrite shout.
I quickly scan the pile on my side and find maces, swords, bows and arrows, tridents, knives, spears, axes, metallic objects I have no name for ... and nothing else.
"Weapons!" I call back. "Nothing but weapons!"
"Same here," she confirms. "Grab what you want and let's go!"
I shoot an arrow at Diana, who's gotten in too close for comfort, but she's expecting it and dives back into the water before it can find its mark. The girl from one follows her, but I manage to sink an arrow into her arm. I sling an extra bow and a second sheath of arrows over my body, slide two long knives and an awl into my belt, and meet up with Amphitrite at the front of the pile.
I want to look for Madge, but there's my ally from Two to think about aswell. She's still on her plate for some reason."I don't think Kentwell can swim,"I tell Amphitrite."You got that while I look for Madge?"
The girl from Four nods."Sure. Get her or drown her?"
I think she might be joking, but I can't be sure."Get her. No drowning allies."
Amphitrite only laughs and launches back into the water. I raise my bow, warding off any attackers from the Cornucopia, but no one seems interested in pursuing us.
Sure enough, Sapphire, Glamour, Diana, Marina, and Jonsa have gathered, their pack formed already, picking over the weapons. A quick survey of the rest of the arena shows that most of the tributes are still trapped on their plates. I move around slowly, keeping the pack aswell as my allies in sight. Where the hell is Madge?
That's when I hear her scream. Covering Amphitrite forgotten, I sprint towards the sound of her voice. I arrive in time to see her pulling a knife from her arm, one of the girls from Five dead at her feet.
"She stabbed me,"Madge says as if in explanation. Whether she's explaining why she screamed, the wound on her arm or why she killed that girl, I couldn't tell. So I just nod."Right. Come on."
We circle back around the Cornucopia to where Olive and Amphitrite are just getting out of the water.
"Let's go,"I yell at them but Olive sprints right by me."One second, Everdeen! I still need my weapons."
"Hey, Madge,"the girl from Four says lightly, as if we just met in school between classes."You have a little -" She gestures to her cheek and Madge raises her hand to wipe off what seems to be blood. She stares at it as if she doesn't quite understand how it got there before hastily wiping it on her jumpsuit."Thanks. Hi, Amphitrite."
Olive comes sprinting back to us, knives clanking on her belt and a bloodied axe in hand. She sees my look and her smile only widens."Never stand between a Kentwell and her weapons. She learned her lesson. Can we go now?"
"Not like it's you we were waiting for,"Amphitrite says and we run away from the Cornucopia.
)o(
tada - the Games are on!