Chapter 8: Let The Games Begin!
I tossed and turned all night and ended up only getting a few hours of sleep. By the time I woke up, it was four in the afternoon. It took an hour to prepare,
and an hour to arrive in the arena. I took my last real shower of my life as I felt the warm water hugging me. I got out than stepped on the mat which blow
dried me, then put on the required black tee, black cargo pants, and black boots. I, Ada, Maia, Lucretia, and Siria went to the roof of the living quarters to get
on the aircraft. Siria hugged us and wished us good luck, patted us on the backs, then let us go. Before she left she had told us one more thing, "REMEMBER:
Cornucopia equals no no!" She tried to give us her best smile, coughed a few times then waved good bye. The rest of us got on the plane, of course being the
last tributes and we took off.
Lucretia and Maia held me and Ada's hand for a little bit when a lady in a chrome colored jacket came and asked us for our wrist. I and Ada both stuck ours out,
yet to find out that she got a thick needle and put it in. We both winced and she informed us that it was our tracker. "Will it come out after the games?" She
shrugged and continued on. I rested my head on the somewhat cushioned chairs and caught up on some of my sleep. Lucretia shook me and aid that we had
arrived underground the arena. We walked out of the aircraft as a couple of peacekeepers guided us to the preparation room. When we arrived it was exactly
5:58 pm, exactly 2 minutes before the games began. Lucretia had put me in a coat, hoping to get some information on the arena, but the Capitol is always
pulling tricks.
I knew for a fact that it wasn't a tundra or something of that sort, since they would've provided a hat. '20 seconds' a voice over the intercom said and I and
Lucretia hugged for the last time. "Win the games Beetee." I shrugged then walked into the glass pillar even though I had some time. '10 seconds' I waved at
Lucretia and the platform started to rise. It took about five seconds before I really saw some "real" sunlight. It was blindingly bright as I raised my hand over
my eyes to create some shade. All I saw was a golden cornucopia, other tributes, a clock, and red clay. A canyon. Narrow clay paths led us to the circle with the
cornucopia on it. I looked around for Ada to see her five tributes away. I was next to the girl from 9 and the boy from 4. '60…59…58…' the countdown had
begun. I got in my running position and waited for the gong to go off, when I heard a large explosion. Someone got off the pedestal early and I couldn't see
any remains of him/her, a cannon went off. '10…9…8…' I took a huge gulp as I was about to deceive Siria's rules, the gong than went off.
I basically ran for my life grabbing a thing of spears, I was surprised no one took it but I spoke to soon. Someone took the sheath right off my back and ran
away. I looked for a new resort but I didn't have time. I ran away without thinking twice. The only way down into the valley was a stair case type thing and the
careers already owned it. I made a run for it then passed them. The girl from 2 then spotted me than threw a spear. I jumped off the stairs, at most twenty feet
off the ground. I didn't feel anything; I must have been in such an adrenaline rush. I ran through the large vast canyons hoping to find a small unnoticeable
cave. I was going to run for the rest of the day, until I found a cave far enough away. 'Boom…Boom…Boom…..Boom…Boom…..Boom…..' four more cannons after
that went off, then one more.
I didn't think about the deaths of the innocent children, I just ran. I don't have a lot of stamina, what was I thinking? Running way for the rest of the night? I
rested for ten minutes then went for a light jog. It was about 7:00 now and the sun was starting to set. I knew that the heavy jackets were used to protect us
from the below freezing nights. Lucky for me I found a tiny cave that was about 20 sq. feet. I went to the deepest part of the cave when I heard one more
cannon, I shook my head then I rested my head on a rock. That's when I heard the anthem. I came out of the small cave to look at the fallen. I raised my
glasses and to my surprise the first face I saw was Ada's. I couldn't believe it. By the time the death portraits were finished I was still trying to process. These
are the fallen: Ada, male and female from five, female from 6, male from 7, male and female from 8, male and female from 9, male from 10, female from 11, and
male and female from 12. There were eleven of us left.
As I finished processing Ada's death, I closed my eyes and drifted into a sleep.