Oliver pulls a jacket over my arms.
"Do I really have to do this?" I whisper.
"I think so," he says, nodding. "But you can do it. I know you can."
"I hope I can," I say.
He gives me a slight hug and then pulls away.
"Good luck," he says.
"Thanks," I say, my stomach twisting. I swear I'm going to throw up.
"10 seconds," a woman's voice says.
I look at Oliver, wondering what to do.
"You need to go in that tube," he explains, pointing behind me. I turn around and stare at a tube that looks very claustrophobic.
"What will happen?" I ask, hoping that the Games won't happen in a small tube.
"It will lift you into the arena," Oliver explains. "You have to go, now. You only have five more seconds."
I hesitate but quickly run into the tube. Just as I enter it, I heard a whooshing noise and I quickly spin around. I'm completely encased in the tube. Oliver smiles reassuringly at me.
"What's going on?" I ask, but by the look on his face I can tell he can't hear me. I'm suddenly rising and Oliver is soon out of sight. I panic and look around, darkness filling my vision. I feel the walls around me. They're cold and I'm still moving up. Light suddenly blinds my eyes and I blink quickly. My vision clears and I look around.
"Ladies and gentlemen," a man's voice says. "Let the first Hunger Games begin!"
A few yards in front of me is a large silver thing. Inside it are knives, swords, a bow and arrow, spears, and backpacks. I hear a countdown from 60 begin, and I'm horribly confused. I look around the arena again and see that all of the other tributes are on pedestals. I look down and see that I am as well. I spot Mike a few tributes away from me and he's already looking at me. I give him a questioning look but he only shrugs. I look at the tribute beside me and recognize her as the girl from District 9. She shrugs and steps off her mine. A deafening boom fills the air. It's so loud that I nearly fall off my pedestal. I catch my balance and feel something warm hit my arm. I look at it and see that blood covers my arm. My mouth drops open and I look at where the District 9 girl had been. Now all that's left are pieces of skin and pools of blood here and there. I feel my breakfast coming up, but I quickly swallow it down. This isn't some April Fool's Day prank. This is real. They want us to kill each other, and already one is dead.
I find Mike again and he's looking at what was the District 9 girl grimly. Another boom sounds, and I quickly look to my left only to have blood hit my face. I quickly swipe it away and look over at an empty pedestal where the District 5 boy had stood. Right in front of his pedestal is what's left of him as well as some sort of liquid. I immediately realize that it is throw-up, and I quickly thank myself for not throwing up. If I had, it would have landed in front of my pedestal and I would be dead. I figure that there are some sort of explosives in front of our mines so that if we step off it there are explosions.
I snap back into focus as I hear the number 10. I have 10 seconds to figure out what I'm supposed to do. 10 seconds to figure out where I will go. 5... 4... I take a quick look at Mike. He's poised and ready to run. 3... 2... I close my eyes. 1. I open my eyes and look around. Everybody is still on their pedestal. Of course, we don't want to jump off. We'd get blown up. Maybe the weapons are supposed to come toward us and we're supposed to throw them at each other?
"Um... you can run now," a man's voice says.
We look hesitantly at one another. The District 2 girl is the only one brave enough. She slowly crouches down and places her foot on the ground. She flinches, waiting for the explosion, but no explosion comes. She hops of her pedestal and jumps onto the ground. Still no explosion. She shrugs. And, at that moment, nearly every tribute dashes off their pedestal. I blink and quickly dash off. I run blindly toward the silver thing in the center. I shakily grab a knife and turn around. I'm suddenly pinned to the large silver thing and a knife is put under my throat. I'm staring into the eyes of the District 2 girl. She blinks and hesitates. I take my chance and kick her in the stomach. She doubles over and I quickly run away toward the forest. Branches whip across my face and I can feel blood running down my cheek, but I keep on running.
I'm suddenly on the ground, someone laying on top of me. I roll over and smash them hard into the ground, then I stand up and get my knife ready to throw.
"Wait!" the boy shouts.
I look into his face and put my knife down.
"Don't do that!" I exclaim, breathing heavily. "I nearly killed you!"
"We're still allies, right?" the boy, Mike, asks.
"Of course," I say. "We have to run! There's still tributes chasing after us!"
We dash through the forest. I see that Mike has a spear in his hand. I wonder if he can actually use it. I hear footsteps behind us and something slices my leg. I gasp and fall to the ground. I quickly pick up a knife and turn around, but the tribute is already on top of me. It's the District 2 girl again. She takes out a knife and lifts it above her head, ready to plunge it into my chest. She's suddenly tackled off me and my eyes grow large as a spear goes through her stomach. She gasp and blood runs out of her mouth, then she goes faint. I stare at Mike. He stumbles backward into a tree.
"How could I do that?" he whispers. "How could I have killed her?"
"Mike? We've got to go," I whisper. She had almost killed me. I had been ready to kill her. In minutes twenty-four kids have been turned into murderers.