I am woken in the morning by knocking at my door. "Time for breakfast!" Velora's shrieking voice pierces into my skull. I groan in response and roll to my side before slowly sitting up on the edge of the bed. I have a slight headache, most likely because of the alcohol I drank last night with Haymitch.
I dress as simply as I can and head down to the dining room for breakfast. I load my plate and sit across from Haymitch, who is surprisingly already eating breakfast. I decided that I am going to eat as much as I possibly can since I am going into the arena today.
Haymitch keeps glancing up at me, and I just smile at him. No one is saying much, not even Velora. Sky pushes his food around in silence. I am about halfway through my food when I feel a tap on my foot under the table. I look up to see Haymitch's eyes staring at me. He just smiles at me and then opens his mouth to speak.
"When the gong sounds, get away from the fighting. You won't make it through the bloodbath." He starts, looking at me and glancing toward Sky. "First order of business, find water."
"Right." I nod.
"Do your best to stay away from the other tributes. Find your allies," he looks at me, "and get away from everyone. Hide out as much as possible. Be non-confrontational."
Sky and I both nod and the table goes quiet again. I think about my family. Birch and my mother are probably freaking out this morning. The Everdeen's are too, surely. I spin my raven ring around my finger and think of my only friend. Then I look up at Haymitch. Okay, not my ONLY friend. What are they going to do if I die in there?
Once we finish eating, Velora stands and tells us that it is time. They take us separately. I hug Sky, "I'll see you in there." I tell him.
"See ya." He gives me a small smile before following Velora to the elevator that will take them to the roof where the hovercraft will collect Sky.
I watch them leave before Haymitch grabs me by the arms and turns me toward him. "Be smart."
"I'll do my best." I give a nervous laugh.
"You have to do better than your best. You have to be the one to make it." His eyes are wide, like he is begging.
"I am smart. I have fed my family for years. I can do this, Haymitch." I tell him, and myself.
"I know you can. Get away from anything you can't handle. Be quick and quiet. Keep a low profile." He tells me.
"I will." I sigh. "Remember your promise that you'll give Birch a job."
"I won't have to." He says, like he is reminding me.
"But if you do!" My hands go to his arms, and I shake him slightly.
"I'll make sure she eats." He quickly wraps his arms around me and pulls me to his chest, hugging me tightly. "Tell me your list."
"My list?" I ask as I lean against him, savoring possibly the last bit of comfort I may feel in my life.
"Your list of reasons to survive."
"My mom, Birch, my grandmother," I inhale deeply, "and Haymitch."
"Good." He squeezes me tight for a moment before pulling away and holding me at arm's length. "You are going to be on the train home with me." He says, like its fact.
"I am." I nod.
The elevator doors open, and Velora comes into view. "It's time, dearie." She says quietly.
I nod, giving one last long look at Haymitch. His hands drop from my arms, and I follow Velora to the elevator. Velora hits the button for the roof and the doors start to close.
"See ya later, Haymitch." I give him a half smile.
"See ya later, Darling." He has a drink in his hand already. I laugh to myself at the thought that this drunkard is the only thing standing between me and death.
The elevator doors open again on the roof. Velora walks me over to where a hovercraft has its ladder dropped down. She stops me before I can grab hold of the ladder. "It has been my immense pleasure to be your escort." She says to me, tears in her eyes.
"Thank you for all your hard work, Velora." I tell her.
Her arms wrap around me quickly and then just as quickly she releases me. "You'd better get going." She sniffles slightly.
I nod and turn to grab the ladder. An electric current freezes me to the ladder. My body feels rigid, and I can't move. I am pulled up into the hovercraft and a person walks over to me and holds a very large needle in front of my face. "This is your tracker." They then stick the needle into my arm and push down the plunger. Once the needle is pulled out, the current vanishes, and I collapse to the ground. I am pulled up and put into a seat. "It will be a couple hours before we arrive." They say, then leave me.
~oOo~
Once we land, I am led into a tunnel and finally through a door. Inside the small room is a table, chairs and the tube that will lift me into the arena. The door shuts behind me and I look around the room. There are a couple loaves of bread and some different sauces to dip them in. I do my best to eat something since I will be having to find my own food very soon.
The door opens and Clio walks in, a bag in her arms. "Good morning." She says kindly.
"Good morning. Is that what I'm wearing?" I ask her.
"It is." She nods. "Let's get you dressed."
She helps me dress and talks about how light the fabric is. "I would expect a slightly warmer climate, but not so warm to not have to worry about cold nights."
The cargo pants and jacket are a dark green and tan camouflage. The T-shirt is plain tan, as well as the boots. Clio pulls my hair back into a braid. "I made it as tight as I could. Hopefully it will stay in for a few days, so you won't have to worry about it."
I smile at her. "Thank you."
She returns my smile. She seems very subdued today. Sending kids to their deaths must not be as exciting as they make it out to be. "Remember what you learned in training and what Haymitch has told you."
"I will." I nod and exhale a sigh.
A voice sounds overhead, "Launching in two minutes."
"Here, eat a little more." Clio hands me a few pieces of the bread from the table and a sauce. I eat what she gives me before the voice is back, telling me it is time to step into the tube.
"You can do it." Clio tells me once I am in the tube and facing her. I nod and the tube closes around me. My heart speeds up and I look around frantically until my eyes fall on Clio. She is using her hands to accentuate taking a deep breath. I do as she wants, and I feel myself calming.
The platform starts to rise, and I stare at Clio's calm eyes for as long as I can before I am in a dark shaft. I feel myself begin to hyperventilate just before I am thrust into blinding sunlight.
My platform comes to a halt, and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust. Once they do, I look around me. The arena seems to be split into four distinct areas. To my right, I see a beautiful, picturesque, flowering meadow. In front of me, behind the cornucopia, there is a large grassy field leading up to towering mountains. I look behind me and see a large marshy area with large trees dotting the wet soil. I look to my left and let out a sigh of relief. It's a pine forest. I know forest areas and the plants and animals that reside there. That will be my best bet. There also appears to be a slow-moving river that runs in a circle around the arena. Water shouldn't be an issue unless its poisoned by something.
The voice of Claudius Templesmith booms through the arena, "Welcome to the Sixtieth Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
A clock on the cornucopia starts to count down from sixty. Sixty seconds to decide on a course of action. I am on the edge of the circle of tributes, closest to the forest, thankfully. I glance around, looking for Sky or the kids from Seven. I see Ivy and shoot my eyes toward the forest area. She nods and points to Barker, then takes a stance, ready to run. I make the same gesture to him, and he nods.
Thirty seconds on the clock. I look over the patch of grass between me and the cornucopia. There is a backpack not too far in front of me. I could grab it and then run toward the trees. Inside the mouth of the cornucopia are an assortment of weapons. My eyes land on a glimmering bow and the matching quiver of arrows. I bet those are there because of me.
TEN. There would be no way for me to make it to the cornucopia to grab the bow, let alone search for a pack of knives.
NINE. I really hope the kids from Seven make it to the woods.
EIGHT. And Sky, too.
SEVEN. I sink into a lower stance, readying to run.
SIX. I feel my heart pounding in my head.
FIVE. It's in my fingertips, too.
FOUR. My feet move on the platform, and I find the best position to start from.
THREE. My eyes are glued to the backpack.
TWO. I take a deep breath.
ONE. The gong sounds and I begin to sprint. It is a quick trip over to my backpack. I quickly slip it onto my back and notice another, smaller bag to my right.
I make the split-second decision to take the five running steps over to the back and hoist it onto my shoulder as well, before I finally look up at the carnage around me.
Tributes are already making it to the cornucopia, which means they are way too close to me. There are Careers running around, their long blades already dripping with red. I stare for a moment before coming to my senses and I turn around to run toward the trees.
I run just past where I picked up my backpack and I feel a weight crash into me, throwing me to the ground. The girl from One is holding me down, a nasty sneer on her face.
"Hey, Twelve." She purrs. "I'm gonna kill you. We'll show them what that Ten of yours really means."
I wait for her to bring her arm that is holding a throwing knife over her head. I feel a thud next to my hip that snaps me out of my fear. I bring my knee up while she is off balance and she teeters just enough for me to rotate my hips, and now she is on her back next to me. I scramble up and see that she has dropped the knife and her hands are flailing around in the grass around her searching for it.
I spot the glittering metal in the grass next to the pack that must have fallen beside me. I grab the knife and quickly flick my wrist, burying the knife in her throat. I don't wait long before retrieving my knife from her still gurgling body and grab the hard, black pack that she dropped and run off into the forest.
I am in the forest and keep running. The sounds of battle and screams fade, and I keep running. I eventually come to the river I saw from the platform. I stop and listen around me. It seems quiet, but just to be safe, I slowly step into the languidly moving river. The water is cold as it touches my ankles and I make my way across the shallow river.
I jog a little bit out of sight from the river and take a seat on a fallen log. I pull out my bags and look at what I have, to gauge if it was worth my near death.
The big backpack that I grabbed is bright green. Could be worse, it could be orange. I decide that I will head back to the river and cover it in some mud to dull the color. There are little strap loops around the sides of the bag, and I realize that they are for holding knives. If only I had some throwing knives. Inside the bag I find an empty canteen, and some iodine for purifying water. I also find a tightly packed sleeping bag. That will come in handy. There are a couple nutrition bars in the pack and some dried fruit.
In the smaller bag, there are two rocks, some shredded paper, and even a bottle of ethyl alcohol. A fire-starting kit! Flint, kindling and flammable liquid. That alcohol will be better used as antiseptic. I put the alcohol into my big bag, and I slip the small bag into one of the smaller front pockets on my backpack.
I then grab the hard case that the girl from One dropped. Don't think about her. I open the Velcro on the case, and it folds open, revealing a whole set of untouched throwing knives. How lucky could I get? I take half of the knives and hide them within pockets in my clothes. Each pocket gets a different knife. I never know how many I'll need to throw at a moment's notice.
Once I am content with how my supplies are stored, I head back toward the river. I am about ten feet from the river when the cannons start firing. I jump at the first loud noise and begin counting. Once they stop, it takes my brain a moment to catch up. Twelve! We are down to half already!
I make it to the river and fill my canteen, dropping in the required amount of iodine to purify the water. I hook its strap around my torso before squatting next to the river and scooping up the mud to cover my pack with. Once the pack is dulled to my satisfaction, I rub my hands in the water to rinse away the mud.
I go back to the log I had sat on to sort my things and look around. There is another, larger tree that has fallen about forty yards from the log. I go to it and look around and notice that it is sitting over a large hole in the dirt. I take note of its position, vowing to come back.
I wander around, a knife in hand, looking for game or for plants to eat. I find plenty of edible greens and gather some. I even find some sweet peas growing in a small bushy area. When it starts to get dark, I take my findings and return to the large fallen tree.
I pull out my sleeping bag and position it under the tree, in the hole. The hole is easily deep enough for me to crawl into and have enough room to move around while laying down. I lay on my side, eating the greens I found and half of a nutrition bar. I drink my fill of water, since it can be easily replenished in the morning.
Once the daylight is gone, the anthem begins to play. I have a perfect view of seal of Panem from my little hidey hole. The first person to be seen is the girl from One. I killed her. She was my first. The next person it shows is the boy from Four, meaning the rest of the Careers are still alive. From there, it shows the boy from Five, both from Six, both from Eight, the girl from Nine, both from Ten, and both from Eleven.
The anthem plays out into silence, and I think about who's left. The boy from One. Both from Two. Both from Three. The girl from Four. The girl from Five. Allies from Seven. The boy from Nine. Sky and I from Twelve.
This just got a lot harder.
I burrow into my sleeping bag so I can sleep. I am surrounded by the sounds of the forest, and I am comforted by that. I think of my mother and Birch sitting at home, watching me almost die on day one. Watching me become a murderer instead. Then I think of Sky. Where is he? Is he safe? Was he hurt during the bloodbath? I hope he ran away. The same with the kids from Seven.
Then I look at my ring and think of the Everdeens. Is Forest proud of me? Or is he disgusted by the fact that I am a murderer now? I begin crying at the thought. How can anyone want to be around me ever again? I am a killer now. I have a girl's blood on my hands. A girl who will never go home to see her family, because I killed her. I can still hear the gurgling sounds she made as I gathered my things and ran from her. No one knows what that is like.
No one but Haymitch. He told me what I had to do to survive. The thought of Haymitch calms my rapid, almost hyperventilated breaths. He will still be my friend. Even when my mother and Birch want nothing to do with me because I am a murderer, Haymitch will be there. Because he has killed others, too. He is a kid killer, too, like me.
I am starting to hyperventilate when I hear something. I lift my head to identify the sound and see a parachute floating down toward me. The parachute drops right next to my hole, and I reach my hand out to grab it.
I wipe my eyes on the back of my hands and unhook the parachute from the container it holds and place it beside me. I open the container and find it to be full of a soup that we had in the Capitol. There is a spoon and I go to take a bite. It's still hot!
I smile as I swallow the delicious soup. "Thank you, Haymitch." I must have been smart today. Well, here is proof that at least one person doesn't hate me after killing a girl.
I finish my soup in silence. I didn't expect to go to sleep with a full stomach in the arena. I must have quite a few sponsors.
I pack away the parachute, container and spoon and place the bag next to me before huddling down and closing my eyes. I need to sleep, so I can carry on tomorrow.
I promised Haymitch that I would come home.
School and work are kicking my butt, but I am trying to write this story!
Let me know what you think! I love feedback!