Into the Tubes and Countdown
Brielle Storm D1F 18
As soon as I leave the hovercraft, we split away from anyone who might've been near and make our way to the launch room. Justus is in the room, and as soon as I enter, he looks up from the magazine he was reading and narrows his eyes.
"What's wrong? You get to be here with me instead of being with Concord." I snarkily ask him.
"I've heard that you aren't the happiest with the pack; you need to stick together." He tells me while standing up that he's tall, but I'm not scared, I wasn't afraid of my dad, and I'm damn not scared of my own mentor. I instantly wonder how he figured it out. I know I haven't exactly been quiet about my annoyance, but I wouldn't kill my whole alliance of the rip.
"I'm not going to do anything dumb; you left the alliance in the final 6 when you won. I know it's better to stick together." When I say this, there is a visible reaction on his face that goes from skeptical to relieved.
He sits back down and says, "I just want to ensure that you help keep Concord's head on straight; a fractured pack usually leads to an outlier win."
I nod. I get that Justus just wants another district one victor, but I don't understand why he is lecturing me when Concord might legitimately kill another career in the bloodbath. Ugh, I don't bother arguing since it won't change anything. While we wait, the conversation between Justus and I ceases, and we sort of stand in silence. While we wait, I think of home, I wonder how much Meadow has watched the pregames, she was not happy I volunteered, but she understood that people from our district do.
I almost didn't, but with my dad being how he is and me not having any family left, this was the last logical thing. I win, and I can help people around my district; if I lose, aka I die, I escape my dad, and that nightmare ends. I have nothing to lose, making me the most dangerous tribute in the games.
Pascal Clarence D3M 15
When I enter the room, Wiress fiddles with something and smiles when I walk in. It's a bit odd having a mentor who is 2 years older than me, but theoretically, since she won last year, she should be able to offer the freshest advice. She is an odd person, but I trust her, and Bugg really took a liking to Beetee, so it makes sense that she is here with me. We are getting ready, and I ask for a glass of water. The water is on a stand next to Wiress, and she seemingly happily pours me some. I take a deep drink of the lukewarm water and set the glass down to take a seat on the chair near Wiress.
"Pascal, I hear there is talk about you going to the middle? Why is that?" Wiress asks me; it's not a dismissive tone, more curious.
"I've been hinting to the game makers for a wire, I have a great idea, but I just need to be able to get there."
Wiress looks like she thinks for a second, then says, "that's fine, but you have to be careful. People just start swinging when you go in the middle; they don't care how old or harmless you look. Can you defend yourself?"
I take this in, and I wonder if my idea to get my wire is a bad idea. No, my whole game plan has been based on this wire; if I don't get it, I'm doubtful of my and Bugg's odds in the game." I told Bugg to watch my back; if we can get this wire, it sets up our food supply and safety"" I tell her, I'm not convinced it's still the best plan, but I am convinced it's our only plan at this point. She nods, and we continue to sit in silence until we are supposed to go into the tubes, which Wiress tells me leads to the arena.
I don't want to second guess this plan; it is the best course of action; my only hope is that if I fail, I don't take my alliance down with me.
Wren Oakfield D7F 17
Before we left the tribute center, I asked Cristy to bring the book I've been reading to this area to finish it before entering the arena, I know it's silly, but I just wanted to know how it ended. When I open the door, the gravity of the games finally hits me, I don't want to start crying, but I can't help thinking that this is the last book I get to read, the last adventure I get to experience, the last happy ending. I try to clear my head and get back to my book. It's the last two pages, and the family is getting reunited for the stereotypical happy ending. It's cliche, but I love these kinds of books. As I finish the book, I close the book and run my fingers along the book's spine; the smooth texture calms me. As I set my back down, I look at Cristy, who is just silently waiting until I go into the arena.
I'm not a big fan of small talk, so I just wait and go over my arena strategy in my head. I don't have allies which I wasn't opposed to allies; it just didn't go that way, I want to try to grab something near me and run but I don't want to stick around for long; my 7 in training will definitely make me one of the outliers who will be targeted first. Aspen is going alone as well; I know we are from the same district, but I feel like if we allied, he'd run. I was willing to take the risk, but he declined.
Cristy breaks the silence and asks""we have about 5 more minutes. Do you need anything before you go"
I catch my breath and say""maybe just good luck""
Cirsty smiles and squeezes my shoulder and says""good luck, kid"".
I smile and just think of my friends back home. I hope they have been watching. I never got to tell Cal how I felt. It stinks, but maybe before the end of the games, I can somehow talk to him? Not sure. The only way to talk to people outside is to either speak into the cameras while they are on you or win. I guess I am gonna have to do one or another. We shall see.
Bones D10F 12
I don't want to go into the room but the mean people wearing white point out what I learned called "gun" and I guess I'm not supposed to mess with these people. Eh. I go into this room, and I am told I don't have very long before we have to participate in these games. I'm kinda getting a hold of these games; we fight until everyone is dead besides one person.
I think I can win, I can chill by myself and my rat friends but I don't think I've killed anyone; it can't be too different from killing animals, but that's for food, and I don't think people would taste very good.
I start looking around the room, and it's all white and smells weird; it smells like the rest of this place has smelt; I miss my home. I look around, and no one is in here, so I press this button, and someone starts talking to me through the wall. I get excited and ask for meat, the person asks me to clarify, but I just say all. What kind of question is that? All meat is good. I want to look around, but there is a knock at the door. I turn the shiny knob, and a person is there with a plate full of meat; gosh, I love this part. I grab it and slam the door.
I take a seat on this white seat and bounce while I eat. Whoa, this is good stuff. I continue to eat with the funny man who has been here with me, and the other boy comes through the door.""Sorry, I was with Haylo since it's just me"" I look at him and shrug my shoulders;
I'm not quite sure who Haylo is, but I'll take his word for it. All I say in response is""Meat"" as I hold the plate out to him, it's almost empty, but he just shakes his head.
Oh well, more for me. I wonder when I can go in. The man tells me to wai,t but I'm ready tolet'ss get this over with so I can go home and have all the food I want like promised.
Uriah Winter D11M 13
IT'S BEAUTIFUL when I come into this room; it's all-white like the piano I used to playback at home. I find myself smiling, and it feels good. It's hard for everyone to stay hopeful during a time like this, but I have t; if I don't I'm as good as dead. I smile when I see Seeder, she has always been able to cheer me up, and Amira seems to like Chaff, which is odd because he is odd. It's not because he has one arm. It's just he's a little too brash for my liking.
I take a seat on the gorgeous couch and drink out of the glass. I know I'll be going in soon, but I'm not very hungry, but I presume water is of utmost importance. As I gulp down the regrettably lukewarm water, I think of my alliance, Annie and Capricorn. I know we didn't score well, but I think we have a chance.
We all decided that the middle should be avoided if we weren't near each other; if we were, we go in together and try to grab things before running out of the cornucopia, a simple plan. Well, simple enough, I suppose.
Seeder looks at me and says""Okay, Uriah, are you ready"" I gulp and nod, as ready as I'll ever be.
I look towards what I assume they call""the tube"". I hear the door open and step in before turning around and seeing the doors close. Seeder tries to give a half-smile and wave before going up; the last thing I see is darkness before going up and getting hit with a cool breeze.
Kolten Gray D12M 18
Philomena, my escort, was with me for all of 5 minutes before leaving, to which I presume she is going to stay with Annie before the games start. I can't believe she wants to spend her time with that nobody; it's okay when I win; I can show her that she chose wrong. I am just standing around, not really doing much until a peacekeeper comes into the room and tells me it's time to go, finally.
I'm not eager to get into the games per see; I am eager to see the bloodbath every year kids die, and some years it's bloodier than others, but regardless it's phenomenal painting material. The blood splattered on weapons, the floor, and other people; it's a masterpiece. As the tubes close and I start to make my way up what only I can presume is the arena, I hold my breath so I can take in the beautiful scenery. I am not betrayed.
The arena is gorgeous, and I can take it into full effect as I open my eyes. There are tall trees all around me, tall as some buildings, there are smaller branches on the trees, but I doubt anyone above 150 lbs could climb them.
60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50
The time is going down, and I continue looking around. The cornucopia is in the middle, obviously, but there is not much room around it. The grass around the cornucopia was normal, but the whole cornucopia was on top of a hill.
49, 48, 47, 46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40
Yea, that's it; the cornucopia is on top of a hill, and all the pedestals are in a circular placement around the cornucopia, and the hill is a steep dropoff of about 10ft. Then there are leaves and grass before we go into the forest.
39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30
To my right is the boy from 4 he looks ready, but something in his eyes tells me he is nervous; to my left is the girl from 8 who is shaking so hard she might actually fall off before the time is up.
29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20
I want to start looking for Mason before the time expires, and I spot him 4 pedestals to my left between the girls from 11 and 12. He locks eyes with me before I see him glance at a bag in front of him and nod; I nod back.
19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10.
I am a bit worried about the placement of some backpacks and weapons; they are so close to some of the pedestals; I figured with the close proximity of the backpacks and how easy someone can turn around and simply roll or slide down the hill behind them that the bloodbath would be easy to escape. People won't be so enticed to run into the fray.
9, 8, 7, 6, 5,
That's okay as the time starts to tick, I think
4, 3, 2, 1
Big or small this bloodbath will be my masterpiece, and I am going to stand back and watch it all go down.
Hey, y'all, Here is the last chapter before the games, the next chapter will be the games. Hopefully, I described the arena at first well enough, if not I will describe it again in the next chapter. Last chance for anyone to say otherwise but since it was requested the next chapter will be in some 3rd person's pov. Thanks for anyone who is still here and I bet everyone is glad it wasn't months between updates, ok not funny but I am determined (where have I said that before). Anywayssssssss thanks y'all and have a good one.
-Until Next Time