We've made it to the next part! Thank you to whoever has stood by the story so far and enjoy the next chapter!

Part II: The Arena

Chapter 7

Blinding light. That's all I see for the first ten seconds in the arena. Then I smell the strong scent of salt. Saltwater. Not artificial, but fresh saltwater. I open my eyes to see deep water surrounding my podium. It's sitting on a small clump of sand in a deep ocean. I suddenly notice a small boat tied to the side of the podium. That's new.

Trapped in an arena, I have never felt that the world has been larger.

I glance around and notice there are islands behind me in the distance. I look over at the other tributes and see that their podiums are far away. They are all looking at something far ahead. The Cornucopia. Focus Annie. They're looking at the cornucopia. It's so far away. I don't think it's ever been this far in any previous game. There is a rope tied to each podium leading through the water to the cornucopia. There are also supply bags and weapons spread out on each one. Of course, the most valuable ones would be closest to the cornucopia. I notice the massive countdown time projected on top of it.

30 seconds left.

I look at the water beneath me. Are there actually bombs underneath? There has to be. Right?

25 seconds.

I know the rules, I know the game, and I know the quickest way for it to be over. All the heartache will be over in twenty-five seconds.

The longest twenty-five seconds of my life.

20.

I clutch the end of my jacket and hold back tears.

15.

I have to do this. Now.

10.

The world seems to be in slow motion as I close my eyes for the last time, shift my feet, and finally step out past the podium. But I'm stopped. There's a resistance keeping me from stepping out. I open my eyes to see a large blue force field, something like a shield keeping me from stepping out into the water to meet my fate.

9.

I push against the shield in desperation, keenly aware of the echoing countdown. It doesn't budge.

8.

"What?!" I cry.

7.

I punch the shield.

6.

I punch it harder and scream in frustration.

5.

"No! This isn't fair!" I pound the force field over and over again, crying no as burning tears come running down my cheeks.

4.

Pound. Scream.

3.

Pound harder. Scream louder. Let people know.

2.

I draw blood on my fist.

1.

My voice cracks, and I pound the shield once more before sinking to my knees on my lonely podium.

0. Let the Hunger Games begin.

I barely notice the flurry of movement of every tribute at once, jumping into the boats intent on getting to the cornucopia, ready to kill anyone in their way. Get supplies, find your allies, and kill the weakest. Survive. That's what the Hunger Games are. I lift my head to watch the bloodbath. Far away at the cornucopia, I see distant figures. Some are finding supplies, some fighting one another, and some are lying on the ground motionless. I look up at the cloudless sky, seeing how bright and pure the sun is. I don't know how the arena was constructed. I don't even know if the sun is real or not. Something that should be constant in every moment I can't trust anymore.

I take a deep breath, then stand up. I'm in the games now. I quickly untie the small boat from the podium and begin rowing toward the islands. My stupid hands are shaking the entire time. I look behind me at the cornucopia. Did I do the right thing? Should I have just gone that way on a suicide run? Why couldn't I jump off? Was it something new added this year? How much thought, consideration, and even strength did it take me to make the decision, only for it to be wasted? For me to finally say goodbye to my parents, Amon, Claire, and Misty, but it wasn't even really goodbye. It's like my emotions have only just now caught up with the truth and are raging at me.

I yell as loud as I can to no one in particular. I always forget that I might be on camera and it makes me stop for a second, but I don't care enough.

"It took everything I had . . ." I cough on the words and scream again. "To make the sacrifice so I wouldn't have to be stuck in these twisted games!" I rip the paddle through the ocean, trying to find catharsis. "And it was worth nothing!" I slam the paddle down on the side of the boat. "Nothing!" A piece breaks off.

"Nothing," I whisper, tears clouding my eyes. I let the paddle fall out of my hand onto the boat and sit there crying, ignoring the other bloodthirsty tributes that might be after me.

I paddle back in numbness, going through the motions of ripping the oar through the water and pulling it up again. Pull back. Lift up. Pull back. Lift up. I don't have much of a plan when I reach the island. I haul the boat onto the shore and storm angrily onto the beach. The heat and humidity have already made me sweat terribly, so I throw my blue jacket off into the discarded boat harder than I need and roll up the pants on my jumpsuit. Thankfully it's sleeveless. I take off my boots and let my feet soak in the warm feeling of the sand. It's a common habit in District 4, so repeated, I almost do it unconsciously. I splash some water on my face and try to take deep breaths.

Here I am, having a day at the beach while tributes are fighting for their lives. What should I do first? I need shelter. No, I need food. No, a weapon. I groan, annoyed at my incompetence. Why does it seem that no matter how much planning I've done with Adrian or Mags, I am still five times more unprepared than anyone else? I should be dead. I should be dead.

"Find a weapon first, Annie," I mumble to myself as I trek through the island. The humidity gets worse the farther in I go. I wipe the constant sweat reappearing on my forehead. The island is dense, like a rainforest, but not all that difficult to get through—even without shoes. There seems to be a variety of flora here. If I can get a sharp leaf and a heavy branch, maybe I can make a spear. Or a knife. That's what Adrian said was the most useful. I find a spiky plant and try to carefully break off a piece that I can use.

Then I hear a noise. I whip around, brandishing my new weapon. My heart races as I search my surroundings for any movement of an animal or person. I fight the urge to call out, knowing that if I stay quiet, whatever it is might miss me.

"Annie?" Adrian whispers.

"Adrian?! Where are you?" I say quietly.

A second later, he appears out of the foliage, wielding a small machete.

"I came to the other side of the island. Where is your boat?" He glances at my leaf. "You can put that down," He says, with no trace of humor in his voice.

"Right, sorry." I lower the leaf, still wary of him. He's another tribute. We should be enemies, trying to kill each other. "My stuff is on the beach right over here." I led him to where I tied the boat on the shoreline.

"Why did you take your jacket and shoes off?"

"I don't know," I say, still in shock because of how much he assumes my trust without asking any more essential questions. We did make an alliance though, after all. "I guess I was a little hot. It's so humid out here."

"I can't figure out why they gave us thick jackets." He admits. I notice he tied his around his waist.

We make it to the beach, and I quickly put my shoes back on.

"We need to hide our boats so people won't know we're here."

"What if we need to make a quick getaway?"

He considers this momentarily, taking on a calculating expression with his arms crossed. "We can't afford to let them see us. This side of the beach is angled right at the Cornucopia. We'll put these away, then analyze the arena, then find shelter . . ." He mumbles to himself.

With the Cornucopia being so far away, I don't think anyone could see us from there, but maybe from the surrounding islands. Everyone is probably still fighting in the bloodbath anyway.

We lug my boat and hide it behind some trees, then take Adrian's and hide it too.

Adrian claps his hands together. "Okay, so we need to talk strategy quickly, then find water." He takes off the backpack he is carrying and I suddenly feel guilty about not contributing anything. He shows me that it has some rope, matches, three pieces of bread, a canteen of water, a small spoon and a cloth. He also grabbed a machete tied to the rope in the water before rowing to an island before people would try to follow him.

"So we have a different situation this year in that the arena is so large. From paddling down here, I found there are eight different islands, and we are on one of the largest ones. I saw you were coming this way because this one was closest, so I tried to follow. Which is perfect because a larger island gives more hiding spaces."

"Won't people flock to the larger ones?"

"No, my guess is that people are going to go to the closest ones, and the tributes that were beside us are not much competition." The know-it-all from District 5 and the nerdy ones from 3. "The problem is that moving around is going to be complicated. We have our boats hidden, but even if we did want to move someone can be easily spotted with nowhere to go." He taps his chin. "We'll stick with what we got on this island. A constant lookout system is crucial. Do you have a weapon, Annie?"

"I was trying to get one of those leaves to use as a knife."

"Here, take this, and I'll use the leaf." He hands me the machete.

"Are you sure?" I take it tentatively.

"I'm not expecting any trouble right now," He says solemnly. I guess that was a yes. "We need to find a source of water. Then find shelter."

"We have the water bottle for now," I say. But it's not much water, not in this heat anyway.

"Yes, and we need to drink only when we are thirsty. No more, no less. It's always worse if they try to save it. Just drink small sips. That's why finding water is so important. Then we look for shelter, hopefully before the night."

We set out to find a source of water on the island, wary of any other tributes. Most of the island is the same sort of terrain with slightly larger trees growing further in. There is a wide variety of plants growing in every color of the rainbow. We spot so many different birds and a few monkeys as we walk. We get distracted by some banana plants and eat a few of them, then put the rest in Adrian's backpack. I offer to take a turn carrying the backpack, but Adrian refuses. In a few hours, we ate one of the slices of bread and drank all the water in the small canteen. We are surrounded by so much salt water but haven't found a source of drinkable water. My throat is so dry it is difficult to swallow. There has to be a source of water so the tributes don't all die in the first few days. Right?

Adrian seems to be fine though. Well, in his level of dehydration. He's so quiet the entire time unless he is explaining an aspect of the game. Plants and fish can be for food. The bloodbath probably won't end in as many deaths because of the distance. Don't start a fire at night and alert other people. He never asks about our conversation on the beach, what happened when the games started, or even how I feel about everything. It's annoying, but it also leaves me in peace. We might make a good team, after all.

Suddenly, we hear the cannons go off. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Then they stop. Adrian and I look at each other. Only seven? There are still 17 tributes left. Are the low deaths because the Cornucopia was so far away?

I follow Adrian as he quickly hurries, still on the search for water. We don't say anything about the few number of tributes dead. After another hour, we still haven't found anything, and all our walking has tired me out. I finally stop following Adrian and rest with my hands on my knees.

Adrian looks back at me, annoyed but probably trying not to make it obvious.

"I'm sorry," I pant. "I'm a little tired, and this isn't really working."

"We have to keep going," He says sternly.

"Adrian, we've walked the entire island by now. I don't think there is anything but the ocean and palm trees."

"There has to be water. There always is."

I lick my lips and try to swallow again.

"We're by the beach," He says. I look at him expectantly.

"And . . .?" I try to ask politely.

"We could take a break and get in the water. If we go quickly," He adds.

"Sounds like a plan," I say, relieved.

We both take off our outer layer of clothing and roll up our sleeves to wade in the water. I splash it all over my face. It feels good but almost makes me want to drink it even more. It's so hot and humid out! I'm beginning to feel dizzy, which cannot be a good sign. I walk further out and suddenly bump into something, but in front of me is nothing but water gently lapping against my legs. As I place my hand against the forcefield, it shows a small imprint of blue against the force. It feels warm, and I can even sense the electricity moving through it.

"Adrian, I think we're at the end of the arena."

"We should go," He mumbles, retreating to the shore. "If we stay here, the game makers might try to get us away from the edge."

We quickly pack our stuff up. He finally begrudgingly lets me take a turn carrying the backpack. I'm starting to feel terrible. A headache and dizziness start to overtake my comprehension. But we have to keep going to find water, I keep telling myself. Adrian doesn't seem too well either, and I notice our pace is significantly slower.

After another few hours of walking, trying to fight my rapidly growing nausea by taking breaks, I notice how the sun is already sinking. Have I been in the games that long? I sigh in relief as the glaring hot sun dissipates beneath the earth. Then I see storm clouds begin to gather overhead. They look unnatural, with a smokey texture and an almost blue color instead of gray.

"Umm, Adrian."

"I see them."

I look at him expectantly. We are in the middle of a million trees.

"We have to find some sort of shelter. If lightning starts . . ."

"I know, Annie. Come on." He starts running. I follow, with newfound energy I didn't realize was possible for me after all day dehydrated.

We both stop for a moment after hearing another cannon. Down to 16. But we resume running right after, not affording to waste time to wonder who it was. After a few minutes of running, Adrian calls my name.

"Annie, I think there is a cave down there." He points to a cutoff of some mossy rocks. Sure enough, I see a dark opening in the rock. What are the odds we would find one so quickly? They must be in our favor.

"Come on." I start racing over to the rocky edge as the clouds get darker and darker. Then the rain starts. We both stop in our tracks. The wonderful, beautiful rain starts pouring down all over our aching and sweaty bodies. I open my mouth to the skies and relish in the sweet droplets. Water never tasted so good.

"This is amazing," Adrian says through gulps of water.

I suddenly remember something. "The canteen." I wipe my mouth, open the backpack, and fill the canteen with fresh rainwater. But I have another idea. I run over to one of the tropical plants with large heart-shaped leaves and break a few off. I try to bend the outside to make it more bowl-shaped. Adrian realizes what I'm doing and starts helping me. We hold our bowls to the sky and fill five of them—spilling one—before the rain slows and eventually stops. The sky clears up, and aside from the rain-kissed world around us, it's almost like nothing ever happened. The whole storm probably only lasted fifteen minutes or less.

"So that's how we get water," I say. Come on Annie, that was obvious. "I wonder how many times a day it'll rain a day." I try to cover up my statement.

"Maybe twice? It seems like they might do one more during the night." It would make sense. "We should examine the cave now."

We both step down the rocky side, careful not to slip on the wet rocks, and see the cave underneath the cliff. We have to move a few rocks out of the way to make it easier to get inside, but the cave is tall enough for us both to stand in. It's hard to tell how far it goes in because the dim light from the sunset only reaches the very edge of the cave. But really, that's all we need.

"Look, the sand's wet farther in. Maybe this cave connects to the beach."

I nod. If only we had a flashlight, that would be something.

We carry the leaves of water into the cave, cautiously setting them up against the edge of the cave to make sure they don't spill over.

"What about food?" I ask Adrian.

"We have the two slices of bread and the bananas, but we can't try to find anything else until morning. Not with such limited lighting."

So we settle down in our large cave with a stash of water and a backpack of bananas and supplies and take turns keeping watch, trying to get whatever little sleep we can for the next thrilling day of the Hunger Games.