Amelia Odair - A Hunger Games Story

5 - Entering the Games

Christie accompanied me into the room with the tube that would transport me into the arena. I shivered but tried my best to collect myself and stay calm. I touched Finnicks and my necklace under my shirt, trying to gain confidence.

"Good luck", Christie said.

She seemed extremely relaxed. Of course she was. She was used to most of the tributes she worked with not returning from the arena. I nodded thankfully anyway and stepped into the tube. I closed immediately behind me.

Suddenly the small platform under my feet within the tube began to move upwards and I was standing on the podium. The light was extremely bright and I had to blink a few times before being able to adjust to it. Then I looked around me. The cornucopia was standing on top of a hill surrounded by a huge marsh area with lots of small lakes, interrupted by small but deep forests. I breathed a sigh of relief. I would at least get around there.

"Let the 72nd Hunger Games begin." The voice of the coordinator made me look to the front again.

"10,9..." I checked the items laying around the Cornucopia. I would grab a rucksack or one of the bags and then run.

"7,6..." I shouldn't let myself be pulled into the bloodbath. This mistake was definitely made by too many.

"5,4..." I prepared myself to run.

"2,1...go!" I immediately jumped off my podium and ran as fast as I could to the next bag I could reach. I grabbed it while running and then ran towards the trees. Suddenly a knife passed by close to my head and landed in the tree in front of me. I turned around. It was the boy from 6. He threw one more knife that missed me only by a few centimetres. He then attacked me with his bare hands but I quickly knocked him out with one hit in the face and then grabbed the knife that was left as well as the other two before running into the forest.

I ran down the hill and suddenly heard steps behind me. I turned around only to see Liam, a sword in his right hand. "We're teammates, have you forgotten?" I nodded. "Let's get out of here."

-*-

We had just reached a small lake when we heard the sound of the canon indicating the number of tributes that had died in the bloodbath. I stopped and counted.

"Eleven", I said when I was finished. "That's a lot."

Liam nodded. "Let's find a shelter for the night."

We found a small spot between the trees with access to the water nearby and sat down. "What have you brought with you?", asked Liam. I showed him the three knifes. Then I took the small bag that was so small that I could attach it to my belt. I opened it and found some dry fruit and nuts. We shared some of it and then closed it again.

Suddenly the sound of the canon came up once again. Short after I heard it a second time. I exchanged a glance with Liam. "A confrontation between multiple tributes", he said what I was thinking.

It became dark short after, and it wasn't before long when the music appeared, and the fallen tributes were shown in the sky. There was Hailey (3), Chris (3), Jade (5), Eleyna (6), Sean (6) (I shivered when I recognised he was the tribute I had fought against), Zora (7), Reid (7), Cole (8), Grace (9), Taylor (11), Oden (11), Meira (12) and Dominic (12).

"Thirteen tributes on the first day", I said. "That's a lot." Liam nodded. "We should go to sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."