Scarred | The Hunger Games

14.

I watched as the kids rose up on their platform chambers into rubble. It was a ruined city arena. There were gasps across the mentor's lounge, surprise taking over all of us.

During the leadup to the kids' games, I watched a few of the older Hunger Games to understand more, considering I had stayed away from the Hunger Games most of my life. Most of the arenas in the past were very survival based, going to the very primitive versions of humans. Natural settings, deserts, forests, snowy lands.

Seneca Crane loved being different, starting with my games, the underwater arena, and now, with his second games as head Gamemaker, a ruined city. Considering how my games last year were so short, I believe he wanted to drag out a longer game since the Hunger Games usually lasted days, even weeks. 

As the countdown reached zero, the kids from Twelve ran off towards rubble to hide in, whereas Ledger quickly ran towards the Cornucopia. The anxiety in me lifted off remembering how I ran- swam into the Cornucopia as well.

Ledger grabbed a bag before taking off to follow Twelve. The trio hide within a structure composed of random walls that collapsed onto each other. They waited until the heard the end of the bloodbath, the cannons. 8 dead.

I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding. All the mentors watched anxiously in the mentor's lounge, eyes focused on the screen that followed their tribute.

Haymitch watched with lazy eyes, drink in hand, and he had already sank into a couch. I'm not sure he even processed that his tributes survived the bloodbath, seeing how he looked like the mentors who's kids did die in the bloodbath.

The kids spent the rest of the day talking quietly and distributing resources from the bag. There was a small bag of dried beef, a sleeping bag and a bottle of water.

"Your tribute still alive?" Jo said, as she looked at my screen. I nodded wordlessly. "Nice. My tribute died in the bloodbath, such an idiot."

I just leaned my head on her shoulder, feeling the weariness of my anxiety catching up with me.

"Hey, go to sleep." Jo nudges.

"No, my kid-"

"I'll watch your kid. I'm already helping watching Finnick's tribute as well, if they're in trouble I'll wake up. Go to sleep doll." She said, practically leading me into my room in the mentor's lounge.

I sigh, "alright, fine."

***

I let out a scream, jolting awake. There was a hand that rested on my upper arm. I scream again, trying to get it off me, the only thought circulating in my mind was that I wasn't alone, that Pearl or Halima was here.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's just me doll. It's just me, Jo." The hands moved to holding my cheeks to face her.

Jo looked mildly concerned, but also not surprised.

"Sorry, I- uh sorry." I whispered.

She shrugged. "Don't worry, all new victors are like this on their first year of mentoring." Jo stayed with me for a moment whilst I brought my breathing back to normal. "Your kid's still alive. So are the tributes from Twelve."

Jo left soon after that, and I dug through my journal to grab my metal, pulling up my sleeve again to draw blood, as if blood wasn't being spilt just outside my room.

The trio was doing alright, keeping away from other tributes but it only made me more nervous that the gamemakers would try get them to move into a closer vicinity with others.

According to Cecelia, Elektra's impulsiveness got her killed during the night, when she had tried to target a kid form Nine, not knowing her district partner was nearby.