Until The Mockingjay Sings

The Arena

It was early morning. We were ushered to some sort of plane in which we were gonna be transported to the arena. In the corner of my eye I could see Peeta. He hadn't spoken to me once during breakfast and now he was just staring at the ceiling. I wanted to be in his brain and see his thoughts. I could hear some of the careers talking about their excitement and strategies.

"I hope they have good weapons." One of them exclaimed. My stomach churned and I felt like I was going to puke.

When we arrived at the facility we were all rushed inside and taken to separate rooms each.

"Wait here until you hear the alarm and then get in the tube." Said the peacekeeper that had taken me to my room. The door closed with a bang and just like that, I was alone. The silence surrounding me was deafening. I turned around to face the tube that the peacekeeper had mentioned, I could feel my heartbeat speeding up. I took a deep breath and began replaying in my head what Haymitch had said to us during breakfast.

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"Listen to me when I say this. The first 10 minutes in the cornucopia will determine the rest of your stay." Peeta was focused on his words, I could see him taking mental notes. "Whatever happens, do not fight anyone, do not start anything, and do NOT be the hero. Most of these kids are gonna die regardless, honestly they're better off going the first day."  There was a sincerity behind his words that made it clear he wasn't joking.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Asked Peeta.

"You run. Stay in the cornucopia for as little as you possibly can. Maybe if there is a pack near you or on your way out, then you can grab it. However, your priority is surviving." A silence washed over the table. The tension could be clearly felt by every person.

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Beep, beep, beep. Please step inside your tube. Beep, beep, beep. Please step inside your tube.  My heart sank down to my butt. I took another deep breath and stepped inside. Immediately the tube moved to enclose me in, all hopes of an escape disappearing in front of my eyes. After a couple of seconds, the tube began rising slowly.

Quickly, like an elevator, the tube arrived to its destination. The sun was bright, much brighter than it had been in the capitol the whole time we had been there, making me wonder about its reality. Everything in me wanted to freak out, however I was a performer, I knew how to hide my nerves and focus. That alone (and the fact that Haymitch had mentioned that I would be blown up by stepping off the platform early) allowed me to process what I was looking at.

In the middle of the arena was the cornucopia. It was fully made out of steel, reflecting brightly in the sun. Inside, there were tons of weapons. There was a bow and arrow that I immediately noticed. I wasn't going to go for it, however, it was good to know that it would be in the arena. While I was looking around, the countdown had already begun. It was now down to five seconds. I quickly looked around and spotted a small backpack to the left. I would run, grab it, and then keep running. 

3...

2...

1...

Immediately I took off. I had one goal and I was focused on it. I was close to the backpack now, mentally and physically preparing myself to reach out and grab it. That's when I heard the first scream.

Subconsciously I stopped dead in my tracks. My head whipping towards the sound. To my surprise, the girl who had screamed was just standing there, seemingly unharmed. I followed her eye sight, regret immediately washing over me. 

There was a younger boy, probably around 15, being held up by his arm by another boy. One of the careers. The career boy was splashed everywhere with blood, his skin not even visible beneath all the red. Fury burnt in his face. He finally released his grip on the boy, his body falling limply on the floor. That's when I realized he was still alive, chocking on his own blood. The career had used a knife to slice through his throat, nearly decapitating him. If you really focused you could hear his gurgling noises. I looked away, the image burnt in my head, and reached down to get the backpack.

BOOM

The cannoned loudly announced the boy's death, setting off a domino effect of screams and more and more cannons. This time I knew better and kept my head facing directly in front of me. Now that I had the backpack in my hands, I forced my legs to move and ran into the forest trying my best to drown out the sounds of death coming from everywhere around me.