The First Annual Hunger Games (Book 1)

9. The Games

I don't even try to sleep. I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling for hours. Maybe I drifted off at one point, I can't be sure. The thoughts that run through my head aren't pleasant, they're the polar opposite, I can't stop them. Where did they take Talon? Is he already dead? Are they torturing him?

I decide I shouldn't think about him. I can't go rescue him. My thoughts then drift to the games. They said the arena could be anything; snow, desert, swamp, ocean, who knows. I don't know what to hope for. Trees would be good. I hope it's nowhere cold, it's never cold in 11.

I don't know what to think about the other tributes. No one will know what to do, we've never done this, we've never seen this. Maybe we'll all just not kill each other, show the Capitol that they don't own us. They'd probably just kill us all, but maybe that would be better. Maybe it would be better to die.

I get out of the bed when the sun starts coming in through the window. I take what will be my last shower. It helps a little; the warm water calming my tense muscles. But that ends as soon as I get out.

Inala waits in my room a simple white dress laid out on my bed. She gives me a small smile and helps me into the dress. We eat; me, Inala, Rye, Tullis, Roxen, and his stylist. No one speaks.

Before we leave Rye stands. "Okay, I know the only thing you can think about right now is your nerves, but you have to be smart when you get into the arena. You can't let the fear take over. Think everything through. Find water first, then a shelter if possible.

"I would get away from the other tributes as soon possible. You'll have sixty seconds to take in your surroundings. Within that time you need to decide if it's worth it to get the supplies in the Cornucopia or if it's best to run. Don't step off your pedestal until those sixty seconds are over, the gamemakers said if you do you'll be blown to pieces." She looks back and forth between us. "That's it, I guess."

I stand and hug her, whispering thank you and Roxen does the same after me.

"The best of luck to the both of you."

"Bye."

We are lead to a hovercraft. I strap myself in, Roxen next to me, the other tributes around us. As the engine grows louder he leans over to me.

"I heard what happened last night. I'm sorry," he says it quiet enough so no one else will hear.

"Thanks. And hey," he looks back at me, "good luck."

"You too."

No one talks for the rest of the ride, but we arrive too quickly. They take us off one by one, starting with District 1. When it's my turn Inala leads me through hallways underground. We arrive at a room with an 11 and a stick figure girl on it, I guess they don't care about us enough to have better labels, even though the room we had in the Capitol were top notch.

I follow Inala in and we try to prepare me in every way possible. I get as clean as I can, brushing my teeth so hard they bleed. Inala magically makes my hair straight and then puts it up into a simple ponytail. She then grabs the clothes and helps me into the. A tank top, light jacket, and thin pants. There's also a headscarf that Inala somehow weaves into my hair so it will stay. The shoes have strong soles, good for running.

"Based on these clothes it will be very hot in the day with lots of sun. The gamemakers will have sunscreen in the Cornucopia along with lots of other supplies, I would suggest trying to get some. That is if you can without being killed. The gamemakers expect the most people to die with the first hour."

"Okay." That makes the nerves shoot up about twenty percent.

"Your first priority should be to find water though. Go downhill, water always runs downhill so thats your best bet. Can you move around, is it all comfortable?"

I stretch my arms in all different directions and then run around the room a little. "Yeah, it's good."

She nods. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

The thought of food makes me want to puke. "I could drink some water." She gets me a bottle of water. "Thanks."

"Alright." She presses a button that indicates we're ready to the gamemakers. "Now we wait." She sits down and I do the same next to her.

"I hate waiting." The silence lasts for a few minutes, but my thoughts are anything but silent.

"I heard about last night," Inala says.

I take a deep breath, pushing the tears back. "Does the whole Capitol know?"

"No, Rye told me. I just wanted to tell you--and this might be the opposite of helping--they'll keep him alive. If you make it out of the games you might be able to find him again, but..."

"But what?"

"He might never be the same again, the Capitol will make sure of that."

"And if I make it out of the games, I'll never be the same. The Capitol likes to do that. They take away all the good in people and turn them into monsters and mutts."

A pleasant female voice tells us to get ready to launch and I want to punch whoever it is in the face.

We stand and I hug Inala, thinking this might be the last human contact I have that I'm not hurting someone. "Thank you, for everything."

"Thank you. You tributes have opened my eyes. I'll try to find him, I'll try to look out for him for you."

I let go and step onto the platform. A glass cylinder begins to lower from the ceiling.

"Don't let them change you, Aldera."

And then I can't hear her anymore. I begin to rise and soon I can't see her anymore. It's dark for a few seconds and I compose myself; standing straight and keeping my head high. I won't let them break me.

The sun is bright overhead. I blink a few times as my eyes adjust.

"Ladies and gentleman," I hear an announcer. "The First Hunger Games will begin in sixty seconds."

All the tributes stand on their platforms in a circle around a large cornucopia. Every supply you can imagine is in piles spilling out of the mouth and all around it. The more useful items closer to the opening. On either side of me is a high canyon wall a couple hundred yards from each other. There's no trees, no vegetation, and no water. The ground we're on does slope down though, which is a good sign. The canyon wall and the ground are all made of red rock.

"Thirty seconds."

I decide since I have to run that way to go downhill that I'll try to grab some supplies on the way. And a weapon if I can get one.

"Twenty seconds."

I look around at the tributes. I can see Roxen way on the other side. On my right is the boy from 8 and on my left is the girl from 2. I'm surveying the others when I hear an explosion to my right. The boy from 8 is no longer there, he must have stepped off the pedestal.

"Ten seconds."

I try not to cringe as I think about it.

"Nine. Eight. Seven."

My palms sweat.

"Six. Five. Four."

Here we go.

"Three. Two."

I get into a running stance.

"One."