Rue's Games

Chapter 24: Games

I wake up on a sofa in the Launch Room.

It isn’t the exact same as last year’s room but it’s still recognisable. I look around for Cinna; my stylist was with me here last year. Cinna isn’t here. Panic fills me. I am alone.

I must have been asleep all night. I know that if they hadn’t drugged us, we wouldn’t have got any sleep last night. Everything seems so long ago. I have a moment of realisation: Snow did not cancel the Games. I am going back. In a few minutes time, I will be in the Arena again.

I find the clothes I am supposed to wear folded on a table. There is a tight thing, like a cat suit. It is blue, with a thick, purple, plastic belt. There is also a pair of rubber soled shoes. Sitting next to the clothes is my token from last year, my little woven necklace. I guess they wouldn’t have let me use a mockingjay pin. It would have just been a reminder of our “bad behaviour”. The thought of the Capitol having to make petty excuses to cover up our episode makes me feel proud of this year’s tribute pool.

I take a shower, as I won’t be able to easily bathe in the Arena. I change into the clothes on the table and fasten my necklace around my neck. I don’t know what to do next. I would like some company. Cinna is probably off being questioned or tortured. Maybe he is already dead. I don’t like to think about it.

I consider smashing everything and breaking everything in the room, generally making a mess of it. Just to be annoying. There’s no point though: The Launch Room won’t be used next year.

So I just sit and wait.

A voice comes through the speakers, telling me to get ready. I mount the plate like I did last year. I feel myself go up. My eyes sting as I see the bright sun. There is water all around me. This is a problem: I can’t swim.

I glance at Finnick, he can swim. Mags probably can too. The majority of us can’t. They have a massive advantage.

The countdown starts. Finnick nods in the direction of land. I move my arms and shake my head to tell him I can’t swim. He points at the purple belt. Will it help me swim?

He goes through the same motions with the other people we are allied with. There are quite a few now. I count them in my head.

One, Finnick. Two, Haymitch. Three, Johanna. Four, Seeder. Five Chaff. Six, Mags. Seven, Beetee. Eight, Wiress. Nine, me. That’s over a quarter of the tributes. With an alliance this big, other people hopefully won’t try to attack us. Some of us, namely me and Mags, aren’t exactly scary, though.

I am thinking this when the gong rings, signalling the beginning of the Games. I hesitate for a second but then force myself into the water, hoping that Finnick knows what he is talking about.

The belts float. My belt keeps me just high enough in the water that I can breathe. I try kicking away from the Cornucopia, towards the land that Finnick wanted me to go to. I see he is already well on his way; a few others are going as slowly as me.

I want to see if the water is drinkable, so I swallow a mouthful. I immediately regret it. It barely tastes like water at all, and it leaves my throat burning. I feel sick, but keep kicking.

Johanna and I reach the land at about the same time. She gets out and retches several times.

“Did you drink some?” I choke.

She nods. Finnick and Mags, who were already on the shore, laugh.

“It’s salt water. You can’t drink it,” he snorts.

While we wait for the others, Finnick shows us what he got from the Cornucopia.

“You swam to the Cornucopia, took part in the Bloodbath, and swam back here in the time it took me to swim here?” mutters Johanna. “How embarrassing.”