The 25th Annual Hunger Games

16 ~ 16-18 Day 1

Gladius smiled. "You will do great. You have two great mentors. Danil and Povie will make sure you stay alive."

I nodded. He helped me get get dressed. It was a plain black jumpsuit with a black rain jacket, that had those reflective strips down the side.

"30 seconds."

The robotic voice spoke.

"Young man, you will survive this. I have seen you train. So good luck. And you nailed those interviews."

I nodded a thanks.

For the first time since saying goodbye to the rest of them, I talked.

"Thank you. Gladius, thank you for everything."

"You're welcome."

"10 seconds."

I stepped onto the plate. The door slid closed. Placing my hands o the glass, the plate rose steadily.

It was dark. Really dark.

Light began to seep in, before my plate stopped completely.

The first thing that came to my mind was how much danger I was immediately in.

The torches light up each side of a door behind me. There were, from I counted, twelve exits.

The main source of light was coming from the top of the Cornucopia, where a gold number 60 flashed.

I noticed Aadi over about 9 plates to my left.

Jilian was directly next to me.

We were on the end.

There is about a 60 metre sprint between us and the Cornucopia.

A small thud rung in the air.

60...

59...

58...

57...

I took in my surroundings.

I couldn't see much except the less valuable things that were further out from the Cornucopia.

The countdown was down to 40.

Aadi signalled for my attention. He nodded straight towards the Cornucopia.

Memories of my childhood, and my parents flashed through my head.

20...

19...

18...

I positioned myself.

If I didn't weight myself, the short fall of the plate could injure me.

Most of my weight was on my back foot.

10... For my friends.

9... For my family.

8... For Tate.

7...

6...

5...

4...

3... My name is Haller Sapot.

2... And I will win.

1... I will survive these games.

Suddenly a bright light exploded from the Cornucopia. Lights lit up around the Cornucopia.

It momentarily phased us. But as soon as I regained my vision, an eruption of chaos began.