Against His Odds - A Hunger Games FanFiction

Chapter 10

Iris woke up to the sun shining through the window and into her eyes. She looked around and saw Chad standing in her doorway. "Wake up," he said, "It's time." Iris nodded as he shut the door and locked it to give her some privacy.
     After taking a shower and getting dressed, she walked into the breakfast area to find Presley with two plates of food, each looking as savory as ever. "Good luck," Odis said.  Iris nodded and sat down with Chad at the breakfast table and ate her food. She nibbled at it, though; she didn't have much of an appetite. She was about to go into the Games.
     After eating breakfast, she followed her prep team to the ships where the tributes were launched. Before entering the girl tributes' ship, she turned around to give her prep team one last goodbye. "You are going to do well," Odis said. "You and Chad were my best tributes this year yet," Presley complimented. Iris smiled, waved goodbye, and entered the ship. She found an empty seat next to Heather and sat down. "Thank you for saying all that stuff about me in your interview," Heather said. Iris nodded. "You're welcome," she said. They wouldn't say anything else. After all the girl tributes were on, they walked around and inserted the trackers into them so that they knew where the tributes were and what they were doing. Iris winced as her tracker was placed into her from a long shot in her arm. Then the ships took off and headed for the arena.

     Iris found herself standing in front of her clear capsule, dreading to step into it. She turned around to hear footsteps behind her and saw Tyler walk in. She stared at him nervously. "It's okay," he said in a hushing voice, "You're going to do great." Iris nodded. He helped her get into her tribute outfit. She wore dark grey clothes with yellow lines on the arms and legs of them. It was completed with a heavy, silver coat with a fur lining on the hood of it. "I'm guessing its going to be cold," Tyler joked. Iris smiled for the first time that day.

"One minute until launch," a voice on the intercom said.

     Iris felt comfortable in her coat. "I don't want to go yet," she softly said. Tyler nodded. "I know..." He said.

"45 seconds until launch."

     Tyler reached into his pocket and pulled something out. "Here," he said, holding a silver necklace in his hand. "Your mom sent it in for you to wear as a token." Iris examined it carefully. It was made from pure silver in tiny chains, and for the charm, it had a small circle. Iris knew what it was immediately.
     When Chad and Iris first met, they decided to do some extra work to buy something for themselves. They thought harvesting crops in the wheat field was fun at the moment, and they wanted to have a token of friendship. So they used some extra money they made to buy that silver necklace. The salesman said that the circle represented an infinity bond. Iris felt warmed as Tyler fastened it around her neck.

"10 seconds until launch."

     Iris stepped away and into the capsule. The door suddenly shut behind her, and she whipped around to see Tyler staring at her calmly. "I don't want to go!" She shouted. But her sound was drowned out between the glass, and she could only make out Tyler mouthing the words, "You'll be fine. Good luck." She clenched onto the silver necklace as the capsule began to rise, and she watched as Tyler got lower from her.
     The capsule reached the top. Iris felt a cold, icy wind sting her cheeks. She looked around. She was surrounded by heavy woods, but the ground was white. She was in a snowy taiga biome.
     She looked around. Chad was twenty feet away from her on his capsule. She found Heather and Jonathan across the other side of the Cornucopia, watching them carefully. She had to get to Heather and protect her. She looked at the timer in the middle of the Cornucopia. The time was displayed on the screen.

"15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10..."

     She looked around at everyone else. Everyone seemed to be nervous. She was two hundred meters away from the middle of the Cornucopia, where all the good supplies were. If she could just reach Heather and get something good enough...

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."

     The sound of the gong rang through the area and traveled with the chilly wind. Iris leapt off of her pedestal and ran to the center of the Cornucopia as fast as she could move her legs. She spotted Heather moving towards the center, too. She ran towards her direction. Looking around for supplies, she found herself at the head of the race. She reached the center and picked up a backpack. Looking around, something spotted her eye. She saw a silver spear laying clean on the snow a few meters away from her.
     She ran with all her might. As she neared it, she was tackled to the ground by the girl from District 12. The girl had a belt full of knives. She pulled one out and got ready to stab her, but before she could, Iris punched her face hard, sending the girl in shock. She pushed her off of her and grabbed the spear.
     She spotted Heather running very fast away from another male tribute. She ran to them and thrust her spear through the tribute's side, sending his body to fall limp on the ground. "Thanks," Heather panted. Iris nodded and could see that she had grabbed a sword. Jonathan ran up to them. "Where's Chad?" He asked.
     Iris looked around and saw someone running to them. "Chad?" She asked. She soon realized that it was Francis, one of the Careers. "Go!" She yelled to Heather and Jonathan. Francis had a hammer. He threw it at Iris, but she barely dodged it and it landed in the blood-stained snow. Jonathan picked it up and was ready to throw it, but Francis was gone.
     A familiar cry caused Iris's head to swivel around and see Chad laying on the ground with a stronger tribute on top of him. She ran to help him, but another tribute had already pushed him off and engaged in combat, causing Chad to escape. He ran to them. "Chad!" Iris yelled as he ran to the three. "Come on, we need to go!" Jonathan yelled. Chad nodded and followed Iris, Heather, and Jonathan as they ran through the snow and into the snowy forest surrounding them.
     Iris found herself in the lead of the group, checking back every now and then to make sure everyone was behind her. She estimated that they ran about eight hundred meters away before slowing down to take a break. "What has everyone gotten?" Jonathan asked. "I grabbed a backpack and my trusty old spear," Iris replied. "I grabbed a sword," Heather said. "I got a satchel and a canteen," Chad said. Jonathan held up his hammer. "Hammer," he simply stated. Heather smiled a bit.
     Iris sat down against a tree, the snow cold against her behind. "We should move farther before making camp," Heather suggested. "Good idea," Chad said. They stood back up and began to walk.
     A few minutes later, they came across a frozen stream. "Water!" Chad cried, running up to it. "Be careful, Chad, you never know if it could be poisonous or not," Jonathan said. Chad examined the frozen water for a minute before shrugging. Jonathan walked up and smashed the ice on the sides of it with his hammer, causing more water to flow in it. Chad scooped up the water with the canteen, purified it, and waited a bit before drinking it.

     Night came by quickly. "I'll take first watch," Iris offered. "I'll do it with you," Jonathan said, causing Iris to nod in her approval. Before anyone could rest, though, the Capitol's anthem played, and the sky lit up with the names of the fallen tributes.

Anthony, District 1
Julia, District 5
Ullyses, District 8
Violet, District 8
Natasha, District 9
Al, District 10
Catherine, District 12
Justin, District 12

     Then the images faded from the sky and it became black again, dotted with bright stars. Iris sighed and stared at the stars, fidling with her necklace. She had survived her first night in the Hunger Games.