A little short...
Chapter 6 – The Arena
Haymitch stepped through the sliding glass door into the mentor room. He just took his six tributes to the hovercraft that would take them to the arena. He really wanted a drink. He had done really well since the night before the reaping when he promised the kids he wouldn’t touch a drop until after the reaping. Since that day, he’s had maybe a drink or two a day. As soon as all of them were taken to be in the games, he made the decision to stay sober enough to help get them out of the arena and deliver them to District 13.
He walks over to the cubicle designated for district 12 and sat down. He looks at the new console and notices that the two screens from last year had been removed and six new ones are there, one for each tribute. He begins turning them on. Effie joins him and turns on the large jumbo screen on the wall behind the console. Neither speaks as they turn on the equipment to send parachutes and the computer that tracks the sponsor donations. As he leans back in his chair, he hears Effie say “Oh shit!” He’s never heard her cuss. He looks over at her to see her looking up at the jumbo screen. He looks up and repeats what she just said. He knew the arena was going to be much larger than in the past, but what he sees is gigantic and downright scary. Behind him, he can hear other mentors commenting on the arena. They’re just as shocked as he and Effie.
In the center of the arena is the cornucopia. The cornucopia was sitting on a small island in the center of a lake. There were 4 bridges going from the edge of the lake to the cornucopia’s island. Two run north and south and two run east to west. They appear to be made of steel - steel planks and steel cables. Each bridge is about 110 meters long. The beach that circles the lake is 60 meters deep. There is a jungle that is half a mile wide going around the beach. But it’s what’s behind the jungle that shocks the mentors the most. There are 12 different types of ‘zones’. Each one is different and is about 2 miles long. The 12 zones are:
1. A Mountain Range
2. Winter Tundra
3. A Ruined 21st Century City
4. Rain Forest
5. Underground Caves and Tunnels
6. An African Savannah
7. Volcanos
8. Desert
9. Pine Forest
10. A Brick Maze
11. Australian Outback
12. Marshy Swamp
Beyond the zones is another jungle section that is half a mile wide that is surrounded by another beach that is 60 meters in width. Located about a quarter mile away from the beach are the tops of the 72 tubes that will be where the tributes will come up.
Brutus calls all the mentors over to the center of the room. “We should take a closer look at each zone to get a better idea of what our kids are up against.”
“Since there are 12 zones, I say each district takes a zone and share what we discover,” says Gloss. Cash and I will start with the mountain range. We can go clockwise around with Haymitch and Effie doing the marshy swamp.”
“That sounds fair enough.” Finnick replies. “The games start in about 30 minutes. We’ll meet back here in about 10 minutes. Will that be enough time for everyone?”
All the mentors agree and go to their stations to check out each zone. Ten minutes later the mentors meet up again. Gloss and Cashmere begin their observations.
