Daughter of the Games (Sequel to Pregnant in the Games)

Chapter 19: The Arena

Dedicated to NaniRox for completing the survey. 

Also, go check out this awesome person ---------> http://www.wattpad.com/user/AnOceanOfSnowflakes

"Grey, come on, wake up," Ivan begged, gently shaking Grey's shoulder with a tone of desperation. His eyes kept flicking up to check our surroundings. I stood beside them and watched the other tributes. No one seemed concerned with the Games at the moment. Many tributes just laid there taking heavy breaths and vomiting up water. None of us have any weapons, so we can't really slaughter each other anyways. 

For the first time, I had a chance to observe the arena properly. The beach looks like a horseshoe that's floating in water. There's nothing but sand and water except for at the top of the beach, where the arch of the horseshoe is. There, the sand transforms into dark soil and a line of trees appear. However, the trees aren't normal. They're pitch black, as if a fire stormed through. Yet all the pines look as they should, with the exception that they're black instead of green. 

When I looked back, Ivan was hunched over Grey, his hands on her chest. He started doing compressions on her chest. Her skin bordered on translucency. Her lips were tinged purple. She looks... dead. I forced my eyes away, unable to watch Ivan struggle over his sister any longer. Tears stirred beneath my eyes, threatening to come to the surface. After so many years of Grey struggling with her illness, this is how she dies? She's gone through too much to go away like this. I focused my attention outwards towards the end of the beach. After the horseshoe shape ends, there's only water as far as the eye can see. It's as if we're an island. 

I recall a story that my mom told me many years ago. She told me all about Katniss Everdeen's games. For the short amount of time that Katniss was in the 75th Hunger Games, before they called it back, she discovered the force field around the arena. Mom said that her arena probably had it, too, but she didn't notice. If that's the case, then there must be a force field around ours, too. But where is it? How far out can you swim before running into an invisible electric wall, as Peeta did? 

Suddenly, I heard coughing noises. I turned around to see Grey on her side, violently choking up water.  Ivan had his hand on her back. After many moments, the coughing ended, and she laid still with her eyes closed. Color very slowly returned to her cheeks. Ivan scooped her up into a half-sitting position and rested her head on his chest. Ivan gently rocked back and forth, more for his own sake than for Grey's. 

"That hurt," Grey croaked after ten minutes of harsh silence. 

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should've been paying attention. I should've known that the oxygen packs weren't going to last. I just wanted to get us some weapons..." Ivan trailed off. 

"Weapons. What are you talking about? There are no weapons. I looked in the castle. They just had some supplies. Oxygen, rope, and food," I said, then gestured to the two bags of supplies I carried up. 

"There are weapons. You just have to look closer," Ivan whispered. "Did anyone else notice them?" 

"Not that I see," I replied, looking around again. Most of the Tributes had already disappeared into the forest, unsure of any other option. Only one girl remained, sitting with her feet in the water and a rock in her hand. "Everyone seems pretty flustered. They don't know what to do." 

"They're down there. I promise you. The castle has more than one room. I could see weapons floating around in there through a window. I didn't see anyone else in there, either. Everyone was so flustered by the girl dying and the fact that we're underwater that no one bothered to look." 

"We have to go get some before anyone else does. We don't want to be caught defenseless," Grey said. 

I was about to reply when suddenly, the cannons started. One cannon was for the girl who died on the platform. The others that followed were victims of drowning. In total, six cannons went off.