The Selection in the Hunger Games

The Cornucopia - Chapter 18

After dragging myself to my own room, I had completed the day before the Hunger Games. I put on the outfit the girls had made me. They really were amazing. It was heat resistant and had cooling technologies. It was all black, a set of long sleeve shirt and a pant.

I walked into the pod, shutting it behind me. It slowly lifted me up to the platform, to the Hunger Games. This was for my Mom, this was for my Dad, this was for Gerad, this was for Kenna, this was for May. I won't them down.

I had risen to the top, surveying the scene. The Cornucopia was in the center. The arena was rocky this year, there was even a gap of lava around the Cornucopia. This would not be easy. I won't them down, I won't let them down, I thought, looking at the other tributes. I mouthed "Good Luck" to Carter and Marlee, waved to Maxon, and tried to do the same to Aspen but he wouldn't look at me. I couldn't focus on that now. I had to push Aspen out of my mind if I was going to make it back home to May.

"May the 84th Hunger Game begin," A voice announced.

Everyone immediately started sprinting for the goods, Carter included. As an alliance, we had decided to grab as many goods as possible and whoever ran off first, follow them. Not the best plan but no matter what happened, I wanted to protect him and Marlee as much as possible. If I could pick the two who could survive this, I would want it to be them.

I trailed behind Carter, him finding his bag. It had an ax, medical supplies, and some food. I reached for a bag with knives in it when I was violently pushed to the left. The person pounced on me, revealing themselves to be Celeste. I struggled under her weight, attempting to push her off of me.

She shot a punch which I easily dodged, hitting her with my right knuckle as a counter. I utilized those two precious moments of shock to throw her off of me. I grabbed some supplies that had sprawled out on the floor, a tent package and a blowtorch. I sprinted after Carter who was now halfway between the Cornucopia and the largest cave. There were several cave entries, about seven, and he was running towards the fourth one to the left.

We ran the farthest we could into the tunnel, the darkness enveloping us. We could still hear the shouts and groans of the tributes behind us. The Cornucopia was going to be a bloodbath.

We crawled into a tiny enclosure, both of us catching our breaths.

"Where's Marlee?" I asked.

His eyes went wide and before I knew it, he was climbing out of the enclosure.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," I shouted after him. He didn't respond which I took as consent. We climbed out of the hole only to be quieted by shouts right outside the cave.

"I don't think anyone's here." A voice called. Was that Kris? It was much too dark to tell.

"We can camp here for the night. Move out in the morning."

I could recognize that voice anywhere. Aspen. I clung to Carter's hand, us with our backs tightly to the wall. Carter looked at me, questioning why I had spoken to him yet. I shook my head and we pressed against the wall even more heavily, the uneven texture jutting into us.

I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to know what he would do if I did. I carefully went back into the enclosure, grabbed our supplies, and me and Carter gently tiptoed out of the cave.

The Cornucopia was no longer active but blood stained the rock. We stepped over the bodies, both of us not knowing what to say. I had never seen a dead person besides my father. But they looked mauled, destroyed, tortured. I identified one as Tallulah Bell and fought the bile coming up my throat.

"No, no, no!" Carter cried shouts of anguish. He fell to his knees, crying. "No, no, no," he whispered, shaking his head.

I looked down. Marlee.