Prim's Games

Chapter seven

Cinna wakes me just before dawn, giving me a simple shift to wear. He then takes me to the roof where we wait for the hovercraft. Eventually, it materialises out of thin air. I climb up the ladder and at the top a woman is waiting to put a tracker in my arms.

On board the flight a nice breakfast has been laid out for us, but I can't bring myself to eat. After half an hour the windows black out. They don't want us to see where the arena is. When the hovercraft lands, Cinna and I climb down the ladder in to a tube which leads to the catacombs beneath the arena. My clothes arrive, Cinna doesn't design those, so they are really boring.

We are almost finished changing into my outfit when I pull out the silver locket that Jice gave to me.
"Can I take this into the games?" I ask innocently. Cinna nods in reply. Just then a female voice over the loud speaker announces that it is time to prepare for launch.
"Haymitch told me to give you a message," Cinna explains,"Don't be sucked into the bloodbath. Run, find water."
"Thank you so much, Cinna," I say,"I'll make a bonfire for you."
Cinna smiled.

Suddenly , a glass cylinder is lowering around me. It then begins to rise. When it comes to the open air. I'm in an open space, there is a lake in the distance and a forest. I hear Claudius Templesmith, the announcer, call out,"Ladies and gentlemen, let the 74th annual Hunger Games begin!"

We now must stand on our metal circles till the gong sounds. I inspect the surroundings, then make a decision. I will ignore everything in the cornucopia and sprint into the forest before anyone can catch me. When the gong sounds I do exactly that. The other girl my age, Rue, has the same idea and we run to the same place. Peeta isn't to far behind me. He somehow has grabbed a backpack.

All three of us run the exact same path. There is no use being quiet as all the other tributes are at the bloodbath. Rue stops to climb a tree. I figure that's a good idea so I too stop. Peeta yells at me to keep running but I ignore him and start climbing the tree. Rue smiles at me when I reach the top. Then she looks down at Peeta.

"He won't hurt us will he?" she questions. I shake my head. Peeta slowly commences climbing the tree, but he struggles not to slip and fall to his death. Finally, he climbs to where Rue and I sit.

He eyes Rue, weary that she might kill us at any second.
"I'm not going to kill you." Rue explains.
"Well, it looks like everyone else is." He says, grinning.

How could he smile when we are fighting for our lives? Each to their own, I guess. Rue seems to trust Peeta right away, just as we trust her. She is from District 11, and has had a tough life. They're cruel to their people in District 11, she tells us.
"At least in our district they're not as -" Peeta never finishes his sentence. A knife is thrown from below and lands in his chest.

Rue screams. There are more knives coming from nowhere. Peeta falls out of the tree; dead. Rue and I climb through the trees, escaping the enemy fast. I'm crying and struggling to keep up with Rue.

The games have truly begun.