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THE DAY HAD FINALLY COME. Avalon had never felt this much anxiety in her entire life. It was slowly flooding over her as she stood in the middle of an empty room. She and Oliver had a small conversation the previous night, seeing as they both couldn't sleep. Oliver was sitting in the living room, so Avalon approached him and they talked until it was almost 3 in the morning. Not ideal, since the Games would start a few hours after, but it was comforting nonetheless.
Xanth entered the room, shaking Avalon from her thoughts. He approached the girl, handing her the outfit she was to wear into the Games. "Wetsuit," he said simply. "Which is good, I guess, since you basically live in the water over in District 4." Avalon nodded, changing into the wetsuit, and Xanth then quickly tied her hair up and out of her face.
"Thank you," Avalon said. "For everything." Xanth shook his head, hugging the girl."Thank me when you come back," he advised, but Avalon pulled away, shaking her head.
"I'm not coming back. Oliver is." A heavy silence filled the room. Xanth knew the girl would give anything to have Oliver back with his family, and he knew there was no changing her mind, so he simply nodded.
"Best of luck, Avalon. I wish you well," he told her. She nodded, not being able to conjure up any actual words. The countdown started, and she let go of Xanth slowly, heading into the tube. He smiled gently, making a heart shape with his hands, which she returned to him. When the countdown reached one, he waved, and the tube slowly started ascending. She was faced with darkness for a few moments, then she reached the top.
She was surrounded by water. Every other tribute was looking around frantically, but she and Oliver had a tiny advantage, since kids in District 4 have been swimming since they were in diapers, practically. She straightened herself up before getting ready to dive.
"May the 66th Annual Hunger Games begin." As soon as the words were heard, Avalon dives into the water. She tuned out the sounds of screaming around her as her fellow tributes were dying. She was focused on one thing and one thing only: getting a set of daggers.
There wasn't anybody there when she reached the Cornucopia, so she ran for the daggers, but froze when she heard an all-too-familiar voice behind her. "Avalon, watch out!" She turned behind her, throwing a dagger out of reflex, and thus killing a tribute who was coming after her. When she spun back around, she was met by Oliver, who was motioning for them to go, and she grabbed his arm as they started running.
They ran until their legs were going to give out on them. Avalon pulled Oliver behind a large tree, sitting down. "What'd you get?" She asked, and he pulled out a spear and a backpack. He opened the backpack to reveal a canteen and a rope. "That's good. That's really good," she told him. He nodded, putting everything back and leaning against the tree.And for a moment, everything was okay.
