Wave ~ Hunger Games [1]

twenty-six

+ stay alive +

I stared at the clothes that had been laid out on the bottom of my bed, the avox girl shuffling in here as I pretended to be sleeping earlier this morning. It wasn't anything special, a pair of black pants and a deep blue blouse, the last thing I would wear before being taken to the arena, getting changed into whatever outfit had been designed for the tributes this year.

I was still naked from last nights turn on events, standing in the cold room as I reached down, feeling the soft silky blouse in between my fingers as I picked it up, running the material across my cheek. I closed my eyes, taking in the clean scent of the clothes for a moment, before slipping on the underwear I had been given, slowly pulling on the clothes.

I slipped my feet into the shoes that were sitting on the floor, decided to head into the bathroom for the last time looking at myself in the mirror. I looked well presented, the long flowing sleeves of the blouse making my arms look like wings as I tucked my hair behind my ears. I still looked tired, and that was because ultimately I was, but I refused to acknowledge it, hoping that if I ignored it I wouldn't feel as miserable as I did right now.

There was nothing left I could do except from leave my room, taking small steps as I made my way into the living area, seeing everyone sitting round the table in silence, picking away at their breakfasts. "Sorry, I didn't realise I was the last one to wake up" I said gently, taking my place beside Mags as I looked over at Ridley, who looked just as terrible as I did, his under eyes dark with exhaustion.

"You're fine, it's not even 7 yet" Talisa said to me, taking a mouthful of eggs as I leaned forward, picking up a pastry as I bit into it. "Might want to go for something a little more" Talisa started, trying to think of the right word as she shot me a sad smile. "Filling" she finished, making me nod my head as I ate my pastry slowly, the truth being that if I ate too much now, I probably wouldn't be able to keep it down.

I reached forward to the middle of the table, taking a few pieces of bacon and then a small bowl of fruit, even though I probably wouldn't be able to eat any of it. No one spoke as we ate in silence, the sound of Ridley's spoon hiring the side of his bowl occurring every few minutes. I took a sip of the fresh orange juice, the sweetness lingering on my tongue as I held it in my mouth for a moment, savouring the taste of it.

"What time do we leave?" I asked, Mags looking over at me as she held her mug of coffee in her hand, only taking small sips of it at a time. "Just before 8" she told me as I nodded my head, mentally thinking that I would have more time left than I actually did here. "They still need to do your makeup and hair" she told me, reminding me that the last person I would see before the arena would be Calix, which gave me something to look forward to.

"How far away is the arena?" I asked her, making her shrug her shoulders as she raised her mug up to her lips slowly. "We couldn't tell you, depends on what they are planning" she told me as I nodded my head at her, piercing a piece of melon with my fork as I pushed it into my mouth gently.

"Any last questions?" Talisa asked us both, Ridley looking over at me as he swallowed the foot in his mouth quickly. "Not really" he told her as she looked back over at me, raising her eyebrow as I shook my head at her, not knowing what else she could tell me to help at this point.

"Don't go to the cornucopia, get as far away from possible and find some water" She said to Ridley who just nodded his head at her, that probably already behind his plan. She looked back over at me, looking at me with a raised eyebrow as I nodded my head at her, not needing any advice from her, already knowing the plan that the career pack had constructed over the last few days.

"Stay alive" she added at the end, leaning back in her chair as she brought her form to her mouth, scraping her teeth over the metal as she ate a piece of apple. That small remark didn't seem like much, as it was pretty obvious to everyone that that was the main objective to the games, but it was the only piece of advice left to give at this point in the week.