Dangerous Affection- The Hunger Games- A Cato Love Story

Chapter 12: Let the Games Begin

Chapter 12- Let the Games Begin

I am standing in the standard tribute uniform- a tight, gray, long-sleeved shirt and black baggy pants that has to have at least twenty pockets of all different sizes. Darien hands me a sort of heavy hunting jacket, and I know it will be cold in the arena. The jacket has a hood, and when I shrug it on, I realize it's thermal. I'm also wearing comfortable hiking boots, gloves that were made so I could free my fingers when needed- not mittens, for each finger had its own space (I'm sorry- I had to add that for the people that would think otherwise. I couldn't stand it if my readers thought Alexandra and the other tributes were fighting to the death with silly mittens on), and my hair is again tamed into a tight French braid. Darien slips some hair ties onto my wrist and covers them up with my sleeve, putting a finger to his lips as he did so.

"Are you ready?" He asks me.

"No. But then again, I don't really have a choice, now do I?" I sigh.

He smiles a little. "Just remember- if I could bet, I'd bet every penny to my name on you."

That surprises me. "Really?"

"Of course. You can outsmart them all, Alexandra. I'm sure of it. And so are a lot of others, so don't disappoint."

"I've already swore to my brothers I would try my best out there. If I die, you can rest assured I tried my best out there." I tell him.

Then we hear a buzzer of sorts, and the tube behind me opens up. At the moment, we are directly under the Arena. On the way here from the Training Center, they had injected a tracker deep into my arm, so I couldn't dig it out. How someone could take the pain of digging in their skin with a knife, or something of the sort, to remove the tracker, I don't know. Darien walks me over to the tube that will shoot me up into the Arena. I step in, and wait for it to close in front of me.

"Good luck, Alexandra." Darien tells me gently.

"Thank you." I manage to get out. I can't talk anymore, or I risk tears flowing, and I can't have that. Darien sees this, and stands in silence with me. In less than a minute, the tube slides closed, and it starts counting down as I shoot up. I lock eyes with Darien as long as I can, before I'm surrounded by metal.

10

Claustrophobia is setting it.

9

Getting nervous about behind in such a small space.

8

Seriously flipping out.

7

I decide once I get out of here, I'm heading straight for the highest, open place.

6

I close my eyes and think of home.

5

Father.

4

Marco.

3

Trevor.

2

Xavier.

1

Mother.

Then the sunlight, however dull, is visible, and the tube opens up before me. The thick plastic lowers back down, leaving me on a small, circular platform. I don't dare step off, knowing that if I did I'd be blown to pieces by the mines surrounding all twenty-four platforms. They are deactivated when the countdown stops, and the Games begin. Twenty-five seconds left to decide my plan.

I see all the weapons, but they are right in or near the Cornucopia. I look at all the other tributes, and decide I'll be dead in seconds if I attempt it. I see a green backpack not but a few yards from me, and I tell myself I'll get that and head towards the woods, which were to my right. Nothing but huge boulders and rocks to the left, and I think I see snow at the very tops of them. There wasn't a lake or any main source of water that I could see.

Five seconds remain.

I look at the tributes. Ryder is a few tributes over to my left, and I see Cato a couple places over to my right. He's in my path to the backpack, and then the forest. For a brief second I'm hoping that he won't snap my neck on my race over there. I twist Xavier's ring on my finger as I think, waiting for the last seconds to pass.

Then Caesar Flickerman voice fills the Arena. "Let the 73rd Annual Hunger Games begin!"

And all Hell breaks loose.

I'm already racing over to the backpack, my feet taking over while my mind is left behind. I make it to the backpack unscathed and scoop in up, flinging it over one arm. I look around wildly, and something catches my eye, a few feet over, but away from my destination.

A bow and a quiver of arrows.

My feet again are controlling me, not my mind, or the rational side of it by far. Later, I would think back to how strange it was that they weren't in the actual Cornucopia like the other useful weapons, but right then I had only one thought: Get the bow.

Somehow I make it over there, but as I'm grabbing them, I find myself shoved onto the ground, a sword pressed ever so slightly to my throat. So much for trying my best not to get killed, I think to myself.

I see a wild look in the boy from District 4's eyes, and I know I'm dead. He draws it out, savoring the moment of his first kill in the Games. I know I should be scared, but I'm not. A sudden calm has come over me.

I hear the screams and cries of others around me, and know there has already been death. The first three minutes had the most deaths in them then the remainder of the games put together. I'm listening to all this, the sword pressing deeper into my throat, ever so slightly, until it pricks my skin. Any deeper and I'm dead.

Then I hear a sickening crunch.

I feel the pressure from the sword lift, and I can breathe right again. I sit up to find the boy from four dead at my feet, his neck snapped. And I mean snapped. I can easily see the bones, and blood was pouring out. I look up past him to find a massive figure standing over him, now holding the sword.

Cato stays long enough to make eye contact, and then turns to merge into the mass of fighting bodies.