The Hunger Games 3rd Quarter Quell~ rewritten

Chapter 7- The arena Part l

Willow

Today we will be going into the arena. Just about a week ago I was back in District 12. Now I'm here in the Capitol, forced to fight to the death. Cinna takes me to the rooftop. I don't see JJ. A hovercraft appears and a ladder drops down. I begin to climb onto the lower rungs of the ladder when I freeze. Somehow I'm stuck to the ladder. Probably to prevent suicides. I'm lifted inside of the hovercraft and a woman in a white lab coat begins to walk over to me carrying a syringe. "I need to insert your tracker. Please stay still." She says. I was still glued to the ladder. The needle is inserted into my forearm. I feel a sharp pain as the needle inserts the tracker under my skin. The ladder releases me and Cinna is also retrieved by the ladder. An Avox leads us to a room we're our breakfast awaits us. I wasn't hungry, but I managed to force down some food. I stare out the window, admiring the clouds. Oh to be a cloud. I think. About half an hour later the windows black out, I assume this means that we are nearing the arena. We land and get lowered down by the ladder to a tube, underground of the arena. We go to the so-called "launch room" where I shower. Cinna does my hair in two braids. The package with my clothes arrive. I get dressed in a fitted blue jumpsuit. The material is thin. It zippers up in front. The jumpsuit is completed by a padded belt and a pair of nylon shoes with rubber soles. Cinna reaches out and places the locket around my neck. "Where was it?" I ask Cinna. "It was in your bedsheets." He responds. I must have put it on wrong causing it to fall off. We sit on a couch and I slowly sip from a small cup of water. Cinna rests his hand on my shoulder. Suddenly a voice appears telling me to prepare for the launch. I step onto the metal plate. "Don't step off before the timer ends." Cinna sees me shaking and hugs me. "I believe in you Willow." He says. The glass cylinder slides down around me. Cinna motions me to lift my chin up. The plate begins to rise. I stand up straight. Part of me refuses to believe that this is reality. I pinch myself hoping that maybe this was all just a dream. No, it isn't. The plate continues to rise as I stand in the darkness of the tube. I begin to see light. The platform stops and I look around, squinting. Water surrounds my platform. Water. I can't swim. "Ladies and gentlemen, let the 75th annual Hunger Games begin!"
The clock begins to count down. I look to my right and see JJ about three tributes over. My heart is pounding. I scan my surroundings. The water is sectioned up by what looks like sea walls. 48, 47, 46. The clock continues to tick. I look around. I don't see Vera. Mox stands directly to my right. Marina from District 4 is to my left. 37, 36, 35. She'll know how to swim. 29, 28, 27. I look down at my belt. I frantically pull random strings. 17, 16, 15. I pull on the belt and it blows up as a floatation device. I try to get JJ's attention. He stares straight ahead. 10, 9, 8. Mox looks over. He doesn't attempt to inflate his belt. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I dive into the water. I attempt to kick my legs. My body flails in the water. I manage to get to a sea wall and pull myself up. I choke up some water and start to stand up. As I stand up I see Marina just in front of me. She looks at me. Probably contemplating whether to kill me or not. She turns and runs for the cornucopia. I follow. I see some backpacks. And swords. My eyes scan the goods for a bow as I run. There it is. About ten yards in front of me sits a bow. I begin to run faster. The careers are slightly ahead of me. I have to beat them to it. I think. Marina and the boy from District 4 are already at the cornucopia. They grab a few things and dive back into the water to swim away. Nobody else has reached the cornucopia yet. Now's my chance. Four yards sits between me and that bow. I sprint towards it. As I grab the bow, I feel someone behind me. Terrified, I whip my body around preparing for the worst. I didn't have enough time to draw my bow. I get a look at the person's familiar face. It was Mox! I sure hope we're still allies. I see Mox raise his arm, spear in hand. Maybe not.

I prepare for the blow. Mox let's go of the spear, sending it flying. I shut my eyes. To my surprise, the spear lodges itself into the chest of the District 3 girl who had just begun throwing a knife towards me. The knife clatters to the ground. My bows loaded and I sling a sheath of arrows and a backpack over my shoulder. "We have to move." I say as the careers approach. It was too late. They had already reached the cornucopia. I shoot an arrow towards Rey. He easily dodges it by jumping into the water. His face contains a relishing smile. Beatrix, who is still unarmed, also jumps into the water to avoid my shot. Luster however had managed to get her hands on the knife that the District 3 girl had attempted to throw. She lets go of the knife before I have time to shoot. The knife skims my thigh as well as Mox's calf. Out of nowhere a knife comes flying from behind us. Only it wasn't from nowhere, it was from Vera. The knife lodges itself into Luster's right thigh. She yelps in pain. "Let's go! JJ's over here!" We run across the seawall before Beau can reach us. JJ stands at the end of the seawall close to the shore. I notice that Vera has grabbed two backpacks and an array of knives. Mox made it out with a spear and another backpack. "Thanks Vera. You saved my life." JJ says as Vera hands him a pack. "Don't worry about it." She says tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "What happened?" I ask as we begin to walk across the shore towards the woods. "I dove in without thinking and Vera saved me." JJ says. "He thought he could swim." Vera says with a laugh. We begin to pick up the pace and jog. Once we reach the wood we stop for a minute and look around us. "Tropical rainforest." Vera says rolling her eyes. "You're bleeding, let me help you." JJ says to me, taking his pack off of his back. "I'm fine right now. Let's wait until we put a little more distance between us and the careers. Then I'll let you help me." I say. "Okay. Mox are you alright too?" JJ asks. Mox nods his head and we continue to jog. We all come to a stop at the sounds of roaring cannons. The cannons go off one by one until they reach the number 11. "Already only 13 left. Four of which are us." I say. Everyone gives sort of a frown. "Hey did anyone notice if the water was salt or fresh?" I ask breaking the silence. Vera puts a chunk of her hair between her lips, seemingly tasting it. "Damn it. It's salt." She says angrily. We all open our packs. No water. Just two empty bottles. "There must be water somewhere. We're all gonna die without it." JJ says seemingly talking to the audience. We continue to walk straight ahead, in search of water. "I take that back. There's no water. None." JJ says angrily. I can't help but giggle a little at his ranting. "What?" He asks. We all laugh, even Mox smiles a bit. I suddenly hear the sound of bells jingling. I look up to the sky from where the noise is coming from. A parachute. That's where the water is coming from.  I think excitedly. I reach up into the air and grasp the small parachute. We open the small box and find a note that reads