A Tale of a Boy and His Flower

Let the Games Begin

"What's that?" a girl asked beside me. The guard ignored her question as he grabbedher arm and injected something into her. 

 The guard glanced at her as she asked the question. He'd been injecting something into all the tributes, who were currently on a plane being flown out to the arena.

"It's your tracker," he replied gruffly. He motioned for her to hold out her arm, immediately snatching it with a tight grip and placing the device against her skin. She suppressed a wince as she felt the pinch of the needle enter. I watched as the tracker briefly glowed before seamlessly disappearing in her arm

He did the same to Jase before heading towards their pilot. I looked at Jase, He was fidgeting with his necklace again. It was a old nervous habit of his. Looking around, none of the tributes could contain their nerves, not even the careers.

"Brace for landing!"

Our time alive was closing in.

Once we landed, our seat restraints automatically lifted. We were then commanded to follow the guards as they were marched out of the plane. Directions were shouted to follow their escorts to the launch rooms.

Jase and I walked down the District 10 hallway. Even though I didn't like him much I was relieved to see Zach and Rain standing there waiting for us. 

Rain rushed to give us hugs, unable to stop herself. I knew I would most likely not being seeing her again, so I embraced the last moments of comfort. Jase then ran towards Zach giving him a big hug. I stayed back. 

"Trust your instincts," Zach advised, "Remember that food and water are your top priority."

We nodded, even though we'd gone over all this during breakfast it was still a good reminder. 

"Three minutes till launch."

 Jase grimaced at the announcement. Rain looked like she wanted to say more but we were out of time as she continued her goodbye. 

"Come on, don't look so sad." Jase said giving Rain one last big hug. "I'll see you in a few days. Ama will make sure of it." I knew he didn't believe he would survive but saying that seemed to be the only thing to reassure her. 

Rain forced herself to pull away. She left the room with one last wave of goodbye. Zach soon followed. He looked at me one last time. I gave him a nod. He did the same and left. 

We were left in silence. 

"Just stay out of the way of the Careers." I reminded him, "hopefully we'll be close so I point you in the way we'll run." 

"And if we aren't?" He asked. 

"Run away quickly. I'll try and get a backpack or small weapon, before coming and looking for you." I said. He nodded, anxiousness was written all over his face. He went to stand before his door to enter it. But before he could I grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug. 

"We'll make it through together." I whispered to him as we enveloped into a tight hug. 

"Amaryllis, if I die out there..." he said. "you have to keep going. You have to win if I can't." I started shaking my head. "For me? Please?" I reluctantly nodded. We pulled apart and shared one last look before heading into our rooms. 

The only thing in the room was a large glass tube. 

"Thirty seconds." I took a deep breath and stepped inside. The tube immediately sealed itself and shot up. I felt it shift different directions before finally lifting up into the opening. I squinted my eyes shielding them from the sudden bright light.