Kindling the Spark

Bloodbath

14: Bloodbath

Katniss POV

The blades of the hovercraft whir as it takes me closer to the arena. An avox walks down the aisle, injecting trackers into our arms. I wince as the needle pierces the skin on my wrist and thrusts the device inside. It feels so much like last year, but so different. Much more scary because the tributes around me are bigger and much more experienced than I am. At least half of them are old.

After a few minutes of flying the hovercraft lands and we all go downstairs into an underground building. This is where the tubes will be that will take us up into the arena, into the bloodbath. I'm hoping for trees like last year, but I doubt it will be that simple. It's a Quarter Quell, they'll have something more exotic and deadly.

As we are separated into the different rooms, I glance at the other rebellion victors. Finnick Odair: playful and irritating, but skilled and useful. Johanna Mason: maybe a bit unbalanced, but dangerous with an axe and passionate about the cause. Mags: old, but kind and wise. Electra, Wiress and Beetee: understand technology and power. They'll be useful.

I step into the tube. Cinna comes into the room like he did last year. I let out a breath in relief. Nothing happened to him for burning my wedding dress into a mockingjay. Cinna presses his hands against the glass of the tube and I try to touch them. The glass is cold, but I keep my hands there.

"I'm still betting on you girl on fire," Cinna says to me. "You can do this. You can win these Games and become the mockingjay. Win for Panem."

"Thank you," I whisper. "You were part of the rebellion Cinna. All this time and you never told me. You helped me make an impression. I couldn't have done it without you."

I hear a low buzz as the countdown starts. Two peacekeepers come into the room. They grab Cinna and I scream as they throw him against the tube. His face presses up close to me. "Cinna, no!" I shout. "Stop! Stop, I'm a victor! I order you to stop!" They pull him back and push him onto the floor and kick him in the ribs.

"Cinna?" I call. Is he still alive? If he is he won't be alive for very long. He wasn't just a casual member of the rebellion, it dawns on me. Cinna knew that he would give his life for it- he was willing to give up his life for me. I kiss my fingers and give him the District 12 salute. He isn't conscious to see it, but it feels right. Tears gather at the corners of my eyes.

The floor starts to move up and I grasp to tube. I shouldn't leave Cinna. But there's nothing I can do now. I need to focus on the arena. The countdown is on ten. I will be thrust into the bloodbath in a few seconds and I can't afford to be distracted. Otherwise Cinna's death will be in vain.

I spend a moment looking around. The cornucopia is an island roughly fifty metres away. There is a small beach and what looks like saltwater lapping up against the shore. A few platforms float, probably to help the tributes who can't swim and give them some chance of survival. Fortunately for me, I can swim. I remember learning with Gale in the forest lake around a year ago. I was terrible at first, he was much better, but we stuck with it until I was as good as him. I'm glad we did now, though at the time I wanted to quit.

The countdown reaches three and my heart starts to pound in my chest. Just a few more seconds and I might die. I glance across the cornucopia to Gloss and Enobaria. I've seen Enobaria with swords and throwing knives and Gloss with spears. If I get too close to them then I'll be dead, no questions asked. Brutus could easily kill me, being superior in size, strength and ability to use spears and swords. He got ten or eleven in training and he didn't do it by rebelling.

One. The gong that signals the start of the Games reverberates through the arena. The mines are deactivated. I don't wait like last year, but instinctively jump into the water. It's cold, but that was expected. I push myself towards the cornucopia with strong strokes and kick my legs behind me. My technique isn't as good as Finnick's or even Mags's but it's better than most of the others.