CHAPTER NINE
❝Beginning Of The End❞
— • —
"May the odds be ever in your favour." Millie smirked at me. Her eyes were dull, she did not seem like the person who was good at saying goodbye. Right now I was standing out on a tarmac, about to go into the hovercraft that would take the tributes to the arena. It was windy below the hovercraft, causing Millie's blonde hair to whip in my face.
"If the past few days are any indicator I say that they are not in my favour." I chuckle glumly.
Millie pulls me into a tight hug, squeezing me before letting me go. "Alice, just do your very best. Okay?"
"Okay." I agree into her hair. She pulls me away and motions towards the hovercraft. She was gesturing to the beginning of the end. I smiled one last time at Millie before walking to the entrance. It looked like I was the last tribute to enter the hovercraft as everyone else was seated. I sat in the only remaining seat which was next to Moss and across from Eric. Both the boys wore an expressionless mask, their eyes looking at the ground.
"Arm please." A woman in a white coat held out her hand. I held out my arm for her and she probed it with a strange looking instrument. I watched as light went from the device to inside my arm near my elbow. A dull pain accompanied the light.
"What is it?"" My free arm went to touch where the light was. It quickly faded away, my arm looked normal once more.
"Your tracker." The woman said shortly before walking away from me and the other tributes.
I looked around at the twenty-three other faces in the room. The careers had smiles on their faces, their eyes showed bloodlust. Most of the others were like Moss and Eric, showing no expression and keeping to themselves. A few of the girls from the outer districts were crying, already showing weakness. They knew that they were less than half an hour away from death. And for me? I did not know what expression I was showing but to me it felt like curiosity. It was interesting, seeing what tributes go through before the beginning of the games. I was doing a good job at keeping my looming fear from being shown. At once I felt the hovercraft lift off into the sky. A dull noise filled my ears as we flew. I was more scared about flying than I was about what came next.
The trip in the hovercraft lasted ten or so minutes. I knew our trip was over when the craft jolted and the hum of the craft ceased. We all unbuckled ourselves from the seats and one by one a Peacekeeper guided us away to get ready. I stood silently, my eyes on my shoes for a minute before a Peacekeeper touched my arm, pulling me towards the exit. I looked up at him and then at Eric. His eyes met mine for only a second but it was enough, it was long enough to give me the confidence about what comes next.
The hovercraft had landed inside a large metal hanger filled with other official capitol planes. My Peacekeeper followed a yellow line through a door and he led me through a long narrow corridor. The place was cool and sterile. I had a feeling that we were below the arena. "You stylist is waiting to get you ready." My Peacekeeper said. His voice was gravely and very deep. I smiled at him before entering the room . It was shades of grey and white with a metal table and bench and a few other things. The only nice thing inside was my stylist Hunter. Hunter had her curly dark red hair out, framing her face. Her freckles seemed darker than usual and her eyes had taken on the shade of grey, reflecting on the room around her. I quickly ran up to her, embracing Hunter in a desperate hug. In the days that I was in the Capitol Hunter had grown on me. She was so friendly, open to everything. She had started to feel like the sister I never had.
"I need to get you ready." Hunter said firmly. I could tell she was fighting back tears. I had already had quite a few from my prep team this morning when they cleaned me for a final time. Their tears seemed superficial but deep down I knew that the three shallow prep team members honestly liked everyone. I knew that they were rooting for me.
I loosened my grip on Hunter and studied her face. I was right, her eyes were lined with tears threatening to spill out. She was strong, my Hunter. She wore a smile on her face, an attempt to push back her fears. "Something's different about you." I stated, examining the rest of her face. It took me a few moments but I found it, among her face tattoos of vines, birds and flowers I found a small anchor on her right cheekbone. It was wrapped in seaweed, a symbol of the ocean.
"I always loved seafood. I was so pleased to be given District Four this year. You made a good impression." Her hand pushed my hair behind my ear as she continued, "It's my little way of remembering you."
"How nice." I whisper, smiling back at Hunter.
"No time to waste Alice! Show starts in T minus 5 minutes." She clapped her hands together and went to the other side of the room. There was a rack with a single item of clothing waiting for me. The outfit that I would no doubt wear for the entire time in the arena. Hunter brought it over to me and I stripped down to my under garments and put the new clothing on.
"It's really light." I state as I slip the shirt on. It was a pale grey and short sleeve. "Not very good if it gets cold."
"That's what this is for." Hunter smiled and handed me the jacket. The jacket was black and made out of a material that kind of shone. "It's water proof, light and if you turn it inside out it keeps you really warm."
"I'm getting a feeling that the arena is in a warm climate." I gave Hunter a worried look. I was expecting the worst, a desert or a place that was as far away from water as possible.
"It depends." Hunter smirked before placing her index finger onto her lips. A sign to be quiet. Hunter then zipped my jacket halfway up and pulled my hair out of the jacket. Her fingers caught my necklace, making me remember.
"Do I have to take this off?" I ask her.
"Not at all. You all get something to take into the arena from your district. Keep the pearl on." Instead of taking it off Hunter just tucked it under my shirt. "Ready?" she asked quietly.
"It's a bit too late to second guess this." I laugh lightly.
"Do you have a strategy?" Hunter spun me around so she could play with my hair. It was not wise to have my hair flowing down my back, safety hazard.
"Well..." I stopped to think for a moment, "Run to a backpack. If someone tries to kill you flee. Hopefully I can find Eric after the bloodbath and then we can go from there. As long as I don't die in the first day or two I'm happy."
"You'll survive. You have a strong instinct Alice. You end up in the finale if you let your instincts take over... which mind you, isn't a bad thing." I did not respond so Hunter braided my hair in silence. She did an elaborate braid but did not like the look so she gave up and put my hair in a ponytail at the back of my head. "Better" she whispered.
"30 seconds." A feminine mechanical voice sounded over the intercom.
"Better get in there" I nodded towards the tube that would send me up to the area around the cornucopia.
"We will all be supporting you." Hunter pulled me into a final hug, "Good luck" She then kissed my cheek and let me walk over to the tube.
"15 seconds"
I entered the tube and it shut behind me. I stood there for a few moments, watching Hunters smiling face before I was lifted up by the metal plate. The plate came to a stop and my eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the bright sunlight.
I was finally in the arena.
The cornucopia sat in the middle of my vision, gold and shining in the sunlight. All was silent until Claudius Templesmith's voice filled the arena. "60"
He had begun the countdown.
I looked around, taking in my bearings. Next to me on their own metal plates were Pip from Twelve and Moss. I couldn't see any careers, the cornucopia must have been blocking them.
"50"
My eyes wandered around the circle of tributes until my eyes found Eric. He was eight tributes away from me to my left. He was next to Kate from Ten and Thorn from Eleven. Eric was looking straight in my direction. He slowly nodded before looking at the cornucopia. That was his way of saying that he was going into the bloodbath.
"40"
The cornucopia was next on the list of things to look at. I spotted backpacks full of supplies, crates of food, plenty of weapons. A nice selection of knives, plenty of swords, two sets of bows and arrows, a crossbow and what caught my eye the most, a trident. The trident was used in the ocean. Its presence made me observe my surroundings.
"30"
The clearing where the cornucopia sat was a plateau. To my right there were the beginnings of mountains and to my left there was a slope, leading down from the cornucopia. The slope showed signs of trees not far from the edge and in the distance a river was spotted, cutting straight through the arena. On the end there was either a lake or what the Gamemakers made a sea. I was too far away to know what.
"20"
I followed my eyesight down the river. On one side there was dense trees on the other were grass fields and sparse tree growth. In my mind the arena felt like a mini Panem. It would make an interesting game if it were.
"10"
I snapped back to what was in front of me. I found my target, a medium sized backpack not far from where I was. Next to it was a dagger, lying in the grass.
"3...2...1..."
The countdown was over and the canon sounded. The games had begun.
Without a split second of hesitation I sprinted off towards the backpack. I wasn't the only one to set my eyes on it, Moss wanted it to. We both reached the backpack at the same time, our hands both grabbing the top of it. We both pulled at it before looking up. We made eye contact, his eyes were scared and my eyes were probably showing the same emotion. A few seconds went by before a resolution arrived.
"You have the backpack if I have the dagger." Moss was nervous, his voice quivered.
"As long as you don't kill me with it." My voice was steady
"Deal." He nodded, letting go of the backpack and picking up the knife. He scurried away from me and ran in the direction of the slope, away from the bloodbath.
I slung the backpack onto my back and surveyed the scene. The fighting was going on around the entrance of the cornucopia. Where I was standing was empty of any tributes. Blood was already soaking into the grass as the tribute fought for supplies. I looked at every body until I found the one I wanted. Eric was in the midst of it all, fighting for the trident. He already had a knife and he was using it to fight off Jett. "Great." I muttered. I wanted to run away from the cornucopia to save my own life but I needed Eric which meant that I needed to help him. I sprinted towards the mouth of the golden horn when in front of me I watch Pip from Twelve fall to the ground drenched in her own scarlet blood. She was clutching the bow and arrow when she fell. He killer was Quinn from Ten. He was in such a bloodlust that he ran off once Pip died, leaving the dead girl with the bow and arrow. I jogged to her body and pried the weapon from her still warm hands. I had only tried to shoot a few times in my life and I planned on leaving here in the bloodbath but I needed some form of defence for now.
Eric was now in a fight with Xavier, the boy from Nine. Xavier was strong but Eric had skill. The two boys were left to fight it out over a backpack and the trident while the Careers picked off other unlucky tributes. I got ten meters away from the fighting pair when I raised the bow and aimed towards the boy from Nine. My arrow landed in his right arm, not causing damage. He stalled for a few seconds but went back fighting Eric. I scowled and shot again, aiming for his torso. Of course, I was a bad aim and hit something worse than his torso. I sent the arrow straight into Xavier's neck. Xavier crumpled to the ground in a pool of scarlet. Eric just stood in front of the dying tribute in shock.
"Come on Eric." I shouted impatiently. The careers were on the other side of the horn, it was our chance to get out of this bloodbath.
Eric picked up the trident and the small green backpack and jogged over to me. "are you okay Alice?" He reached out to touch my shoulder, "You look shaken."
"I just killed someone." I hiss. Now was not the time to fall apart. We were still in the bloodbath zone. "Come on!" I grabbed his hand and raced towards the slope that led to the rest of the arena. I heard shouting behind us but I ignored it, we were too far away from the careers to be in immediate danger. The slope was covered in thick grass and woodland trees. The angle of the slope made is run faster than usual due to momentum from running down the slope.
"Where are we heading?" Eric panted when we reached the bottom the slope.
"Water." We continued at a steady pace. Neither of our backpack or our weapons were dragging us down. I had dropped my bow and arrow back at the cornucopia but Eric had his trident and a knife, two weapons for two people. It felt we were running for ages but after a while we reached the edge of the thick forest, the gentle noise of the river welcomed us, giving us both a sense that we were back at home.
"Stop. Please let me catch my breath." Eric leant against a willow tree that arched into the river. He was good when it came to swimming and strength but he defiantly was not an endurance runner.
"Ok." I breathed. I scanned the horizon for danger. No one was in sight. Of course people wouldn't head towards a beach if they never lived near water. We were safe... at least for now. Eric slit down the trunk of the willow tree and landed in the soft grass. He took off his small backpack and put it down next to the trident and the knife in the grass. "Check what's in your pack." I order him while taking off by backpack to do the same. I opened mine up to find a coil of rope, several dry packets of food, a sleeping bag, a litre of water and a fire starting kit. Eric wasn't as lucky as I was so all he got was an empty water bottle, dried fruit and some rope.
"Where do you want to sleep tonight?" Eric asked me while observing the sky. We must have started the game sin the late afternoon because the sun was already low over the ocean (or lake. I couldn't figure out what it was just yet).
"Trees or caves are always safe spots to sle-" My voice got cut off from the sound of a cannon that rumbled through the arena. It was the sign that the initial killing was over. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. Ten cannons sounded. I waited for more but there were none. Ten dead in the first day with fourteen left. It wouldn't to be until later that we would find out who the (un)lucky ten were.
"This willow tree, where the branches join the trunk." Eric pointed out after the cannons had finished and the forest started up in its ambient insect and bird song, "It seems big enough for the two of us. With some moss and your sleeping bag it will be a safe spot to sleep."
"Agreed" I smile towards him, already feeling safe even though we were in the hunger games.
— • —
An hour after night fell the seal of Panem appeared in the sky, ready to give a final farewell to our fellow fallen tributes. The first face to appear was Simon, the boy from Three. That meant all of the Careers were safe. Four were of course safe. Amber, the district Five girl was next to have her face in the sky and after her both of the tributes from Six. Clover and Moss were thankfully safe. All of Eight and Nine were gone. I had seen all of their faces covered in blood around the Cornucopia earlier. The girl from Eleven, Rose had also died. The boy from Twelve surprisingly survived the bloodbath but his fellow tribute Pip didn't not. I felt sick when I saw her scrawny face in the sky, images of her death lingered in my thoughts.
"Cheers to surviving day one." Eric chuckled from beside me when the sky became full of stars once more. We had both set up camp in the willow tree which was surprisingly comfy.
"Let's hope tomorrow isn't our last." I smile down at him. He was laying down I the sleeping bag while I was perched on a branch higher up. I felt awkward off the ground but I had insisted on being first watch.
"It won't be." Eric's words were muffled by a large yawn.
"Get some rest. I'll wake you up when it's your shift." I make myself more comfortable on the tree and lean back, tilting my head up to look at the sky that sparkled with small white stars.
"Goodnight Alice." Eric's voice was laced with sleep, "Have fun staring at the stars."