Chapter 10

                                    

                                          
I slept surprisingly well. The morning of the Games, Eulalie greets me and gives me a simple shift to wear until we get to the Launch Room. A hovercraft appears and a woman in a white coat inserts a tracker in my forearm. I run my hand over my arm and feel a slight lump where the tracker was inserted. Other than that, I can barely feel it. I eat breakfast with Eulalie on the hovercraft. Today, she's only wearing two large bows on either side of her head.
The windows of the hovercraft blacks out as we get closer to the arena. This is it. Time to show the Capitol who they are messing with.
In the Launch Room, I get cleaned up. Eulalie ties my hair in two low buns. It's like an unspoken rule that a female tribute has to have her hair styled nicely when entering the arena. It makes no sense but I don't stop her. At least the hairpins can be used to poke out someone's eyes.
I try to guess what the arena will be based on the clothes I'm given. The shirt is simple, the jacket is thin and waterproof. It can fold itself into a square that can hang around the waistband of the pants. So, the arena will be wet and humid. I am given cargo pants that also seem waterproof. The legs have drawstrings on the bottom to lift up if it gets too hot. The socks are thin but comfortable and the boots go all the way up to just below my knees. There will probably be a lot of mud.
I try to picture the arena in my head based on my outfit. Eulalie hands me my sister's bracelet. I nod my thanks. We wait in silence. Eulalie makes small talk but gives up after I only grunt as a response. My focus is on the days ahead.
A voice indicates for us to get on our launch pads.
"Thank you for everything Eulalie," I say finally.
"You're very welcome my dear," she answers. "Become Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy."
I nod as the launch pad rises. My heart is beating wildly in my chest. This is what I've been training towards for my entire life. When I reach the surface, the sudden light blinds me. I blink my eyes quickly to adjust them. Around me echoes the voice of Claudius Templesmith.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-third Hunger Games begin!"
The timer starts to tick. 60. 59. 58. 57...
I observe my surroundings. To my surprise, the platforms are placed directly above murky water. The District 4 tributes must be smiling. Around us, there is a dense population of trees. A lot of them have fallen, providing the only source of semi-dry land that I can see, along with the flat, wooden bridges that makes a path through the water.
The arena is very hot and I feel my shirt sticking to me as it gets drenched in sweat. The air is thick. I think of different environment names. Nothing comes to mind.
25. 24. 23. 22. 21...
Us tributes are placed in a circle around the Cornucopia, which has been placed on a dry patch of dirt. Various weapons pour out of it. It looks like the only way to get to the Cornucopia from the platforms is to go through the murky water.
6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. The gong sounds. I don't debate if the water is safe. I jump down the platform and land in the water. It rises up to the bottom of my knees. Now I understand why the boots are so high. I run through the water. It's slow, and the mud underneath almost makes me slip multiple times. Luckily for me, the non-Career Tributes were hesitant.
The throwing weapons are the closest to me. Knives and axes. I begin throwing them at the tributes closest to me. Five of them go down with either a knife protruding from their chest or an axe planted in their head. I go further into the Cornucopia. To my shock, I see a chained mace in the back. I make a grab for it.
I hear a tribute approaching. The footsteps are loud and heavy. The tribute is also huffing a lot. Not one of my allies. Just as they swung their sword down, I dodged, grabbed the mace, and swung hard. The mace bashes in the head of a male tributes. I have to tug it to get it out of his skull. Blood drips from the mace. I smile, satisfied.
I return to the carnage. Many tributes lie dead. Several escaped, grabbing whatever they could. I throw some knives at a few escaping tributes. I get two more kills.
I don't want to go back into the water, but I also don't want to leave any weapons in the tributes' bodies. They'll be gone when the hovercraft comes to pick up the dead. So I wade through the water. Most of the bodies are still afloat, thank goodness. I extract a few knives before deciding that I don't feel safe in the water. Who knows what kind of mutts live at the bottom.
I realize that the axes are gone. The District 7 tributes probably took them. The others are already sifting through the backpacks, sharing supplies. "Looks like the backpacks are designated to specific Districts," Lir says. "Ropes and other weaving tools for us, axe heads for District 7." He continues to list them.
I go to the bag nearest to me. Inside I find wires and other technological equipment. This was supposed to be for one of the District 3 tributes. I dump it in the water. No use to any of us.
"Is there anything for District 2?" I call out.
"Here," Horus says as he tosses me a belt that has eight sheaths, four on each side, sewed onto it. I use it to store my knives. "There's also a few knife sharpeners and extra spear heads, but that's about it."
He walks over to me to show the content of the bags. He didn't say it aloud, but there are grenades. He must not want our allies to know we have some explosives with us.
"Let's go," Glitz suggests. "I don't like it here. Something tells me that the Gamemakers held back whatever creatures are supposed to live in those waters."
We all nod our agreements. All six of us finish getting whatever we'll each need. I found a bow and arrow in the back. I slip the quiver strap around my backpack to carry them both. In my bag, I've been given a ratio of crackers and fruits. There isn't much. It looks like we'll have to hunt, or let a sponsor feed us.
"Is this all the food?" I ask.
"We split what we have evenly into sixes," Lir answers. "There wasn't much to begin with."
"My guess is that most of the food was in the bags for Districts 9, 10 and 11," Tsunami says. "It looks like the surviving tributes got those backpacks."
"They must have been in the opening of the Cornucopia," Shimmer says. "Do any of you know what kind of arena we are in?"
"Swamp," Lir answers. "It's not really taught at school in District 4, but I did a bit of extra reading. A lot of dangerous creatures live here."
A chill runs through us all. I place the mace between my belt, and I keep the bow in hand. It looks like Tsunami found her dear trident. Unfortunately for her District partner, it would appear that there wasn't another for him. He opted for a spear, just like Horus. Glitz has a sword at hand and Shimmer is holding two sickles.
"Thanks for stealing the knives," Shimmer jokes.
"We should get going then," Horus tells us, looking at the water where a  small ripple appeared.
"Any ideas what that could be?" Glitz asks.
We all shake our heads. Luckily, we won't have to go through the water. There's a bridge that leads us off the patch of dirt the Cornucopia sits upon.
"Let's try to find land," I suggest. No one argues.