The End of Innocence: The 72nd Annual Hunger Games

The Begining of The Feast

A loud boom wakes me up. At first I think I'm after missing The Feast so I panic and grab my bag quickly. But then the same electronic voice from the Training Centre goes through The Arena. "Ten minutes until Feast." I sigh and relax again. My feet tingle with anticipation. I wonder what it'll be like, facing my enemies head on. There's no way out if I go attend, but I can get my gift. I wonder what happened to that cream we were Sponsored with? I didn't use it all. It was from Ion's District so she should have got it just in case. I rest my head at the back of the tree and close my eyes. This will be a nightmare.

"Relax." I say to myself. "You run in, get it, and run off. Anyone chasing you, you kill them. You're able. You'll be fine. You can do this." The thoughts of Lesa or Ion actually trying to kill me gets me nervous more than a Career. It was more that a bond of trust will be broken. I want to take our trusts to the grave, not to be broken in an instant. Especially if Lesa kills me, shame would be brought entirely on her instead of joy if she wins. You never kill anyone from your district if you both trust and know each other. Period.

I suppose I should get moving. I open my bag and take a big gulp of water. I swirl it around my dry mouth and swallow. I need food but if that isn't my reward, I should hunt. A half full stomach will drag me down, it will also make me weak. Ugh. No, I won't eat. 

I jump down, it's not a high jump like when I fell off the other tree but it still hurts my weak legs. The dry soil and dust blows away on impact. I need to do some warming up before I go, I'll obviously need to do a load of running in a few minutes. I can see The Cornucopia field from where I am and already I see two people. Lesa and Ion? Cleeara and Vickin? Greyson and one of them? The two shitty tributes? I wonder if anyone else is even going to attend. Everyone needs something though.

I walk gently and slowly until I get to about the edge of the field. Thick bushes cover me. I can see Greyson and Vickin standing on two pedestals out of the now twelve. I lean in to take another look at Vickin's face. Maybe the bears destroyed it like they did to Cleeara. As I lean into inspect him, I jump and let out a little squeal as the voice booms over again. "Two minutes until Feast." I suppose I should go, but I want to see if anyone else is attending. I'm not just joining them. I decide to wait around until I hear another voice. I open my bottle and take another swig of water and swallow hard. I need to take my bag off me, it'll slow me down. I take it off slowly and hide it under the bush I'm in. I make sure I know where it is. Directly in front of the Cornucopia's mouth. Behind a bush, got it.

Like a swarm of bees, they all come out from the bushes and behind trees. The two from 12  come out, opposite sides of the field though, so that tells me they aren't allied. Ion dearest follows, then Lesa the complete opposite side, just a bit further from District 12's male. Thank God ion and Lesa weren't teamed up. That's it. I clutch my knife tight. Once the voice booms over again that the feast will be in 30 seconds, I walk out onto the field where I only was a few days ago.

As I walk in, everyone's walking onto their pedestals and their facial expressions are all different. Ion half smiles, as does Lesa. They're at the two ends of the pedestals that now lie in a semi-circle. The way there's twelve pedistals, means that everyone has to stand beside someone. Vickin stares at me from behind like I'm the first one to die, as does Greyson except he's ten times less menacing. The pretty but useless tribute from 12 looks at me as if I'll save her life again, not a chance. I end up standing on the pedestal beside Ion and the girl from 12. I wonder where Cleeara is, the only one who hasn't attended.

To sum our positions up. There's seven of us here. From left to right - Lesa, District 12's male, me, Ion, District 12's female, Vickin and Greyson. What a disaster of a group this is. We all anxiously await the voice. District 12's male looks so dehydrated, I wonder how he's going to survive this. It's so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The wind isn't even making a sound despite my hair blowing slightly and I feel it on my skin. I swallow hard and clutch my knife. Sweat drips from it and I can feel so many eyes on me. Panem. My father. My district.

"Greetings tributes!" The voice echos. "We are very happy a good number of you attended this years Feast! The rules are simple. When the gong goes off, you all have the chance to get your bags that will have numbers of your district will be inside the Cornucopia."

My forehead drips with sweat and I'm just about to run away but I can't, this is it. I have to get my bag and run off. I look at Ion, she must sense me looking because she turns and stares at me in return. She stares into my soul, those eyes. She needs help. She looks beyond scared. I want to help her. I have to. I look at Lesa who's beside 12. But Lesa looks dead ahead with her hair blowing behind her, machete in hand. Ion has nothing. I need to protect her more. I nod and she must understand. She nods back and we all return to staring at the Cornucopia.

"But this won't be an easy task. Keep that in mind. Good luck. The mines are re-activated, if you step off before the gong sounds your legs will be blown to pieces! May the Odds be in all of your Favours!" The voice vanishes. He never mentioned when the gong will sound. Maybe to hold suspense. I need to be ready. I exhale and just wish that we could go now, but I suppose that wouldn't be much fun for the audience. I wonder what he means by it won't be easy to get to. Maybe because we'll kill each other before we even get to it?

Ion leans forward as if she's ready to pounce at any second, I suppose I should too. I copy her pose. I look at Vickin who now I can see is equally as bad as Cleeara. Scraped and bruises cover his face, his bottom lip is sliced away from the middle to the right, exposing his teeth. It's as if he ripped a corner off. I shiver at the thought I basically did that to someone. He deserved it. Greyson looks the same from how he came in. Fragile but that blatantly obvious fake determination. He was a bit weak at first, not likable, but now he looks as if he'll kill you if you looked at him wrong. He has a spear in hand, and I know who that's going in the second he steps off the pedestal.

I look at Lesa who's still focused at the mouth. I need to be too. I take my mind off everything. I lean forward more, but not too much so I don't fall off early. My eyes twitch in the sunlight. The grass blows gently but I feel nothing on my skin. Not a voice or breath to be heard. It feels as if we're in a bubble, the air is clammy and it feels as if there's no ventilation. I know all of Panem are on the edge of their seats. My bag is a small blue rucksack, the girls' ones are pink. I make sure my breathing is okay as I focus on it. Then out of nowhere, the gong goes off.