Return of the Mockingjay

Chapter 34

I dream of Peeta and Rue. Of us spending long summer days in the meadow by our house. Rue playing in the grass while Peeta and I just enjoy each other's company. The smell is sweet, the soft smell of wild flowers and tree blossom, but it's not right somehow, the smell is sickly, almost putrid with sweetness. My eyes start to flick open and I'm suddenly aware that I'm cramped in a tight space, my legs feel restricted and my shoulder aches from leaning against something for a long time. My vision is.....blurry, but I can feel it clearing slowly.
What did Wolfe give me, and....where am I? I suddenly sense a presence, someone else is near me.

"Wake up Mockingjay" I hear Odin Wolfe say slowly.
I force my eyes to open and immediately find myself somewhere familiar, or at least somewhere from my past. I shake away the grogginess from my mind and glance around. Wolfe sits on a small stool alongside my launch tube.

Launch tube!

My eyes open wide in realisation as to where I am, I'm in a launch room, not that dissimilar to the one's in the games. Wolfe smiles at my panicked reaction.

"Welcome back Katniss, I see you've recognised where you are. You're in one of 24 launch rooms at my new arena, the one I told you about last year"

I say nothing but just glare at him, I'm still partly knocked out from the drug Casper injected into me but although my mind is as clear as day, my body's still trying to wake up.

"Don't panic Katniss, the gas we pumped into your tube has woken you up and in time your body will recover, but for now I'm gonna let you enjoy your time in my fantastic arena, it's something completely new and I've added my own little twist that I know you're gonna love. Good luck" he says as he gets up to leave the room but as he opens the door to go he turns back to me.

"Oh, I nearly forgot to say the famous words........Welcome Katniss, to the 76th Hunger Games"

And with that he steps through the door and leaves me alone in my launch room. So this was it, to lure me to the capital to compete in his sick twisted vision of the Hunger Games. Another thought comes to mind, is Peeta aware of what's going on, are the games being televised across the country and does Panem know what's happened to me. I know these are questions that I'll never be able to answer until I somehow find a way out of here.

I struggle to my feet and wince at the stiffness in my ankles, how long have I been in this tube. I jump at the pad suddenly moving below my feet but I'm startled by the fact that it's actually moving down into the ground, lowering me into the floor. What the hell is this, another twisted idea from Wolfe's crazy mind?

I push against the glass tube in an attempt to break free but it's too strong and I find myself being lowered into another room that's no bigger than my bedroom back in 12. There's a single doorway set in the corner but the door is missing and I can see through in to the next room.
The walls that used to be white are covered in patches of green mould and the carpet around me is thread bare with damp and rot. Hazy light comes in from the end of the room where large windows stretch from floor to ceiling but the glass is broken with shards littering the floor, vegetation is growing through the opening adding to the damp odour that assaults my senses.
I suddenly remember that there's been no countdown to the start of the games, can I step off the pedestal, and more importantly, where are the other tributes, are they in the other rooms? I decide to leave it a little longer before I step off just to be sure, so I take the time to check over my supplies. Wolfe has taken pretty much everything, I can feel the tracker that's been inserted into my right arm but I have nothing else, other than Peeta's pearl which sits in its usual pocket where my night lock pill used to sit. I've no water, or iodine tablets to purify any new source, not to mention a water bottle to collect it. He's also taken my bow although I still have my sheath on my back even though it's empty.

Then the countdown starts, I have no idea why there was such a delay but I hear a voice I've never heard before boom down from the sky, counting down the final seconds before the beginning. A siren wails to begin the games but I really don't know what to do, there's no cornucopia and I can't see the other tributes, where do I go?

I stay fixed to my spot, listening intently for any sound but there's nothing. No sound of screaming or fighting or death, not even any sound of footsteps running toward me.
I hold my breath and take a step off the pedestal still listening for anything, but as before there's nothing. Moving to the smashed windows I gasp at the view outside. I'm probably about 6 or 7 floors up in a derelict building of some sort, below me stretches an overgrown forest which is mainly shrouded in mist and it appears that it's bordered by more large buildings which are some distance in front of me I cautiously lean out the window and look to my left, the forest continues far into the distance but I cant see how far because of the mist and fog. When I look to my right I see more buildings which lead off at a right angle to my own building, the forest seems to be completely enclosed by high rise derelict buildings.

I frown, trying to remember where I've seen this place before, from a school history book maybe? I take a quick glance behind me to check I'm not being attacked before I spend a little more time studying the buildings around me. Looking across I can see that they're all pretty different from each other except for a single room in each building on the 7th floor which seems to have a light on. As I look closer I can just about make out a single figure stood at the same window peering around at the view, in the next building its the same, another figure stood watching. It's then that it dawns on me exactly whats happening, they're the other tributes, all launching from a single room in each building. But how many are there, and who are they? I can't see from here as they're too far away for me to see exactly but one by one they come to the the same conclusion as me and they all start looking from building to building, silently counting the other tributes. I think fast and turn back to my own room, spotting the light bulb hanging from the ceiling on a single wire. I must put out the light, I don't know what the rules are for this arena and for all I know all the other tributes could be just here to kill me, I might be the only prey for a huge group of allies. I can't reach the bulb to remove it so I search around, finding a rotten length of wood on the floor, I pick it up and swing at the bulb missing with my first swipe. I get a better grip on the wood and try again this time striking the bulb dead centre, there's a loud "pop" as the bulb shatters and tiny shards of glass spray around the room. I look back to the window, worried that the sound might of been heard but as I look across at the other buildings I'm shocked to see the other tributes have already disappeared.

I jump away from the window in a panic, where do I go, what should I do, although I know I'm definitely not safe staying here. I trot as quietly as I can to the next room but as with the launch room it's full of damp and mould but through the next door I see a railing which must be attached to a staircase. I make my way into a huge stairwell which stretches on up to the upper levels but a large section of stairs has been blown away stopping me from climbing higher, only rubble and mangled steel litter the way up.

Footsteps!

Coming from below....whoever it is isn't worried about being quiet as I hear them bounding up the flights of stairs toward my level. I glance around to try and find somewhere to hide and I duck into another room which lies on the opposite side of the stairwell from my launch tube. I just get out of sight as a young man reaches my level and rushes through to my launch room, I catch a glimpse just before he goes out of sight and I take in the tall athletic build, the soft brown hair, he looks kinda familiar but I really need to see his face. I hear him curse loudly, a cold calculating voice which sends a shiver down my spine, I've heard that voice before and I know who it is, but it can't be......he's dead, I killed him myself!

I take cover under some rotting furniture in the corner of the room while he's out of sight and I watch from my new vantage point, safe in the knowledge that I've safely concealed myself. From here I can see across the stairwell to the launch room opposite, where is he, he must be looking out from the window to try and find me? Then I hear him start to run back toward the stairwell and as he comes into full view I stifle a scream as I see Cato turn and bound back down the stairs.