The 200th Annual Hunger Games - The Ultimate Games

Pre-Game Feast

Ali Richardson POV

I sat in front of the giant table, grinning as I looked at all the food. The gigantic table stretched from one end to the other. On one end, and dominating most of the table, were the tributes. At the very end sat the president, and other VIP’s like Jakub, Dravius, and the 4 district escorts.

I leaned over to grab a plate of roasted potatoes, and began to pile them onto my plate hungrily. The other tributes around me were apparently just as hungry, they too were piling mass amounts of food onto their plates. There was roasted lamb with some sort of delicious marinade on it, tender beef sliced as thin as paper, little plates of steamed vegetables, pasta, sandwiches, fries in a large bowl in the centre, chicken drumsticks, and pretty much every other food in existence. I put down the roasted potatoes and grabbed some pasta, piling it up on my plate. I looked around at the other tributes, it was hard to believe that in a few short days we would be killing each other like pigs in a slaughterhouse.

“So what’s our plan?” Kaylee spoke up from beside me, munching on a chicken drumstick. A bandage was placed over the wound on her forehead, courtesy of Xenia. Fred and Trevor, who were seated across from us, shrugged.

“Well, we should meet up somewhere.” Trevor said. “How about at the nearest water source?”

“Nah,” I mumbled, my voice muffled by the roasted potato I was eating. “It might be really far into the arena, it’s a bit too unpredictable.”

“Well then where do we meet?” Fred asked, sounding annoyed with us.

“I don’t know.” I sighed.

Eddie Graham POV

“This is amazing!”

I grinned at the giant table, my stomach rumbling loudly. All the food looked so delicious. I reached over and grabbed a plate of steamed vegetables, and piled them onto the mashed potatoes I already had on my plate. I grabbed a sauce of some sort and drizzled it over the vegetables, and then began to devour the food on my plate.

“What’s our bloodbath plan?” Nick spoke from my right, his mouth filled with mashed potatoes. Hope and Mike, who were sitting across from me side by side, shrugged almost in sync.

“Dunno.” Hope replied. She reached over Mike to grab the plate of steamed vegetables, and her arm brushed against Mike’s hand. Their eyes met for a second and then they flitted away awkwardly, the encounter happening so quickly you would miss it if you blinked.

“We need to meet somewhere, but the problem is that with the arena you can never really know what it’s going to be.” Simon spoke up from my left, shoveling beef and rice into his mouth. “What’s one aspect of the arena that is always there, that never changes?”

“The cornucopia.” Mike said. “That’s always there.”

“Alright.” Simon nodded. “Why don’t we just meet in the direction of the tail? We’ll just head in the direction of the cornucopia tail, and then we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

“Fair enough.” Hope said, adjusting in her seat. “But whose going into the cornucopia?”

“I’ll go.” Mike piped up immediately. Nick and Hope both parroted his statement, which left Simon and I.

“I think I’ll be fine in there.” Simon said doubtfully. “I’m quick.”

“I think I’ll just grab some supplies from the outskirts and meet you guys.” I said, ducking my head shamefully. Whilst everyone else was willing to risk their lives, I wasn’t so keen.

“That’s fine, Eddie.” Mike said reassuringly. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the clinking of glasses interrupted him. We all turned to see President Murphy standing at the end of the table, staring around at the tributes.

“Tributes,” he began, “We at the Capitol have provided you with one last meal before you go into the arena tomorrow. Hopefully you are discussing strategies with your teammates and stocking up on food, you’ll need it in the arena.” His eyes twinkled maliciously at the mention of the games, and I shuddered.

“Unfortunately, this is goodbye. Only temporarily for 8 of you, but for 16 of you this farewell is for good. Enjoy your meal, tributes.” He then sat back down, and the chatter continued.

Tomorrow, the games would begin. One day until our lives would be in the balance. One day until we were sent into the arena.

One day until people began to die.