When The Canary Sings

How's It Going, Handsome?

First Person~~Becca Blue

This was it.

The morning of the games.

Haymitch and Effie separated both Picker and I, and Haymitch went with me. We drove in a secretive car to a building where the hovercraft would take us to the arena. Once we were there, Haymitch and I entered a steele elevator, and he pressed the up button.

"Hey, sunshine." He said, grabbing my attention. For the first time, he didn't have a drink in his hand. "Now, Ophelia told me that your uniform is fit for natural type weather, so expect a forest, meadow or something like that." He said, I looked down at myself, the uniform was simple. A black shirt, black cargo pants, combat boots, and a thin black jacket, but it's more like a rain jacket.

"They really had a flair for color this year." I sniffed, half laughing, half blinking back my tears.

"Listen kid," he said, drawing me back to my harsh and sucky reality, "stick to your plan, okay? The second that gong sounds, run away, don't you dare take a step towards the cornucopia, because you'll be dead in a second." Haymitch said, holding my shoulders. "Run away with the kids from three-"

"And Picker."

He stopped, "and Picker," he paused again, "hideout for a little bit, wait for things to settle, then find a water source, water then food, got it?"
"Yes."

"Okay, make sure to use the skills you have, you're quiet, agile, fast, and a hell of a climber. Steer clear of the careers, make sure you stick together."

"I will."

The elevator doors opened, and both of us stepped out.

"Hey, sunshine," he called, and I spun on my heel to face him, "you can do this okay? Be smart, don't go looking for things you don't need, don't get on anyone's nerves, got it?"

"Yes." I said, he pulled me in for a hug, then gave my face a small pat, and wished me luck, after that, I was off.

The hovercraft ride was scary, I was strapped to a seat with 11 other tributes. The doctors injected us with trackers, then once we took off, we were left with a gnawing silence.

Once we dropped off, we were taken below the arena. I had four Peacekeepers escorting me, two held my arms tightly, one walked in front of us, and the other behind us. We got to a door marked 12F, they opened the door, pushed me in, and locked the door. Thankfully, Ophelia and Cinna were there waiting for me. Slowly, I walked towards them.

"Here," Ophelia said, handing me a small brown pouch, "the district token, Cinna gave it to me." He said, "It's coins from 12, I don't know why, but-" Ohpelia said, shoving the pouch into my pockets.

"Thank you."

"Tributes to the tubes." An announcement said, and the glass tube door opened.

"Go," Ophelia said, and I slowly walked towards the tube. I took a step up, and once I was inside of it, the door slid shut, and I was trapped. Cinna and Ophelia gave me a thumbs up, then did the 12 salute, which both terrified me, and also made me even more nervous.

Then I started moving.

Up.

Up.

Up.

The light was blinding, but as the countdown started, my eyes adjusted.

The arena was something I had never seen before. Instead of being a natural terrain, like a field, it was a city–well, a ruined one. The buildings were half broken, and the whole city was ruined. This is what I pictured the Capitol to look like during The Dark Days, when the districts bombed them. Maybe this arena used to be a full city, and they released bombs on it, changing the terrain of it.