The Seed is Strong (Hunger Games Fanfic)

The Gong

Ela fell asleep leaning against Tomas and he took her back to her room, so that when she woke up she was in the correct place.
On the day the games began Ela's prep team was nowhere to be found, as it was Haymitch's job to escourt her to the hovercraft that would carry her to the arena.
"Now remember, if you give birth, you are to hand your child over the Captial personnel, who will take your child out of the games. Since it's not a contestant and can't defend itself, it can't stay with you" reminded Haymitch.
"I'm still not sure that I fell happy about handing my child over to the Capital" admitted Ela.

"Don't worry, I will watch over it and make sure that its taken care of, and not altered in your absence" reassured Haymitch.
"Thank you" replied Ela.
"You're welcome. And if you win you will be reunited here at the Capital"
"If?"
"But if you die your body will be taken back to district 12 and your child will be on the train with you. I've made plans to have you shipped back straight away, instead of waiting until the games are finished. So that your child can be given to your family as soon as possible"
"It seems like you're not expecting to see me again"
"I've just taken steps to prepare for all situations".

"I see... Well thank you for everything you've done Haymitch. I couldn't have done any of this without your guidance" sighed Ela.
"Of course you couldn't" replied Haymitch.
"So thank you for being here, and helping me... You're right about one thing though, my chances of survival are not great. So if I don't come home, I want you to watch over my child for me as it grows"
"I promise"
"Good".
Ela hugged Haymitch goodbye before stepping to the side and allowing him and Tomas to say farewell.
A couple of Capital workers then took them onto the hovercraft where they were immediately implanted with a tracker, which was pushed into their arm via a syringe.

Ela was then parted from Tomas and taken to a dark metalic room where she was reunited with Jared, who helped her into her outfit.
She had a simple black t-shirt and jacket, along with black cargo pants, and sturdy boots.
Ela was not entirely comfortable in her clothes, due to being pregnant, but she knew that it was too late for anything to be altered.
Jared wished her good luck, before allowing her to step inside a large tube which brought up above ground, and into the arena.

Ela looked around, trying to take in her new surroundings.
Her and her fellow tributes were all stood in a circle around the golden cornucopia.
The ground was covered in rubble, and Ela looked to her left and saw mountains and caves that the rubble had fallen from.
To her right was a sparse forest with tall trees with very high branches, that were to high to climb.
Ela could see a stream heading through the trees, which reassured her, as she knew that finding water was her top priority.

Taking her eyes off the arena, Ela began to search for Tomas, and she found him 8 tributes to her right.
He nodded his head towards the mountains, and Ela took this as a signal to head there.
It was Tomas's job to find some weapons and supplies before joining her. It was her job to get as far away from the others as possible.
On the ground Ela saw dozens of items, all of which would help her survive. The closer to the cornucopia you got, the better the supplies. And right in the middle were the best weapons.
Ela could see a selection of knives that she guessed were meant for her.
But being pregnant made her slow, so Ela knew she would never be able to get there in time.

Instead, Ela's eyes drifted to a small bag not much bigger than her fist, which was no more than a few feet in front of her.
Ela hated feeling like a burden to Tomas, so she wanted to do something to help them both, and this bad my aid them in someway.
When the gong sounded Ela jumped forward and picked up the bag before heading off in the direction of the mountains.
Despite already feeling exhausted, Ela couldn't stop. To survive she had to put as much distance between her and the other tributes.

Eventually she stopped to take a breath.
Reassured that she couldn't hear anyone approaching, Ela took a second to look around.
She found a small cave that she thought would do for the time being.
Ela made her way inside and hid so that if anyone peaked in they wouldn't be able to see her straight away.
She hated lying on the floor feeling defenseless, but she had no other choice, for she had to wait for Tomas to find her.
Ela had left her footprints in the mud so that he could find her cave. But this also meant that other tributes could find it too. So she just hoped that Tomas was faster.

When the initial bloodbath at the cornucopia had finished a collection of gongs sounded.
Ela counted them and swore when she realised that only 6 people had died, as this was rather low. Sometimes a dozen or more people could die during the fight at the cornucopia.
After her anger, Ela began to feel bad for the people who had died, and she just hoped that Tomas wasn't one of them. Without him, she had no hope of survival.
After many long minutes Ela heard footsteps approaching, and her palms began to sweat nervously.
She looked up in time to see a figure entering the cave, carrying a bloody sword aloft.

"It's you" sighed Ela in relief as she climbed to her feet to embrace Tomas.
His sword wasn't the only thing coated in blood, as his clothing was damp in the red stuff.
"Don't worry, it's not mine" reassured Tomas as she sat down to take a breath.
"What did you manage to get?" Asked Ela curiously.
Tomas placed his hand inside his pocket and removed a knife, causing Ela's eyes to light up.
"For me?" She questioned hopefully.
"Who else? I'm not great with such small weapons. Sorry I couldn't get any more. I had to fight with the guy from 2 to get it. He likes knives"
"I'm grateful for one, because it's way better than nothing"
"Yeah. And I've got this sword, so hopefully we'll be able to put up a good fight".
Ela knew that the two weapons alone, weren't really enough, but she decided not to say anything.