【饥饿游戏】43

Now the Gamemakers will always be able to trace my 
whereabouts in the arena 1. Wouldn’t want to lose a tribute.
As soon as the tracker’s in place, the ladder releases me.
The woman disappears and Cinna is retrieved 2 from the roof,
An Avox boy comes in and directs us to a room where breakfast
has been laid out. Despite the tension in my stomach, I eat
as much as I can, although none of the delectable 3 food makes
any impression on me. I’m so nervous, I could be eating coal
dust. The one thing that distracts me at all is the view from the
windows as we sail over the city and then to the wilderness 4
beyond. This is what birds see. Only they’re free and safe. The
very opposite of me.
The ride lasts about half an hour before the windows black
out, suggesting that we’re nearing the arena. The hovercraft
lands and Cinna and I go back to the ladder, only this time it
leads down into a tube underground, into the catacombs that
lie beneath the arena. We follow instructions to my destination,
a chamber 5 for my preparation. In the Capitol, they call it
the Launch Room. In the districts, it’s referred to as the 
Stockyard. The place animals go before slaughter 6.
Everything is brand-new, I will be the first and only tribute
to use this Launch Room. The arenas 7 are historic sites, preserved
after the Games. Popular destinations for Capitol residents
to visit, to vacation. Go for a month, rewatch the Games,
tour the catacombs, visit the sites where the deaths took
place. You can even take part in reenactments. They say the
food is excellent.
I struggle to keep my breakfast down as I shower and clean
my teeth. Cinna does my hair in my simple trademark 8 braid
down my back. Then the clothes arrive, the same for every
tribute. Cinna has had no say in my outfit 9, does not even know
what will be in the package, but he helps me dress in the 
undergarments, simple tawny 10 pants, light green blouse, sturdy
brown belt, and thin, hooded 11 black jacket that falls to my
thighs 12. “The material in the jacket’s designed to reflect body
heat. Expect some cool nights,” he says.
The boots, worn over skintight socks, are better than I
could have hoped for. Soft leather not unlike my ones at home.
These have a narrow flexible rubber sole with treads though.
Good for running.
I think I’m finished when Cinna pulls the gold mockingjay
pin from his pocket. I had completely forgotten about it.
“Where did you get that?” I ask.
“Off the green outfit you wore on the train,” he says. I remember
now taking it off my mother’s dress, pinning it to the
shirt. “It’s your district token, right?” I nod and he fastens it on
my shirt. “It barely cleared the review board. Some thought
the pin could be used as a weapon, giving you an unfair advantage.
But eventually, they let it through,” says Cinna. “They
eliminated a ring from that District One girl, though. If you
twisted the gemstone, a spike 13 popped out. Poisoned one. She
claimed she had no knowledge the ring transformed and there
was no way to prove she did. But she lost her token. There,
you’re all set. Move around. Make sure everything feels comfortable.”
I walk, run in a circle, swing my arms about. “Yes, it’s fine.
Fits perfectly 14.”
“Then there’s nothing to do but wait for the call,” says Cinna.
“Unless you think you could eat any more?”
I turn down food but accept a glass of water that I take tiny
sips 15 of as we wait on a couch. I don’t want to chew on my nails
or lips, so I find myself gnawing 16 on the inside of my cheek. It
still hasn’t fully 17 healed from a few days ago. Soon the taste of
blood fills my mouth.
Nervousness seeps 19 into terror as I anticipate what is to
come. I could be dead, flat-out dead, in an hour. Not even. My
fingers obsessively 20 trace the hard little lump on my forearm
where the woman injected the tracking device. I press on it,
even though it hurts, I press on it so hard a small bruise 21 begins
to form.
“Do you want to talk, Katniss?” Cinna asks.
I shake my head but after a moment hold out my hand to
him. Cinna encloses it in both of his. And this is how we sit until
a pleasant female voice announces it’s time to prepare for launch.
Still clenching 22 one of Cinna’s hands, I walk over and stand
on the circular metal plate. “Remember what Haymitch said.
Run, find water. The rest will follow,” he says. I nod. “And 
remember this. I’m not allowed to bet, but if I could, my 
money would be on you.”
“Truly?” I whisper.
“Truly,” says Cinna. He leans down and kisses me on the
forehead. “Good luck, girl on fire.” And then a glass cylinder 23 is
lowering around me, breaking our handhold, cutting him off
from me. He taps his fingers under his chin. Head high.
I lift my chin and stand as straight as I can. The cylinder begins
to rise. For maybe fifteen seconds, I’m in darkness and
then I can feel the metal plate pushing me out of the cylinder,
into the open air. For a moment, my eyes are dazzled by the
bright sunlight and I’m conscious only of a strong wind with
the hopeful smell of pine trees.
Then I hear the legendary 24 announcer, Claudius Templesmith,
as his voice booms all around me.
“Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger
Games begin!”
reenactment n. 再制定；再扮演
tawny n. 黄褐色；茶色
seep 18 n. 小泉；水陆两用的吉普车
flat-out adj. 直率的；坦白的；最高的