The chariot
comes to a stop in front of President Snow’s mansion. The
thirty-something-year-old president is standing on his balcony. “Welcome
tributes,” he calls, and the crowd goes silent, “to another Hunger Games.
Again, we must ask ourselves, why must we sacrifice so many young lives? How
did the Hunger Games become necessary?
“War.
Terrible war. Widows. Orphans. A motherless child. This was the uprising that
rocked our land. 13 Districts rebelled against the country that fed them, loved
them and protected them. Brother turned on brother until nothing remained. And
then came the peace; hard fought, sorely won. People rose up from the ashes and
a new era was born. But freedom has a cost. When the traitor was defeated, we
swore as a nation we would never know this treason again. And so it was decreed
that each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up in tribute one
young man and woman to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage and
sacrifice. The lone victor, bathed in riches, would serve as a reminder of our
generosity and forgiveness. Henceforth and forevermore, this pageant was to be
known as the Hunger Games.”
President Snow pauses for dramatic effect. I know his speech
by heart, for it never changes, year after year. “Now we begin the thirty-fifth
Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!” The crowd roars, but I’m
getting tired of that phrase.
The chariots wheel us back into the stable and Palana greets
us, squealing. “You were wonderful!”
“Thanks!” I blush modestly.
“Great job!” says Olivia, and she helps me jump down.
Sean pulls both of us close, and whispers urgently, “Nice
job, but we have more pressing issues. Over there are the tributes from
District 10. I’m friends with their mentor, and he says they’re quiet and
friendly, but scared, and don’t like their chances. He thinks an alliance is a
good idea. I want you two to go over there, and try to make an alliance.”
“But you said to do that during training!” argues Nathan.
“And now I’m telling you to go talk to them.” Snaps Sean.
“The more time you have to collect allies, the better.”
Nathan’s still grumbling when I leave, marching up to the
District 10 tributes alone. Suddenly, I am gutsy and brave. The girl looks my
age, but the boy looks closer to Nathan’s. She’s very short with curly blonde
hair, but she’s also quite muscular. The boy has big hands and big shoulders,
with long hair that covers his eyes. The boy is dressed like a cow, and the
girl, a pig. “Nice costumes.” I say without thinking. I hope it doesn’t offend
them.
To my relief, the girl smiles. “Ridiculous, aren’t they? I’m
sure we’ll get tons of sponsors in these.”
I grin. “I’m Zania.”
“Addalie.” I shake her hand, and she introduces her
counterpart as Mark.
“You’re the girl who got Reaped along with your brother,
aren’t you?” the boy asks.
I lower my gaze. “Yeah, that’s me.” I still feel depressed
whenever I think about the Reaping and my family back home.
“I’m so sorry.” Says Addalie.
“It’s okay.” I mumble. “I just hope we can both survive
until near the end. I don’t want to die in the bloodbath. That’d be easier to
do with an alliance.” I take a deep breath, bring my eyes back up, and look
pleadingly at Addalie. “I’m going to cut to the chase. I think you two are
bound to be competitors, and my brother and I would like to form an alliance
with you. You two seem nice enough, and I know you want to win as much as I do.
We’d all have a better chance at winning if we join forces for the beginning of
the Games.” I am amazed at how much I spoke. Apparently, they are too, because
they both looked a little surprised.
“You have a point.” Says Addalie. “The Careers always outlast
everyone because they work together.”
I think Mark raises an eyebrow, but I can’t see under his
hair. “True, but they’ve also been training their whole lives.”
“So we’ll make an even bigger alliance.” Nathan says, and I
jump. I didn’t see him come up behind me. He introduces himself to Addalie and
Mark. “Think about it. We’ll have four times the sponsors, since we’ll share
what we get, we’ll have more protection, since there’ll be more of us, and we
might even get some better stuff than we usually would at the Cornucopia, since
we’ll have each other’s backs.”
Addalie bites her lip, considering. “I’m in.” she finally
says. “I’m a weak-link already, being a younger tribute. I have a better chance
of winning if I team up with you.”
“Yeah, okay.” Agrees Mark. I know Nathan’s arguments won
them both over. We all shake hands once more, sealing the deal.
“Are you considering bringing anyone else to the alliance?”
asks Addalie enthusiastically.
“We’re thinking about the tributes from 8 and 11.” Nathan
admits. “Our mentors told us to work on the alliance during training.”
“We’ll help you out with that when we can.” Mark says,
motioning between himself and Addalie. “But we’re open books now. No secrets.
We need to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so we can protect each
other.”
“Of course.” I say. “We need to work together to beat out
the Careers.”
“Apparently, the building we’re staying at until the Games
has a roof.” Says Addalie unexpectedly. “My mentor told me about it. We can
meet there when we get back, and talk strategy. He said it’s very loud up
there. Harder to be overheard.”
“Sounds like a good place to start planning.” Says Nathan.
“Zania and I will meet you there.” I wave goodbye to the two of them, and
Nathan pulls me back over to where Sean and Olivia are standing.
“How’d it go?” asks Olivia.
Nathan smiles. “Their names are Addalie and Mark. And
they’re in.”
“Good.” Says Sean. “This is a good start.”
“We’re meeting them on the roof to get a plan together when
we get back!” I pipe up happily. The fact that we now have an alliance gives me
a new sense of hope and excitement.
“Even better!” exclaims Olivia. “We’ll know what we’re doing
way before the Careers do! Be sure to
tell us what you four come up with when you get back!”
“Okay.” Replies Nathan. “And during training, they say
they’ll help us get the tributes from 8 and 11 to join.”
Sean grins. “You
know, I think this will be a Career-free Games in a week!”
Palana steps awkwardly into the middle of our conversation.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you,” she says sweetly, “But our rooms are ready. We
should probably get going to the Training Centre.”
We follow Palana to a large tower in the City Centre, and
she leads us into an elevator. “Each district has a floor to themselves.”
Explains Palana. “We’re on the ninth floor, since you two are from District 9,
and the real training centre is in
the basement.” I look at the elevator control panel and notice, with a smile,
the button labeled ‘roof’. There’s another button labeled ‘training’, and I’m
pretty sure I know what’s on that floor. Palana pressed the button labeled with
a ‘9’, and the elevator shoots upwards.
Our new, temporary home looks exactly like the train, except
everything’s bigger and there are rooms for Kerany, Moray and the prep teams
too. Nathan and I go to our room, change out of our costumes, and into
something more comfortable. My hair is super wavy from the braids, but
otherwise, we erase every trace of the farmer costumes.
Quickly, so Addalie and Mark aren’t waiting for us too long,
we slip into the elevator, and press ‘roof’.
Addalie and Mark are waiting for us. They, too, changed out
of their costumes and I can’t blame them. They looked so stupid in their giant
animal suits.
We don’t do much, except talk about our families back home, and
how the Capitol differs from our districts. Somehow, this isn’t the kind of
planning I thought we’d do, but I don’t mind. I like hearing about the other
district, and I start to really trust Addalie and Mark. I know that for me to
survive they have to die, but I try to forget that. My only concern is to
outlast the Careers, and I think that, now, I can.
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