𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ✔️

Chapter 12 - Dalia

^Leon

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Chapter 12

POV: Dalia (District 11)

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All 35 of the tributes sit in orderly rows as we await our Individual Assessments. Well, not all of us - the tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 3 are already gone, Lacie is in the Assessment room already, and Angelica is notably absent, her empty chair right next to me.

We're organized in six rows with an aisle between each row, separating us by District. Nia and I ignore the District 12 tributes, opting to talk with two of the District 10 tributes, Lena and Rex. Tanner, of course, chooses to ignore us.

"I mean, so much has happened already," I complain to Lena. "So many fights. There are a lot of strong competitors."

"Right. More tributes mean more killers," she agrees.

Nia taps my shoulder, and I turn to see her looking at the door at the back of the room, where two Capitol guards are escorting Angelica. She limps in slowly. Her face looks bruised and there is a small piece of tape over her nose.

Angelica coughs lightly as she is set down in the empty chair next to me. I offer a small smile. She already looks better than when she was taken away - Capitol medicine works magic.

I can't believe Leon would do such a thing, especially to such a small girl like Angelica. I'm guessing that he'll be portrayed as a villain to the Capitol public, who'll eat it up, and then the Gamemakers will slowly kill him in the Arena. Despite not being too close to Angelica, I can't help but feel my heart burning a bit in anger that someone would hurt one of us before the Games even began.

Lacie steps out of the room, and a buzzer rings. Soren stands, entering the doors she came out of. Lacie stares straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with any of us. She's very strategic in everything she does.

~

Jubilee gives us special drinks to sip as our Training scores are announced. The drinks glow fluorescently, each a different color. Mine is pink, and it tastes quite sweet, like the taste of a berry I can't quite place.

The tributes' scores range from 0 to 12, with 12 being the best. Typically, the very best tributes each year score an 11, while most good tributes score an 8 or above. I feel pretty confident, since I didn't mess up too much during my Individual Assessment.

"Hello, Panem!" Ross says, beginning the broadcast. Jubilee almost drops her drink in excitement as she rushes to the couch where we're all seated to watch the scores.

"Ross here, reporting live as always. It's finally time to see our tributes for the first time since the Tribute Parade and see what their official scores are. The betting will begin tonight! Stay tuned for our interviews in two days' time. With that out of the way... let's begin with District 1."

Ross moves fairly quickly through the scores. Felix is first, and he scores a 10. Both girls from District 1 score a 9. I'm not surprised to hear that Ada received an 11, but I am taken by surprise when I hear that both Orion and Murray only received 7s, a low score for a Career.

I don't listen to most of the other scores. I know Lacie is making a full list and is doing all the analysis work, so I don't have to pay too close attention. Robin scores a 9, and both Soren and Lacie score 8s. Surprisingly, Tanner scores an 11 just like Ada.

After Tanner, it's finally District 11's turn. Angelica is first. I'm halfway expecting them to give her a good score to give her a much-needed advantage because of her injuries. However, they don't do this, only giving her a meager 3. The air in the room is tense. Jackson looks ready to punch something (more than he usually does).

I'm next. My heart is racing, but I let out a sigh of relief when I hear the score.

"Dalia from District 11, with a score of... 8."

Perfect. The same score as Soren and Lacie.

Unfortunately, Nia doesn't have the same luck, only scoring a 6. I can tell she's disappointed, even though she doesn't show it.

~

The morning after our scores are announced, Lacie calls us to her room, where we meet to discuss the scores. As expected, Lacie has prepared a presentation for us. As she begins, I manage to steal a glance at her list, running my eyes down it:

District 1
Amethyst - 9
Felix - 10
Victoria - 9

District 2
Ada - 11
Murray - 7
Orion - 7

District 3
Cada - 4
Della - 6
Robin - 9

District 4
Lacie - 8
Soren - 8
Wade - 3

District 5
Carlo - 4
Persephone - 5
Velia - 3

District 6
Jomilee - 10
Leon - 10
Marnie - 5

District 7
Jordan - 7
Kala - 7
Rowan - 8

District 8
Karrie - 4
Rose - 8
Saylee - 5

District 9
Acacia - 7
Greta - 7
Maisy - 6

District 10
Magdalena - 6
Rex - 8
Tanner - 11

District 11
Angelica - 3
Dalia - 8
Nia - 6

District 12
Alf - 4
Nelly - 2
Zea - 3

"Well, first off, Robin clearly showed he deserved to be here with that 9. Congrats on that," Lacie says humbly.

Robin smiles in response. I know that Lacie had some initial doubts about him.

"Overall, we all scored favorably other than Nia. We've seen you train, though, so they must be undervaluing your stealth and foraging abilities."

Nia nods curtly. I'm glad that at the very least, Lacie can see that her score was unfair. I trust Lacie's analytics more than anyone else's.

"A 6 isn't that bad anyway," I reassure Nia.

"It's better than many, but there are a lot of fierce competitors we're competing with," Lacie says. "Speaking of, the scores give us an idea of what we're working with. Obviously, District 1 scored very highly. Ada got an 11 as expected, but oddly enough the other two from 2 got 7s, so I wouldn't be too worried about them."

I nod. I remember that from last night.

"Other than the Careers, the competition is mostly... Tanner from 10, Jordan and Kala from 7, Rose from 8, Leon and Jomilee from 6, Rowan from 7, and Acacia from 9. Most of them are concentrated in alliances with each other. Nothing much else to report - Other than Robin, the tributes from 3, 5, 8, and 12 should be easy to pick off."

"And I'm sure after what happened with Leon, he'll be picked off early," I suggest.

Lacie nods. "Hopefully they'll take his ally, Rowan, with him."

Now that the scores are out, everything seems more real. The Games are approaching fast - all we have left is the Interviews, and then we're off.

Into the Arena.

~

There are our scores! Any scores that surprised you? I know it may have been hard to read the long list - sorry about that. What do you think is going to happen to Leon and Angelica? What about Orion and Murray, now that they've gotten low scores?

Thanks for reading and I'll see you in the next one!

~S