Hunger Games (DNF)

Part 2, Chapter 24: back at the Capitol

Clay POV.

I let out a groan as feeling returned to my body, and my eyes fluttered open. A man was there, looking down at me and for a moment I couldn’t recognise him, but after that I realised… it was the head game maker.

He was saying something that I couldn’t understand, my mind hadn’t woken up enough to be able to figure out what it was. All that I could tell was that he looked insanely angry. “What… what happened?” I asked, when I was able to form words again. “Where am I? Are the games over?” It took me a few moments to say the entire thing.

“The games have been postponed… or cancelled. That is to be decided at a later date.” He stated. “All tributes are here in the Capitol except one. George Davidson from District 3.”
The look he gave me made it seem as though he thought it was my fault.

“Why does that matter? If tributes are alive why are we back here? Don’t we stay in the arena until everyone is dead?” Anger laced my words as I spoke.
“Why it matters Clay Smith is because if I lose a tribute I lose my head.” The game maker stated, crossing his arms and glaring at me.

“And why should I care about that? You help design the Hunger Games which gets heaps of kids killed.” I didn’t try to hide the smirk that formed when the game maker said he would be dead.
“You should care because after I’m dead President Schlatt goes after George Davidson’s friends and family, and then anyone associated with George. That includes you, but first Schlatt will take your family. So maybe you should care.”

That shut me up and then it was the game makers turn to smirk before he continued. “We have recalled the peace keepers that were on duty at the games and brought in more skilled ones to hunt down and either bring in, or kill George Davidson. 100 extra peacekeepers are being deployed to each district with the exception of District 3 which has triple that number.”

“And this involves me how?” I asked.
“You know why the games were called off, the fact that George escaped and you aren’t going to mention that to anyone.” he hissed.

I gave another cocky smile, “and what if I do mention it? What happens then?”
The game maker smiled, leaning closer to me. “Then, your mother and your sister back in District 4, along with all of your friends will be executed publicly and brutally.”

“You will be here for a couple of months if they don’t find George,” he continued as he stood up and walked away from the bed I was laying on. “If you even think about mentioning his escape to anyone then a noose will be waiting for your family.”

He began walking towards the door of the room but I stopped him.”What happens if you do find George, and get him alive?”
“Then, the games will continue. You will all be returned to the arena and to kick off the restarted games he will be executed in his home district during the countdown.”

I held my tongue, almost not wanting to know an answer. “And if you don’t find George?”
“Then, the games may still continue, or you and the other tributes will stay here in the Capitol. Either as avoxes… or as corpses…”

The game maker gave me a smile. “Try and get some rest, it would be good for you to have your strength up if you go back into that arena.” Then he left the room.
I leaned back against the bed, thinking about what he had said, so George had escaped and he was still alive… for now, and I couldn’t tell anything.

I let out a worried sigh for my friend and pulled the covers of the bed up to my head, trying to go back to sleep and flush the thoughts out.

Sam POV.

I didn’t mean to be that harsh to the tribute from 4. He wasn’t really responsible for anything, and he may not have even realised that George had escaped, I was just worrying for my life since Schlatt would end it if I didn’t find the tribute.

Every time I thought of that, of Schlatt having me killed, my hands subconsciously moved up to my neck to rub it, as though a noose might be tied tightly around it. Thankfully I found that there never was, although that might mean there will be some soon and... God dammit I was rubbing my neck now…

In a hurried pace I walked through the Citadel, the building where the games were planned and managed every year, which was where the tributes were being kept. It wasn’t anywhere as nice as the training centre on tribute avenue, as Schlatt had requested after we told him we were cutting the games short.

There were no avoxes, and the tributes could no longer go onto a garden on the roof. The only view of the outside world were small windows in each room. There were some basic activities to keep them entertained, books, cards, pens and paper, and a lot of peacekeepers to keep an eye on them.

This place was pretty much a prison in all but name, at least they got a nice meal and doctors to keep them healthy. I walked down to the programming room where the other game makers were sending drones to patrol the area.

Typically a run away was to be dealt with by a peacekeeper, they’d be hunted down and killed and forgotten about. Simple. But a tribute has never escaped during the games before and so I was getting the other gamemakers to make sure he was found so none of us would get punished… so I wouldn’t get punished.

“How is it going, Foolish?” I asked, going around to stand beside him.
Since we obviously couldn’t hunt for George in a lot of places where he could be hiding, Foolish was creating mutts to do so. He gave me a small smile, “it’s going good Sam. I have just finished one…”

He pulled up a design of a flying creature on the holographic table in the centre of the room. A lot of the game makers stopped what they were doing to look at it. It looked a lot like a stingray, except it was able to fly.

The creature had scales covering its body, gray bones jutted out against its skin, it’s spine and wings being most obvious. The rest of it’s scaly skin was blue and it had green cat-like eyes which could see in the dark.

Foolish showed us a motion of it flying as he explained. “I plan to deploy these at night to look for the tribute. It is difficult to see them in the dark and I have been programming it to only attack someone who looks exactly like George.”

“I call them phantoms,” he continued, “because they are fast and they’ll be there one minute and gone the next, almost as if they were a ghost and never really there. They also disappear during the day because they are nocturnal…”

For another few long moments everyone in the room just admired the creature and I smiled thoughtfully, “they are perfect Foolish, can you release 2 dozen outside the arena tonight?”
He nodded and went back to typing on his computer.
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1257 words.