The 11th Annual Hunger Games

The Capitol

Mags hated trains.

Admittedly it likely wouldn't have been as bad if Ide hadn't been continually vomiting during the ride, but still.

She was more than happy to get out of the train car when the train finally stopped even though it meant that they were in the Capitol.

Caspian got up from the pile of blankets he had claimed and grabbed Ide's arm, shoving him towards the door.

The door opened and several armed Peacekeepers stood there. They wrinkled their noses as the stench hit them.

Caspian released Ide, who stumbled before two Peacekeepers grabbed him, hauling him off to a truck idling nearby.

Caspian's fingers twitched as he spoke to the Peacekeepers. "Where's the others?"

The Peacekeepers glanced at each other. "We'll take you to them."

Caspian glanced back at Mags and over at Ide before nodding. "Understood."

Mags climbed out of the train car and one of the Peacekeepers helped her down before nudging her over to the truck where they had put Ide.

She climbed in and paused when she saw other kids in there. Mags glanced over her shoulder at Caspian who was being led off to another car, though his was much nicer than the one she was in.

Mags got in the truck and the Peacekeepers shut the door behind her as the truck began to move leaving her alone with her fellow tributes.

None of them said anything but they all watched each other. Sizing up how big of a threat they were.

Mags watched them carefully, trying to notice anything that might help her when fighting against them.

Most of them appeared ill, coughing and wheezing but there were a few who stood out.

One girl was young and scrawny but had a devious light in her eyes, one of the boys was missing his arm but still was built like an ox and there was one more, another girl. She was older, probably eighteen, with copper hair and dark brown eyes, who giggled to herself as she rocked back and forth.

The truck stopped and then started to...slide?

Mags let out a slight shriek as the truck's door opened revealing a metal slide, moving to make the tributes fall into it.

Mags grabbed onto a small bar on the truck wall, but not everyone was quite as lucky; there were loud screams and shouts of shock as the majority of the tributes fell into the hole.

A young boy grabbed onto Mags' arm, causing her to release the bar. She yelled, trying to grab a hold of something else, but it was futile. She fell down the slide with the boy.

As she slid her head slammed into the metal wall, causing her vision to black out momentarily before she got to the end of the slide.

When they reached the bottom she smacked into a different boy and scrambled to get off him, blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the light.

She scanned the cage they had been put in, no...not a cage, not exactly. It was big, with trees and some rocks, but it had bars, keeping them all inside.

So yeah, maybe cage was the right word for it.

Mags noticed the people outside the bars. Most seemed dressed nicely, smiling and whispering to each other as they watched the tributes attempt to orient themselves with their new surroundings.

A little girl ran over to the bars smiling at them all. "Hi!"

A woman, assumedly her mother, ran forward, snatching her away from the bars. "Minerva! Don't go too close, don't you remember what happened last year? Do you want that to be you?"

The little girl shrunk back, moving away from the bars.

What did she mean? What happened last year? Mags wished she'd actually watched the Games last year. You didn't have to, the only part of the Games people were required to watch the Reaping in their own district. After all, most families didn't even have a television, how could they watch the Games?

Why would anyone want to?

Mags moved towards Ide, who had gotten to his feet and was watching the people standing beyond the bars. "I don't understand." He said quietly. "Why watch us here? We're not supposed to kill each other yet...are we?"

"No...no I don't think so." Mags said slowly.

There was a slight commotion as a large group of Peacekeepers walked towards the tributes, guiding a small group of people, including Caspian.

Mags's attention was drawn away from them however when she noticed a man speaking to a camera. "-with this year's tributes! Some of them appear to be real contenders this year, we're sure to have a good show!"

Mags bit her tongue, holding in her disgust. A good show? Was that all they were to these people? Did their lives all mean nothing?

The man had begun approaching the bars, trying to signal the tributes to go over to him, but they all just eyed him warily. Clearly none of them were sure what to think of him.

His eyes lit when he turned and saw the group approach. "We'll see if this year's mentors are chattier than their tributes!"

He hurried over to them, pushing the mic in a girl's face. "How does it feel to be back in the Capitol?"

The girl blinked, glancing at those with her before speaking. "It's quite...interesting. I've never seen the inside of the Capitol, myself."

The man nodded. "I'm sure it's quite a change from District...er..."

"Ten." The girl said.

"Right! Caprine, isn't it? You won the 8th Games?"

"That I did Lucky." The girl laughed, smiling forcefully.

"How about you? How do you feel returning to the Capitol after so long?" Lucky addresses one of the men in the group.

The man smiled. "It feels different, Lucky, definitely less intimidating this time."

Lucky nodded as an alarm went off. "Well folks, that's all the time for today! The zoo is closing for the night, but be sure to come and visit the tributes tomorrow morning, bright and early!"

The people began to leave with Lucky and his camera crew but the group of mentors remained with the Peacekeepers.

Once they had the general public had left the mentors approached the cage, calling their tributes towards them.

Mags hurried to where Caspian stood, Ide following closely behind her.

Caspian eyed the other mentors before talking to Mags and Ide in a low voice. "You need to get their attention. The people I mean, you need them to like you in order to get the most sponsors. That's the best way to stay alive there."

They nodded as he continued. "Don't talk to the mentors either, they'd all kill you given the chance, they want their kids to come home. It's better for their districts. Also, stay away from the boy from 10, the one with the missing arm. Caprine is far too giddy that he's in, so best to just avoid him if you can. Beyond him I'm not sure. 1, 2, and 11 are pretty pitiful this year, so I wouldn't worry much over them."

"How do we get the attention of the Capitol without the others noticing us?" Mags asked.

Caspian rubbed his eyes. "I don't know, talk to Lucky maybe? I didn't have to do this for my Games. They just chucked us into the arena with some weapons and told us to survive."

The Peacekeepers began to yell at the mentors and Caspian backed away. "Just get them to like you, if you can't talk to Lucky yet wait a couple days til they interview you all. You'll have your chance then."

The mentors left and Mags moved to the back corner of the cage, keeping away from the others as she dozed off, hoping none of them would do anything to her before they hit the arena, trying to avoid her thoughts of what would happen once they got there.