Inferno: A Hunger Games Fanfic

Chapter 15

Dedicated to Draco_Lucius_Potter! It was cheese + ham + cucumber right?

It takes 75 years to spark a revolution. It takes 25 years to break the peace. It takes 15 hours to get to the Capitol from 12. And it takes 15 minutes to impress a room full of gamemakers.

That's how long we have to impress them today. 15 minutes to show them what skills we have. They will then score us from zero to twelve. These scores will be displayed to us, and to the rest of Panem, tonight on live tv.

They don't effect much, a tribute with a score of 5 can win or a tribute with a score of 10 could win. It just lets the Capitol place bets and choose who to sponser. Sponsors however, can help us, by sending gifts of food, water, medicine or whatever else we may need, decied by our mentor. They can be the difference between life and death in the arena. So tonight and our interveiws tommorrow, are our chances to make the Capitol choose us and, equally as importantly, not choose any of the other tributes.

One tribute's survival means another's death.

One by one, male tribute preceeding the female, the others go in. They must go out another way because eventully it's just me and Meir.

" Just me and you" he says echoing my thoughts. I nod, feel in thought. He misreads my thoughtful silence as nerves and tries to reassure me:

"You'll be fine, you never miss! Remember the cheeseboard on the train? The pillows?" I remember that, and I remember afterwards, when we were stuck in a doorway. The beat of his heart. The look on his face when linked eyes with me. The disappointment when we got out. He looks at me now, with the same expression. I don't know what it is. No, I don't want to know. I don't want to let my hopes up.

Time loses meaning but it must pass because too soon a mechcanical voice summons Meir.
"Don't forget to throw some knives!"
"Don't forget to swing some swords!"
And with that he is gone and I am utterly alone.

I try to decide what to do to impress them. I can chuck some knives about, but what else? I go through the skills I've learnt. I can make a fire. I can camoflauge myself quite well. I know which berries are poisionous and which aren't. It's kind of impressive to know which to choose out of the berries with cornflower blue juice ans the identical ones with blood red juice. Red equals blood. Blood means death. Red means death. Easy enough to remember.

When the voice invites me in, I am ready. The gamemakers are all looking at me.
"Whenever you are ready" one says.
I am ready.

I go over to the fire-making area and coax a few flames out of a few pieces of wood. Then sprint to the knife section and throw knives into the fake flying birds, hitting them directly in the eye, shove one in the fire and grab a handful of edible berries. I show the gamemakers the meal I made. They seem impressed, conversing for a while before writing something on a board. Just as I am dismissed a messenger talks to the gamemaker. No one says anything else. But they look disappointed. And one of them rubs whatever was on the board out.

Meir seems relieved when I see him not long after. We sit on a luxurious capitol sofa and discuss out possible results. As he relays how he impressed the gamemakers with his sword skills (which he picked up suprisingly fast) I study his face. Memorizing the tiny details that make his face so handsome. The stubble on his chin from where his prep team cut it. The lines of mouth. His high, clear cheekbones. The shape of his lips. But my favourite feature is his eyes. As pretty as a sapphire and as innocent as a doe. The words swim up to me from long ago. Well it's only really been a few days, but it's felt like years. It was at the reaping. When I first properly saw his eyes. And they are just a beautiful now. Until the flutter closed as he coughs at me, getting my attention.