Just Another Games....

Chapter Eleven

We were in the basement of the training center. A woman named Atlas was telling us about how this would go. We would have 3 days to practice any skills we want, anywhere from fires, to all sorts of weapons, to edible plants. Once she let us go, the sane victors go off and start hitting, throwing, or stabbing dummies.

When we stop for lunch halfway through the second day, I grab a pink soup that has assorted berries in it, and sit down at an empty table in the corner. After a few minutes Gale and Peeta join me. Peeta is next to me, and Gale is across the table.

"What do you guys think? Learning anything new?" Peeta asks. Gale just rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"I'm learning a lot. Its hard though, I don't think I can do this. I'll probably just go hid away somewhere and wait until it is me and someone else. I don't want to get close to anyone and I don't want it to come down to us." I say. Peeta nods his head, and Gale gives me a look and I can't figure out what it means before he looks away.

The soup is really creamy, and the berries pop with flavor. Halfway through lunch, Gale gets up and walks over and sits with a girl Peeta says is Johanna Mason. She is from District 7, the lumber district. She is really handy with an ax, since most people from 7 chop trees their whole life.

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At the end of the first day, Gale rides the elevator up with Johanna. Peeta and I get stuck in an elevator with a few people from 6 and 7. Nothing is said, until the girl from 7 gets off. 

"It's going to be okay. We can do this. You have your bow and arrows, you can do this easily. I don't even know how I made it last year. You could make it home like that." He snappes his fingers. "An-" I cut him off with my lips.

 Gale gets off at the same time our doors slide open, so he walks right past our make out session. I pulled away and held my head up. He just shook his head and got back on the elevator. I wasn't sure where he was going, possibly to Johanna's, but I didn't have much time to think. Peeta wrapped his arms around me and carried me to his room.

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The next two days were a flurry of shooting, eating, building, climbing, you name it, I did it. When we weren't training, Peeta and I spent every moment together. We didn't go *that* far, but...

Gale spent a lot of time with Johanna, and when Peeta and I weren't in one of our rooms, he was no where to be found. Haymitch wouldn't tell us where he went, and Effie was a clueless weirdo. At dinner and breakfast Haymitch talked to us about the arena and gave us tips on tons of stuff. Occasionally Peeta would comment, or Gale or I would ask a question, but we mainly sat there taking it all in.

After lunch we were told that it was time for our private training sessions with the game makers. This was the time to show them our best skill. They would rate up on a scale of 1-12, the Careers usually getting 9s or 10s. I was lucky to get a 6.

They started with District 1, and it went girl, boy, victor. By the time it was my turn, we were sitting there for almost eight hours. I got up and would walk around occasionally, then the called me in.

I walked in, and could tell that the game makers were restless. They have been sitting here watching a bunch of other tributes do the same thing over and over again. I grabbed a bow and a sheath of arrows, then walked over to the practice dummies.

Pulling back, I realized the string was much tighter here then in the bows back home. I still managed to hit the dummy, but in the hand. Once I got the feel for it, I hit every single one in the heart or brain. After a while, they said I could leave.

I put the quiver back, and started walking out. I then remembered I still had the bow. I walked back to set it on the stand when Gale walked in. He had a huge bruise on his face, and a few of his knuckles were split open.

I started running at him, but a few Peacekeepers grabbed me before I could reach him. As I was being dragged out of the room, I looked back and tried to show him he would pay.

He just smiled.