The 76th Hunger Games

Chapter 7

     "Jonette, honey! Get up!" Fifi Coogle trills from outside my door. I sit up and look around. What are we doing today, again? Training. Right. This is a very important time for the tributes, because you get to show the others what you've got, and the private training is even more crucial. If you get a bad score, people are less likely to sponsor you  when you get in the arena. I get up and put on the special training outfit: Gray, red, and black pants, shirt with my District number that's the same colour scheme as the pants, and black leather boots. I pull my hair up in a ponytail and open the door to see Fifi's smiling face. She is flanked by Brian, Woof, and Cecelia. We all walk together to the elevator and shoot down to the Training Center.

     The door slides open and we all step into the Training Center. My first thought: BIG. There are countless stations; knots, hand to hand combat, archery, plants, camouflage, everything you would need to survive in the arena. I see tributes gathering around a lady on a podium. "Alright, Jonette. If you have any skills, any at all, don't show the tributes. Only the Gamemakers are to know of this "special skill" of yours. If you have one, of course." Cecelia whispers in my  ear. I nod and walk in. I stand in the mass of tributes and spot Clove. She smiles at me but we turn back to the lady giving instructions. "My name is Atala. I am here to explain a few things to you. You have three days of training, two in front of your allies or enemies, and the last day is for you to show the Gamemakers everything. When in Training, you may not fight other tributes, but you can fight with a trainer. Some advice: Never ignore the survival skills. Camouflage may sound more like arts and crafts, but hiding can be extremely hard in the arena. Plants may seem easy enough, but if you're in the arena and you spot a berry you think you know, you might be dead in a minute. Most of you will die of natural causes such as infection, starvation, dehydration, or freezing to death." Atala explains. "Are there any questions before you go off on your own?" She asks. Silence. She blows a whistle and we all disperse.

     I head to the obstacle course first. I leap over "logs" and dodge falling  "trees". I spot a climbing net strung just below the ceiling and I start to climb. I've seen several people fall off of this already, but I seem to be doing fine. My foot slips at one point and the net flips over, but I calmly right myself and climb to the top. The top net is sort of like an obstacle course as well: Fake logs, traps to avoid, all that. I run through it and climb back down. I see some tributes glaring at me, as if they couldn't believe I had the nerve not to fall off and hurt myself. I walk over to the plant section and start pressing the buttons madly. Poison oak. Nightlock. When I am finished, I finally notice the line behind me. I guess I'm not the only one who wants to touch up on their plant knowledge. I walk over to the fire station and look at the supplies. Sticks, dried grasses, flint, matches, some fabric. I take the dried grass, sticks, and some flint. These are the best fire-starters. Unless I can get some matches when I'm in the arena, I'll have to make my own fires. I crouch by a small dirt clearing and make a circle with stones. I put the sticks and grasses in the circle and I start striking the flint on a large stick. Soon enough, a small fire blooms. I stand up, happy with my work, and use a bucket of water to extinguish the flames. Brian approaches me and looks at the dying fire. "Nice job." He tells me. I shrug. "It's not hard." I tell him, and I walk away. Was that rude? Does it matter? No, no it doesn't. I'll probably be dead on the first day, anyways.

     I string a bow from the archery station and I notch an arrow. I shoot at a target and hit its right arm. I try again and the arrow misses the dummy entirely. I guess archery isn't my "special skill". I keep shooting arrows and only hit fatal spots about half a dozen times. I put the bow down and drop the quiver of arrows to the ground. I walk over to the hand-to-hand combat station and a trainer approaches me, wearing stab-proof armor so I don't kill him. Pfft. Like I can disarm him. And by that I mean take his rubber knife before he stabs me with it. the trainer slashes at me and I duck. I stab but he parries my blade away. After a few minutes of sparring, I manage to hit his blade away and stab his armor in the chest. I bow slightly and walk to the camouflage station to sit down. I paint my foot into a flowery ditch, making sure you can see sunlight and shadows. After several hours of going from station to station, a pleasant female voice announces it's time to go back for dinner. I find Brian, Fifi, Cecelia, and Woof waiting for me. We head to dinner quickly.

     I fill my plate with wild rice, some sort of roasted bird, and some sort of green vegetable. I chat with my team about strategy. Cecelia says to go into the Cornucopia only if we know we absolutely can not survive without a bag. We would need to find a water source as fast as we could and set up a camp near it, and make sure it's easily concealed. "But what if we can't find shelter?"I ask. "Well scale a tree." Cecelia answers. I nod and eat until I'm tired and full. Fifi orders me and Brian to bed and I fall on my bed as soon as I am in my room. It's been a long day, and I'm exhausted. I get up and dress myself in a light blue nightgown. I might as well, right? I sit back down on my bed and stare out the window at the skyline until I begin to nod off. I lie down and close my eyes. Soon enough, I am snoring away.