UNDERDOG | FINNICK ODAIR

Chapter 6

The reaping was incredibly short. People were herded in and the victors placed on the stage. Males on one side, females on the other. Tulle stood in the middle. Her costume wasn't as bright as previous years. Her hair was a subdued burgundy while her outfit was completely cotton candy pink. She still had her usual cheeriness, but she was less excitable.

"Good morning people of district four!" She cheered. No one answered back so she continued down her speech. "Yes well, as you all heard from President Snow, for the third quarter quell this year's tributes will be reaped from the existing pool of victors. Females first." She bustled over to the bowl with four names in it.

"She reached in and grabbed one of the three slips of paper. She didn't do her usual hand swirl in the bowl.

"Mags Flanagan!"

Tulle reached out to mags, cooing at her to step forward. I couldn't take it. Mags wouldn't last a full day in the arena. I could. What would she do if she was in my place and had the option?

"Wait! I volunteer!" I said before I changed my mind. Mags looked up at me in anger. She started to chew me out but I stopped her. "You would do it for me. Just take care of things here until one of us gets back." I said and hugged her.

"Oh, a volunteer! Come on up, Beck!" Tulle cheered. I walked over to the middle of the stage and tried to look dignified.

"Now for the males!" Tulle exclaimed with a smile. She walked to the other bowl which contained two names. A middle aged man named Axel who won the 49th games. And the other was Finnick.

She smiled largely at the crowd, she dramatically swirled the papers around and pulled out a name.

"Finnick Odair!"

Finnick stepped up and waved at the cameras, giving his award winning smile. The crowd cheered but I'm sure the people in the capitol were having a real cow about him. I could almost hear all the women screaming

He turned to me looking pissed. "Why did you do that?" He hissed. I rolled my eyes and waved at the crowd. "What would you have done?" I whispered back. He sighed and didn't answer. I attempted to smile a few times but my teeth were clenched to hard.

Peace keepers swarmed either side of us and grabbed our arms to drag us away. "That isn't necessary." I grumbled. The man who held on to me spoke, "Maybe not, but its orders." He pulled me towards the train where Lacey and Tulle were waiting with armed guards flanking each side. "You can let us go now, As the mentor I will look after them." She spoke sharply at the peace keepers.

They didn't listen and pushed us all into the train. I tripped on the step and fell, I caught myself with my hands before i could smack my face on the floor. Finnick extended his hand and I grabbed hold of it. He yanked me up with more force than I expected and it took a second for me to gain balance again.

The peacekeepers shut the doors behind us. "Well they sure were nice." Lacey grumbled. All four of us plopped down on the chairs and Lacey turned on the TV. The reaping was already on and we watched first through twelfth. Each brought new contestants and old friends I didn't think I could kill.

When we got to four, I winced at the way I looked. Scared, tired, and defeated, just like the capitol wanted. My smiles seemed to fake and my handshake with Finnick was weak. I looked desperate.

We kept the TV on as Avox's set up dinner. I thanked the man who served my meal and he nodded. I felt bad as soon as I did it. He wouldn't have been able to answer. I only reminded him of that.

I sat down at the table and looked around. Desserts, soups, sandwiches, roast, you name it it was probably at the table. I grabbed a small sandwich and a brownie before waiting for everyone else to start eating. My Nona always waited. She drilled it into my head so much so that I felt funny if I was the only person eating.

Lacey slapped a spoonful of roast on her plate and started chowing down. I figured it was fine to eat now so I did the same. "District one and two will be your main threats I assume." Lacey mumbled between mouthfuls.

"Usually are a rowdy lot." I said back.

"Do you have a game plan?" Lacey asked both of us.

"Attempt not to get killed." I replied.

Lacey stared blankly at me, "That's not going to cut it, Missy. This is your life on the line, not a walk in the park." She demanded in a matter of fact way.

How dare she? Does she think I just got through with luck? I fought tooth and nail to survive.

"You think I haven't been in the arena? I know what its like!" I snarled.

"You didn't exactly work hard to get out. Your ally did all the killing. You sat there and looked pretty." Lacey snorted.

"No, that's what you saw on camera. I cleaned his wounds, I gathered food and water. I made all the shelters. I killed two people in there. One was 13 years old! I killed a kid!" I thundered.

Finnick looked astounded at how snippy we were. "Ladies, calm down! We all fought hard in the arena. No one is doubting your skill Beck." He said.

"I'm tired, I'm going to bed." I hissed, I pushed my chair out and started clearing my place at the table. A female Avox came and gently pushed my hand away. She gathered my plate and cup. I felt bad she did it for me before remembering that was their job. I stood up, mumbled goodnight and searched for my room.

I decided to ask a train attendant since I had no clue which room was mine.
I found one and asked if they could tell me which one it was. He pointed to the one on the left so I thanked him and walked into my room.

It was the same room lay out as the last time. Hints of ocean decor and a lot of blue and green. I quickly changed my clothes and headed to bed. I didn't bother with a shower since I would just take one tomorrow with the pep team. I drifted off sooner than I thought I would but I had another nightmare.

In this dream, I was running from something. Except I wasn't going anywhere, just running in place. I heard crashes behind me and I slowed my running in place to see what it was. A towering sea creature loomed over my small figure. As it reached me I was able to break free and move. I ran and ran. I only stopped when a person stood in front of me.

"You won't win these games, you know. Its only a matter of time before a bigger fish comes along to gobble you up." Nona grinned at me.

"Nona? What are you doing here? Why are you saying this?" I asked.

"Because its true, Keiki. You will die. You have no one left to fight for, no one to come home too."

"Thats not true- I..." I started.

She laughed, "You mean Finnick? He doesn't even like you. He's friends with you because you remind him of his Annie. The last piece of his sanity."

"That's not true. You can't put these thoughts in my head. You owe me that much, you left us." I cried.

"I didn't even want you. Your mother was harder to leave because of her innocence, but you were annoying. Always ruining chances for your mother. If I had focused on her, I could have helped her. She wouldn't be like this. She wouldn't be crazy." The old lady snapped.

I heard a thundering in the ground behind me. The monster was back. I started to turn away, but Nona stopped me by saying, "Look at you, running from your problems yet again. You have no chance in these games keiki."