Max: District 4

The Capitol: Chariot Ride

Maria and I are escorted off the train and into the remake center. This is where we will meet our stylists, and they will make us ready for the chariot ride. I walk into the room that an ultra-tall woman with jet black skin leads me to. She walks to the other side of the room and opens a drawer. with her back still turned towards me, she says "Since your train was an hour late, we won't have time to do our famous complete makeover. We will have to take some painful shortcuts. So, you will have to be unconscious for the process." She pulls out a syringe with a fluorescent green liquid inside. Did I mention I have a very big fear of things sticking into me? I back away from her, fast. I trip on the corner of a carpet and fall onto the floor. Taking advantage of my stumble, she injects the syringe deep into my leg, and instantly, the world goes black.

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When the sedative wears off, I am draped in an aqua blue arrangement of fabric pinned together by a starfish clip. I guess this is my chariot costume. The woman who had the syringe is sitting on a couch in the corner of the room with two other women, one with dark pink skin, and the other with about a thousand piercings all over her body. "Ummm, is this my chariot costume?" I ask. "yes, dear." says the woman with the pink skin. "I'm Electrica, your stylist." she gestures at the other women. "And this is your prep team, Eagle and Junipar. They will leave you with me, now." the two women glance at her reproachfully before exiting the room.

"I hope you like your costume since it's most likely one of the last things you will see before you're slaughtered in the games." wow. that was harsh. "well if you're done, I'm going outside." I see Maria walking in the opposite direction, so I hurry to catch up with her. she's wearing the same thing as me, but it's sewn to look more like a dress and less like a pile of blue shimmery cloth. "hey" I say to her "get lost, Max." she replies. I stop and let her get ahead, because I can tell she's tense right now, and she'll snap back on me like a rubber band if I bother her. When I reach our chariot, I see many people, stylists and tributes alike milling around the lined-up chariots.

I see Rue talking to Thresh, her district partner. I decide to talk to her, get to know her, and maybe we can be allies in the arena. As I walk towards her, Thresh notices me and glares, a clear sign to back off. I start to turn around, but Rue calls to me. "Max!" I look back at her. How does she know my name? I think, but then I remember how I know hers. She probably heard my name get called on the reaping recording. "Max, it's okay." I walk back over to her, looking warily at Thresh, who still glares, but makes no other move. "Hi, I'm Rue, from district 11," she says. "I know, I saw your reaping. I'm really sorry." I mumble. She smiles sadly. "I'm sorry too. About your reaping. But there's nothing we can do about it except try our best." She's right of course. she starts to say something else, but her eyes widen and she closes her mouth. I turn around and see Cato, from district 2, with Marvel and the girl from his district glaring down at us. "Oh, look at the little tributes. No chance of winning, huh? well that's too bad." says Cato. Marvel gives us an apologetic look as if he's sorry about Cato's rudeness, but I'm not believing any of it.

"Go away, Cato," I say bravely. I'm not sure why I did it, And I instantly regret my actions when Cato slams me to the ground. The breath leaves my body, and I'm choking for air. "You'll be the first to go in the arena. I would kill you now, but that's not allowed." Cato growls in my ear. Peacekeepers come and drag him off me. Rue helps me up and says "Wow, that was brave, Max!" then she glares at Cato's turned back " I hate him." "yeah." I agree. And then it's time for the tribute parade, and I have to go back to my chariot. When the District 4 chariot pulls out of the remake center, Maria and I smile and wave like we're having the time of our lives, even though we're definitely not. The crowds cheer and throw flowers, and when the district 12 chariot rolls through the doors, the crowd's cheering swells to a deafening roar. I look back to see the tributes from 12 in a blazing fire of glory. They look pretty amazing, I have to admit, but they won't last long in the arena. Twelve tributes never do.

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When the ride is over, Mirakal comes up to us and brings us to the training center. "well you two certainly did well. I'm sure you'll get tons of sponsors!" we step into a little glass box with buttons on a panel. Mirakal presses the button with a golden '4' painted on it. The box lurches upwards, and iIcan see the people below getting smaller and smaller. "Wow! that was cool! what was it?" I ask Mirakal. she laughs a dumb, high pitched laugh. "That's an elevator!" When the elevator door opens, Mirakal shows us the rooms we will be staying in during the two weeks before the games. "You'd better change into something more comfortable for dinner", she tells me before closing the door and leaving me alone in my room.

This room is better than the one I had on the train. It has a large bed in one corner, a bathroom and a shower with a thousand silver buttons. I see a door on the wall and open it to find a small closet with many many clothes on a rack. I see jeans, t-shirts, button-down shirts, trousers and some other stuff I don't have a name for. I quickly change into a dark green long sleeve shirt and jeans. I hear a knock at my door. I go to open it, and when I do, it's Maria. ugh. "I'm not in the mood for insults right now, so go away." I snap and slam the door in her face. Wow, that was really mean on my part. I open the door again. "I'm sorry," I say, looking at the floor. "It's okay," she says, sadly. "I'm kinda used to it. I have five older brothers. it's kinda hard for me. They're always telling me what to do. They always get what they want, because they are the oldest." Now I feel even worse. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot." she scolds herself "it's time for dinner." I walk beside her down the hall. "So, how do you like the capitol!" says Mirakal when we enter the dining room. "It's fine." I say at the same time Maria says "It's awesome"

The long trestle table in the middle of the well-furnished room is stuffed with wonderful and foreign foods, such as lamb chops, mashed potatoes, and chicken. In a bowl in the center are all kinds of fruits, most likely imported from district 11. My mind wanders to the other tributes. All of them know different lives. All of them have different personalities. I start to feel sick when I remember that twenty-three out of twenty-four will die. And I will most likely be one of them. "I'm not hungry," I say. "Well, we have to talk about your training approach," Finnick replies, roasted chicken bits flying out of his mouth. ugh, he's so disgusting. I feel compelled to rush out of the room and not come back until Finnick is gone. Instead, I sit down in a chair next to Maria. pointedly not looking at Finnick. "so, Mags. what is my training approach." Mags looks at me. "ask Finnick. He knows more about getting sponsors than I do." I mentally groan, and Finnick smirks at me. "Maria go in there and show the other tributes what you can do. Intimidate them. Whatever. Max, you're only twelve, so intimidating won't work. Try not to get noticed, and maybe they won't kill you."

Wow. So helpful. Ugh, no wonder no tributes from district 4 have won the games in forty years besides Annie Cresta, and the only reason she won was because Finnick helped her so so much. Annie went mad in the arena, no surprise there. Annie was always fragile minded, and could barely stand to see a caterpillar get squashed, so when her district partner was beheaded right in front of her, she went insane. Anyway, he's madly in love with her, and so he tried so hard to keep her alive in the arena. I wish he put that much effort into keeping all the tributes alive, not just the ones he was in love with. "well, if that's it, then I'm leaving." I say, storming out of the room. I throw myself onto my bed, fuming. If I die in the arena, it will be just as much Finnick's fault as the capitol's.

I sit on the bed for two hours, fiddling with Mia's silver fish hook and thinking murderous thoughts about Finnick Odair. Then I remember Cato, the monstrous boy tribute from district 2. he'll probably attack me the minute he notices I'm there, 'cause he seems like the type that doesn't forget a supposed insult. I guess I'll think about that later because I'm tired. As I drift to sleep, a thought whirls around and around in my head: I wish I could get back to mia. I wish that I didn't have to die.