An Ice Cold Killer - The 66th Hunger Games

Entering the Tribute Parade (part 5)

Im awoken by the alarm clock and it says thats its 12:02 pm. Im not in a hurry since the parade today will happen late at light. Immidialaty, memories of previous parades fill my mind. I remember years and years ago of maybe Alto. He wore a black furry suit I guess that represented cattle or some dumb shit like that. Anyways, I didn't like the costumes that year, or practically any year in since District 10's kids are always dressed up in some horribly horrible costume that never gives us sponsors. Hope that changes soon since I don't want to look like an idiot when the cameras are on me and Elizabeth. Im also woken up by a loud scream. I forget to take my shower and burst open the door, only to find Elizabeth watching a Hunger Games. That explains the screaming. It was a Hunger Games that happened long before any of us were born and took place before the Second Quarter Quell. The winner that year was a career despite his throat being slit in the bloodbath by his district partner that betrayed him.

Elizabeth doesn't notice me presence until I say, "Who won that year?"

"A man from District 1 named, 'Grey Fretta.'" She says. Ive never heard of him. Its hard knowing who's a real victor since there are Capitol models posing to be victors to give the District that their posing for a better reputation, since it looks like they won more years than they actually have. District 1 has a crapton of these: Furelle Faith, Manuella Raym, Satino Belcourt, the list goes on and on. We don't have any for two reasons: We don't have the money for it, and second, we don't like to cheat, even though we usually suck when it comes to winning Hunger Games for the most part. The Capitol also does this if they don't like a certain victor. For example, Haymitch Abernathy. When he defied the Capitol, they sent in a Capitol model that posed to be the victor that year. It was a girl named Tizon Jordania from District 7 who won them at age 16. I feel really bad for the poor guy since his reputation plummeted after he won, despite winning a fucking Quarter Quell. 

A bit later, Greir walks in and gives us some more advice. "Okay guys, ready to learn more how you could survive? We both nod yes. "Okay, to stop you from starving to death, you'll need to gain an extra 5 pounds, giving you 7,500 calories to burn. This will give you around 9 days to not eat until your body starts to shut down and fail. Once you are hungry, try to kill animals and mutts. They're usually a good source of protein. I killed a kangaroo when I was in the arena. It was a mutt so it was a bitch to kill, but I still killed it and I later made a fire to tenderize the meat so I could eat it. It didn't taste like the best thing in the world, but trust me, you'll eat anything once you're starving."

"Sounds great!" I say.

"Also, you know how I was talking about how you shouldn't go in the bloodbath? You also shouldn't since its the worst time to engage with the careers. If you want to get a weapon that you can use in the arena, specialize with a machete or a knife since they're almost always there. You can use any kind of knife for melee combat or throwing, since all knives mainly serve the same purpose. Even if that doesn't work, make a makeshift weapon. The girl that won two years before I did, did the same thing. For example, you can make a spear out of a tree branch. Or use a cactus as a spiky club if you're in a desert. Trust me, weapons are always in the arena, even if you don't see them at first. You could use vines to smuggle someone to death if you're in a jungle. See where I'm going at?" He asks. We both say yes. 

We talk about this sort of thing for the next couple of hours, while watching previous Hunger Games to see how they won when it comes to combat. Greir said that we could use these techniques to win ourselves. I gotta say, Greir's really helpful for this mentoring. When the time comes, we're force to put on our jackets and leave to meet our stylists, which are also out prep team. Once we arrive at the place, we meet them for the first time. Greir already knows them though, which doesn't surprise me. He also probably knows most of the mentors in person since the mentors get to go to the Capitol and talk to each other. Once we arrive, we meet our prep team and stylists: Ajax, a man with spiky blue hair and glasses with tattoos all over him. Then, theres Alisha, a short and pudgy woman with hair thats dyed purple and her skin is somehow a sunset orange color. She really freaks me out. After her, theres Aretha, a woman with golden curly hair and crimson red lips, nails, and eyelashes. Also, theres a man with spiky bronze hair with eye contacts with dollar signs on them named Bemus. He's our man stylist. He has a booming voice that permeates the room which reminds my of Claudius's. 

Greir and Lionel leave the room so the stylists can put on our costumes...or thats what I thought. Greir and Lionel did leave the room, but they take me and Elizabeth in separate rooms and hose us down and wax us in the most painful places before they think of putting on our costume. After what seems like an eternity of pain, I see Aretha come in with multiple concepts of costumes they want to put on us this year. They all look so weird. Some are good and some are ugly looking. When they put my costume together, they're gossiping on people of the Capitol that I've never heard of, except for some of the members of the 13 Patriarch Families of the Capitol, the most powerful and influential families of all of Panem, including the Templesmith family, Flickerman family, Snow family, and some I've never heard of in my life. They talk about their looks and their wealth, two things I couldn't care less about. When Im done, they put a mirror in front of my face to see the result. We're put in a room together and we are represented by our main industry: livestock. We're dressed up as bulls, with horns on our heads and we have very thick black fur coats. Its actually not that bad. Im surprised to be honest.

When we walk out of the room, we go see the other tributes and their costumes. And boy, let me tell you, I've never seen a more horrible costume that what the tributes of District 12 have. They're completely naked, but their bodies are covered in black coal dust to represent mining I guess. What makes it more disgusting is that the girl tribute from 12 is only 14, so it makes me want to wash my eyes out with bleach. The male is 17. Thats not gonna give them many sponsors. Everyone, including me and Elizabeth, try to ignore them, and despite them being covered in black coal dust, they're so embarrassed that their faces beam a bright red color off of their faces, making them look much worse. I also get to meet up with Greir and Lionel now.

"Eughh! Did you see those poor kids from 12? I want to know who made those kids look like complete idiots. They should be fired!" Lionel exclaims it, and he exclaims it a little too loud.

"Finally, something I can agree with you!" Greir says. "Anyways, don't let them district you. Try to look happy to the crowd. Hold hands and wave to them. Makes you look confident."

"Okay." Elizabeth says. I took to my right after hearing a voice and I see that its Claudius and Caesar talking. They're obviously very anxious to see what our costumes will look like. I don't think they'll be too happy when they see the tributes from 12. I'll be dying when I get to see the looks on their faces. Finally, they call us to get ready and to go on our chariots, and we're off, but not without Greir and Lionel waving us goodbye for good luck I guess. Since the chariots march in numeral order, the tributes from District 10 are tenth to be seen, as you'd expect. The crowd of what seems like a million people scream when they see us for the second time. Its so loud its very hard to fight the urge to just put your hands over your ears. But, we try to ignore it and do what Greir and Lionel told us. Once we wave, waves upon waves of hats, roses, and jewelry are tossed at us. Some of it manages to land in the chariot. 

I see Elizabeth looking up and I look too. She's looking at a huge TV and we're on it. Suddenly, our chariot stops in place. I look and see that we've stopped in front of President Snow's mansion. He gets up from his chair and comes to the microphone at the balcony.

"Welcome tributes! We admire you for your courage, strength, and intelligence. On this day, Panem has seen our future heroes of tomorrow, all 24 in one place. We thank you for your work and sacrifice. And as always, happy Hunger Games!" He says, and we're taken to another room where the mentors and other stylists await for us. I see that one of the mentors it Grey Fretta from District 1, along with a woman I've never seen. I wave to them but they don't notice me. I also notice other famous victors there like Megan Hayes, the "Female Morphling" as they call her. Or Griffin Naysmith, District 2, who had an arrow to the eye by the D1 Female during the Games. However, he ripped it out and stabbed the arrow in her neck, killing her and crowning him the victor that year. He was later nicknamed "The Beast" that year for how brutal he was. He was obviously very famous after he won. The female mentor there I see is Abigail Jackson, who went insane after she won. People didn't like her much since being insane in District 2 shows signs of "weakness" to them. 

Lionel, Greir, and the prep team show up.

"Ok guys, that was perfect. Keep doing this and you'll get more sponsors you could ever imagine!" Aretha says. She seems nice, and she's my favorite out of all of them. After that, we head in a dressing room to take our costumes off, which putting back our normal clothing on to go back to the apartment, ending the day of the tribute parade.