The Seventy-Sixth Hunger Games

Chapter 4

The next few days of training pass quickly, despite the fact that I spend most of my time failing to use the majority of weapons provided. After slitting my thumb with a knife and dropping an axe on my foot I decided to forget weapon training completely and focus on the less violent skills. Surprisingly, Rico thought this was a brilliant idea.

"That might work, most people will probably focus on the killing aspect of the games, and we'll have an edge if you've got the survival aspect handled. I'd suggest you start by memorizing the plants we can and can't eat; I want poisonous berries to be the least of my worries in the arena," he stated.

"It would be pretty embarrassing getting halfway through the games only to be taken about by plant," I added in agreement. Not to mention, it gave Rico a reason to keep me around for a while, god knows my skills with weaponry won't help on that front.

So that's what I did; I managed to remember all the poisonous fruits and plants that could come up in the arena, I even learned about some medicinal herbs that could keep injuries from getting infected or dull the pain of a broken limb. After that I went on to learn about building shelter, making fires and laying down traps for catching small rodents.

Before I know it the night of the interviews arrives. As I glance out at the large stage I notice some huge differences between the stages during previous interviews and the current one. There are no colourful lights, no sparkly backdrops, and no Caesar Flickerman -or at least not as I know him. The man sitting on stage may share his name, but his entire personality seems to have disappeared overnight. The man sitting on stage has had his hair cut and shiny suit taken away.

The tributes aren't adorned in beautiful gowns and handsome suits, we haven't been caked in makeup or told to simply 'smile and nod'. Instead, all tributes are wearing plain black t-shirts, brown cargo pants and black combat boots.

I guess the new president likes to do things a bit differently.

As the night goes on, crowds file into the area and the 'new' Caesar Flickerman starts the show, while wearing the same colourless clothes as the tributes.

Cameramen take their places and spin the cameras in Caesar's direction.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of Panem, I'm here tonight to help all you wealthy sponsors out there decide who you will throw your money at during The Seventy-Sixth Hunger Games! In this final edition of the games there will be no glitz for our tributes to utilize, and no glamour for them to hide behind. You will get to know them without being blinded by shiny gems or cheap tricks. Let's hope they impress..."

And with that, Isaac was called on stage.

"So tell me, Mr.Gilligan, what would you say is your biggest advantage over the other tributes?" Caesar asked him, getting straight down to business.

"Do my dashing good looks count?" Isaac replies, winking at the camera. Caesar chuckles, and I feel comforted in the fact that the host/tribute repartee still exists, even without the suits and gowns.

"That it does, young man! So what about weaknesses then? Any you'd feel confident enough sharing?"

Isaac slouches back in his chair and put his arm over the back of the seat.

"I think..." he pauses before continuing, "I think I'll let the other tributes figure that out for themselves."

Caesar goes on to ask about Isaac's family, what he'd been spending his time on in training and asks him to look at the camera and tell the sponsors why they should help him in the arena. The next few interviews are pretty much the same, most people choose to stay quiet and give vague or generic answers to Caesar's questions, apart from Kiely-Anne who is as loud and obnoxious on stage as she was during training.