Let the 25th Hunger Games Begin

Trainings and Allies

After the Peacekeepers cleaned the mess up, and the Tributes were evacuated from their Chariots, we lined up on the ground and waited for President Snow's annual speech. Cydney had a laughing fit during the crash, and was biting her lip now to stop herself from bursting.

'Boys and girls, of all ages, thank you for your sacrifice...' His voice booms, covering the entire stadium. He radiated evil and power. I hated him. '...and may the odds be EVER in your favour.' What? Was that it? 5 hours of preparation, 6 minutes for performance and a quick speech? We walked out this time in a line, Peacekeepers escorting us. More cheers and names were being called. And for some reason, many were calling my name. What had I done? I don't want to win!

'And here is Abigail Crest from District 8 in last nights Chariot Rides!' Cesar bellows on the screen as a replay comes on as we watch Capitol Daily in the morning. The replay is of my brave- and not really intended- act. The best bit for me is when I do the accidental summersalt. The trail of silk circled around me and made it look awesome. It showed me landing on 4's Chariot and saving the Tributes. 'That was this year's highlight, for sure folks! So far, she is my favourite. With those skills she will win for sure!' We were sitting down at the breakfast table, eating "hashbrowns", basically potatoes moulded into a crispy paddy. Keil sniggers.

'Who would want HER to win?' He says, pointing his fork at me. 'First she throws a knife at me, now she jumps and saves some people that she's gonna kill.... What's next?' Mecilli looks at me.

'You threw a knife at him?' He asks.

'He was being arrogant and an idiot!'

'You have plenty of time to kill him in the arena though!' He shouts, then clasps his hand around his mouth. Keil's face turns pale, then bears an angry expression.

'Oh, no Keil, that came out wrong-'

'You both want her to win, don't you? Forget about me then! It's good that I know how you all feel. Bye Sweetheart.' And with that, he leaves the table. Opal sighs.

'Come on now, Abigail. We need to go to training.' Training? Already? Opal and Reissa guide me down the "elevator" to an underground floor. The doors open and and the smell of metal over whelms me. In front of me was a huge training centre. The floor was iron along with the walls, and a viewing balcony was in place for the Gamemakers. There were different areas to choose from. Each area was on a square platform, which were extra large for the fighting. There was wrestling, sword fighting, knife throwing, food and human traps, spear throwing, plants, food information, Parkor and many others.

'Remember- Parkor, food info and your prefered weapon choice are your top three,' Opal whispers to me. The girls leave and I am left with the other 23 Tributes. Keil was opposite of the room, glaring at me.

'Tributes. In the next week you will be trained here with multiple different skills. Most important of all is the food information- eating anything poisonous is worse than being killed, the Gamemakers ensure that.' The lady instructor tells us. I shudder. They go to such an extent to torture us for their fun. 'Each of you would have been told which areas you should practice in. The Gamemakers up here will be watching you, and this will be added to your Individual Assessment at the end of this week. Good luck!' She nods, and people literally stampede over to the sword fighting area. Last year Rebecca Grey won using her brilliant skills, so that was most popular. Instead, I headed over to the plants station. The man was cheerful and extremely helpful. We looked at all the ways you can recognise edible food in the games.

'All poisonous things in the Games are human-made, so that they can determine the effects.' He whispers. 'You can tell by the thin line in the middle- each side is made individually, then glued together with a poisonous glue. Watch out for those lines, and you'll be fine.' This was precious information that he could get killed for telling. 'But other poisonous plants are natural- these few you must memorise.'

After two hours of memorising, naming and listing the many uses of the plants, I move to food information. It involves how to create animal traps and source food. Two girls and two boys from Districts 11 and 12 were there, eying each other warily. I weave a trap with reeds and am pleased with my work. The others keep up too. I weave two more whilst listening to food hints.

'Animals will eat edible food, so that is a good way of telling what to eat and what not. Animals will stick to bushes and trees, so don't go hunting in open areas. Another thing- if you need water, follow the animal. They can source their own water, so when they lead you too it you can eat it with the water.' The male instructor tells us. A girl from two, Eli, makes perfect traps which accidentally trapped another Tributes foot. She smiles a little. I smile back. Maybe I could ally with her to help win?

Finally, I walk over to the knife-throwing section. After a short wait I am introduced to the teacher.

'You need to balance,' she told me. 'Spread your legs apart and put more strength on the first. Work on the foot motion. Right foot first when aiming, then walk on your left and throw on your right. The momentum helps the power.' I spread out my legs and practice the motion. Right, aim, left right. She nods. 'Go forward more on the last step.' I lean forward a bit more, and she claps her hands. 'Right- lets get the knife!' She hands a knife with a black end and silver blade. I examine it in my hands. Although heavy, it fits into my hands. I wrap my wrist around it, put my right foot forwards and aim. When satisfied, I step on my left, then right, then throw. I hear a loud THUD and even a small crack. I look at the target I was shooting at and see my knife impaled in the blue rings. The instructor claps.

'Great job! Is that your first time? Even though you didn't get the bulls eye, you definitely would have killed them with that hard throw. Try again.' I remove my knife which takes a while and shoot again. This time I get the bulls eye right in the center. Even the Tributes behind me seen impressed. I move on to the moving targets on a different platfrom, which is Knife-Throwing Level Two, where people could only go if they showed great skill in an area. I get three targets and hit two on the blue and one on the red. I am taught the spinning motion to hit objects behind me. They start the moving boards again. One pops out in front of me. Not hesitating, I step forwards and hit it in the bulls eye. No time to celebrate. I hear one pop up to the left, turn and hit it on the blue. I wait for the next one, which pops up behind me. I spin around and, with all my strength, throw it 5 meters into the bulls eye. I'm panting and hot. Other Tributes stare at me. I am beaming when I move to Spear Throwing.

'Nice aiming back there,' A blonde girl says as we sharpen the ends. Her face is glowing and her hair falls gentley on her shoulders. I recognise her as a District Four mermaid I saved. 'And thanks for last night. I don't know what could have happened if that crash hit us.' She holds out her hand. 'Madeline Trout.' I hold out mine and shake her hand.

'Abigail Crest.'

'Why did your District vote you?' This subject is harsh. I am suddenly extremely interested in the floor.

'I'm an... Orphan. If I died, no one would care. You?' I ask, looking at her.

'I'm so sorry Abigail... My District voted me because I was a slacker. Never helping out with the food- I only did it to help my five younger siblings.' Five siblings?

'Madeline... I don't plan on winning.' She looks confused. 'I want to help someone win, someone who has reason to return home. You, so far, do.' Madeline considers my request. She nods.

'I'm sorry- it's like I'm sentencing you to death,' she whispers. I shake my head.

'Madeline, it will be worth it. And I'm choosing this, not you.' We smile gently at each other. I have just made an ally and a reason to fight in the Games.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the lack of updates! I know that many of you are avid readers and I thank you all for reading my book! One HUGE mistake- Abigail is from District 8, not 9. I'm sorry for the mistakes including this and spelling errors in past chapters. So what do you think of this new allience? I will update another chapter today to make up for yesterday.

😜😝, Alix