The 65th Hunger Games - EDITING

Chapter seven

The training is one of the only part of the games that is not televised. Even if no one outside of the building can see us, we have to act civilized because one of our potential sponsors may be standing in the crowd of game makers and high society members. I have a theory about the reason behind the presence of game makers during that part as they only come the years after a deceptive HungerGames; I think that they observe what kind of skills we have, what we're good at, only to take that away from us in the arena. When I shared my theory with Mags, she told me that she observed something similar during her games and some of the ones where she's been mentoring. She adds that she wanted to warn me, but never found the right occasion. After hearing that, I decided not to show off what I can do or at least, not show how good I am with certain things. During my sleepless nights, I had a lot of time to think about what kind of things could be useful in the arena. Years of fishing brought me many useful skills like trident throwing. I can use a spear too, but it's going to be a little bit more complicated at first. I can also catch a fish without any trouble. I know how to fight because of the many "incidents", as my mom would call them, I got myself into at school. Of course, I should spend a lot of time practicing that last one. I'm not as good as the tributes from one and two, but I'm far from being the worst.
Being born in district four offer me a great advantage over some other districts, like twelve. I know how to swim, which is a useful skill that not a lot of my opponents knows. I may actually have a shot at this. I need to develop a strategy before getting there. Since I can't spend my time throwing tridents at mannequins, I need to find something else. I should probably practice with a spear to get used to it. I should definitely perfect my survival skills. I know how to start a fire from scratch and I can sometimes recognize a flower that could be deadly if you consume it from one that you can eat, but will that be enough? Probably not. From what I've heard, Viviana is way better than me at those kinds of things. She could be useful in the arena, I could keep her safe and she could keep me alive. I don't want her to be my friend, but she'd be a great ally. I haven't met the other tributes yet, but if I want to stay alive, I need to find tributes that are going to want me as an ally as much as I want them. The only way to do that is to show off your skills, but if I do that, it could cost me my life once in the arena. I think again about the promise I made to Viviana's father, to take care of her before the arena. I wonder if I can continue to do it once we're in there. I know she won't survive on her own and she probably knows it too. The thought of giving up on her, giving up on anyone, makes me sick but I'm not here to be anyone's friend, especially not Viviana's. It'd be way too hard to kill her and the other tributes if I ever had to. I exhale loudly, probably too loudly because Viviana asks me if I'm okay.
"Do you want to be my ally?" I ask out of the blue.
"Me? You? Allies? I'd be a dead weight."
"I heard your survival skills were pretty good."
"Yeah... That's not enough to be considered a good ally." She answers angrily.
"You keep me alive, I keep you safe. I'd say it's good enough."
I see Mags looking at us. She stopped eating her breakfast and she's listening closely to our conversation. I look at her, waiting for her approbation concerning my choice of ally, but her eyes are empty. She's probably thinking, considering if it would actually help or get me killed faster. The silence is getting awkward, I'm looking at Mags, she's looking at her meal, and Viviana is looking at me while playing with her plate full of delicious food.
"If we become allies and we survive until there's only both of us left, would you be able to kill me? After all we just went through together?"
"Let's just hope someone else kills the other before we have to."
"I wouldn't be able to kill you. I don't think I'm going to be able to kill anyone, but I can try to keep you alive. I want you to win Finnick, even if that means that I'm not going home."
"Why? Don't you want to see your family again?"
"Yes, of course I want to. But I couldn't be able to live with the fact that the only reason I'm there is because I went against everything I was and killed other children to get back."
"And you think I could live with that thought?"
"You're different Finnick, I can see it in your eyes, the way you look at Ionel every time he opens his mouth, the way you look at your stylist, the way you look at everyone! You're angry, you don't want to die here. So no, I don't think you're so heartless you're going to be able to live with yourself, but I think you're going to survive because you can't stand the thought of dying here as a capitol's puppet! So yeah, I can be your ally, but if it ever comes to me and you, you're going to have to kill me because the opposite is not an option."
I don't answer anything. I know she's right. Mags nods and starts smiling confidently, that's her way of saying she approves of my choice. I've gained an ally.

***

I look around me while the lady explains the rules. It's the first time I can really take a look at my opponents. One and two are definitely careers tributes even though they didn't volunteer. None of them are eighteen, the oldest must be sixteen. All four of them look like they think they're over this and that they're better than everyone else here, which is probably the case. There's no way they're going to want me as an ally, even if I come from a career district. The girl from three must be eighteen and she seems in good shape, but the way she looks around makes me think that she's not a survivor, that she's too scared to attempt anything. On the other hand, the boy from three looks pretty interesting. Both from five are pretty young, probably around my age. They seem scared and the years of famine haven't helped them get in shape. I doubt they'd be of any use in the arena. Both of the tributes from six are also pretty much useless. They seem pretty close minded concerning the other tributes. The girl from seven must be twelve years old, it's pretty sad to see her here. The boy must be around eighteen, he's well over six foot tall and it's clear he's in really good shape. Being from the lumber district, he's probably good with an axe which could come in handy in the arena. I could try to talk to him during the next few days. I continue to look around, examining each and every other tribute. The boy from eleven looks like he could be a good ally too. He's a little shorter than me, but he's in really good shape. Years of working in the field probably helped him get really strong. I haven't seen him do hand to hand combat, but I bet he'd be good. Except from the boy from three, the boy from seven and the boy from eleven, there's not a lot of people I can see myself being an ally with. I could try with both from twelve, not because they'd be useful, but because it's clear they're not going to survive. I can't help but feel sorry for them. They're clearly the ones that had it the most difficult growing up and they don't stand a chance. I don't know why, but I feel the need to protect them the same way I want to protect Viviana. It's crazy to think that just a few hours ago, I wanted nothing to do with her, becoming her ally really made me change my perspective. 

*I know it's a day late and I'm really sorry about this. I got really busy yesterday and completely forgot about it. I'm sorry.