The 65th Hunger Games - EDITING

Chapter nine

"So, what are we supposed to do now? If we wait before deciding which tribute we want as an ally, they'll show off their skills and they'll be useless in the arena."
"Yeah, you're right. Judging by the game makers' expressions when they saw that two of the tributes weren't able to recognize good plants from dangerous one, my guess is that a big part of our food is going to come from plants."
"Maybe those two weren't able to do it, but the boy from eleven got all of them right, maybe they're going to look into that too."
"I don't think so, they were not really paying attention to us before the instructor almost got angry. They're more interested in the weapon throwing."
"You're probably right. What do you suggest as our next move?"
"I really think we should get the boy from eleven as an ally. He could be really useful, especially if I'm right about the game makers."
She nods and we start walking together towards him. He's currently resting on one of the walls of the gymnasium. His dark brown skin contrast with the pearl white wall. He looks at us, then look back as if he was looking for a potential emergency exit. He's smart and cautious, I like that. I stop in front of him, Viviana on my right side.
"I'm Finnick, this is Viviana. What's your name?"
"What do you want?" he answers, almost growling.
"We want you as an ally."
I look at Viviana. She probably shouldn't have said it right away. He may think we depend on him and take advantage of it because in a way, we do. He looks at us suspiciously, he doesn't seem to believe us. Either that or he simply doesn't want to team up with us and he's surprised we'd even dare to ask him.
"Why should I trust you? You're from the same district, you're always going to choose each other and that only means one thing; if you have the choice to save each other, you will, even if that means I'm gonna die. I'd rather only have my ass to look after. And what tells me you're not going to try to kill me in my sleep?"
"Sorry to break it down to you, but everyone here is going to want to kill you at some point. We're no different than them, but that doesn't mean that we can't work together up to the point where there is only us left, in which case I won't even hesitate." I reply with a smile, wondering if I took the right approach.
"Anthos. My name is Anthos. Now, what do you want from me?" he answers with the same kind of smile, probably amused by my honesty.
"We saw what you did at the plant station and let's just say that we found it quite interesting."
"Okay. What do you have to offer?"
"Secrets." I answer in a dramatic, convincing tone.

***

Secrets have always been the greatest weapon since the dawn of humanity. With secrets, you can easily destroy a concept, someone and sometimes, even a whole nation. Anthos looked really confused by my answer, but as soon as I started explaining the whole thing about my theory and Mags' revelations, I knew he was on our side.
"How come you're the first one in the history of those games that understood their little game and that no one's mentors warned them? That's a bit weird."
"Well I don't know, it's just clear to me that there is no reason for their presence apart from this one and if there is one thing I know about Mags is that she's good at observing. She doesn't talk much be she has a lot to say about things she sees. She probably saw them doing that during her games and she remembered."
"So, do you think they saw me get a hundred percent on that test?" he asks me, visibly worried.
"I don't think so, they were too busy looking at the weapon throwing station. But I still think you shouldn't show it to them during your personal evaluation in a few days. It will be closer to the games and I doubt they're going to change anything at that point, but we should definitely not take any risks."
"You're right. What are we gonna do for our evaluations then?"
"Before deciding that, I think we should wait to see if we can get more allies."
"We were thinking of the boy from seven and both from three too." adds Viviana.
We all look around trying to locate each one of our potential allies. The girl from three is still at the weapon throwing station and she's still throwing spears at mannequins, looking everywhere after each shot. The boy from three is trying to make a fire, while the boy from seven looks at him. They already look pretty close, maybe they're already allies.
"The girl from three hasn't moved from the station she was at this morning. And look at what she does between each shot."
I'm glad to know that Anthos and I also think alike. A good ally in the arena can easily be the difference between life and death.
"Spear throwing might be the only thing she's good at." propose Viviana.
"Most certainly. She's always looking over her shoulder, she's looking for allies. If what I said about the game makers is real, then that only skill is going to be useless in the arena."
"I agree. The boy from three and the one from seven both look like good options, but they already look like they're allies. If we don't get them both, then we don't get them at all."
He's right. I try to think of a plan, but the only one that comes to mind is to go talk to them right now. All three of us. Maybe they'd listen?
"Let's start by talking with them, see what skills they have to offer."
"Well while you two were busy deliberating over getting me as an ally or not, I had some time to look at the boy from seven. He's really strong and let's just say he knows how to use an axe. He's good at starting fires too."
"What about the boy from three?"
"I don't know, didn't really considered him until you two came long. I thought he looked weak."
"Maybe, but he looks smart. Anyway, we should really go talk to them before someone else does."