Of Victors and Tributes

Chapter 14: Allies

We decide that it's safest to stay close to the mountains. Not only is there cover in the trees if there's anybody willing to attack us from the cliffs, but we can climb up the rock wall behind us if someone jumps out from the forest. I'm not entirely worried about being attacked, if I'm honest. This arena is proving to be massive, and there's only twelve of us left. Odds are we'll have to be moving for a long time to actually run into another tribute.

I've seen all kinds of arenas in my lifetime, but I feel like this one is so much bigger than the others. Or maybe it's just because I'm actually inside of one instead of watching it on television. I thought that the streams would be close together, enough so that we would reach them all before nightfall, but I was wrong. It's well into the evening– 6 something according to my watch– and we haven't reached the closest creek yet. It doesn't matter that much, considering District 6 will know if we're still alive depending on whether our faces appear in the sky.

"It's going to get dark soon. When night falls, we find a place to sleep and take shifts. We'll find Axel and Fairlie tomorrow," I tell Meadow.

"Okay. I thought that the streams were much closer," she says, mirroring the thoughts that I just had.

"Me, too. Maybe the Gamemakers know what we're up to and moved them away on purpose," I suggest. She laughs, and we keep walking.

After the Games are over, arenas are made into nothing short of a five star hotel. Capitol citizens stay in them to relive their favorite Games, take part in re-enactments, stuff like that. But I'd say that the arenas themselves without the Games having taken place there would make them very important. A giant landscape that takes years to make, wrapped in some sort of invisible fence that keeps tributes from escaping. Every single thing living and growing there prior to the Games was put there by the Gamemakers, and most of these things are set to do all kinds of stunts. Trees can combust, mountains can fall apart, rivers can flood, so many different things can happen that will only occur if the Gamemakers wish it to be so. Even the animals can be controlled. And how does our government decide to use them? To murder innocent children.

"The arena is incredible, if you think about it," I say. Meadow looks at me. "The fact that all of this was made from a little thought, brought to life, and just about every part of it can be controlled."

"We have a unique way of using our technology," Meadow responds, supplying just the answer I was suspecting. She leans close to me. "You'd think, with all of these new strides in science and such, that we wouldn't be dying in the coal mines anymore."

"And we wouldn't be getting eaten up by machines," I whisper back. We exchange a knowing look. That, if the camera was interested enough, it probably could've picked up our little conversation and broadcasted it to Panem, or worse, the Gamemakers. But I'm sure there's more interesting things to capture than us.

"Did you work in the mines?" I ask Meadow. My feet are starting to hurt and I'm exhausted, so a conversation to keep my mind off of things is just what I need. Plus, it would be nice to know a little about the other districts. I know about their black market and the home of the poorest people, but what do the poorest people do?

"Nope. You aren't allowed to work there until you're eighteen. My father does, though," she informs me. "Do you work in the factories?"

"Yes, actually. I go to school, then have a four hour shift afterwards. My mom works all day to begin with," I respond. "My little brother, who's thirteen, works there, too."

"Wow," Meadow says. She's trying to hide it, but I think that she's a little shocked. I'm more surprised at what she said. They can't work until they're eighteen? No wonder they're the poorest district in Panem, and usually the first to die! They haven't picked up any skills from a job, and I'm sure they don't have special training academies like the Careers.