24 Years, 24 Tributes

Chapter 17

Ever POV

I ran around the track, keeping an eye on Spencer. He seemed to be focused on speed, and I was in it for the long haul- I knew I was fast enough to escape the bloodbath.

I was having trouble keeping count, but I knew I'd done at least ten laps, and I was ready for ten more. My unique trajectory meant I could see everything that was happening in the room. I saw a few kids making fire or shelters, one girl making fishing line, and a whole bunch of tributes clustered around the weapons stations. As I ran past the knife throwing station I glared at Venus. Whenever she caught me so much as glancing at her knives she shot me a look of pure disdain.

She thinks she's the only one that knows her way around a knife? I thought. I remembered my mentor's words about focusing on my running, but she just burned me up.

Why not both?

As my latest lap brought me close to the knife station, I snatched a knife off the table. Venus was retrieving her latest volley, so she didn't notice. I continued until I reached the starting line and approached the attendant.

"Excuse me, do you have any targets you can put on the wall or something?" I asked.

"Targets? I suppose," she said. She left the track and rummaged around behind the knife throwing station. She came back with a paper bullseye and pinned it to the wall by the starting line.

Now I had even more motivation. Every time I finished a lap I hurled my knife at the target. I never missed.

Timber POV

"Hey, you mind if I train with you?" I asked the girl from 5. She was sitting at the shelter-making station working on a thatched hut.

"Sure, I guess," she said. "I'm Sarla."

"I'm Timber," I said. "Guess we're the youngest ones around. That kind of sucks."

"Yeah. At least I have Daniel. Maybe you're so little the others will forget about you," she said.

"I hope so," I said. I started to help her weave stalks of some thin plant into the walls of her shelter.

"So you're only thirteen?" she asked me.

"Yeah. I'll be fourteen on the first day of the Games. Lucky me," I said.

"Happy birthday. You know, in case we don't see each other," she said.

We finished the walls and took a look at our hut. It looked pretty sturdy.

"Let's test it out," I said. "You go inside and I'll get the hose. Then we'll see if it's waterproof."

Sarla crawled into the hut and I asked the attendant for the hose. I aimed it at the walls and turned it on.

"Is it on?" Sarla asked.

"It's on," I said.

"It worked! It's dry in here!" she said.

"Really? Let me see!" I said. I handed the hose to the attendant and crawled in with her. I heard the rain patter on the roof, but inside it was dry as a bone. It was a tight squeeze with me and Sarla in there, but we could make do.

We lay on our stomachs and peeked out at the other tributes. They didn't even notice us. We were in our own perfect little fort, tucked away from the world and the Games. Few a few minutes, we weren't Tributes at all. We were just two little kids, and it was wonderful.

Alayzea POV

I let my arrow fly, and it thudded into place half a foot from the target.

Stupid bow. It must be broken, I thought. I moved to the spear station. Dane was already there, but I squeezed in with him. I picked up the nearest spear and threw it.

Stupid spears are just as bad, I thought.

I'd had enough of broken weapons after that, so I moved on to the edible plants station. Hopefully they didn't mess those up too.

"Would you like to learn about plants?" the attendant asked.

"Lay off, grannie. I got this," I said. She pursed her lips and said nothing. I quickly separated the poisonous plants from the good ones. Plants are easy, like most things for me.

"You got them all," the attendant said.

"Yeah. Thanks," I said modestly. I might not be able to use their broken weapons, but at least I wouldn't go hungry.

Caldwell POV

The only station completely empty was the snare station. That seemed like the place for me. I'm good with sequences and order, so knot-making was my sort of thing. The attendant there was very enthusiastic. He walked me through every step of every knot and snare, even though I was usually ahead of him.

I'd already seen all the ones the attendant showed me, so I started making a snare of my own. I tied a loop around a branch of a model tree at the station and used the same rope to make another loop on the ground. I connected a few more ropes with sturdy knots and it was ready. If my design was correct, a tribute that triggered the trap by walking into the rope would trigger the loop on the ground to ensnare his legs. Then the more he struggled, the more the other ropes would tighten.

There was only one way to find out. I yanked on the rope.

The loop snapped shut around my legs. I tumbled to the ground and the other ropes wound around me. I thrashed around and soon I couldn't move an inch.

It was perfect.

Heidi POV

I spent a few minutes at the dagger station. After watching the Careers go to town, I figured that should probably be a last resort. The edible plant station came next. The old lady there was really cool. She told me all these old stories, like why the holly berries were red. Apparently these two people fell in love, then one got eaten by a lion, so the other one killed himself and the blood made the berries red. The really sad part was the lion didn't eat the lady after all, so she came back and her man was dead.

As interesting as the stories were, I knew they wouldn't help me in the Arena, so I thanked the lady for helping me and did a few laps on the track. I wasn't the fastest one there, but I was pretty far up, especially for such a slight girl.

As I lay on the ground recovering, I noticed a rope course hanging from the ceiling. I climbed trees all the time back home. Maybe the arena would be a cliff or something like last year. Climbing might really come in handy.

There was a rope ladder that went to the top of the course, but I clambered up the plain rope instead to build my strength. Since I was so light, it was easier than it would be for most of the tributes. As I was climbing, I noticed another girl on the course.

"Hey," I called. She looked up.

It was Hailey, the girl from 3.

"Hey," she called back.

"What you got there?" I asked when I saw she was holding something.

"I found a screw. I was seeing if I could use it as a weapon," she said.

"I hope I never have to," I said. I didn't know if I could.

"I hope I never have to either," she said.

We both looked at the screw for a minute. Then Hailey clenched her fist around it and threw it across the room. I couldn't see where it landed, and I was happy about it. When I looked back at Hailey, I could tell she was too.

Miller POV

"What's this, a sample table?" I asked when I saw the table covered in bowls filled with leaves and berries.

"Be careful which one you pick," the old lady standing by it said. "Some of them might come back to bite you."

What kind of buffet has rancid food? I picked up a white berry.

"You'd be better served picking a red or blue one. Most yellow or white berries are poisonous," the lady said.

I shrugged and scooped up a handful of blue berries. I popped them in my mouth. They were sour and sticky, but they stayed down.

"Want to learn about some of the others?" the lady asked.

"Just the good ones. You can skip the gross ones," I said. And before I knew it, every edible plant on that table was gone.

Jean POV

I tried not to cry as a group of medics crowded around my arm and poured antiseptic on it. I heard them arguing about whether it would be fair to put stronger medicine on it. Eventually one came over and spread a salve on the wound.

"This will leave a scar, but we can remove it later if you win," he said.

They made me lie on a bed for a few hours while the salve set. I stared at it and realized just what the Games were. All those other children I mocked and derided were killers, and they were waiting for the chance to kill me. They'd watch me die as soon as eat breakfast. It was a terrible thought.

The door to my room opened, and Cornflower came in.

"They said I should come," she said. She sat by the bed and looked out the window.

"Cornflower?" I asked. She looked in my direction.

"How did you know you'd live?" I asked.

"I didn't," she said.

"Not even through the Bloodbath?" I asked, hoping she had a little comfort for me.

"I shouldn't have won. It was luck," she said.

"Did you see anyone die?" I asked. I knew she had- I'd watched her Games- but I needed to hear it from her.

"I watched the last other tribute freeze to death," she said.

"What was it like?" I asked.

"She was alive, and then she just wasn't," Cornflower said. "It was like nothing happened."

Like nothing? I can die and it will just be like nothing? I could die ten seconds after the Games started and everyone else would just go on. What was the point? Did I even matter?

I noticed I was crying, and then Cornflower noticed. She looked like boys usually do when their girlfriends cry.

"How do you go on? How do you know you matter? I wish… I wish I could die now and not let any of them kill me. I wish I didn't have to die for a war I never fought in," I said.

"You matter," Cornflower said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"You matter. That girl mattered. Everyone matters. We just do," she said. She said it so simply, like it was just a fact.

I looked at my mentor. She was so fragile and haunted. If she could go on, maybe I could too. Maybe I can't win. Maybe I'll die on the first day. I wanted a peaceful life, but I guess it was never in my cards. I can't even control how I'll die, but I won't bring anyone with me. I'll die as myself, and nobody can take that from me.

Bree POV

I knew I could throw a knife decently, but that station was pretty crowded. It wouldn't hurt to have a hidden skill, so I gave the track a shot. That didn't work out. I made it one lap before I was heaving. Spencer and Ever blazed past me like it was nothing. Guess I'd better hope they didn't come for me in the Bloodbath.

Last year the Arena was icy, so this year it would probably be warm. That meant I probably wouldn't need to make a shelter, unless it was desert. I took my chances and settled at the edible plant station. Heidi was there listening to the attendant tell a story. I listened with her and learned about plants from all sorts of environments, like cattails, pine bark, elderberries, and sumac. I also learned a few neat tricks to do with plants, like using vines to get water and picking stinging nettles to make tea without getting stung.

As I looked around the room I saw Sarla hugging her big brother. I thought of Nate, back home worrying about me. I wished he was here to protect me like Sarla's brother, but it was better that he was home to take care of the family. I'd just have to make sure to come home so he could see me again. District 10 wouldn't be the same without us making trouble.

Peppermint POV

I cried out as I hurled my sparring partner to the ground. She leapt back up and I punched her in the nose. She didn't even flinch, and she slammed into me, knocking me to the ground.

"Here Peppermint, try like this," Apollo said as he helped me up.

"If you hit just above the nose, your opponent will tear up and then she can't see you," he said. As feisty as I am, I have to admit he knows more about fighting than I do. Good thing we're working together.

"Good one, bro," I said. "I'm gonna hit up the javelin station for a while. You're doing better here anyway."

I was happy to see I was the only one at the station. Dane was next door at the spear station. I'd have to remember him and make sure to get to my weapon first if there was only one in the Cornucopia. Maybe I could have Apollo distract him while I ran for it.

I watched Apollo demolish two opponents at once. A few of the Careers had their eyes on him. I'd have to tell him to tone it down. No need to get a target on our backs.

I looked around the room. Most of the girls were practicing with throwing knives, and the boys were pretty evenly distributed. I was happy I was the only one that knew all the advantages a javelin had. Close up, it kept your opponent from reaching you. Far away, you could kill someone a hundred feet away.

Me and my javelin, we were going to tear the Arena apart.

Apollo POV

I liked fighting. Not that I liked hurting people, but fighting was all about instinct. I'd leave the navigating and planning to Peppermint. Together we'd be unstoppable.

But what if you're the only two left?

I had to face the idea eventually. I was the brother, so it was really my duty to take the fall, but Peppermint would probably kill me if I brought that up. She wasn't keen on chivalry. She preferred to do things herself. Maybe we could flip a coin, or a rock or whatever.

What would happen if we just sat there and didn't kill each other?

I knew it couldn't go on forever. Maybe they'd send a lightning strike or a forest fire.

There was really no solution. I couldn't hope that wasn't the case. Then one of us would die. I couldn't die for her- she'd never let me. I could never kill her. I guess the odds weren't in our favor.

Aspen POV

Coming from District 12, I had absolutely no skills that would help me in the Arena. I took a methodical approach and decided the best defense was a good offense. Swords and daggers were too intense, the throwing knives were taken, and the mace was just too icky. The archery station beckoned to me, and I picked up a bow.

"That's a pretty heavy one. If you're new, you should start with about a 35-pound pull," the attendant said. She handed me a simple bow made of a single piece of curved metal.

I picked it up and pulled the string back. I clumsily knocked an arrow to it and let it fly. It hit the edge of the station and wedged into a foam cushion.

"Nailed it!" I crowed. The attendant's lips cracked into a smile.

"It could have been worse. Arch you glad I didn't hit anyone?" I asked. That was it. The attendant cracked up and covered her mouth.

"That's a new one, kid," she said. "I hope by the time the Games start, you're as good with a bow as you are with your mouth."

Valerie POV

Let's see, what am I good at? Going without food, I guess. There's something.

I knew Aspen was working on learning a weapon, so that took care of our defense. If I could last a week without food, that might be the whole Games.

What about first aid?

I looked around, and sure enough, there was a first aid station tucked into a dark corner of the room. It was staffed by a single forlorn-looking man watching all the other stations full of people.

I walked over, and he looked up at me with sudden hope.

"Can you show me some first aid stuff?" I asked.

I unleashed an avalanche. Soon I knew how to dress a wound, how to use aloe to treat a burn, how to cauterize a rotten wound with a burning branch, how to chew willow to help with pain, how to make bandages, casts, slings, litters, and tourniquets, and lots more. Between Aspen leading the attack and me cleaning up after, we had this Game in the bag.

1. Sorry Jean's is so much longer than everyone else's. His submitter gave me a complex story for his character development, so I'm trying to fit it in. If anyone else wants something like that, you can send it in.

2. Miller's a joke. I think we all know it. He's a little over-the-top, but the Hunger Games can use a little comic relief. Rest assured I know he is completely unrealistic.

3. I tried to include some moments to let people see that these are kids. They're not ready to kill people, and they don't even understand what they're getting into. If your tribute seems hesitant, that doesn't mean they'll die right away. Survival kicks in, but nobody likes what's happening here.