Chapter 3
District Seven’s floor of the Training Center is massive and the epitome of opulence. The living room has a large white leather couch facing a TV so big it takes up the majority of the wall on which it’s mounted. Windows on the far end of the apartment stretch from floor to ceiling, providing a breathtaking view of the city lights. There’s a dining area with a table that could seat ten people. Just like on the train, we each get assigned our own rooms with an adjoining bathroom.
The whole place is big, clean, and devoid of color and any character. At home, my family lives in a small cabin with two bedrooms and one bathroom. Evidence of our lives cover every inch of the home- the doorjamb with hatch marks to track Oliver and my’s growth over the years, dirty boots and work gloves that get tossed off the moment we enter (which annoys my mother to no end), and the little decorations made from dried flowers, leaves, and thin twisted branches. The small space sometimes feels crowded, always having to share living spaces. Last night was my first time sleeping in a room by myself. Though I’d never admit it to him, I actually had a hard time falling asleep without Oliver’s snoring.
I change out of my skimpy lumberjack outfit and into a comfy pair of pajamas before heading back out for dinner.
Emrys emerges from his quarters with a smudge of brown face paint still on his forehead from the tree getup.
“Nice work out there kids!” Valentina greets us, waving us over to the table which once again is loaded with a feast.
A man dressed in white pours us drinks. Wine for the adults, and sparkling juice for Emrys and I. Valentina chats about the various costumes from the parade with Blight providing a few responses. Near the end of dinner Johanna changes the subject.
“Not that this all isn’t just fascinating, but let’s talk some strategy. You have training in the morning and you can’t make yourselves targets.”
“Right,” Blight continues, “you will have three days of training and an evaluation at the end of the third. You should spend your time learning as many survival techniques as possible.”
“No weapons?” Emrys asks
“Nah,” Johanna replies, “it’s not enough time to learn a completely new skill like that. You’ll probably just end up embarrassing or hurting yourself. As far as you,” She points to me with her bread, “you already know how to use axes, so practicing with them will just be a waste of time. Might as well learn something more useful.”
“You can die just as easily from lack of water, eating something poisonous, or exposure as you can by another tribute.” Blight adds, “The survival skills you learn over the next few days can make all the difference.”
Emrys and I nod in understanding. This plan is preferable to me anyway, I’m not too keen on getting close to career tributes who will no doubt gravitate towards the weaponry.
“So, we just won’t have any training on weapons?” Emrys pushes back
“Nope, Sylvie can show off some axe skills during her evaluation if she wants. But again, you have a week until you’re in the arena, that’s not enough time to learn how to use a weapon that you might not even be able to get your hands on in the arena. All the good ones will be inside the cornucopia,” Johanna’s voice hardens, to make her point clear, “and you have no business getting anywhere near there. Got it?”
Emrys slumps back in his chair with a huff, “Yeah, got it.”
Dinner wraps up quickly after that. Back in my room, I find a remote that changes the view of the window. I click through the options- city scape, mountains, ocean, desert, fields of grain, and finally my personal favorite, a forest that makes my heart ache. I lie on my bed and gaze at the pictured trees. I wonder what the arena will be like, if it’ll look like any of the landscapes I had just flipped through. I hope it has trees at least.
I turn my thoughts to my family, are they turning in for bed now as well? How is Oliver liking having a room to himself? Is he also having a hard time sleeping without the comfort of someone else there? I wonder if this room also has some feature to mimic the sounds of the forest on the screen, it’s too quiet.
With these thoughts running in my head, I fall asleep.
~~~
Training starts at ten the next morning, giving Emrys and I time to sleep in and have a nice breakfast where we’re reminded to prioritize the survival stations and not to hurt ourselves with any weapons.
Standing with the other tributes in a circle while we wait to get started is the first time I get a good look at them all in person. I was too occupied with the crowds at yesterday’s parade to pay attention to the rest of the tributes. The oldest and most intimidating of the group were the careers from One and Two, and the boys from Eleven and Twelve. Their age and well-built frames give them a clear advantage.
As soon as the last of the tributes join us the head trainer, Atala, goes over how we will be using our training time and rules. Basically, we can move around to whatever stations we want as long as we don’t fight any of the tributes. Gotta save that for the cameras.
When Atala releases us, I start with the plant identification station. Without sponsorship and avoiding the cornucopia I’ll need to find my own food. Emrys looks around the room, momentarily lost before settling on following me.
The trainer starts with the general characteristics of plants that can indicate being harmful, “leaves of three leave them be”, bright and glossy appearance of berries. We then examine photos and descriptions of edible versus poisonous plants and try to commit them to memory. About halfway through sorting plant cards, the kids from District Six join and work quietly alongside us for a while.
Glancing around the room, I begin to take notice of which kids are gravitating towards each other, forming alliances. Districts One and Two and the boy from Four look to be this year’s career pack. While the girl from Four joins up with both kids from District Three. Eleven and Twelve seem to be getting along fairly well. They all stick together at stations and during lunch, talking over what I assume to be their strategies.
The next three days of training are filled with rotating between survival skills stations- how to find water and the various ways to make it drinkable, how to start a fire, and building shelter. The only non-survival station we try out is knife throwing after Emrys wears me down by pestering me to try it.
Turns out throwing knives is not the same as throwing baseballs. Emrys’s attempts mostly result in the hilt of the knife hitting and bouncing off the targets. My turn is better than his. I’m able to get my knives to stick and occasionally hit the bullseye. While it’s definitely different from axe throwing, it’s similar enough for me to get the hang of decently quickly.
On the second day, Emrys and I end up at the water purification station with Sophia and Casper from Three and Marilla from Four.
We’re waiting for a pot of water to boil when Marilla speaks up, “What do you all think you’ll do when you’re in the arena?”
“Uh,” Emrys glances at me, “try not die?”
“No, no, like other than that.” She leans forward, peaking over at the trainer who is rummaging through a box of iodine tablets but not paying attention to us before continuing, “We’re going to be on TV for the whole country to see. For the first and only time in our lives, we are going to have a platform to make a statement. So what are you going to do with your platform?”
“I want to outsmart the Gamemakers.” Sophia answers first, “They take such pride in the arenas and narratives they make each year. I bet I can predict their storyline and change it. Statistically, I’m not going to win, so I might as well mess with them before I go. Show them and the rest of Panem that a district kid is capable of beating them at their own game” Marilla looks pleased, nodding at Sophia.
“I don’t want to kill anyone,” Casper says softly. He keeps his eyes on a flask in his hands, fiddling with the lid. “They want us to turn on each other the moment we’re in a life or death situation. But I’m not going to let that happen to me.”
“I don’t want to kill either,” Marilla admits. “That’s why I didn’t choose the careers.”
I’m surprised they’re saying such vulnerable things in front of non-allies. Maybe they can sense that Emrys and I aren’t really threats.
Sophia turns to me, “What about you?”
“I’m not sure, I haven’t really thought about it in that way.”
“Well you should,” Marilla responds in a direct, but not unkind tone. “If we’re all going to die anyway, might as well go down showing the Capitol that we are capable of more than they think.”
I want to reply that it won't be easy, that the likelihood of changing anyone's minds is very low, we've been doing the same song and dance for over seventy years. Instead I nod, “I’ll have to think about it.”
Our conversation ends as the water begins to rumble.
~~~
The afternoon of the third day is set aside for our private sessions and evaluations. As discussed with Johanna and Blight, I’ll spend my allotted fifteen minutes throwing axes and demonstrating my climbing ability on the obstacle course.
When I’m called in, Gamemakers are set up in a viewing area overlooking the gym. We’re just over the halfway mark of the total demonstrations but a few of them are already starting to lose interest, turning instead to the provided refreshments. My main goal is to not draw too much attention to myself, so as long as I don’t get something too low, my evaluation score won’t matter. I can’t help but feel bad for the later tributes who definitely won’t have the Gamemakers’ full attention. A timer on the wall lights up with a red fifteen and begins a countdown.
I get started at the axes. There’s a huge assortment of them on the rack. I usually use a small one that can easily fit on my harness when I climb to the tops of the trees for taking off branches. So that’s where I start. The light weight axe is sleek with a shiny head and black handle.
The eyes of the Gamemakers have me on edge, sweat begins to bead on my forehead. Armed with the axe, I plant myself the recommended distance in front of the provided target and arch my hands holding the axe behind my head, bring them forward, release, and… it hits just under the target, bouncing back a little.
My face flushes and I scurry to collect the axe to try again. Adjusting my stance, taking a breath before going through the motions, and this time it sticks in the target off center. Better, just not what I usually can do. It’s fine , I remind myself, I don’t want a high score anyway …
At the five minute mark, I change to the obstacle course which I know I can perform better on than the axe throwing right now. Hopefully the climbing will help me forget that I’m being watched.
I climb quickly up the boxy structure at the start of the course and jump to grab at the first bar, using my momentum to catch and swing through the rest of the bars. I leap from angled platform to platform. Climb up an incline using a thick net and jog while balancing on a beam before using a rope to swing myself across a pit of foam cubes. I finish off by landing on the mat designating the end with a slight stumble.
A glance at the timer tells me I have a few minutes left. I make one more attempt with the axes, taking more time to center myself with the axe before releasing it. This time, it sinks into the target only a little off the bullseye.
“Thank you Ms. Galland.” One of the Gamemakers dismisses me and I rush to get out of there.
~~~
That evening we gather on the massive couch in front of the wall TV to receive our scores. I curl up in the corner, resting my head on the cushioned back.
“How do you think you did?” Emrys asks
“Not great, but not terrible.” I shrug, “You?”
“Same, I didn’t really know what to do so I just did the obstacle course.”
“Evaluation scores won’t matter once you’re in the arena.” says Johanna, kicking her feet up on the coffee table.
Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith once again take up the screen as they explain the scoring system. Starting off with District One, the official tribute pictures show up before revealing the given score below it. As expected, the careers do well, earning nines and tens. Marilla earns a nine, Sophia a seven, and Casper a six. Districts Five and Six score an average of four. Emrys ends up with a five. His face scrunches up in disappointment.
My picture flashes on the screen and a six appears below it. Mediocre, but not horrible. It’s perfect.
I breathe a little easier as my picture fades into the boy from Eight. The rest of the tributes scoring a range from five to seven. The boy from Eleven, Robin, scores a nine. Wesley, the boy from Twelve scores an eight. Impressive for the outer districts. The careers are going to have some competition this year.