74th - part 4
katniss’s pov
“You know, last night I was thinking…,” Haymitch grunts in between bites of his breakfast, “since you’re so determined to talk to Johanna and Blight, perhaps you should see whether they’d be interested in an alliance.”
It’s the second day of training. The tributes have already left, but Haymitch has been seriously dragging his feet all morning and I start to wonder if this is why. How did he even have time to strategize without me last night? I look up and notice that he’s watching me, waiting for a response. “Do we need an alliance?”
“Look, I’ll be honest with you: these kids don’t stand a chance if they come face to face with the Careers, especially a pack of them. There’s safety in numbers, at least at the beginning.”
I nod.
“So I want you to suggest a four person alliance until the Career pack isn’t a threat anymore,” he explains. “If you can get Blight and Johanna on board, we’ll talk to the kids together.”
I nod again. “Do you think they’ll go for that?”
“The tributes, or Blight and Johanna?”
“Both,” I answer. “I mean, you can’t force the tributes to get along, and what if the 7s have a different strategy?”
“Just…suggest the idea and report back to me. I’m using today to work on getting to know the competition. So this is your job,” he says, finally getting to his feet and moving toward the door. “If they agree, we can figure out the rest later.”
When we make it to the glass room, I spot Johanna and Blight on the same couch and beeline for them, not wanting to get stopped by someone else and trapped in another conversation. Blight looks thrilled to see me, but Johanna just nods stiffly as I sit down.
“How are you?” asks Blight.
“Good. How are you?”
“I’m well, thanks.” Effie would like this guy for sure. “We were just talking about how we already miss home and the Games haven’t even started yet. How about you?”
“Oh, yeah,” I tell him. “Of course.”
“What do you think of the Capitol food? I think it’s good, but it’s not the same as home. Especially the bread. I hate the bread here.” He makes a disgusted face and we both chuckle.
“Why pick on the bread? I hate everything here,” Johanna scowls toward the nearby Gamemakers. She’s been silent up until now, but I can’t tell if something’s wrong or if she’s just being her typical self. “I’d walk home if they’d let me.”
“Really? But they have everything you could ever want in the Capitol. I love it here,” I say flatly, catching Johanna’s eye as she chuckles.
The humor seems to be lost on Blight, who frowns and shakes his head. “I prefer it at home.”
I stifle my laugh, but Johanna doesn’t, letting out a witchlike cackle that ends up making me laugh harder. Eventually, Blight joins in, and I can see him finally start to get the joke.
“Well, anyways,” Johanna sighs after a while. “At least we know we’re going home eventually.”
It’s a brutal thing to say. Blight stops laughing immediately and gazes out at the tributes solemnly, and I wonder if this is the moment for me to suggest the alliance. I really don’t know if I’ll ever get a good moment. And if I get it out of the way, then I won’t have to spend all day worrying about it.
“Haymitch suggested…um…if you’re interested,” I add hastily. They’re both watching me carefully and I feel like I have to be smart with the way that I pitch this if I want them to agree. “We could have a four person alliance. All of our tributes. So that they would start off stronger together.”
Blight nods. “That could work.”
“Why us?” Johanna asks bluntly. “Our tributes aren’t your best choice by a long shot.”
“That’s exactly why it would work,” I answer, though I’m not sure I totally believe that. “None of our tributes stand a chance against a Career pack. But if they work together to weaken the Careers first, then they can separate and have a more even matchup.”
Johanna thinks about it for a moment, then mutters, “Makes sense.” After glancing at Blight for confirmation, she declares, “Fine, we’re in. We’ll tell the tributes tonight. But I don’t think they should acknowledge each other until they’re in the arena.”
“No, of course not,” I agree.
“And trust me, Everdeen, you do not wanna double-cross us.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Johanna smirks at me and sticks out a hand. “Shake on it.”
So I do. Her grip is so firm that she practically chokes my hand, but her skin is surprisingly soft and warm. I shake Blight’s hand too for good measure and smile at the pair of them. For a moment, I consider flagging down Haymitch now to tell him the good news, but I decide it can wait til later.
Haymitch and I are sitting on one side of the dining table, the tributes on the other, and we’re holding our breath. Santhe hardly reacts, but Cole’s brow furrows as he thinks about what we’ve just said.
“Sure,” he replies. “They seem nice enough.”
Santhe’s voice is icy when she asks, “But what if we separate and it comes down to just the four of us?” She practically glares at me and Haymitch, and I guess I should’ve guessed that she didn’t want an alliance. I wouldn’t either, honestly. Rue just felt right, and Peeta…well, that just proves that I didn’t want an alliance, since I flipped out over the idea of the star-crossed lovers.
“Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen,” says Haymitch gruffly. “Because if it does, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Nobody speaks for a moment, but we all know what he means. There’s only one winner.
“The other tributes can’t know that you’re allies until you’re in the arena, so we don’t want you to train with them or talk to them,” I instruct them, finally breaking the tense silence.
Cole looks troubled again. “But how are we supposed to get to know our allies?”
“Do it in the arena,” says Haymitch.
“How do we know we can trust them?” It’s exactly the question I would’ve asked. Santhe meets my eye and I know she needs me to be honest. I can’t just tell her to blindly trust two kids from District 7, not when she’s already putting all her trust in me and Haymitch.
“You don’t have to trust them,” I answer. “But they want to take down the Careers too, which means you all have the same goal.”
“Plus,” Haymitch interjects, “when you’re with them, we’ll work with their mentors to get sponsors for all of you. So I mean it when I say that it really is in your best interest to stick with them for a bit. I can sell a pack of underdogs a lot better than one lone wolf.”
Santhe and Cole look at each other for a moment, then she turns back to me. The look in her eyes asks if I agree, if I’m really sure about this plan, so I nod. Her face relaxes and she announces, “Ok, I’m in.”
“I’m in too,” says Cole.
Haymitch sighs with relief. “Great. Now, let’s talk about tomorrow’s evaluations…”