75th - part 3
katniss’s pov
It was Effie’s idea for us to train like Careers.
I was honestly shocked when she showed up at my door in District 12, dragging Haymitch along behind her, and insisted that we were going to fight til the very end. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I agreed and helped her convince Cole, which was a long and difficult battle. Eventually, he came around and we started exercising, practicing with weapons, whatever Haymitch and Effie thought might help.
So it doesn’t shock me when Effie makes us stay up late after the Tribute Parade watching tapes of highlights from old games. “You need to know what you’re up against,” she insists when Cole tries to argue. “Everyone’s a victor, which means they know how to win.”
Reluctantly, we all sit in the living room and start with District 1. Cashmere and Gloss are nothing short of terrifying. In his Games, he actually ended up betraying the other Careers, taking down the boy and girl from 2 by himself. Honestly, if he corners us in the arena, I don’t see how we could stand a chance.
District 2 isn’t much better, and even District 3 is discouraging. The man, Beetee Latier, pulls off some crazy trap that electrocutes the other six tributes all at once. Meanwhile, Wiress, the female victor, uses the metal Cornucopia to conduct enough electricity to start a wildfire that overtakes almost the entire arena.
And then there’s Finnick Odair. He’s not very exciting for most of his Games, but when he receives a trident from his sponsors, everything changes. He becomes a nightmare for the rest of the tributes.
“Should we bother watching Mags’s Games?” grumbles Cole. I can tell he’s just as sick of this as I am, but he looks more annoyed than intimidated. Like this isn’t worth his time. Maybe I should rethink my plan to protect him.
Haymitch scowls. “Don’t underestimate anyone. Arrogance is what—”
“Gets us killed? Sure, but Mags isn’t a threat,” Cole sneers. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I’ve never seen him act so nastily, even toward Haymitch.
“Are you the mentor here?”
“I’m just saying—”
“Shut up and pay attention,” I snap, silencing both of them. I can’t take any more whining or arguing, not when I’m barely managing to sit here and tolerate this. For a second, I think Effie’s about to scold me for being rude, but instead she quietly starts up Mags’s games.
Mags wins because of her skill and agility, but the next few victors all won out of luck. “Natural” disasters helped out the victors from 5, and the victors from 6 pretty much hid until everyone else was dead. As we’re nearing the end of the woman from 6’s games, I realize what’s coming next.
Since I was only two years old at the time, I don’t remember watching Blight’s games. I’ve seen replays, of course, but the Capitol doesn’t like to show them very often. I realize why pretty quickly: he’s soft. Sure, once he gets an ax, he doesn’t hesitate to kill when necessary. But he cries after every kill. Not the kind of stuff the audience enjoys from a male tribute. Plus, he tried to come off as intimidating in his interviews. Who knows why. His size is basically the only intimidating thing about him.
Johanna’s next. I remember her Games clearly and I don’t think I need to rewatch them, but I refuse to say so to Haymitch and Effie.
I was 14 during these Games. I remember, because Gale and I would go out to the woods early in the morning to make sure that we had enough to eat during the day. We both believed Johanna’s act right up until she stole an ax from the Careers. I was totally blindsided, because I thought she was done for.
First, we watch Johanna get reaped. She’s thinner and her face looks softer, but otherwise she hasn’t changed much since then. A young boy in the crowd starts crying loudly as she climbs onto the stage, but no one steps forward to take her place, of course. Claudius remarks that Johanna’s scrawny for a 16 year old, and mentions this again when a tall, strong, 17-year old boy gets called after her. Next to him, Johanna’s easily dismissed.
In her interview with Caesar, Johanna barely talks above a whisper as she avoids looking at the crowd. She’s wearing a baby blue dress and no makeup. It’s almost obvious now, how her stylist was trying to make her seem younger, how Johanna was trying to seem smaller. But of course I fell for it, because somehow Johanna convinced everyone that she was helpless.
Her training score helped, and she didn’t do much but hide for the first few days of the Games.
Then one day, the Careers go out hunting, leaving the boy from 1 behind to guard their stash. Maybe he’s an idiot or maybe he’s exhausted, but either way Johanna manages to silently slip by him and snatch an ax without being detected. She brings the head of the ax down on the boy’s head before he even realizes she’s there.
Claudius and Caesar freak out. Like the rest of the tributes, they thought Johanna was dying somewhere, or if she wasn’t, she would be soon. I remember thinking Johanna would run away with the ax, but instead she hides in the Cornucopia.
When the rest of the Careers return, she picks them off one by one. She makes it look easy, as if the Careers are training dummies rather than talented killers. Shit, I forgot how skilled she was. Can she still fight like this? I hope not, because the rest of us are doomed otherwise.
Johanna doesn’t cry about killing the other tributes, but something changes in her. I didn’t notice it a few years ago, but as a victor, now I can recognize it. She’s haunted from the moment each cannon sounds. She’ll remember their faces, their screams, their blood splattering over her as she sinks her ax into them. Johanna doesn’t cry, not while she’s still in the arena, and maybe that’s why I thought she was vicious at first. But now I know better.
I wish we skipped Johanna’s Games. Because now I can’t even think about going back into the arena again, because I wish I could find Johanna and not worry about having to kill her soon, because watching her have to kill is unbearable.
I barely even process the rest of the Games. I recognize a few of the younger victors, and I’ve seen some replays of the others. When we reach the end of Seeder’s Games, Effie turns off the monitor and Haymitch clears his throat.
“So,” he begins, “I want you to start thinking about these tributes. Pay attention during training. Figure out their strengths, weaknesses, strategies. And…I want you to think about who you want as allies.”
“Allies?” says Cole.
“If you’re interested in staying alive, you need allies,” Haymitch declares.
Cole shakes his head slightly. “I don’t trust any of them. I don’t even know them, and they’re all friends with each other.”
“Which is exactly why you need allies,” Haymitch insists. “You’re at a disadvantage. You’re the outsiders, so you’re who they’re gonna go after first.”
“So you want us to join the Careers?” I say.
“Not necessarily. Make your own pack, if you want.”
Although I’m not the biggest fan of this idea either, it’s better than becoming a Career. I still don’t see how we’ll be able to trust any of the other victors, but I agree to try to get to know them at training tomorrow. Then Haymitch sends us off to bed.
I want to sleep and I feel tired, but I just can’t. So I lie on top of the covers and stare at the ceiling for a while, trying to think about anything other than the Games. Of course, it doesn’t work, because everything leads back to the Games and the other victors.
I miss Prim. I miss Gale. I miss Peeta and Rue. I miss Johanna, who I’ll actually see again, unlike the others. I miss the way my life was before the Games, and I miss the way it was as a mentor. I hated having to be a mentor when it was happening, but now I’d give anything to be a mentor again instead of a tribute.
Eventually, I fall asleep.