The final Hunger Games
Chapter 2
What had I just heard? I looked around to see if I could see Lucy. She looked shocked. After a while she went forward to take her place. She was walking very slowly. As I looked at Patrick I could see how worried he looked. He pointed at Lucy. He hadn't had to do that. I made my way through the crowd. After tripping over a few people and shoving the rest people made way for me. The guards ran towards me and grabbed me.
"I volunteer," I shouted. Everyone looked at me. "I volunteer as tribute." The only thing I could tell Lucy was to go to Patrick. She protested, but after a while she did as I told her. That was when I started to worry about myself. I hadn't really thought when I volunteered. I made my way to the stage. I decided to try not to think about the consequences. I had more than enough time to think about that in district thirteen. When I reached the stage Mary walked up to me.
"What's your name dear?" she said.
"Chloe Roberts," I said. Luckily Mary didn't ask me if Lucy was my sister or not. I guess she figured that one out since we had the same surname. She just went over to the bowl with the boys names. This time she was walking much quicker. I didn't really notice her. I just stared over the crowd. I was basically looking at the boys. I caught Patrick's eyes. They looked really worried. That was when I remembered that there was a slight chance Patrick might get picked. I looked back at Mary who had gotten to the bowl. My heart started beating hard again. She now had a label in her hand. She walked over to the microphone. She opened the label very carefully.
"Justin Ellis," she said. No not him. He was in my class. I hadn't really talked to him a lot, but I knew that he was a really nice boy. He had brown hair and brown eyes. I saw I'm looking at around. He had one older brother that was nineteen and therefor too old to be in the reaping and one younger brother who was eleven and too young. None of his cousins volunteered. After a while he went forward and took his place. Mary announced that the tributes could shake hands. We did so. His hand was wet and clammy. After we had shock hands we went into the school building. That was where our families could say good bye to the tributes. I was guided into a classroom. I waited a few minutes before mum, dad, Patrick and Lucy came rushing in. Dad had obviously seen the reaping. I hugged them. Patrick and Lucy just kept saying that I had to win. I tried to tell them that all off the tributes were going to hear that. Mum kept saying how much she loved me. Dad on the other and dragged me a bit to the side.
"Can I have a word with you private?" he said. I nodded.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"Remember you do what you can to survive. Even if it means killing someone. Out there it's their life or yours. Understand?" he said.
"Yes," I said nodding. I could hear him mutter good. After three minutes they were told to go. After they had gone Lewis came to visit.
"You alright?" he said. I nodded carefully.
"I was a bit scared at first, but I try to get rid of the feeling," I said. I knew that there wasn't any logic in that sentence.
"You'll probably get used to it," Lewis said.
"I guess," I said. He was probably right.
"I brought you something," he said and gave me a napkin. There were five chocolate biscuits. He had probably made them for lunch, but didn't eat them.
"Thank you," I said not really knowing if I wanted to eat them.
"You're going to be okay," Lewis said.
"How do you know that," I said. "There are twenty-four people in that arena, and only one comes out". Lewis gave up. He admitted that everyone in that arena had no experience with weapons and survival. The guard came and told us our time was up. I said goodbye and hugged him.
"You can at least try to win," Lewis said as he went out. I nodded and the door was shut.
We were escorted to the train in an old car that looked like it had been taken straight from the beginning of the 20th century. It was quite open. Mary was the only one speaking. She kept talking about how exciting this was and how much people were looking forward to it back in District 13. That was where the Games were taking place this year. People in the Districts were obviously looking forward to their revenge. I looked at Justin. He looked like he was going to cry any moment. I could see he was struggling to keep his tears back. I knew why. He wasn't very strong or fast or anything like that. He probably thought he would never see his family again. We got to the train much quicker than I would want us to get to it. Mary guided me and Justin into the train. The crowd outside it was so big that it was a relief to get inside the train. We watched the crowd disappear before we went onto the next compartment. It was huge. There was a bar in one corner. In the opposite corner there were several tables and chairs. There was food on every table. I and Justin sat down at a table in the middle.
"I'll go and get your mentor, Peeta Mellark," Mary said. We watched her leave the room.
"What he's like?" Justin asked. I looked at him.
"Who?" I said.
"Peeta, do you think he's nice?" Justin said.
"He'd better be, he's the only way we can win this thing," I said.
"Well, he has won it once," Justin said.
"With some help, he and Katniss Everdeen were allies," I said.
"Besides they got sponsors because they were acting like a couple," Justin said.
"Though I think he actually fancied her," I said. We laughed. At that moment Peeta walked in. We stopped that very instant.
"I guess that's the first time someone as laughed about being a tribute," he said. We didn't say anything. Hopefully he hadn't heard what we had been talking about. Peeta sat down in the chair opposite from us. He looked at us. He looked like he was waiting for us to say something. After a few minutes of silence he decided to speak.
"So, what do want to know," he said.
"How do you get sponsors," Justin said. That seemed a good start.
"The tributes that get the most sponsors are usually the tributes that are best liked. The tributes that get the most sponsors are usually the ones that make it to the end," Peeta said.
"What do you do to get liked," I asked.
"You need skills. You need to know how to use a weapon, or know how to survive in nature. I'm not trying to be rude, but I doubt that you know how to survive in a forest or a desert," Peeta said. It was true. We didn't know how to survive in a forest.
"Not many people living in Capitol do," I said.
"I suggest you get a goodnight sleep. We'll talk about survival tomorrow, and after breakfast we'll try a few simple weapons," Peeta said. We got up and went to our rooms.
