District Five- Nova Richards POV
My game plan was simple really, but ingenious all the same.
Step 1-Train like a Career.
That meant gaining at least 20 pounds of solid muscle. It was hard to do when you live in a starving District. Unfortunately, I only managed to gain 17. My diet was bland, because for six straight months I ate nothing but raw eggs, rice and bread that I stole from the Homes kitchen. I fit eight hours of training a day around school, chores and my part time job in the local apothecary. I switched shifts with Mrs. Timms and worked from 3am until 7am, left for school at 7:30am until 1pm, went back to the orphanage where I lived, and did all of my chores, then finished the day training from 2pm till 10pm. No one even noticed I was gone.
I trained in an abandoned tool store on the outskirts of the District. The tool store smelled of rotting wood, but I was going to have to face much force than that in the Arena. I had set up dummies using sand bags tied to rafters with thick rope. Creating my very one target range, I practiced throwing knifes. The knives were easy enough to get my hands on; nearly everyone in the Alley -our black market- was prepared to sell me one. I'm only 16, but it's against the law to have a weapon, even if you are one of the oldest members of the community. If you are found, the punishment is normally public execution. A typical response, if anyone ever asks you about why you're in the possession of a knife, is to lie and say its for the kitchen.
Getting hold of something more deadly was difficult, as I needed to acquaint myself with the heavy swords and spears the Tributes used in the Arena. A spear was easy enough to make, because some weird old guy was able to supply me with three flint spearheads. They were in reasonable condition and didn't cost me much, either. I still needed a sword of some kind to train with, but I couldn't just go wandering around the Alley asking if someone could trade me something for a sword, so I put up with the knife and the spear I had. After a while, I developed some pretty deadly skills with both of the weapons. I could hit a target with my knife from over 20 metres away, hit a bulls-eye nearly every time, hit every single dummy with my spear.
Step 2-Volunteer at the Reaping.
Of course, this stage in my plan was pretty obvious, because what would be the point in all of that training if I didn't even enter the Games? Volunteering is pretty simple in District Five because no one ever Volunteers. There's hardly any competition at all. I've heard that in District Two, so many kids want to Volunteer that fights break out between the Volunteers as they all race to the stage. Nothing like that would ever happen in District 5, for only 7 people in our District have ever Volunteered in all 52 years the Games have been running.
All I had to do was wait until the female tribute is announced and then, very courageously, ask to take her place. This year, the unsuspecting victim was a 12 year old I had seen wandering about the District in bare feet on many a cold, wintery day. I don't think she's quite right in the head. She wouldn't last 30 seconds in the Arena, so Volunteering for her made me look more like a hero than I actually am.
No one came to see me after the Reaping was over because I didn't really have anyone who cared enough about me to come. I do have my Grammy, but she is very old and crippled now, with a memory so foggy she doesn't even remember who I am anymore. My Grammy took me in after my parents died in an accident when I was 8. She devoted her life to me, working extra shifts just to put clothes on my back and food on my plate. She is 89 now, making her the oldest living citizen in District Five. If Grammy knew that I was doing this, she would probably slap me and tell me to "stop talking nonsense". I guess if I win I will be able to afford some of the special Capitol medicine to help treat her bed sores that stop her from moving.
Step 3-Introduce my self to the Careers and join their group.
At Training, I will walk straight over to them and show them my insane skills. They will be so impressed with me that they will invite me to join their alliance. Then, I gain their trust, so I get them to like me and then they view me as a close friend. That way, they won't turn on me in the Arena. The Careers will offer me protection. Besides, taking down the stronger tributes will be easier in a group. Once all the real competitors are dead I will start to turn them against each other, leaving them to waste time taking each other out. Once all the Careers are dead, I can steal their medicine, food, water, and weapons, fight in the Final Battle, and return home as a hero, bearing few, if any, scratches or cuts. How can I fail?
