Pt. II- Pain
Chapter Ten
POV: Ludovic Robertson (15), Male Tribute, District 4
The City Circle, The Capitol
10.30 pm, Saturday 14th July, year of the 66th Hunger Games
After the anthem, we head back into the foyer of the Training Centre whilst Caesar closes out the broadcast. Only the tributes are here. Our mentors and stylists haven't managed to make it back through the crowds to the Training Centre yet. So we ride the elevators without them. My elevator contains only Robin, Quintus and myself, so I ride half the journey alone. I arrive back on my floor and wait for the others in the sitting room. Maddie arrives shortly after I go. I stand up to meet her.
"How did that go?" I ask, smiling.
"Well, I think," replies Maddie, returning my smile. "I think I looked good to the audience,"
"Well, they seemed to like you," I say. She did get a far longer applause than most of the tributes.
At this point, the rest of the team walk in: Finnick, Mags, Flavius, Lucius and Julia. All of them look ecstatic.
"Congratulations!" says Finnick, who rushes over to praise me. Julia follows, and we embrace over quickly-said words of praise.
"Now all the hard work is done," says Finnick cheerily. At first I realise this is good, but then I remember it means that I'm even closer to the Games. The truth in his words is both a blessing and a curse,"
"You did well in everything," adds Julia. "You caught the attention of many at the opening ceremony, you scored an Eight in training, and you shone in your interview. Most of my friends were won over by you," she says, beaming.
Well, that's news to me. I guess my interview was a success. I was worried that I hadn't played my angle enough, but I guess I did. At least that's one weight off of my shoulders.
Flavius puts the television on, and we all gather round to watch a replay of the interviews. It turns out Julia is right. The angle that I play is very convincing, and along with Robin, I stand out towards the sponsors. No doubt we'll be the ones getting the most parachutes in the arena. If we survive long enough to need them.
Despite my initial concerns, Maddie does well, as does Quintus. The interviews seem to have been kind to the Career Alliance this year. All the tributes that stood out were Careers. On the contrary, our largest threat from the other districts, the boy from Nine, lost a lot with his interview. He appeared dull, uninteresting and sullen, and had little applause as he returned to his seat. Still, I think a lot of rich Capitol citizens will sponsor him, based on his physical prowess alone. Being 6 foot 4 tends to help at the cornucopia early on.
Soon we're watching ourselves stand for the anthem, and as the music finishes, the screen fades to black. Flavius stands to complete his final duty as our escort. He explains to me and Maddie that we will be woken at dawn tomorrow and prepared to the arena. We will then fly to the currently-unknown location of the arena, before the Hunger Games finally start at 10 am.
As he continues, I know that tonight will be the time for goodbyes. Flavius and Finnick won't travel with us tomorrow. Only tributes and stylists make the journey to the arena. When we leave the Training Centre, Flavius, Finnick and Mags will go to the Games Headquarters, where they will stay for the remainder of the Games. While they are there, they will be trying to sign up as many sponsors as possible for me and Maddie, and hopefully trying to work out a strategy of how and when they will deliver the gifts from our sponsors to us.
Meanwhile, Lucius and Julia will stay with us, all the way to the place from which we are launched into the arena. I don't need to say my goodbyes to them yet.
Firstly, I turn to Flavius, and thank him for his hard work, for helping me stand out so much in preparation for the Games. He tells me it's been a pleasure to work with me, and I genuinely feel touched by his gesture. I surprise myself by this, as I've only known him for a week, although it already seems like he's been with me for half my life, and I'll genuinely care about him when he's gone. Well, he's been kind and very helpful. All I could really ask of an escort, really.
I then turn to Mags. Although we never really spoke much, she still wishes me luck in the arena, and I thank her for it as I say my final goodbyes.
Finnick then taps me on the arm, and I fling myself towards him for what seems to be a very long and steady embrace. I don't want to get emotional, but I can tell I will. As I pull away from him, I can see the tears in his eyes. I look around the sitting room, and notice that everyone else has left already. At least I won't feel self conscious if I cry.
We stare at each other, trying to imply the words that we both mean but can't bring ourselves to say.
"So," I begin, eager to break the silence. "Any last tips for tomorrow?"
"Don't trust the other two girls," he says, trying to remain calm. "The girls from One and Two, I mean. As soon as the Alliance shows any signs of breaking, distance yourself from them. Get someone else on your side. Preferably Maddie, Robin or Quintus. If possible, all three. Together, you should easily overpower the other two."
"Should I still try and fit in with the Alliance as much as possible?" I ask.
"Yes," Finnick replies. "You don't want to raise suspicion. Let Quintus play as leader if he wants to. Just make sure someone will always be on your side in case the Alliance splits. It doesn't sound like it's too stable."
"It all relies on Quintus," I say. "If he dies, we all split. We only stay together so he's on our side."
"I see," says Finnick, nodding slightly.
"So, aside from Alliances, any other advice?"
"Stay alive?" says Finnick, shrugging. "What else can I say? I've no idea what terrain you'll be thrown into. Just keep a calm head and use your initiative. You'll find a way to survive, I'm sure of it."
Finnick glances up at the clock on the wall. It's half past eleven.
"You have to be up early," he says, looking at me again with tears in his eyes. I know what he means by this. This is time to say goodbye. We share an even longer and more sincere embrace than before, and when I pull away I see that Finnick has silent tears running down his cheeks. I realise I'm crying too when he starts taking again, barely louder than a whisper.
"Good luck tomorrow, Ludo."
The words almost get stuck in my throat, but I force out a reply.
"Thanks," I begin, my body threatening to completely collapse. "Take care, Finnick."
I see a flicker of recognition in his eyes before he turns away quickly and almost runs out of the room. It only takes a few seconds for me to realise that I will never see him again.
I run down the corridor to my room, barely containing my tears. I don't bother to change, and fling myself into bed fully clothed. As the room fades to black, I find the darkness holds no protection from sorrow. I let the tears come, and I cry for Finnick, for all the good times we had, for all the good times the Games will prevent us from having.
After what feels like hours, I stop crying myself out, and my grief turns to anger. I pretend to take out my anger on Flavius, Julia, every person in the Capitol, anyone responsible for the Games, Tiberius Greenwood, the Hunger Games themselves and many other things by punching my pillow repetitively. I end up trying to take my anger out on Finnick as- Finnick! No, this isn't right. I must try and calm down. I need to be calm and composed. I must try my hardest to win. If not for myself, then definitely for Finnick.
After what feels like eternity, I calm myself down to a reasonable, controllable level of anger. Only then does fatigue get the better of me, and I slip away into sleep.
I'm woken by Julia, who hurriedly gets me up and dressed in simple clothing before I'm fully awake. I'm quickly guided to the elevator, and escorted to the roof of the Training Centre by my stylist.
I notice the sun has just risen above the Capitol skyline. As I look around the rooftop, I remember the night I spent up here with Maddie. How many days ago was that? Four? Five? I can't remember.
Suddenly, a hovercraft appears out of thin air above me, and drops a ladder down onto the roof. As I place my hands and feet on the lower rungs of the ladder, some sort of electric current freezes me in place. I appear to be stuck to the ladder, which keeps me perfectly safe as I'm hoisted upwards into the hovercraft.
Once I'm inside, I'm approached by a young Capitol man in a white coat, who inserts something deep in my left forearm before I can object. When I ask what he did, he says he inserted my tracker. Trackers are used by the Gamemakers to keep track of all the tributes once they're in the arena. The last thing the Gamemakers want is to lose a tribute.
From above, I see Julia being collected from the roof. When she joins me in the hovercraft, an Avox man collects us both and escorts us into a room where we are served breakfast. After my traumas concerning them on my first couple of days in the Capitol, I've managed to come to terms with the Avoxes. At least it's one thing off my mind before I enter the arena. As we fly towards the arena. I look out the window over the view of the Capitol. I've never flown before, and the city looks even more breathtaking from this vantage point. Soon we are travelling over the wilderness beyond the city, though I see little of it before the windows black out, suggesting we are close to the arena. The Gamemakers wouldn't want tributes getting a sneak peek at the arena.
As the hovercraft lands, me and Julia once again leave by ladder, only this time the ladder takes us underground, into the catacombs that lie beneath the arena. We follow instructions given to us by an Avox as we navigate our way through the maze of tunnels to our destination, a chamber for my preparation. Julia calls in the Launch Room. In District 4, I've heard people call it the Stockyard.
The whole room feels brand-new. Then I remember it is; this arena will only be used once. I will be the only person to ever use this Launch Room.
Having eaten on the hovercraft, all I do to prepare myself is shower quickly and clean my teeth. Then Julia, who had left to fetch my clothes, returns. She has had no say in my outfit today; all the tributes wear the same clothes.
I am given simple dark brown trousers, a khaki sleeveless vest and a khaki long-sleeved top, which is made of cotton. The top is also hooded. Khaki. The word itself is almost synonymous with desert. The worst terrain possible for a tribute from the fishing district. I try not to dwell on this as I put on the rest of my attire. I'm also given a sturdy leather belt and some fingerless leather gloves. Finally, I'm given Khaki (again!) socks and soft leather boots with grippy rubber soles.
Julia helps me dress, and when I am finished, she pulls the silver brooch Finnick gave me before the opening ceremony from her pocket. My district token. The one Finnick wore into the arena last year. I try hard to push the thoughts of Finnick to the back of my mind. I can save them for after the cornucopia bloodbath. If I make it.
"Where did you get that?" I ask.
"I found it on your bedside table in the Training Centre a few days ago. It had to be cleared by the Gamemakers before I could let you have it in the arena," explains Julia. "They had to check your district token couldn't be used as a weapon."
She pins the brooch to my chest, high up on the right side.
"Thanks for looking after it," I say. I'm glad I'll have something to remind me of Finnick when I'm in the arena.
"No problem," replies Julia, smiling. I try and return the smile, but I'm too nervous make a good job of it. I glance at the clock on the walk of the Launch Room. Five minutes to ten. I could be dead in ten minutes.
As I think this, I hear a pleasant female voice come through the speakers in the corner of the room, telling me it's time for launch.
Julia quickly grabs my attention. "When you're on your plate, remember not to move for the sixty seconds until the gong. And remember what Finnick told you. Don't trust Pearl and Remora," says Julia quickly as she leads me to the circular metal plate that will take me upwards into the arena.
As I stand on the plate, Julia embraces me before moving away to let me be taken upwards into the arena.
"Good luck, Ludo," she says, trying to calm me.
I don't have time to utter a reply. A glass cylinder lowers itself around me, and I can no longer hear the outside world. I try and stand straight and keep my head high. I want to appear confident as I come out into the arena. All the cameras will be trained on me.
The cylinder begins to rise. I have chance to see Julia wave at me before I'm plunged into darkness. For fifteen or twenty seconds, I ascend in darkness. Then I feel the metal plate beneath my feet push me into open air, and I'm suddenly dazzled by what I believe at first to be bright light shining at me from every direction. As I come out fully into the arena, I'm struck by immense heat. It takes me a few seconds to realise where I am, and oddly I'm reminded of a game I used to play at home.
When I was very little, Bella used to play many games with me on rainy afternoons to keep me entertained. This one was by far my favourite.
The floor is lava.