Untitled HG Story 68

by ICantComeUpWithAName23

In District 1, Cal has been training hard to enter the Hunger Games. But upon being exposed to the horrors of the new sky arena, he begins to question whether this brutal competition truly is an honor...

Untitled Hunger Games Story

District 1, Panem

Tribute Academy

6:30 PM

1 day until the Reaping

"This is your final day of training before you head off to the Capitol. Remember: You might not know what weapons appear at the Cornucopia, so get in a last bit of training with all of them. May the odds be ever in your favor."

That's Cashmere, our instructor. She's been training us for the Hunger Games since we were twelve. We've learned to wield all sorts of weapons, from axes and swords to bows and throwing daggers.

Tomorrow's the day of the Reaping, where we select one boy and girl between 12 and 18 to battle against kids from other districts, until only one remains. It's been our tradition ever since the Dark Days, when our ancestors rebelled against the Capitol sixty-eight years ago, plunging Panem into turmoil. Eventually, with the destruction of District 13, the terrible war ended, and the Treaty of the Treason was signed.

I move to the ropes course, testing my agility and trying to improve. The arenas are usually forests, and the weaker fighters always hide in the trees. Krystal, the other eighteen-year-old, trains endlessly with spears and hammers and battle axes. Heavy weapons just make it harder to get around.

After training ends, I head home and have a nice dinner with my parents. Every district has its own industry, be it masonry, fishing, mining, or textiles. Ours is luxury items. My father works in a jewelry store, and my mother works producing hair products. Her dye recipe would make any hair color look natural.

"So, how was training today, Cal?" my father asks. "It was okay, I guess." I say. "I'm just a little nervous about going into the Reaping. I wonder what the Gamemakers are planning this year." There's always something different.

At least I'm not going into a Quarter Quell. The 50th arena had a volcano, poisoned water, and even deadly flowers. That year, Haymitch Abernathy made an axe bounce off the force field, killing the girl from our district. Doing something like that's practically cheating. She was strong. She deserved to win. Not that weakling. But that was eighteen years ago.

12:00

Reaping Day

This is it. The day of the reaping. Every year we gather in front of the Justice Building and select our Tributes. There are two glass balls, one for boys and one for girls. Every year your name is entered one more time. So, my name is in one of those bowls seven times. But it doesn't matter. I'm going in anyway.

A woman dressed in a blazing red costume with hair that sticks so far up I'm surprised it's not sticking through the clouds. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor." she says.

"Before we begin, a reading of the Treaty of Treason. 'In penance for their uprising, the districts of Panem shall offer a male and female between the ages of 12 and 18 at a public Reaping. These tributes shall then be delivered to the custody of the Capitol, and then transferred to a public arena where they will fight to the death, until a lone victor remains. Henceforth and forevermore this pageant will be known as The Hunger Games.'" She's memorized the whole thing. Of course she did.

Since volunteering is so common here, she doesn't bother drawing a name. She just asks the girls if any of them would like to volunteer. Krystal begins walking towards the stage. Now it's my turn. Before she can say anything, I step into the aisle, raise my hand, and utter the four words I have been yearning to say for six years:

"I volunteer as Tribute."

The Capitol

Prep Centre

8:00 PM

Tribute Parade

"You ready to go out there?" Nero asks. He's my stylist. He said it was his job to help us make a good first impression for the sponsors. They send us gifts in the arena, be it food, medicine, or even a fresh weapon. Krystal and I are dressed in gleaming golden outfits, complete with flowing capes. I look behind us to see my new teammates. "Hi. I'm Nora. This is Grant." She gestures to a towering boy built like a tank. Parents in 2 always name their kids after some kind of stone. Stone. That's what their stylists were going for. They're in boxy grey outfits meant to look like cut rocks. Better than Seven, I guess. They're dressed like trees. Nothing original there.

We board the chariot and begin to move out. I see Caesar Flickerman commentating. He loves our outfits. Of course he does. We press a switch on our chariot, and we are blinded as our outfits begin glowing, almost turning the night sky to day. Caesar and Claudius laugh in delight. I hear a thud and turn to see two figures rushing towards the back of the line. Kid from 12 must have fallen off his chariot.

Then Snow comes to give his traditional address. He welcomes us and gives us a spiel about the Dark Days and how much Panem has grown since then. But I notice something dripping from his lip. Blood. He doesn't fight. Why would he be bleeding? I ask Krystal. She says he's probably sick.

After the parade, we get a tour of our new first-floor apartment and I grab a quick snack before collapsing into bed. I've got a long day ahead of me.

Tribute Center

9:30 AM

One week until the Games

"In a few short days, twenty-three of you will be dead. One will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you listen to what I'm about to say. Do not ignore the survival skills. Fire making, finding water, even camouflage. Most tributes just grab a sword. They end up eating nightlock and are gone on day three" Krystal smirks. So do Nora and Grant. "I'm talking to you specifically, Careers." the trainer says. So that's what they call us.

Krystal grabs her battle axe and cuts three dummies in half at once. Grant rips one apart with his bare hands. Nora nabs a scythe and makes a kebab out of the dummies. The boy from 11 falls of a ropes course. The poor kids from 12 are just crying in a corner.

I decide to head on over to the fire-making station. The boy from Seven is there. I start trying to make a fire, but it's not working. "You're going too slow." he says. He grabs the stick and rubs it against the wood pile I have set up. In seconds it sparks and blazes up.

"My name's Will." he says. "Who are you?" "I'm Cal." I say. "Are- "Before I can finish, I see Grant pick up the boy from the ropes course and yell at him. "WHERE DID YOU PUT IT?!" he yells. "What do you mean?" the boy says. "YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT I MEAN!" Peacekeepers have to come in and calm him down.

The next few days are a blur, but I'm not so sure about teaming up with the other "Careers" anymore. I practice my skills with blades. Gloss told me those were the most common weapons. Throwing knives really aren't my style, so I go for dual swords.

Interview Room

12:00

One day until the Games

"How are you feeling about the games, Cal?" Caesar asks.

"Well, I am a bit nervous. Anything can happen. One minute, you're sitting pretty at the Cornucopia, the next all your supplies are gone and there's an arrow in your chest. But I am pretty confident I can adapt." I say. I don't want to seem weak. Every second I seem scared is one less silver parachute coming my way.

"True, true. What about the others? Do you think Krystal or Grant might be able to beat you when the time comes?"

"I don't really think so. They're good fighters, but not the best survivors. Didn't even learn about edible plants. Probably think they don't need it. I think that arrogance is the biggest weakness from my district."

"Truer words have never been spoken."

As I walk off the stage, I feel like I'm on top of the world. Nora glares at me as she walks up for her interview.

Launch Room

8:00 AM

One minute until the Games

Finally. After years of hard training, it's about to be fulfilled. Everything I've worked for. I take one last shower and wait for my stylist to arrive to give me my outfit. There's a different one very year. I hear the door open. "Put these on." Nero says. It's a simple navy-blue jacket, and black pants. They're pretty warm. "Thirty seconds to launch" an announcer says. "One more thing. You'll be needing this."

He hands me a small silver mask-like device. I peer into it, and it appears to have little filters. We must be heads somewhere dangerously polluted. Maybe even the ruins of District 13. "Ten seconds." I step into the glass tube, and it seals behind me. It begins moving up, then... down? Is the arena underground? I continue down, and two handles appear. I grab them. As I do, my tube turns sideways, and I realize it's a pod.

I shoot forward and am surrounded by water. I see other pods do the same. A massive fish with razor-sharp teeth approaches me, but a device extends from the top of my pod and seemingly kills it. I then angle up and see 23 other pods shoot into the sky. I put my mask on.

?

The Arena

Day 1 of the Hunger Games

I see countless platforms moving all around us. I see the now rising sun reflect off the golden Cornucopia. I see axes, bows, two scythes, and lots of bags. The countdown reads 26. If we step off our pedestals before then, we get blasted sky high. Well, technically we already are sky high. Then I see it. Two swords lying in an X pattern. They're pretty small, but the perfect weapon together.

Just as I spot it, the familiar gong sounds. I grab my swords, but then I see it. The first kill. Nora slices down a boy from 5 with her scythe and steals the bag he got. Two tributes from 6 try to make a run for it, but Krystal throws two daggers into their backs. It is then I realize something: I can't go with these people. I grab my swords, some rope, and what looks to be firewood from the Cornucopia.

As Grant attempts to kill the kids from 12, I step in, driving my swords into his knees, buying them enough time to run away. He falls over and yells in a muffled voice, "GET THAT TRAITOR!"

I run like I've never run before. I jump from platform to platform, using my swords and some rope to slide on a pole between two platforms. Then, I find one en route to the edges of the arena. I jump to it, and see I've left those maniacs in the dust.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Nine tributes have fallen just in the first few hours. I managed to snag some food, and I enjoy an apple while keeping careful watch for anyone coming at me. The platform rotates, and a black-haired girl from District 4 comes after me with a trident. I grab the end of it, wrench it from her grip, and keep running. I jump to another platform, and she jumps after me. I land safely, but behind be I hear a crunch, followed by another cannon. Guess she landed on the wrong platform. Over the coming hours, the arena is silent apart from the whirrs of the flying platforms.

It gets dark now, and the anthem plays. I look up to see who's out of the competition. Both from 3, the girl from 4, the boy from 5, both from 6, the boy from 8, the girl from 10, and both from 11.

Day 2

Where am I now? I wake up near a platform with a forested area, and I jump to it. If trees can grow in this area, I don't need this mask. I look for a place to set up a base camp and try to just relax. As I sit by the tree, someone says "It's really not a good idea to sit there." I look up, and that's when I see it. A small beehive surrounded by little golden insects. Tracker jackers. If those things sting you, well, let's just say you're not going to have a very good time.

"Yeah, I almost got stung when I got here." I recognize his voice. It's Will. "Smoke should be able to get rid of them." I tell him about the wood I found. I begin gathering it up, when he gets a strange smile. "This is perfect!" he says. "What's perfect?" I ask. "This wood. It's a special kind genetically engineered by the Capitol during the Dark Days. "Doesn't make any fire. Just lots of smoke. They used it to trick rebels into revealing their positions. The project was abandoned after they started using it to make smokescreens and traps. Similar to the jabberjays."

We pile up the grey wood and light it up. Sure enough, a pillar of smoke shoots into the sky and one by one the little golden tracker jackers fall to the ground, motionless. We set up a camouflaged shelter for the night and try to get some sleep as more cannons go off.

But after what feels like a few seconds, we hear footsteps headed our way. Seems as though the hunting party has moved out. I hear Nora's voice say "Let's find those two kids from 12. If they find a way to destroy our supplies, we're screwed." I jump out, ready to fight them. Krystal spots me. "Um, they probably went that way." she says, and Nora and Grant follow her away from our little camp. After that, I hear one cannon, meaning one of them was killed. But which one?

As if to answer my question, the anthem begins playing. I see her picture among the ones projected into the sky.

Day 3

I wake up to a faint chiming sound, and I see a small silver box with a propeller rise into the arena and Will catches it. He opens it up and reads the note inside. "Now you have a fighting chance." I see it's two small axes. Cashmere called them tomahawks. They're meant to be thrown through the air, unlike regular axes. Will picks one up, pulls it back over his shoulder and throws it. It sticks right. into a tree. "Can I try?" I ask. He nods and hands me the other. I pull it over my shoulder like he did, and let it fly. But it just bounces off the tree. Will laughs.

"You have to get the spin just right." he says. Immediately after, two thin-looking kids with grey eyes and olive skin hop on to the platform. I recognize them. They're from 12. The girl is terrified by my presence, and tugs on the boy's hand. But he doesn't move. "He's okay." he says. The girl yells at him "But he's a Career!" "Yeah, the one that saved us!" he retorts. Will gives them some of our food, and they take it quickly. "What brings you here?" I ask. "We need shelter." they say. "The Career pack almost got us, but the blonde-haired girl tried to throw a dagger at the boy. But then she was cut in half by the other girl's scythe." Looks like the only Careers left are me, Grant, and Nora.

"Listen, we're planning to steal supplies from the Careers. Daisy and I will scout the platforms and find a route there, then we hit them with everything they've got." I tell them to be careful. "Well, that's more advice than Haymitch ever gave us at least." Daisy says. "You know, these Games really screw us over. Our mentor is useless, our stylists give us awful coal-miner outfits, and we always go last for evaluations, which always gives us low scores."

Wow. I didn't know the Games were so skewed. During my earl days of training, I thought all the districts trained kids for the arena. But that's not the case. Not everyone sees the Hunger Games as an honor. For those kids in 12, it's a death sentence. "We're going to go scout out a route now." the boy says. They put their masks on, and head out. But then their platform changes course. It's headed straight for the cornucopia! After it's out of sight, I hear two cannons fire. We're in the final four. But we've only survived because the Gamemakers wanted us to.

As the sun sets, I see a hulking form emerge and head toward our air pocket. It's Grant. "PAYBACK TIME!" he yells. I forgot how muffled those masks made your voice. Will leaps into action, throwing his tomahawk into the air. It strikes firm in Grant's chest and a cannon fires. But I see a strange device land on the platform. "RUN!" Will yells. I comply and hear a loud BOOM behind me. I realize I'm all alone. No more allies left. I collapse on a small, slow-moving platform, and try to get some rest. I'll need it tomorrow.

Day 4

I wake up to my platform shaking. Then, it begins dropping out of the sky! I see more platforms begin to rain down, and I just try to move across the zip lines, stairs, and other obstacles on the platforms. I nearly land on one that's on fire. Then, I step onto a platform with a small amount of blood on it. I know where I am. I jump onto the final platform remaining, with the gleaming Cornucopia reflecting the morning's light. Nora then pole-vaults with her scythe and joins me on the platform. This is it.

"You know, you should've joined us." she says with a smirk. "That way, I wouldn't have to end you now. You wouldn't have had to starve for three days. You could've lived the high life with us. But you're just a coward. A traitor. You see how empty this place is? This is your fault! Those weaklings from 12 threw it all off the edge!" I retort with "There can only be one victor. We would've had to turn sooner or later. That's how the gamemakers plan it, isn't it? They love watching us betray each other! We're only here because the gamemakers want us to be here. It's all just a show!"

"Well, let's give them a good finale." Nora says. She lunges at me with her scythe, and I trip her with the blades of my swords. She flips over and bangs her head against the floor. I continue to dodge her attacks, and then she turns her weapon around, and knocks my blades out of my hands and out of the arena. Is this the end? I can't let someone like her win. I run away from her, and she can't keep up. She launches her scythe like a boomerang and manages to give me a little haircut. But nothing more. We're both unarmed.

Nora barrels at me leaps into the air and drives her knee into my chest and I hear my ribs crunch. I grab her arm and throw her down. She yells out before grabbing me by the shoulders and shoving me towards the edge. "Game over!" she yells. She takes a step back, and I take the opportunity to roll to the side. But will she still hit me? I reach out and try to stop her attack. I hear her yell, and I open my eyes to fid myself alone among the clouds. Horns blare out, and Caesar's voice announces the conclusion of the 68th Annual Hunger Games.

I am no longer a Tribute; I am a victor.

Interview Room

"Cal, what made you decide to break away from your alliance at the beginning of the games?" Caesar asks. I want to say because they're murderous maniacs. But I can't. That would be seen as rebellion. And rebellion is the worst crime of all. I respond with "Well, no alliance can last forever. Only one may win. And I'm one of the strongest, so I'd be the first to go. The biggest targets are painted in blood." Caesar affirms my statement, as another voice says "Yes, only one may win. And that one was you this year." It's Snow. He walks towards me and places the crown on my head, and I remember all the losses in the arena. Krystal. Will. The kids from 12. All the tributes. Now I can't help but think; I've won the Games, but at what cost?

The End