Chapter 5: Train Ride to the Capitol
Greg Hawthorne looked back at District 12 as the train pulled away. He convinced himself that he would not be seeing it for the last time, that he would eventually return.
Oh, who was he kidding? There was a very small chance that he would come out of these games alive. Even surviving the bloodbath seemed like an impossible task, given the large career pack. Even in normal years, the careers always seemed so strong and menacing. But there were times when non-careers won the Hunger Games. Greg obviously knew this. Canary Winter from District 12 won the 4th Hunger Games. Woof from District 8 won the 13th Hunger Games. Erg Geiger from District 5 won the 42nd Hunger Games. Daniel Season from District 9 won the 52nd Hunger Games. Haymitch had won the 50th Hunger Games. And in that year, there were twice the amount of tributes that would usually participate. Still, Greg was not feeling optimistic about surviving this debacle. And he was sure his fellow tributes from District 12 felt the same way.
On the plus side, his mother would be there to help. Even though she was supposed to be mentoring the female tributes from District 12, there certainly didn't seem to be anything wrong with helping her youngest son to survive the Games. Only one person could survive, after all.
Greg glanced at the other tributes that had been reaped from District 12. They all looked very frightened. Ruth Healy seemed to be quivering. Jonah Johnson appeared to be nervous. Nigel Blackbird was definitely not looking ecstatic.
Katniss and Haymitch then walked into their compartment. Katniss ran to Greg and hugged him tightly.
"Greg, don't worry", Katniss said. "I'm going to do everything I can to get you through this."
"Okay, then", Haymitch said. "Let's get down to the basics. How many of you have ever used a sword before?"
Greg was the only tribute that raised his hand.
"Have any of you ever handled a spear?"
Again, only Greg raised his hand.
"I see. This is going to be quite a tough pickle, but I'm sure we can try to handle this. Minus Greg here, none of you have proper or adequate experience when it comes to satisfying training. It's really sad, but we have some tricks up our sleeves. The first thing to point out is that the twelve of you cannot do this individually. If that's the case, you'll each have to face 143 other tributes, and it's pretty self-explanatory what will happen there."
Jonah Johnson looked terrified.
"Luckily, Katniss and I are on good terms with the victors from District 11. Seeder, Chaff, and Daquan", said Haymitch. "Have any of you ever seen their games?"
"I have", Greg said.
"Then you know the strategies they used to survive", Haymitch said. "Seeder, admittedly, got lucky. The career pack got ripped apart and they lost their supplies pretty quickly. And the final-two showdown between Seeder and the District 2 male was quite extraordinary."
Haymitch took a deep breath before continuing.
"Then we have Chaff. Chaff was 5 years old when Seeder won the 33rd Hunger Games. He was a troublemaker when he was younger, often caught stealing food and other items. Chaff claims it was because of one of his hands. Says it was possessed by the devil, if you can believe that. So anyway, Chaff was caught stealing some bread during the finale of the 33rd Hunger Games. The peacekeepers would have been notified if it were not for the announcement of Seeder's victory, making it the first time that District 11 had a victor. Chaff got lucky that time, but his hand continued getting him into trouble, allegedly. After being caught stealing four times when he was seventeen years old, rather than face execution, Chaff volunteered for Carver Henderson in the 45th Hunger Games. Chaff and his district partner, Fallow Hathaway, then decided to form an alliance with the tributes from Districts 8 and 9. However, they all got split up after the bloodbath. The pair of 9 got lost in the arena. The girl from District 8 was killed in the bloodbath. Chaff and the boy from District 8, Pick, tried to infiltrate the Career camp and steal some supplies, but the Careers caught them. Chaff managed to escape, but Pick was killed by the boys from 1 and 2. Chaff then formed an alliance with a girl from District 12. Chaff was there when she was killed by the girl from District 10, because of a snare the District 10 girl set up. Meanwhile, I should acknowledge that Chaff killed the girls from Districts 4 and 5, and the boy from District 7. Chaff killed the District 10 girl and he managed to make it to the final seven tributes, along with Fallow. Prior to this, Fallow killed the girl from District 9, and the boy from District 9 was killed by the two remaining female careers. The pair from District 6 had been killed the night before."
Greg watched as Haymitch looked to the ground. Clearly the hatred for the Capitol was shared.
"The remaining five careers got cocky and decided to camp out at the Cornucopia. Then they received a package which infected all five of them with a poison. The careers had clearly turned against each other at this time. The boys from Districts 1 and 2 both died. The boy from District 4, Cast, was the only one to survive the slaughter and managed to hold Fallow captive. He tried to blackmail Chaff, but Chaff decided that killing his district partner was the only way to have a fair fight. Chaff then killed Cast and then decided to have his hand burned to get rid of it forever.
"Wow", said Heat Flameson.
"Daquan's games were pretty difficult to watch", Haymitch said. "He won the 91st Hunger Games. He and his district partner teamed up with the District 12 tributes. Then…" Haymitch then seemed to feel emotional.
"It's okay, Haymitch", said Greg. "I think I know what you're going to say."
"It would be suitable for you to form an alliance with the District 11 tributes. If the 24 of you could work together, it could make life harder for the careers", Haymitch said.
"My dad said the same thing", Greg said.
Meanwhile, in the District 1 train…
Owen Cox was eating the goodies like a glutton, clearly enjoying himself. He was confident that he would survive. He was a career. And he was the top student at the academy.
There certainly didn't seem like he had anything to worry about. The traditional career pack would be the largest alliance in the arena. Unless something unusual happened, there didn't seem to be anything to worry about.
Gold Henderson was eating the chocolates in front of him, in a seemingly ravenous manner. Max Comfort was drinking and laughing boisterously. Money Economy and Rolex Gucci were both smiling and laughing. Bronze Mansion was grinning.
The District 1 Tributes seemed to be the least worried. They did the most training, they were the most prepared. The whole purpose of their lives and respective existences was to prepare for this thing and win it using any means necessary.
Raven Allen was laughing with Demelza Copper and Jamie Prucha. Katie Polish and Lisa Wealth were bragging about how many tributes they planned to kill in the arena.
Owen was pretty sure he would be picked as the leader of the Career pack. And why shouldn't he be? He was the strongest and the most determined. If anyone should be the alpha male, it definitely would be him. And Owen would prove that through his training and his ruthlessness.
In the District 2 Train…
Pluto Thorn and Hades Dionysus looked at the other tributes. No one was laughing and fooling around. What they were about to do was dead serious.
Pluto knew that they would have to talk to the tributes from District 1 and 4. The District 1 tributes would probably be cooperative and forthcoming. The District 4 tributes, maybe not so much. Pluto knew he would have to keep an extra eye on them.
Pluto then watched the replay of the reaping with his fellow tributes. He watched the reapings from Districts 1 and 4, without much surprise at the volunteers. There were so many tributes, it was so difficult to keep track.
When Pluto watched the District 12 reapings, he saw that Katniss's youngest son, Greg, was one of the tributes.
"You know what we have to do", String Punch said.
"Yeah", said Pluto. "Try to get Greg to join our alliance to make ourselves stronger. Can you imagine the child of a District 12 victor joining the Career pack?"
The other District 2 tributes laughed. Pluto was sure that would be history in the making.
"What if he doesn't want to join?", Tyche Baumsteiger asked.
The expression on Pluto's face turned to seriousness.
"Then we'll have to target him and take him out as soon as possible. He could be a potential threat", Pluto said.
In the District 4 Train…
Wyatt Springs watched the reapings, feeling slightly nervous. The tributes from Districts 1 and 2 certainly were nothing to sneer at. Owen Cox was definitely going to pose as a problem. Wyatt glanced at his fellow tributes. Hook Harbor was definitely not smiling. Hook would never admit it, but he was absolutely sickened by what he was seeing on television. Even though Hook volunteered, he wasn't feeling completely confident and cocky.
Wyatt only hoped he could earn his keep with the Career pack.
In the District 12 Train…
"Well", Greg said to the other District 12 tributes, "I suppose the reapings are an indication of what is to come."
"Yeah", Clayton Carbon said. "Did you see that Owen Cox guy from District 1? This could be a real predicament."
"Don't worry", Greg said. "You heard Haymitch. We just have to work with the tributes from District 11 and we might be able to stand a chance. One of us might be able to return home. No cocky careers can stand in the way of that, if we have anything to do with it."
