The 31st Annual Hunger Games.
Samuel LaVerge, District 7.
Samuel was another anomaly as the victors went.
The 2nd victor from District 7 seemed to largely vanish from the scenes after his victor in the 31st Hunger Games. The Games themselves had been memorable, a captivating hunt through a series of huge blacked-out apartment blocks drawn out for 24 days. The climax, not so much; the Capitol had been hoping for a return to victory from District 2 that year, and weren't happy to see the quiet, out of touch boy from District 7 strangle their Career girl with a rope, then beat the male tribute from 12 in a dark, grimly lit final fight.
Samuel himself had little problem with this. More then for practically anyone else the Games had been a genuinely disturbing experience for him-living in near total darkness for so long had messed with his senses and mind badly, and he wanted to be left along by the Capitol as long as possible.
As usual, such a desire was unfruitful, since President Snow decided to make an example out of several of his family members; his father, aunt, two sisters and best friend all met gruesome 'lumber accidents' within two months of returning home after the Games. His Victory Tour was largely subdued and stale compared to the previous years, except in District 2 where there were large scenes of protests and even projectiles thrown at him after arriving.
Although the other victors provided a measure of company when he returned to mentor, Samuel had been displaced by the experience of the arena more than most. Before, he would have been glad to take the fight to the Capitol whenever he could, and fight to the death if he had to to bring the tyrants down. After the arena, however, everything felt very different. Although his experience had been neither the most gruesome or fear-based yet it had been a horrible experience nonetheless; watching another tower of the apartments collapse at the behest of the Gamemakers. The disgusting mutts that year, a cross of lions and enormous bats, that had devoured 3 tributes whole. The grim, sunless atmosphere and feeling of hope, of distance for everything normal and good. Being stuck inside a single room inside the apartment blocks for 2 days, too worried to venture outside for fear of, well, anything from the list. The way his axe had buried itself inside the chest of the 2 girl, who Samuel had actually found kind of beautiful and maybe would have been closer to in another life. The toxic gas emitted to drive the tributes up floor by floor, taking a number of casualties with it.
So yes, Samuel felt a great change since his experience with the Hunger Games. He was no longer so casually happy in the world but, that being said, life did go on. One particularly important way that was the case was relating to mentoring. Sawyer was relieved to have a partner to help her with this and the boys from 7 were glad to finally have a representative to teach them himself.
Mentoring didn't work out.
7 had a bit of a tough time of it in the next few years after Samuel's victory. Devoured by mutts again in the fantasy realm of the 33rd Games. Falling to a gruesome death from the high peaks of the year after that. The utter mess of the 37th Games. So on and so forth.
Samuel's hopes felt dashed year after year and he wondered what sort of life this was to lead. Everything had been displaced, everything, and what hope was there to fight back? After all, they could only ever see some of what the Capitol had produced. If they'd had enough firepower to annihilate a whole District at the end of the civil war, decades ago, they must be stronger than ever now; if they could construct entire arenas full of horrors and spectres and hidden traps, they probably had them around the rest of the Districts as well.
If this was an endless cycle of just one step forward, three steps back…..then what, Samuel wondered, was the point of it all exactly?
These were the words he asked himself one night on the ledge outside the Mentor's Control Centre, nine years after the arena. He stared down at the roads of the Capitol far below. The first victor from 12 had died a few months ago of a drug overdose. He wondered if she felt better now then she had during her life.
Before Samuel could make a decision he heard a voice. 'What brings you out here on such a chilly evening?' Marius Forte, victor of the 3rd Hunger Games was sitting on a bench, tilting his head to the side.
Samuel narrowed his eyes. 'Oh I think you know. You're part of the Capitol's higher tiers, their favoured lapdogs. You know exactly what you've been doing for the last 30 years'.
Marius denied nothing as he fixed his coat and walked over to the ledge quietly. He crossed his arms as he looked over at the younger man. 'You mean the Careers?'
Samuel tilted his head.
Marius smiled bitterly. 'You aren't wrong. They are an unfair advantage'.
Noticing Samuel frowning visibly he held up a phone. Samuel was rather shocked to see it, since he thought no one from the Districts would have access to a black market device [black market outside the Capitol, anyway]. He flicked to a list of names. 'Want to guess what this is?'
Samuel squinted. The names weren't familiar. 'Are those….Capitol names?'
Marius nodded. 'Contacts. For the rebellion'.
Samuel looked up sharply then made a reach for the phone. It was a long list. 'These people….all Capitol, and they're all in on the Rebellion?'
Marius nodded. Then looked over out at the ledge. 'You know I was somewhere like that once?' he mused, looking back at the old memory. 'Just after my own Hunger Games. I was in the same position you probably are. But I didn't follow through, and I'm glad I didn't. Know why you should be too?'
Samuel tilted his head to him.
Marius smirked proudly. 'Well I'm a Two, here offering help to a 7 and telling him about the devoted rebels in the Capitol. That's better then you expected from any of us, from any of this, before tonight, right?
Samuel nodded, pursing his lips thoughtfully.
Marius held a hand out and gently, slowly guided Samuel off the ledge. 'You don't have to fight this alone boy' he muttered. 'That's kind of the point of this rebellion thing. Coming together and all that. But we're here for you about everything else too. I genuinely believe eventually we will erase everything the Capitol has done and be free again. Everything will be 'born again', like a new world'.
Samuel nodded again then rubbed his eyes very quickly.
The next few years were a great improvement for Samuel. The presence of the other victors was more valuable then he thought, then just a few years after that rooftop chat he mentored his first victor to existence. Blight was very different to Samuel but he wasn't jealous the other man shared less of his trauma. There would be no point to that.
In the following years 7 also brought home Yuli-who was probably one of the best loved victors all round, genuinely difficult to dislike-and Johanna. Despite himself Samuel found himself bonding with Johanna, and was willing to sit through every single one of her tirades and screaming matches, until she forced him to leave. Better then his methods of coping.
He never had children himself, remembering the 24th Games and the death of the 1st victor's child, but he tried hard to bond with every tribute from 7 that he had a chance to, knowing that they all needed someone to trust in and be trusted by in their last moments. If that was the best he could do, it was still honourable.
When Samuel saw the berries incident from footage back in the Victor's Village he almost snorted that an attempt at what he had almost carried out would be the catalyst to actually sparking the rebellion. Nonetheless, the important thing now was that the time was here.
It was truly now or never.
AN. Sorry for the delay everyone. First few weeks of returning back to college schedule, tricky concepts for this chapter…..anyway the important thing is that it is indeed here. I haven't given up on this story.
Please review or PM, criticism welcome constructively, and I'll see you again soon enough….
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