I sit in the holding room for the recently reaped tributes, waiting for my father to come in and say our final goodbyes. We both know that there's really no chance for me. But I am the only thing he has left now, and it breaks my heart to know that he will have to go on.

In my opinion, dying is the easy part. By the time they get me into the small room, I already accept my fate. It terrifies me, but not as much as the thoughts of what my father will be like after I'm gone. It's the people alive, left to mourn those who are gone, that are the worse off. At least I get a peaceful oblivion.

He walks in, already looking defeated, just as I feel. He tries to smile, but I can see the tears in his eyes. He was only just beginning to get better after my mothers death, too. Now I see that all the progress he made will be completely destroyed.

"I love you." My father says quietly. He's having a hard time looking at me.

"I love you, too." I reply back.

I really don't know what else there is to say. Tell the other to stay safe? We know that is not an option for me, and I know that my father will see safety for himself as pointless after I am taken from him.

"You look like they've already killed you." He says, finally meeting my eyes.

When I don't reply, I see the sadness in his eyes change into anger. "You can't just give up! You have to at least try!" He says, grabbing my hands.

"There's no point." I tell him honestly. If there was, I wouldn't have given up.

"Yes, there is. There's always a reason to try." He tells me.

After a few moments, I finally nod. "I will not go down without a fight." I tell him. I know I stand no chance, but I also know that, like any tribute, when the time comes I will most likely turn violent and kill other people.

Besides, size and training isn't always the winning factor in the games. Sometimes brains is enough to keep you alive. That alone is enough to give me a small ray of hope, and I cling to it like a life preserver.

My father and I tell each other we love the other one more time, and then he is gone, and I am left with nothing but the small ray of hope, burning through me and keeping me from drowning in despair.

No one else comes to say goodbye to me, and I really don't mind. No one else really matters to me anyways.

Finally Arterus comes into the room and I am brought to the train that will take me on to the Capitol.

There is a surprising amount of victors on the train, there to help us as mentors. There's Finnick, the gorgeous young victor who won his games only five short years ago, Mags, an extremely old woman who has mentored for years, Ralph, a middle aged man who I knew had won his games because he was deadly in hand to hand combat, and Spear, a women in her mid thirties who was appropriately named because, when she finally got her hand on a spear, her games were over within the next twelve hours.

I think of all these people, except maybe Mags, and compare them to the tribute on my team. I learned that his name was Gash. The thought made me sick. Anyways, Gash was like a younger version of all of the other Victors from my district. Handsome, large, and most likely well trained in the art of killing.

I shiver, thinking about how incompetent I am, compared to the young man who will also be my enemy in the games. He has barely taken notice of me, though. I know it is because I am small and look like I can't hurt a fly. And maybe he's right. Maybe I should be wrote off as a none-threat. Because then I can calculate a plan of survival. One that will involve the smallest amount of killing on my part, but a lot of staying alive.

My brains are the only thing that are going to get me out of this.

"So, Annie," Mags looks at with a small smile on her face. "What kind of previous training do you have?"

I realized everyone had been questioning Gash. Now all the attention seemed to be focused on me, though.

"None." I say confidently. Maybe it's not something to be proud of, but now that I have that ray of hope, I will not go done without a fight. And maybe a good amount of attitude and faking it. "But what I lack in brute force I more then make up for it in intelligence."

Okay, maybe that was a bit of a stretch, but still.

Mags smiles at this. "I bet you do." She says, and it's not at all sarcastic.

"Can you possibly harm anyone with any kind of weapon?" Asks Spear.

"I don't know. Possibly, but I've never really attempted to." I admit. "I can make a pretty good net, but so can just about anyone from our District, so that's really not surprising."

"But it's better than nothing." Finnick puts in. "Even if you can't kill, if you trap a victor, no doubt eventually someone would come by and finish them all. Then all you'd have to do is wait it out until there's only one left, and find a way to strike."

I stare at him a moment. What he said truly amazes me. Not because it was genius, but because it was the exact plan I had. As little killing as possible, mostly just surviving, until I honestly had no choice but to bloody my hands.

And here I thought Finnick was nothing but a handsome face and an ability to throw a trident. Not that he's not exceptional with the trident, because he is, but because from what I've seen of his Games, he didn't seem like the type of person to calculate a plan like that. One that was not only smart, but also as compassionate as one could be when the only way to survive is to kill others.

Eventually Finnick becomes annoyed at my expression and snaps, "I'm not as stupid as you think I am."

I shake my head quickly. "No, I didn't mean–"

But the words are pointless. Finnick just waves his hand to cut me off.

I notice Gash has said nothing during this exchange and see him glaring daggers in my direction. It takes me a minute to realize that it's because I'm getting special treatment. No one orchestrated an entire plan to survive for him. They all just expected he'd kill anyone who threatened his life in the arena.

"Just know that if you trap me in a net that I will be able to remove my self from it, and I will come after you." He says angrily.

For a second his threat rocks me. And know he's telling the truth, and I also know that I could accidently bring on my own fate. I can't control who steps into one of my traps. All I can do is sit there, afraid, until something comes to mind.

"Just so everyone knows, I'm fast." I say remembering that sometimes force and brains aren't always the winner of the games, either. I realize I have another valuable ability. "None of the other girls have ever been able to catch up to me, and I guarantee it'll be hard for anyone in the arena too."

Dash sizes me up, and searches my face.

"You're right." He says, sounding a little amazed. "None of the guys could catch you either. One second you were there, the next you were gone. Before any of us even really started you were off."

"We have to ask," Ralph butts in. "If you would like to be trained together or separately."

Before Dash or I have a chance to answer, Finnick cuts in. "Remember that if you do decide to be trained together that, at least at the beginning, it would benefit the both of you to be allies. Being enemies, you would know to much about each other, and that is a risk."

I don't say anything, because I know that no matter what, the choice is not mine. Even if I say yes, train us together, it is ultimately Dash who will decide our fates.

He takes a few moments to think things through, and then finally decides. "How about, for the first day, we train together. If you can manage to handle at least one kind of weapon, and are good for something other than fleeing and trapping, then we'll continue to work together." He say to me directly. "If not, then we will be trained separately."

I agree, mostly because I know that, if I manage to impress him, he could help prolong my life longer than I would be able to on my own. And having a partner is never a bad thing, going into the games. Especially one from your district because, in the end, if they are the one to kill you, the repercussions if they return home would be severe.

I am elated by my chance to work together with Dash that, all through dinner, I am happier than I could have imagined just hours ago, saying goodbye to my father. The food is delicious, and it tastes even better knowing that I might have a chance at making the return trip in this train.