The 25th Hunger Games
Chapter 4
Apparently the Capitol has more to offer than the canned food they give most people in District 3. Most people expect District 3 to be well fed. I guess you could say we are unless you hate having the same exact canned beef they serve us every day. The food laid out on the train's table ranges from veal to apricot stew. Every dish imaginable is there. They give us hot chocolate and other sweets, but the sugars in the food can't distract me from my future death.
Am I depressing? Yes. Am I hotheaded? Yes. Can we move on now?
Diane sits across from me; she looks as if she's watching her prey move. Oh wait, she is. So an alliance with her is out of the question. I wonder what she did to even end up here. The worst people and the toughest people from every District are going to be my opponent. That means my only chance is to make an ally. Obviously, I'm not good at making friends. I think making an ally is going to be harder than winning the Games.
"Ethan, turn around. The Avox has your food ready." Says Tin pointing at the waitress behind me.
"The what?" I ask. I had never heard of an Avox before.
"An Avox," whispers my mother, "They are mute servants of the Capitol"
"Why are they mute?" I ask innocently.
"The Capitol had their tongues cut off because they did a crime," she says as she sips her drink. She looks around the room to see if someone heard her. I feel as if my own tongue has been cut out and it fell down to my own stomach.
I want to ask her why would the Capitol do such a thing but it's suddenly taboo to talk about it. My appetite disappears, just like the tongues of an Avox, and I get up from my chair sharply. I run quickly to my room and shut the door, ignoring Tin and my Mother's panicked knocks.
My mentors are useless, I think in my panicked state, The odds aren't in my favor. If I want to leave alive, then I better start planning.
My two hands are pressed to my temples. The nightmare of the situation I'm in begins to settle. Somewhere in my half conscious state, the lady on stage's words hit me.
"Now there has been a slight change in plans, the Arena's setting will change depending on who is the most popular Tribute! So play it well, District 3!"
This time, the Games become a popularity contest. But how can I compare with the personalities of people who are like previous District 1 tributes. They have crowd likeability as one of their District talents. The tributes in District 2 will definitely go for brutal, and the Capitol eats that stuff up. The only chance of me winning lies on a wire, literally. And the only way to guarantee that I get that wire is if I get the crowd on my side. Should I go for brutal? Can I even pull that off? The slight advantage I have with popularity is that I am son of a Victor. They must be talking all about that in the Capitol. I can design weapons out of scraps. But that only works if they see the training footage. And they don't. As far as I know they don't. Hopefully they change that.
I better try to use one of my actual personalities to win them over. I can easily do hotheaded, but how does that win crowds? I could get into a fight with one of the tributes on camera. I could seem completely disinterested in the interview, maybe even yell at Caesar Flickerman. That's actually a good plan.
I face another problem, how am I going to kill? Can I even do it? Will I even last long enough to worry about it? What would the families of the Tributes I kill think? Would I feel guilty? What would I even use? Can I rely on my Mentors? I think I can use Tin, but my mother might burst into tears. Endless questions fill me and the dawn hints at a few answers.