Personal training looked a lot different than earlier. The room was completely free of people, which was perfect for me in order to train properly. Jeremy and I walked over to weapons portion of the room. Jeremy picked up a spear and examined it. He lifted it up over his head and threw it at a dummy, hitting it square in the chest.
"Not bad," I said. Jeremy shrugged.
"It's okay. I need some practice with it up close too," he critiqued. I walked over to a table filled with all different types of knives. I picked up a small one meant for throwing and threw it at a dummy, hitting it in the head. "Rebellion taught you that?"
"Sort of self taught. They wouldn't give us kids anything but a knife to defend ourselves. I needed to learn some practical uses for it other than stabbing." Jeremy picked up another spear and started practicing with up close attacks. I picked up a sword and started attacking random dummies.
By the time we were done training with the weapons, we had almost completely destroyed every dummy in the training center. We moved onto the weights and stamina section. The two of us sat on the benches and started lifting weights. After about twenty reps, the two of us stopped.
"So, what's the game plan?" Jeremy asked.
"Find water and find shelter," I told him.
"That's it?"
"It's the basics of survival. You find water and shelter, you're basically set through the whole thing."
"Is the plan to stick together or are you going to go off with your new best friend?" I knew this was going to come up. Alder and I probably shouldn't have talked for as long as we did. It'll tip off the game makers about us and how we know each other through the rebellion. Of course, they probably figured that one out when we were all selected.
"Alder? We just knew each other from the rebellion, that's all. You'd be surprised by how many of us are here." Jeremy nodded.
"I watched him for a little bit. He seems like he would be a pretty good ally."
"The more the merrier. With more of us in a group, it means we'll have a better chance of surviving and better chance of getting more sleep." Jeremy chuckled at this. We both knew that survival was almost impossible. Between the other tributes and the Capital, my chances are very close to none. Yet, if I can keep Jeremy alive long enough, he could make it home. He had nothing to do with the rebellion. He's just another victim of the outcome.
"So," Jeremy snapped me out of my thoughts. "We have three people in our group. What would the max be if we add more?"
"Four would probably be the safest. We don't want the whole arena on our side."
"Good point. Although, I highly doubt all the tributes want to be allies. Especially the Careers."
"The Careers?" I raised my eyebrow in question.
"Districts 1 and 2. If you haven't noticed, their the biggest out of all of us and they paired up right away." Come to think of it, I did notice. It was obvious that they knew far ahead of us that this was going to happen. To them, it's probably another game. To us, not so much.
The training session ended far too quickly. Yet, I was sort of glad it was. It meant that the first day was almost over. All I had to do is make sure I can survive this interview training that Galaria has in mind. I made it through dinner without any complaints of the training to come, which seemed to surprise Galaria because that's all I did during lunch.
After dinner, Galaria and I sat in the living room. She kept talking about images and that I have to choose one for the interviews. She made me stand and turn for her. She took my hair out of its bun and made me turn again.
"Well, you're too small to be tough and not really the sexy type," she began. "You're too grumpy to be funny. I guess we'll have to go with personality and life stories. By the way, what is your life story?" I shook my head and laughed.
"Like I'm going to tell you," I chuckled. Galaria shot me a look that could have killed me if it were a bullet. I wasn't going to tell her. Not even if she threatened me with an inch of my life. I could take her anyway if she tried. She isn't all that big and those six inch heals aren't going to help her either.
"Well, then what are we going to do with you?"
"Why can't I just be myself?"
"In case you haven't noticed, when you act like yourself, not a whole lot of people like to be around you."
"Funny. If I recall today's training, I made an ally." Galaria sat back as if she were in shock. Apparently making allies is not what she had planned on me doing. Of course, it doesn't hurt to know the person, either. The two of us sat in silence for a few minutes. To me, those few minutes were like heaven. Finally, I had shut up the annoying Capital lady.
"Is it my turn?" I turned to find Jeremy standing by the hallway. I stood up and motioned to the couch.
"She's all yours," I replied to him. I quickly left the room and headed back to my room. I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed. I had made it through the first day of training.
"Not bad," I said. Jeremy shrugged.
"It's okay. I need some practice with it up close too," he critiqued. I walked over to a table filled with all different types of knives. I picked up a small one meant for throwing and threw it at a dummy, hitting it in the head. "Rebellion taught you that?"
"Sort of self taught. They wouldn't give us kids anything but a knife to defend ourselves. I needed to learn some practical uses for it other than stabbing." Jeremy picked up another spear and started practicing with up close attacks. I picked up a sword and started attacking random dummies.
By the time we were done training with the weapons, we had almost completely destroyed every dummy in the training center. We moved onto the weights and stamina section. The two of us sat on the benches and started lifting weights. After about twenty reps, the two of us stopped.
"So, what's the game plan?" Jeremy asked.
"Find water and find shelter," I told him.
"That's it?"
"It's the basics of survival. You find water and shelter, you're basically set through the whole thing."
"Is the plan to stick together or are you going to go off with your new best friend?" I knew this was going to come up. Alder and I probably shouldn't have talked for as long as we did. It'll tip off the game makers about us and how we know each other through the rebellion. Of course, they probably figured that one out when we were all selected.
"Alder? We just knew each other from the rebellion, that's all. You'd be surprised by how many of us are here." Jeremy nodded.
"I watched him for a little bit. He seems like he would be a pretty good ally."
"The more the merrier. With more of us in a group, it means we'll have a better chance of surviving and better chance of getting more sleep." Jeremy chuckled at this. We both knew that survival was almost impossible. Between the other tributes and the Capital, my chances are very close to none. Yet, if I can keep Jeremy alive long enough, he could make it home. He had nothing to do with the rebellion. He's just another victim of the outcome.
"So," Jeremy snapped me out of my thoughts. "We have three people in our group. What would the max be if we add more?"
"Four would probably be the safest. We don't want the whole arena on our side."
"Good point. Although, I highly doubt all the tributes want to be allies. Especially the Careers."
"The Careers?" I raised my eyebrow in question.
"Districts 1 and 2. If you haven't noticed, their the biggest out of all of us and they paired up right away." Come to think of it, I did notice. It was obvious that they knew far ahead of us that this was going to happen. To them, it's probably another game. To us, not so much.
The training session ended far too quickly. Yet, I was sort of glad it was. It meant that the first day was almost over. All I had to do is make sure I can survive this interview training that Galaria has in mind. I made it through dinner without any complaints of the training to come, which seemed to surprise Galaria because that's all I did during lunch.
After dinner, Galaria and I sat in the living room. She kept talking about images and that I have to choose one for the interviews. She made me stand and turn for her. She took my hair out of its bun and made me turn again.
"Well, you're too small to be tough and not really the sexy type," she began. "You're too grumpy to be funny. I guess we'll have to go with personality and life stories. By the way, what is your life story?" I shook my head and laughed.
"Like I'm going to tell you," I chuckled. Galaria shot me a look that could have killed me if it were a bullet. I wasn't going to tell her. Not even if she threatened me with an inch of my life. I could take her anyway if she tried. She isn't all that big and those six inch heals aren't going to help her either.
"Well, then what are we going to do with you?"
"Why can't I just be myself?"
"In case you haven't noticed, when you act like yourself, not a whole lot of people like to be around you."
"Funny. If I recall today's training, I made an ally." Galaria sat back as if she were in shock. Apparently making allies is not what she had planned on me doing. Of course, it doesn't hurt to know the person, either. The two of us sat in silence for a few minutes. To me, those few minutes were like heaven. Finally, I had shut up the annoying Capital lady.
"Is it my turn?" I turned to find Jeremy standing by the hallway. I stood up and motioned to the couch.
"She's all yours," I replied to him. I quickly left the room and headed back to my room. I changed into my pajamas and crawled into bed. I had made it through the first day of training.