"Happy Hunger Games, Mr. Finnick!" Johanna is on the way upstairs with me. I have no idea why she always calls me Mr. It's kind of strange. I'm only two years older than her.
"You too, Johanna." She gives me a look and slaps me on the arm.
"Why are you so depressive right now?" She looks at me a little harder. She squints up her face, and then she gets the same smile she always does when she knows a secret.
"You are worried about Annie!" I sigh and nod. Johanna is the greatest person reader of all time. She hates people, but she can tell you what they are thinking. We get out of the elevator and walk down the hallway into the control room. Johanna jumps onto her swivel chair, the chair she claimed the year after she won.
She starts spinning and it is driving me nuts because I'm trying to watch the television but all I can see is her spinning out of the corner of my eye. I grab the back of her chair.
"Sorry." She whispers and sits up as straight as she can.
"Aren't you worried?"
"Yeah, of course, but I wait until after the bloodbath to get excited." Johanna might only have been a mentor for two years but she is a brilliant mentor. She doesn't care about anything until the very end of the bloodbath. Then, and only then, you know that your tribute is a contender to win.
I hear the countdown and I am begging for a shot of Annie. Finally, it comes. Then, the tributes are released from their plates and everyone goes off running. The shape of the arena is very pretty, with rolling hills and green grass. Annie teams up with the Careers, like I thought she would. Then, the blood starts falling.
Johanna is also back to spinning.
When the bloodbath is finally over, all of the Careers make it out. However, 11 tributes don't, including Johanna's girl tribute. I look over at her to see how she is reacting.
"Well, I got one fighter this year." She shrugs and we head over to get our tablets. I never want mine to go blank. These tablets are given to all the mentors when your tribute makes it out of the bloodbath alive. You can send gifts, see kill status, and see how many people are sponsoring your tribute. When one of your tributes dies, the screen goes blank for them. If both go blank, you return your tablet to the drop off box in the back of the room.
My tablet is fully alive and glowing. I eagerly find the results of the bloodbath, seeing that Annie killed more than Kayne. They are both alive, but Annie has more sponsors. One of the best parts of the tablet is that you can see what the analysts are saying about your tribute. Bets are placed based off of three pieces of information: the score they got in training, how attractive they were in the interviews, and what the analysts say. You want the analysts on your side.
Kayne isn't going very well with the analysts but Annie is doing very well, they even have her in the final four. In my mind, she is the final one.
The Careers split up the supplies like they always do and Annie ends up with a pack of knives, food, and a backpack with some more supplies that they don't air. Kayne gets the very minimum of what they think they will need. I actually feel kind of bad for him because no one thinks he will last long.
"Don't sweat it Finnick. You and I both know where victors come from." Johanna tells me as she does something to her tablet.
"No, I don't know where victors come from." I tell her because Johanna and I are so unlike the way we play the Games.
"Oh, well I guess it would be the Districts. I was hoping you would find encouragement in that, not confusion. Oh well, eraser please!" Johanna is the funniest person. She has no idea how to comfort people. She tries sometimes, with fail.
We get back to watching the games, which are pretty uneventful. They always are the rest of the day after the bloodbath. It mainly consists of the tributes making alliances, getting food, and setting up camp. No one really goes out to hunt.
I hate how that word is used. Hunt should be for animals, to get food. Hunting should not be killing other children. I move myself away from that topic because I need to focus on getting Annie out.
The leader of the pack of Careers is from District 2 and his name is Agro. The other Careers are Whiz and Sparkle from District 1, Agro and Elizabeta from District 2, and of course, Annie and Kayne from District 4. Plus, they added in the girl from District 11 named Liwa, who is very pretty but also very strong. I have no idea why she is so strong being from a poorer district, but I remind myself to never prejudice against the poorer districts. I am not a Career.
Then, the long lists of deaths come, all eleven of them: District 3 boy, both from District 5, the girl from 6, the girl from 7, both from 9, the boy from 11, and both from 12. Haymitch doesn't care and I don't care for Haymitch. The reason none of his tributes survive is because he is always drunk.
I remember when Johanna first tried to get beer. I wouldn't let her the entire time while we were together in the Capitol. Then, I requested to President Snow, that in order for me to still provide my "service" that he would have to hire a doctor for Johanna. It happened and she never drinks.
That night, the Careers go hunting. They found a few pairs of night vision glasses, three to be exact. Agro, Elizabeta, and Annie get the glasses. Kayne, Sparkle, and Liwa stay behind and Whiz comes with them to hunt.
The first clue to the target is the idiot that makes a fire. You never make a fire! It's like saying, hey everyone who wants to kill me, come get me! It's annoying.
They argue for a while on their walk about who should kill him. Somehow, they settle upon Annie. As soon as they say this, my stomach starts to butterfly. I have no idea if she can kill real people. She seems way too nice. Turns out, I was wrong.
She takes her knife, and throws it into his chest. He doesn't die immediately, but blood is spilling out of him. If they leave him there, he will either die because of blood loss or he will get a package with medicine to heal him. Agro gets out his spear and stabs him again. This time, the cannon fires.
They walk away from the death of the boy. Annie is high fived. I now realize that she is a fighter, that she is accepted into the Career group.
Annie will do anything to get out. But every person is not without weakness.