"For the next four days you will train here and learn all the basics to surviving. You will participate in weapons training, trapping, plant identification, and other such workshops."

I ignored the lead instructor as he informed us of the rules in training, choosing instead to scan the faces of all those present. Dressed in blood red, skin tight clothes, the Careers seemed much more dangerous than I had originally thought, most of them reaching well above my own five foot eight. Standing next to them were their female or male counterparts, trembling in the same clothes which somehow made them seem less than formidable. They were the Captured, the Others and we all knew that we were screwed. They didn't even try to hide this fact, their fear radiating in the open training room until it was almost tangible. I prayed that I didn't look like them, that I actually looked like my brother who was nearly unrecognizable and was holding himself up with the confidence of a Career. The Others just painted targets on their backs with their obvious terror. You could tell by the way the Careers looked at them. Like they were eyeing fresh meat and wondering how exactly they were going to butcher them.

"Remember," concluded the instructor, snapping my attention back towards him. "There is more out there that can kill you than just each other so I suggest you give each workshop some time."

With that the tributes, or at least most of the tributes, dispersed in various directions, leaving a small group of quivering Captured to huddle in the centre of the room. Justin wasn't among them and I saw his hulking figure gravitate towards the weapons workshop with a majority of the Careers, chatting and laughing as if he really were one of them. I stared after him in some confusion and then back to the Captured watching as some began to cry and I questioned what I should do. It turned out that I didn't have to think long as I felt a slight tug on my sleeve and was willingly led away by Ronen towards a smaller weapons area that featured an array of short swords and knives.

"Emmet wants us to train together." Ronen explained, positioning me in front of a training dummy twenty steps away. "Especially since he learned how well you can throw which you forgot to mention to him."

Selecting a group of thin knives with black leather handles, Ronen passed four to me and then stepped in front of his own target, barely taking a breath before lodging his knives directly into the dummy's chest. It was fast, faster than what I could see and it sent chills running down my spine as I unwittingly imagined myself in the dummy's place. I heard a squeaking whimper from where the Captured sat, but I refused to turn around to meet their terrified gazes, knowing that I would lose it once I did.

"So what?" I asked, attempting to sound comfortable with what Ronen had just done. "Emmet wants you to babysit me or something?"

There was a flicker of a half grin. "He wants me to keep an eye on you and tell him what you are capable of since you won't say anything. It's what could keep you alive."

My laugh was bitter and it echoed against the cement rafters above. I barely noticed that I had attracted the attention of who I thought to be Gamemakers milling around on a balcony above. "Right," I replied, my laugh quickly dying into a harsh tone. "It could keep me alive just long enough for you to skewer me."

Handling one of the knives, I quickly pulled back and threw it towards my dummy, feeling a release of frustration as the blade left my fingers. There was an awkward thunk and the dummy spun over as the knife hit it squarely on the shoulder and knocked it to the ground. Just like my laugh, the sound of the collapsing dummy filled the training room like a clap of thunder and I straightened from my stance, surprised. I had never expected to actually hit the thing, let alone with enough force to send it tumbling to the ground where its head popped of. Granted, my hitting it in the shoulder had more to do with its exaggerated display than I did, but that's not what the others saw. I could see it in the Careers' faces which varied in expressions from smirking to an impressed acknowledgement that clearly showed they thought of me as a real competitor. I could also see it in the pale faces of the Captured. They didn't look at me as one of them, but as someone who could kill them. It made me sick.

I threw the remaining knives to the ground, ignoring how they stuck deep into the mat, and stalked off to the furthest corner of the training room, feeling a clammy sweat break across me. This wasn't what I should be doing. I shouldn't be training to kill someone just because it might mean my survival. I wasn't a killer and they weren't going to turn me into one if I could help it. I was vaguely aware of Ronen keeping close to me and I angrily rounded on him when I had reached a vacant workshop for snare making.

"I'm not going to kill anyone." I told him, my voice heated and low. "I'm not going to butcher, trap, pull apart-That isn't me. I'm not one of you." I waved a hand at his built body and capable hands, frustrated that he only just stood there and watched me. "I'm one of them...I'm one of the others."

Ronen didn't answer, choosing to slowly sink down on his haunches and begin work on a grouping of snares. I stared at him for some time, growing frustrated every minute that he didn't reply to my confession. I'm not sure what I wanted him to say or what I wanted him to do, but I knew I wanted something more than his compliant silence. Maybe I was just waiting for him to understand that I was different from the other tributes, that something wasn't right for my being there. The minutes slipped by and slowly the Careers gave up watching me for some other little surprise skill while Ronen continued to work on his snares. At last I gave up and sank to my knees next to him, receiving the quiet instructions from a trainer on how to tie a rabbit snare.

"If you won't kill, then you won't kill." Ronen murmured when the trainer stepped away. "There are other ways of surviving the games...And I promise that I won't hurt you while we're in the arena."

"I know." I replied softly and I actually meant it. Somehow I knew that he wouldn't be the one to kill me. It was like a gut instinct.

"I can't say the same for the others." He told me after a moment, looking up to meet my eyes. "They will come after you and when they do, I won't stop them."

"I know."

He held our gaze for just a breath longer and then abruptly got up to return to the weapons workshop where the rest of the Careers were enthusiastically mutilating the dummies. I watched his back for a moment before returning to my snares, quickly pushing away any thoughts of trust that had begun to build towards him. Trust was the last thing I needed. Trust was what would most likely get me killed in the long run or even in the short run.

My fingers had been rubbed raw by the time I had perfected the snares and I moved on to the fire workshop, knowing that I was severely lacking in that department. Justin was there, building a moderate blaze while he flirted shamelessly with his female counterpart. For a moment he looked up at me and I saw my brother and then he looked back to his companion, laughing at some cruel statement she had made towards the Captured. It was unnerving seeing Justin like this, but I knew that it was necessary in order for us to survive this and I ignored him as I started on my own fire. I had just produced a spark and was blowing on my pile of kindling when I heard the harsh voice of the girl rise up in an ugly snicker.

"Good god, why are they always crying? I can't wait to end their misery."

Justin chuckled and I glanced up at him, slightly appalled. "Look, that one girl is having fits." He replied, nodding to someone behind me. "Why do you think she's holding her wrist like that?"

"Maybe she lifted it and it broke." sneered his companion.

About to snap at them, I caught a meaningful look from Justin who nodded his head ever so slightly back towards the Captured. His look disappeared almost instantly and I would have missed it if I had blinked, but it was enough to understand his message. Quickly, I stamped out the beginnings of my flames and left them, casually crossing the room until I had reached the Captured tributes. Just like Justin had pointed out, one of the girls in particular had broken down in such a way that it looked like she had gone completely insane. The others stood of just to the side, some of them weeping as they watched the dummies be dismembered while the rest stared at the girl with uncertainty. Glancing towards the Careers, I saw that they watched us in anticipation and laughing at the wails of the girl who was clearly in pain.

I looked back towards the others and beckoned sharply. "All of you, get over here and help me block her." I ordered, but they still seemed unsure. I pressed my lips together, fixing them with a steady gaze. "Now."

They moved instantly on my second try, gathering in around us until we were blocked off from the view of the Careers. Carefully I reached out towards the girl, taking a gentle hold on her wrist which she had pressed against her chest as she rocked back and forth. She whimpered when I touched her and when I drew her wrist away I saw that her bracelet had recently given her a nasty shock, the skin around it a bright red and smelling of burnt hair. I whistled softly, realizing that this had not been the first time and that she must have been shocked on more than one occasion. Working up a good amount of saliva, I spat onto the skin covering her wrist and began working it in so that it would soothe the flaming flesh.

"You're going to be okay." I assured the girl, adding another layer of spit. "My name is Emma...I'm like one of you."

I showed her and the others my bracelet, grateful that the girl's tears had died down.

"Caitlyn." murmured the girl in response, wiping her face with her free hand. "My name is Caitlyn."

"Caitlyn, can you tell me what happened? Why you were shocked like this?"

It was a young man with bleach blond hair that answered. "She started talking about things." He told me, keeping his voice low. "You know, about the things out there. Says she has someone who can find us."

Caitlyn nodded with a sniffle, her dark brown curls bobbing with her movement. "My Mother, she works with the-"

Quickly I covered her mouth with a hand, cutting her off before she could go too far and get herself shocked again. The others shifted nervously, glancing around them as if somehow the faux President Snow would still be able to know what she was going to say.

"You have to be careful here." I reminded her and everyone around me. "This isn't just some sort of story we're reading or a game. Right now this is real and if we do anything to upset them we will be killed."

"Does it matter?" questioned the blond young man. "We're still going to be killed. Because of them." He nodded towards the Careers who were beginning to jeer at us. "If we try to escape we die. If we go into the arena we die."

There was a collective hitch in breathing and I shot a glare at the young man, silently warning him to shut up before he could scare the rest any further. He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets, but did not say another word. It was Caitlyn that broke the silence, asking a question that we were all secretly wondering.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered.

Gently I took her hand and looked into each and every one of the Captured's fear filled eyes. "We fight." I told them simply. "We stick together and we show them that even though they took us away from our homes they will never be able to change us. Those Careers? They think that they can kill us, they believe they can scare us, but when the time comes they'll know that they underestimated who we are."

"Are we going to kill them?" asked a girl who couldn't have been more than twelve years old.

I shook my head, glancing to where rows of weapons shone back at us. "We're going to survive."