The Mutts: Haymitch Abernathy – District 12 Mentor

Time for another drink. What starts out as a mere swig of white liquor turns into yet another attempt to relieve a thirst I cannot quench. So I keep on drinking, allowing the sweet nectar to carry the burn past my tongue and fill the rest of my body with its warmth.

Once again, District 12 is out of the running. I shouldn't have let myself get too hopeful, but the boy lasted extraordinarily long this year. That is, until the girl from 2 found him. She attacked him like some kind of wild animal, and once she had him in her grasp, she prolonged his death for her own personal enjoyment. I'm sure in between screams the boy was envious of his district partner's quick death at the cornucopia. But now he's gone, and I'm afraid there's nothing left to do except drink and watch the rest of bloodbath.

At least I'm not alone. Things haven't gone too well for Chaff either. He's been in the bar since Day 1. This is the third year in a row that District 11 has been slaughtered within the first twenty minutes. Thankfully Livia Thorne, a mentor from District 2, has been with him the whole time to keep him company.

Livia hasn't bothered to help mentor her District this year. She was supposed to. She just chose not to show up. I believe her exact words were that the District 2 tributes are nothing but a couple of out of control shit-beasts with absolutely no trace of humanity. And I can't say I blame her. Especially after seeing what happened to my last tribute.

I assume Chaff and Livia have been at it all day. Chaff has a few empty bottles of bourbon scattered next to him, while he works on polishing off another. Then there's Livia who's swaying back and forth, as if she's listening to a song no one else can hear.

"Oh no, please tell me you're not about to start singing," I tease.

Livia's eyes light up as she laughs. "A couple more drinks and I will be," she smirks.

"Well what are you waiting for then? Have another drink!" Chaff eggs her on, practically knocking over his bourbon as he tries to pass Livia an empty glass.

I glance over at the screen to see who's left in the games. Four tributes. There's the boy from 1, the sadistic girl from 2, a girl from 6 who broke her leg at the cornucopia, and the little twelve year old from 9. District 1 seems to be the only one who's content at the moment. Right now everyone else is involved in some sort of chase. The girl from 6 is limping for her life as the vicious girl from 2 pursues her. Meanwhile the little boy from 9 seems to be running from a pack of giant wolf mutts.

This year there almost seems to be two games playing out simultaneously. There's the normal bloodbath between the competing tributes. However there's also a separate game being played between the little boy from 9 and the Gamemakers. They've been trying to kill him off in so many ways I feel like they've probably forgotten about the other tributes completely. I suppose that's what you get for announcing to all of Panem that you don't want to play the Capitol's games.

"You know that's Colt Townsend's boy," Chaff stammers loudly.

"It can't be. Colt was here mentoring a few years ago," I point out. "He can't be–"

"He's dead," Chaff says practically shouting. "He got caught spreading his winnings through his entire District. Now he and his wife are dead, and his son is in the Games. Doesn't sound like he upset the Capitol too badly, does it?"

"Well it wouldn't be the worst thing the Capitol's ever done."

Taking another drink, I turn back to the Games. The girl from 6 has been caught. Unfortunately that little monster from 2 doesn't kill her. She starts off by breaking the girl's good leg. Immediately the camera footage switches back to the district 9 boy. The Capitol has refused to display the majority of District 2 kills this year due to the disturbing nature of them. I've got to say that's a first.

For a moment I'm distracted by the drunken cheers heard throughout the bar. They're all applauding Livia, who must have finished her drinks because now everything she says is in song form. "Brave little Henley may the odds be ever in your favor," she cheers while singing.

It's official. Livia is so disgusted with the girl from her own district that she's now openly rooting for the opposition. At least she's reminded me of what the little boy's name is.

The wolf mutts appear to have chased Henley right up a tree. This doesn't discourage them though. The wolves wait at the base of the trunk howling and growling, trying to claw their way up. Henley ignores their menacing sounds as he inspects various branches.

At last Henley seems to have found what he was searching for. He grabs hold of a sturdy looking branch tightly, while placing his feet firmly on a lower weaker branch. Then he starts to jump.

As he pounces harder and harder, the lower branch finally snaps falling below. This causes the majority of the wolf pack to disperse, leaving one behind pinned under the branch. The solid black wolf mutt whimpers loudly as Henley maneuvers his way back down. But Henley doesn't leave. Instead he kneels beside the mutt and tends to his wounds. Then he makes a small incision in the dark fur, so he can pull out what would probably look like shrapnel to most viewers. But I know full well what he's just done. He's pulled out the mutts tracker. The very tracker that keeps him under Capitol control.

The screen immediately switches to the district 1 boy. He's in a cave sleeping. Not exactly what the viewers want to see at the moment, but it's all the Capitol can take a chance on showing. The district 6 girl is being tortured so brutally that the Capitol doesn't want to display any of it, and Henley's being so clever that the Capitol doesn't want to run the risk embarrassment.

By the time they show Henley again, the wolf is out from under the branch and Henley is left with his own personal attack mutt. I can't help but wonder how he's tamed the beast. Either way, the kid just may be smart enough to pull this whole thing off.