Jay Dallas- Over and Over D11M
Might it be that we weren't supposed to win? We'd tried so many times, my friends and I. We'd done so many different things, but none of them had worked. I'd never thought of myself as a destiny sort of person. I'd always thought people made their own lives, though of course worldly things could get in the way. There weren't many opportunities in Panem, but I'd always thought that within those bounds, people decided their own fates. Maybe there was more to life than I'd known.
But if we weren't meant to win, what was the meaning of these lives? It would take a thousand years before we reached a normal lifespan, the way we lived just months at a time. It wasn't fair some remote "fate" got to decide our lives were "better" when we got so much less than other people. We couldn't even say there was compensation for the length, either- our lives were full of constant fear, pursuit, and death. What, pray tell, made that worthwhile?
Sure, me and my allies had come together and made friends. In a children's book there would be some lesson about friends being the most important thing. It sure would be nice if I could grow old with these friends, instead of just us watching each other die again and again. Friends were nice, but there was more to life than that. There was so much more to life that none of us would experience. I'd always wanted to get married. I'd been saving up for a ring for Flora, and then we'd live in a little house in the woods and have three kids. Or more likely we'd live in a tiny room in collective housing, but we'd just be happy to be together. Flora was dead now. She'd decided the world wasn't worth living in. Was that her "rightful fate"?
Maybe in the end it was both. Fate decided your life, but you still had the choice to be happy or not. You didn't decide what you got, but you decided whether to focus on the good or the bad. It could be said that the greatest triumph was to have a terrible fate but refuse to despair. It wasn't fair that life was like this, but it was all the more impressive to win a rigged game.
Logan Quinn- Back to Normal D5M
People thought that eventually, training was just a waste of time. It was true I wasn't going to learn any new techniques at this point. I wasn't training to gain new knowledge. The thing about training was, the more you practiced, the more natural it became. In a survival situation, emotions run haywire and people freeze up. The best guarantee that you'll react correctly is to make the best reaction the most natural one. Practice a kick a thousand times, and it's not a move anymore. It's a reflex.
Demarcus signaled for a break as he started panting more heavily. It seemed ghoulish to practice mortal combat with my friend, but it actually felt the least weird with Demarcus. It felt safer knowing I was practicing these brutal moves on someone I wouldn't fight in real life. It was like innocent roughhousing, just roughhousing with my brother. We sat on the mat for a moment, catching our breath.
"It really does get easier," he said out of nowhere.
"Fighting?" I asked.
"Killing," he said. That was another thing we had in common. I'd been in a gang before the Games. I still wondered now what had happened to all my friends. Gangs didn't last for decades. I just wondered if any of them were still alive. Demarcus hadn't been in a gang, exactly, but he'd been on the streets. He'd been on the streets alone, even. People sometimes seemed to forget that.
"It was never that hard for me, since I was killing people who knew what they were getting into," I said. I'd been lucky enough never to catch an innocent in the crossfire, or to have to kill some wannabe hero who thought he was nobly interceding in wanton violence.
"I guess it wasn't for me either, since I never started the fights," he said.
"Oh, come on," I said doubtfully. A guy like Demarcus? So tough and jacked?
"No, really," he said. "I never wanted all this. People just kept picking on me until I finally had to learn to fight back."
"Oh." I felt guiltier than I had a moment ago. No one just joined a gang for fun and laughs, but despite the circumstances, I'd still made the choice. It seemed I was the only one in my alliance who'd made such a brutal choice. I was glad they still accepted me, but every day it was more clear how much of a black sheep I was.
Patrick Donegal- A Night to Remember D4M
Every time I saw Shane he got weirder. He was older, obviously, but he was different in so many ways I couldn't even identify. He moved differently. He'd dropped little habits over the years, and gained new ones. Each time he saw me, it seemed to take an instant longer to recognize me. He was moving on, and I was staying the same.
"Good to see your friends are still together," Shane said as we sat in the Four lounge. The others were out training or meeting with their mentors or trying to get sponsors, so we had the room to ourselves. It loomed empty, all weird modern Capitol decorations and gaudy lighting.
"Yeah, it's pretty nice." I inwardly squirmed at how awkward and banal the conversation was. What did we really have in common anymore? We were relatives, sure, but separated by decades of time and growth. We might as well have been strangers as brothers.
"Hey, remember that time we put a firework in a pumpkin to see what would happen and we got hit with molten pumpkin bits?" Shane asked suddenly.
I burst out laughing. "Of course I remember! Why would you bring that up of all things?"
Shane's smile faded. "I guess I just wanted to make sure you remembered."
I wanted to make sure we still have memories together. I knew what he was saying even if he didn't say it. We didn't know if we would ever have a future. It was nice to know at least we had a past.
"Don't be so down. Maybe I'll win this time," I said.
"You think you will?" Shane asked. He realized right after he said it how bad it sounded.
I hesitated. "Tell you the truth... I got second place the first time. I don't think I'll ever match that. I think I peaked." It was something I'd never say to my allies. I wouldn't even have said it to my brother if I wasn't so sure I'd be dead soon and wouldn't have to live with the vulnerability.
Shane hesitated back. "Most of the time in the Arena, I thought I had no chance of winning, too. You never know. Even when you think you're sure, you never know."
Demarcus King- We All Fall Down D3M
Jay looked older than usual as he waited for a lull in the casual conversation. We were all gathered around a table in one of the many conference rooms in the Games building, munching on the various snacks we'd ordered in.
"I suppose you're wondering why I've called you here," he said, fiddling with his shirt.
"What's with the face? Is someone getting fired?" Logan joked. Jay was being weirdly formal.
Jay gave a fake laugh. "No, no, nothing bad. I just had a kind of... dark question to ask."
The conversation died down as the atmosphere started to chill. Mati looked from one person to another nervously, while Logan put on a tougher face.
"It's just... if one of us was to win this time," Jay started. He tried to collect the words. "Is there anyone here who, if there's another Resurrection Games, would prefer not to come back? The Victor won't control that, of course, but we can influence it as best we can."
"Hell with that!" Logan burst out. "They'll never get me to stop fighting."
"What about you?" Mati asked Jay.
"I think I'll keep coming back if they'll have me." It seemed rehearsed, the way he said it. I wondered if he really wanted to. He was the one who brought it up, after all. Maybe he just thought a leader should be brave. I'd also noticed he hadn't brought up his brother. Maybe that was the reason for the heaviness in his walk.
"I've thought about that myself," Patrick said delicately. "Maybe I'm never going to win. It might be best to move on. I'm still considering, though.""In hindsight I probably should have asked everyone in private," Jay said, glancing at Logan so quickly I barely noticed it. Naturally someone so macho would act tough in public. He might have a different answer when no one was looking.
"I'll keep trying," Mati's voice came confidently. I looked over at her, a little surprised, and saw she was unexpectedly resolved. "I have fun with you all."
I didn't expect the wave of confidence that followed her statement. Everyone seemed to straighten up a little, and even started to crack little jokes about it all.
"What about you?" Mati turned to ask me.
"Wow, big decision," I half-joked. "I might change my mind, but I think for now... If I get picked, guess I'll take another shot. If I don't, it's okay. There's gotta be something after all this. Guess I'll leave it up to the whims of fate."
Mati Berlin- Child's Play D10F
I walked past the unarmed combat station, watching the sparring partner go through some moves with Gavin. I didn't stop, though. It wasn't for me. I walked past the spear station, glancing sideways to see the instructor showing how to properly aim a shot. It wasn't for me, either. Very little of what was in the training room was for me. I kept walking until I was out of the training room entirely.
There must have been a hundred kitchens in the Games Building. I chose the central cafeteria since it seemed like the most likely place to indulge me. Since it was intended for Tributes, they might be more open to my request. I knocked on the door politely, even though it was a swinging door and wasn't locked.
A young man in a white hat came to the door and peeked out. "Is something out?" he asked.
"No," I said. "I was just wondering if I could come in and watch a little," I said.
"Watch us cook?" he asked.
"Yeah, to learn a bit," I said. "Like, the herbs and stuff."
The cook looked over his shoulder at what seemed to be the head chef, who was watching us with some confusion.
"I guess there's no rule against it, if she wears PPE," he said. "Isn't that just a waste of time, though?"
"Not for me," I said. "I have lots of allies who can fight. I was going to learn some stuff myself, but then I thought maybe it's better if I'm more of a support." The longer I stayed in the Games, the more I learned that the soul was as important as the body. If someone was neglected and just barely scraping by, they wouldn't endure as well as someone who was cared for. There's more than just food and shelter. There's wellbeing and care.
"This one's thyme," Darius, the assistant cook, said as he helped me prepare the herbs. "It grows well in hot, dry places. It's pretty safe to forage, since it doesn't look like any poisonous plants."
I rubbed a leaf between my fingers and sniffed it. "Smells like it would go good with potatoes." Already I was thinking of what root vegetables I might find in the Arena. It might be hard to find them, though, since they lived underground, so perhaps I should move on to something else.
"I'm not too into the Hunger Games, but I've noticed there are usually birds in the Arena," Darius said. "You might want to look for things like basil or rosemary." We kept on going through different herbs and spices, as well as ways to dress up food or make it last longer. If I was my alliance's caregiver, then I would learn all I could to keep us happy and comfortable. After this, I was heading to the library. I was going to learn every silly joke I could.