He had been right; it was quiet for the last two days. The Capital was getting antsy for some graphic violence, so Seneca was bound to livin' things up soon. As for Peeta, he still hadn't opened his backpack. He had opened his small bag. Inside was a small canteen and water purification tablets.
So far, the boy had found water, filled the small canteen, and purified it. There was no way it would even last him a few hours. He finally had a tribute to make it this far, but he was an idiot.
The cannon went off, startling him out of his depressing thoughts. Looking to the main screen they replayed the last death. It was the girl from Two. The replay shocked him, and it looked like everyone else. Usually, it takes longer for the careers to turn on each other. Love, the girl tribute from Two was at the base of the Volcano with the Males from One and Two. She turned her back to get her water bottle out of her bag when Hart from One slit her throat. If that wasn't bad enough Marco from Two stabbed her over and over again until the cannon fired.
Looking over at the One and Two mentors they looked as shocked as everyone else. The careers kills were brutal, but it was almost unheard of for Careers to kill their district partner before the final three and in these games it's already happened twice. First with District Four and now District Two. While Marco wasn't the first to attack her, he was very much in on it.
"Down to six," Finnick said. "What the hell is going on? Sometimes we have ruthless tributes, but it feels like we have an abundance of them this year."
"Well, that answers the question about One and Two," Johanna said, pointing to the main screen.
"A couple. A deadly one," Haymitch said as he watched Hart and Marco go into a cave on the edge of the swamp, they were not discreet at all groping each other. He wondered when they had time to even start to have feelings for each other.
"She wasn't even a volunteer," Enobaria said. "Her father had made some powerful enemies and her name was unsurprisingly picked. Not one volunteer stepped up for her." He didn't think he had ever seen her so emotional, didn't think she was capable.
After what she said, Haymitch had the impression that someone told the boy from Two to kill her. Less chance of her winning if she's killed before the final two.
He always stayed sober during the games; he didn't want them to be alone. If he could help, he would, but donors were few and far between. Sometimes he had to take a top off because the shakes started.
"Haymitch."
He looked up into the smiling painted on face of the District Twelve's tribute escort. She had been doing the job almost as long as he had. She was appointed at eighteen if he remembered right, he was only twenty himself. They had an odd sort of friendship. He would yell and she would scoff, probably the only one who had ever seen him in one of his real rages and not be frightened. She was Capital to the core but sometimes, he could see the hurt at the train station when he was going home alone without a tribute. They both had to harden their hearts.
A few years ago, a twelve-year-old girl had been drawn. She had just had her birthday the day before. He remembered hearing her mother cry, saying if she had just waited two days to have her. It didn't matter that was impossible, but grief didn't have to be rational. It was the year Annie Cresta won, the little girl drowned, she had made it further than he thought, she had been the sixteenth one who died. Those games were targeted for a career to win, like them all. He didn't know anyone in the Seam or Town that knew how to swim. It wasn't like they had any bodies of water.
Fifteen years ago, it had been a brother and sister tribute from the Seam. Two rail thin children with sunken eyes and cheeks. Athena and Eros. Their mother had once found an old book written before the dark days. Athena died in the Bloodbath; she was trying to find Eros. She had only been thirteen, Eros fifteen and he died not long after because seeing his little sister being skewered with a spear broke him. When the mace welded by the boy from One, he was just putting the boy out of his misery. They were two of his kills, adding on to every child he had given the wrong advice, and the ones he killed in his own arena. They all join his family because he had actually thought it was a game for a while. He had been too cocky, and it had gotten his family killed. Athena was the last one he had given real direction and advice, he told her to find Eros before she ran away. If she had just ran, they would have at least been together for a few hours more.
Peeta pulled the backpack on and tied the bag to it. Still, he had not opened the backpack to see what was in it. He was sure Haymitch was cursing him for not opening it. He couldn't explain it to Haymitch because if he did the gamemakers would know he knew what it was.
It was Mandatory Viewing again. This time she was in front of the Justice Building. Her mom was watching with Prim at home. Today was a good day and her mom had a little bit of life in her. She just traded two squirrels and a rabbit at the Hob, she knew she wouldn't be able to make it home in time, so this was the best option.
Someone accidentally knocked into her. "Sorry, I'm sorry," a gruff voice said.
Looking up, she saw it was Peeta's middle brother Morse. He was sixteen and she knew that Peeta liked him better than the oldest brother. It had been Clay, the oldest's last year of the reaping. Both brothers where older, bigger, and not as passive as Peeta. He was popular but he still had his bullies. He never got into a fight when they baited him. He just wasn't that way, she wondered why.
"I thought you would be at the Bakery watching," she said, trying not to be accusatory.
"Mom's on a rampage, she doesn't have Peeta to bully right now so she's taking it out on the rest of us."
The bruises, blackeyes and the broken arm he had when they were little rushed back to her. When his arm was broken, she didn't even know his name. It was still years before he saved her, and her family's lives. Their teacher asked what had happened, he said he fell off his bike. Everyone knew it was a lie, only three people in the district had a bike, the Mellerks weren't one.
Suddenly the Capital music started and Flickerman and Templesmith's faces were taking up the giant screen.
"Five days in and we are down to six. Isn't this exciting?" Caesar said to Claudius.
"Very much so," Claudius said with a fake smile on his face.
"Let's take a look at where are tributes are right now."
The first they showed were males from One and Two. They were clearly hunting and not for food. She knew that it was closing in on Peeta's demise. There was no way he would come home, not when there were three Careers left. Not only that the girl from Ten looked very capable to protecting herself. She was eighteen and Peeta was only thirteen without any kind of weapons training. So far, he had been extremely lucky because no one saw him as a threat. It seemed like he was taking her and Gale's advice about staying invisible. Besides the girl from Seven who was killed by the girl from Ten, no one even seemed to remember he exists. In fact, yesterday, the male Careers from One and Two couldn't remember Peeta or his district.
Peeta was the last one they had shown, it was all she could do to not scream. The gamemakers seemed to want him out of the way. It was clear he was no Johanna Mason just waiting for the right time to become a heartless killer. That wasn't the game they wanted, that wasn't the victor they wanted. The Capital only wanted cold-blooded killers, not children doing their best to survive without hurting anyone.
So, they had decided to take care of him themselves because it looked like no one else even remembered who he was or that he was still there. He was absolutely forgettable. Even his interview, the most anyone had noticed him, wasn't memorable enough to get one donor. It was like he wasn't even trying and just had lucked out…until now.
There were mutts chasing after him, they looked like a mix between some sort of amphibian and primate. They were much faster than the boy. There was no way he was getting away from them. There were three of the mutts, a little excessive for a young boy. Haymitch had seem the boy's two brothers at the Justice Building. If he grew like his brothers, he would be a very capable fighter, but he didn't even look like he started puberty yet. How Peeta was still in front of them was anyone's guess.
There were gasps around but he didn't pay attention. "Haymitch," Finnick called to him. Looking up at the popular victor, the younger man pointed to the main screen.
The girls from Ten and Five with the boy from Four were having an all-out battle. They all looked to be out for themselves, not in any kind of alliance.
Five was bleeding heavily, a throwing axe still in her side. She was bleeding so much she would be dead soon. He had to give it to her though, she was still up and fighting.
"What the hell," he said, his eyes wide. Was he drunk right now? They now had a cut screen, also showing the boys from One and Two. Hart, One, was straddling Marco from Two's chest. A dagger piercing Marco through the eye. A cannon went off, but he still saw Marco's body jerking. He looked at the other half and couldn't believe it. He had seen some insane things in his years as mentor. He could hear Finnick cursing. On screen instead of seeing Sky the girl from Five who was already injured he saw Brock the boy from Four's face up on the ground, his open unseeing eyes. His stomach was cut open and his guts were exposed.
Another cannon went off, Sky finally fell. By the looks of it she had pulled the axe out of her side and got one good hit on him in the gut. There had not been a chance after that for him. A third cannon, it was Marco this time, they make the screen into three screens, it was a death replay of those that were killed in quick succession, Marco tackled Hart with the dagger. Hart was yelling not yet, then they flipped over with Hart on top, he was saying something, but he couldn't understand the words.
While he was paying attention to what the girl from Ten, Tiva was doing a fourth went off. The relay showed Hart from One pulled a dead Marco into him, then telling the other boy he would see him soon and slashed his own throat. Luckily, he died quickly. Their families would be lucky to live through the day. Snow didn't like to be shown up. Without anything like poison, it looked like one was to kill the other and then themselves. After all there can only be one victor. He thought back to Hart straddling Marco. He couldn't make it out the first time but now he knows what Hart was saying. "Please don't make me." Marco wasn't trying to fight Hart off; he was trying to force Hart to kill him.
The main screen cleared, and they were watching Peeta as he broke through the swamp and was now headed for the volcano.
"I guess he's decided the best place to be is in the open. He wants her to see him. Has the mouse shown his fangs?" Caesar said with a laugh. They had been suspiciously quiet during Hart and Marco's demise.
"What is he doing?" Effie asked, exasperated. She must have come in while the mayhem was going on. She usually stayed with the other escorts. But this close to the end while their tribute was still alive, she wouldn't be able not to be her haughty self.
The mutts did not like the volcano and as soon as Peeta's feet reached it, they turned and ran away. That wasn't good. He suspected the volcano was going to erupt soon. Snow and the gamemakers would not want a victor who won without even killing one tribute.
"Looks like we're going to have another Annie Cresta, winning out of out of complete dumb luck," Johanna said, Finnick shooting her a glare. Everyone knew about his feelings for the young woman, it was the worst kept secret among the victors.
Usually when it was down to three all the mentors came in to watch together. Some would give advice to other mentors whose tributes were still alive. After their tribute died, they usually moved on. The only difference was One and Two. It used to be Four too with the male mentor. That changed after Finnick won. Mags was still his mentor and confidant. She basically raised him after he won. Finnick cut his family out of his life when he won because he didn't want them to know what he was forced into just to save their lives. She retired a few years after Finnick won.
Annie had become unstable after her win. Only one thing was in her favor there, Snow didn't sell her. Johanna, Finnick and most others with sound minds were free game. Usually, the younger the better for the creeps in the Capital, it wasn't just Finnick's looks and charm, they had never had a victor so young before. A chill went up his spine. There were only two left, one of them being a thirteen-year-old boy.
The girl was eighteen, she was fierce and beautiful and wouldn't break under the Capital's power. Peeta on the other hand was young…too young. Too innocent, too vulnerable. He had yet to kill a tribute. He hadn't even tried to kill the mutts. There was only one way to describe him if he won…a lamb to the slaughter. Now he didn't know what to want, Peeta to win or him to die before being used and abused even worse than his worst nightmares that were going to be plenty already. There would be no family when he got older, no children…no purpose other than to follow Snow's orders.
"The girl's got some deep wounds. She'll get the sponsors, so far, she's the favorite but surprisingly, your boy's catching up," Seeder said, sitting down beside him.
They knew the gamemakers would let a few days go by letting the girl heal and regain strength and probably hope the boy would die of starvation. He had lost weight that he didn't think he had. District Twelve was the poorest and getting affordable food was difficult at best. Even their richest people from Twelve didn't have the food on their table that the poorest from One, Two and Four did.
Haymitch was the only one that could afford food, but he lost his appetite twenty-one years ago, he drank his dinner now. About once a week before she got sick Marlena Undersee used to come and make sure he was eating. He thought perhaps it was because he was there and Maysilee didn't die alone. From the time that everyone started realizing he was never sober, around twenty, she started coming by. It only stopped the year her daughter was old enough for the Reaping. After that, she never leaves her bed.
"Of course he is, he's a idiot but a damn walking/talking four-leaf clover."
"Get some sleep old timer, they won't do anything for at least a day," Finnick said, patting him on the shoulder. Most probably wouldn't come back to the Mentors room. That meant him and the mentors from Ten would be in there alone with only their escorts. Usually, he got on well with Mase and Gemma, he didn't think this time they would until the games were over.
"Yeah alright." One his way to his room he stopped an Avox and asked her to wake him if anything happened in the games. One thing that was interesting about that was because he had told her to do that, she was now only to watch the games until she could carry out his orders. He hated that, so he would make sure not to sleep long.