Peeta watched as Gale helped the girl cut her food, her hands were too shaky to do it on her own. He hadn't realized until she started to talk that she had the mind of a much younger girl. She had been so excited to see the food that she knocked over her drink trying to reach a roll. Since then, Gale had been assisting her with eating, forgoing his own needs. It made sense, Gale always made sure his brothers and sister ate before himself. Peeta wished that Gale wouldn't be so caring to her, it would hurt him more when she dies.
"What are you over here glowering about?" Haymitch asked, sitting down across from Peeta. They still had an hour or so before they reached the Capital, Peeta was looking forward to it as much as he was watching the Games.
"It's going to hurt him when she dies, she doesn't stand a chance."
"Where did the little boy who went into to the arena with a pure heart go?"
"Didn't you hear? He died. Gale has a chance of surviving; we should concentrate on him."
"I'll mentor Gale, you mentor Shay."
Peeta couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?"
"Last year we mentored both, that was a mistake. I've always mentored both tributes because there was no one else. But it's a disservice to them, it's picking which one lives and which one dies, at least in theory. You take Shay because deep down you are still that boy that played blocks with Ivo even though you were much too old to be playing with them."
"Why don't you mentor Shay and I mentor Gale?"
Haymitch laughed. "Because he won't follow your guidance, because you don't have any experience…real experience. She'll listen to you; you need to work with her. We separate the tributes this year, it's the only chance one of them have."
"You mean Gale, she's as good as dead."
"You're still there somewhere."
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing, go start working on your strategy for Shay."
Peeta threw the piece of bread he had been trying to make himself eat onto the table. "You never helped me in the arena, and you act like you are so much more experienced. You are only experienced in body recovery," Peeta snapped at Haymitch. He could see in the older man's face that he hurt him but Peeta was hurting too, might as well share the feeling.
"When the gong sounds, I want you to run away from the area you're in."
"Where do I go?"
Even the mentors didn't see the arena before the games started. Chaff told him that they used to let the mentors see it, but it caused the career districts to have too much of an upper hand. It was changed a few years before Snow became president. Peeta was sure if it was Snow's choice he would make sure only the career districts won.
"Anywhere, just away from everyone else."
"Even Gale?"
"Yes, even Gale." He wouldn't do that to Gale. Knowing the older boy, he would keep her alive only to have to kill her in the end.
"But I don't want to be alone. I don't like it. It's scary."
Her bottom lip trembled. Even though she was older than him, she was mentally younger, and he felt horrible sending her into the arena to die. Last year Evan and Sharlie knew what was going to happen, they had a chance like everyone else. The twelve-year-olds had more of a chance than Shay.
Shay was worrying her hands, Peeta grabbed them, stopping the movement. "I know you're scared." Peeta paused as an idea came to him. "I'm going to go talk to someone, I want you to stay here and don't talk to anyone."
"Okay," she said though she looked nervous.
Not wasting time, he rushed to the elevator, glad that he didn't run into anyone. He needed to see Julius and make a new deal. As much as he hated what he was going to do it was the only way he would be able to live with himself.
Everything had gone like he thought it would. Gale scored a 10 for the training and his interview went really well. His volunteering for his boyfriend really won some people over. Haymitch had watched in horror as Shay cried on the stage, begging to go home. Gale had gotten up to go get her, but Peeta stopped him, going himself and leading her out of the auditorium. Haymitch had to explain it to Gale that he couldn't show any attachment to her because the others would see her as his weakness.
There were worse things to do to her than kill her right off. She hadn't been the first child that hadn't understood what was going on in the games and she wouldn't be the last. Usually, they were killed the fastest. Sometimes they lucked out for a while because kids were chasing more lethal targets, but they always died.
It's how Haymitch knew the Capital people who root for people to win and cry when their person dies don't really care. If they did they would speak up against this, but they didn't they just sat there and watched her fall apart and be carried off stage by a boy two years younger than her.
Shay had scored a 0, something that was almost unheard of, even the tributes that everyone knew wouldn't make it out of the bloodbath would score 1 or 2. The last time in his memory someone scored a 0 was because he had tried to kill a gamemaker during the training, it's why the gamemakers now are raised above the tributes. Usually, it was a statement score nothing more, but to score a girl like Shay was unheard of.
Haymitch saw Peeta throw a vase across the room while they watched the scores come in. It was very uncharacteristic of him, even the new darker Peeta. Haymitch always knew he was good at reading people, especially Peeta over the last two years. But something was very different about this. The act was one of rage but looking at the boy's face, he didn't look angry, he looked…determined.
Gale knew his biggest competition was going to be the careers, the boy from 6 and the girl from 7. The girl had already shown in training that her use of the daggers are more than skilled. The boy from 6 was really smart and you could never ignore the smart ones.
It was the night before the games were to start and Haymitch had been giving him last minute tips. On the other hand, he hadn't seen Peeta so much as talk to Shay all day. For days Peeta had been making sure she wasn't alone but the start of today it was like she didn't exist to him. She was messing with her tribute token, the one Peeta gave her because she lost the one her grandfather sent. The new was a simple black button badge with a unicorn on it. Probably something he got last minute. Gale was starting to worry about Shay because he hadn't even seen Peeta since early that morning.
"Where's Peeta?" Gale asked.
"Working," Haymitch said, not looking up from the book he was reading.
"Working? How can he be working if Shay is over there," he said, pointing to Shay who was playing some kid card game with Effie.
"Look, there are more games being played in the Capital then all of the Hunger Games combined. Just work on your own strategy and don't worry about Peeta."
"He's not helping her though."
"She doesn't have a chance; you know this and so does everyone else. Well, except her, who thinks she still gets to go home to her grandfather after all of this is done. If he goes over there and starts to tell her the facts of the games, she's going to live her last night in terror. If you make it out of the games, you'll know that there can only be one victor, and it will never be kids like her."
The gong rung and Gale froze for a few seconds, it was really happening. Finally, he made his legs work and ran into the bloodbath to grab a pack and bow he had been eyeing. He got the bow but not the pack. He had to make the choice, as he ran he looked for Shay but couldn't find her, she had been a few places over from him and now she was gone. He had failed what he promised the old man. Not having time to dwell on it, he ran.
The arena was like nothing he had ever seen before. In the distance he could see houses, they looked old and rundown, much like the houses in the Seam. Then in another direction there was a building, a tall building that looked like something from the Capital. Then there were some forest around it and desert in the to the far right of him. Going where he was most comfortable, he ran towards the forest.
He saw most of the ones running away from the bloodbath headed for the houses, which was a mistake. While hiding would be good in the short time it wouldn't work in the long run because they would be cornered easily.
He could feel someone running behind him…chasing him. He didn't know who it was, but he didn't think they would try and kill him, they had the chance already because he had his back exposed to them. Looking over his shoulder he saw it was Riff, the boy from 3. The boy was 16 and smart but not as smart as the boy from 7, Bay.
"I'm not trying to kill you 12," Riff said catching up to him, now they were running shoulder to shoulder. Even though Riff was a year younger he was the same height as Gale.
"What are you doing then?" he asked, not breaking stride, he was almost to the tree line.
"I think we should work together, at least until the final five."
"And why should we work together?"
"I've got the brains,, you've got the brawn. Together we can make it far."
They finally made it to the trees, meaning he could slow down. The boy was breathing hard, showing that physical activity like this was not his thing. He hadn't planned on taking on a partner, mostly he planned to help Shay until he could find something to help her die without pain and fear. He had failed in that, he hoped that her death was quick.
"Let's wait until we know how many are left first," he told Riff.
The cannons went off an hour later, officially ending the bloodbath. Two, there were two dead in the bloodbath. They wouldn't know until dark who the dead were. It was unheard of to have such a small amount dead in the beginning, one being Shay he knew.
"Only two?" Riff said before sighing. "We will need to work together. There are twenty of them left. That's more than I've ever seen."
"Alright but when I say we have to end the partnership it ends."
"Fine by me."
Haymitch cursed under his breath, he understood the need to group up, but he didn't trust the boy from 3. The quickest way to get killed was to trust someone…anyone. Gale had told him about what Shay's grandfather had told him. They both decided not to tell Peeta. While he had changed drastically over the last two years, some things were still the same. He hadn't wanted to get attached to her because he would feel it more when she died. The thing was, she needed Peeta in a way no other kid in the games would. They need Peeta to tell the truth about what it will be like in the games, how bad it is. Shay needs him to lie and lie good so when she does die, she's only scared for a short amount of time.
Haymitch told Gale he wouldn't be the one killing Shay because as soon as the games started she would be killed by the pack.
But now he had seen how wrong he was, Shay got away. As soon as the gong rang she took off, he didn't think someone so small and fragile could be that fast. Haymitch didn't know what Peeta told her, but she listened because she hadn't been on screen since the bloodbath started. Every tribute had a tracker in them but if they weren't popular the Capital didn't bother to follow or show them much.
No one could have been more surprised than him when there were only two deaths. That was a bad sign for Gale. It meant there were quite a few wolves out there pretending to be sheep.