Leona Zookeeper, 13

District 6 Female

I was practically shaking with confusion and fury by the time Jay and I boarded the train. The past hour was a blur and I was starting to feel nauseous. When Jay and I were forced into tiny rooms in the Justice Building, we got a surprise visitor - Holly.

My sister, who I hadn't seen in a year, was standing right in front of me with tears in her eyes. She'd hugged me before I could say anything, and I wasn't totally sure how to respond. The rest of our visit was spent with my parents fussing over Holly and comforting Dove, or with them in the other room with Jay. The only visitor who seemed to care about me was my friend Heath, who snuck in near the end of the hour.

And now we were on the train; the most luxurious place I'd ever been. Crystal chandeliers hung from the floral painted ceilings and the floor was fluffy cream carpet. The furniture was in shades of pinks and dark reds and all the tables had pale gold tablecloths. A large buffet table stacked high with sandwiches and pastries sat against the wall, opposite a bar. A dining table stood in the middle.

Jay was sitting at the table already, his hands clasped in front of him. I could see him trembling. Axel Early was sitting across from him, looking extremely overwhelmed. Journey Holton was standing near the buffet table. And Fogey was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello Leona," Journey said as she made her way to the table. "Come join us?"

"Yeah," I grumbled, plopping into the chair next to Jay. He flinched at my sudden movement.

"I'll cut to the chase," Journey said, folding her hands on the table. "You two are at a disadvantage. You're both very young. Jay is blind."

"We know," Jay said softly. "Do we have anything going for us?"

"You could play the sympathy card," Axel said. He looked positively terrified of us. "And Leona volunteering to help you might help attract sponsors."

I was clenching my teeth so hard my jaw was aching.

"Sponsors aren't going to save us," I snapped.

"They might," Journey said. "You could have an infected injury. You could be starving. The arena will push you beyond your limits. Accept any help you can get."

"Alright, fine!"

"What's our strategy, besides getting sponsors?" Jay asked.

"Focus on survival skills," Axel said. "You won't stand a chance against a bigger tribute, especially if they're armed. Run if you can, or hide if you have to."

"I don't know…" Jay said, his voice slightly smug. "Leona has been in a few fights before…"

Both Journey and Axel turned to look at me in shock. I kicked Jay under the table.

"Ow!" he protested. I ignored him.

"Well, only fight if necessary," Axel continued. "And leave it to Leona."

"And what about allies?" Jay asked. "We should get some, right?"

"No," I said, just as Axel said 'yes'. I glared at him and he shrunk in his seat.

"We're going to be the weakest tributes in the Games," Jay said to me. "If we have people to protect us, we'll stand a better chance."

"Who's going to want to ally with us?" I asked angrily.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Jay replied. I rolled my eyes.

Brady Deere, 18

District 9 Male

My hands were shaking as Mac and I boarded the train. I clenched them into fists and gulped down a few deep breaths, trying to put up a calm facade. It was useless, of course. Mac could see straight through me. But she was also furious with me and was refusing to look at me.

As the train doors shut behind me, my jaw dropped without my control. The train car was absolutely beautiful. Dark teal with gold accents and filled with comfortable cream-colored furniture. A tall, wiry young man was sitting at the polished wood dining table, watching us.

"Hello," he said evenly. "I'm Oberon, your mentor."

"Hello," Mac replied, her voice tight. "You already know our names, I'm sure."

"Mac and Brady," another voice said. We both turned to see a brunette girl in a wheelchair come into the car. She was followed by our escort Destiny.

"Please, have a seat," Oberon said, gesturing to the table. I cautiously sat down with Mac beside me.

"Why did you volunteer?" Dakota asked bluntly. I let out a rattling breath.

"Mac and I are married," I admitted. Destiny let out a soft gasp but I forged on. "I just… I just couldn't imagine being without her." I didn't dare look at my wife, but I felt her shoulder briefly bump against mine.

"That is… a very sweet sentiment," Oberon said. "But only one of you can win."

"I don't expect either of us to win," I said without thinking. "District 9 doesn't have the best track record." I turned to Mac. "But I wanted to spend my last moments with you."

To my surprise, there were tears in her eyes. She wiped them furiously and then reached over to take my hand.

"One thing is for sure," Dakota said. "You're going to have a lot of sponsors." Oberon nodded in agreement.

"But we need to come up with a strategy, right?" Destiny asked.

"Definitely," Oberon said. "I'm going to assume you two will ally. Do you want other allies?"

"I think that would be wise," I said as Mac shook her head. We turned to look at each other.

"I don't trust anyone else," Mac said harshly.

"I know, and neither do I. But we're older and stronger. Other tributes might target us. And there's safety in numbers."

"Until we get stabbed in the back," she replied angrily.

"We'd keep an eye out for each other," I pointed out. "And if someone crosses us, we can take them out."

I could tell she wanted to keep arguing, but my thoughts were solid. She had nothing to refute it with. Instead, she let her shoulders slump and gave me a sad look.

"How did we get into this mess?" she asked. I leaned over and kissed her temple.

"It'll be okay," I assured her. "As long as we're together, we can do anything."

Brielle Hyland, 17

District 10 Female

I'd never seen something as fancy and luxurious as the train car Andy and I were standing in. It was done up in shades of light brown and mint, with elegant dark brown furniture and glittering metallic silver accents. I wanted to gape, like Andy was, but I held my reaction back. I needed to be composed.

Barney was sitting with our mentors at a glass dining table. Signy gave me a warm smile and stood up to shake my hand as the train door closed behind us.

"It's very nice to meet you Brielle," she said warmly.

"Likewise," I said, returning the handshake firmly. "Would it be alright if we spoke in private? I'd like to discuss my strategy."

"Oh! Of course! We can talk in the caboose. It has a nice view. Come with me."

After nodding to Darcia and Barney, Signy led me through a door to a car designed to be a living area. Then we walked down a hallway, where she pointed out my bedroom door. Finally, we entered a small train car with a curved couch at the end. The floor was carpeted and there was a smaller dining table.

"Are you hungry?" Signy asked as she sat down on the couch.

"No, I'm alright." I sat down and turned to face her. "This is an… unexpected situation, and I want to be as prepared as I can be."

"I understand," Signy said. "And I'm here to help you however I can. Do you have any experience with weapons or survival skills?"

I thought for a moment. How much did I want to reveal? I couldn't risk sharing my secret in the likely case there were cameras on the train.

"I have some skill with a knife," I said. "And I can handle a crossbow. I'm also stealthy. I can move quickly and quietly."

"That's excellent," Signy said. "If you can move around the arena undetected, you'll have a strong advantage. Have you thought at all about having allies?"

Again, I hesitated. I hadn't given it much thought, but my instinct was to say yes. I wouldn't form an attachment. They would purely be assistants on my road to victory.

"I think I would like some advantageous allies," I said. "Someone calm and rational, and someone who has skills in areas I don't."

"Smart," Signy said. "But you have to be prepared in case no tributes meet those requirements. You have to be flexible and adaptable. I don't want to scare you, but every choice you make from here on out could be a matter of life and death."

My breath hitched. It was finally hitting. I was more prepared than most, but there was a very real chance I wouldn't survive this. My vision began to blur and I choked on my breath. Signy grabbed my shoulder and squeezed.

"Deep breaths," she said in a soothing voice. "It'll be alright."

"Will it?" I snapped angrily. Signy flinched, but I focused on regaining my breath and balance. Once I was feeling more stable, I looked back up at Signy.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "It's just… this is a lot."

"I know," she said soothingly. "But I'm here. And so are Barney and Darcia. We want you to succeed and we'll do everything in our power to make that happen."

"Thank you," I said. "And I'm going to do everything in my power to win."

Hello! I said I was going to update only on Saturdays, but I've given it some thought and I don't want to get too far ahead of my readers while writing chapters because I might miss out on incorporating feedback. So my plan is to still update once a week, with a twice-a-week update every other week. Does that make sense? Probably not. Basically, this story will be updated on Wednesday and Saturday every other week, and Saturday every week. And Everything Everywhere will follow the same pattern. If this feels like too much, please let me know in a review.

Questions

1) Will Leona and Jay find allies?

2) Is Brady right to want allies?

3) Is Brielle's thinking on the right track?

4) Is there anything you'd like to see in my chapters? More of something, less of something, or something new all together?

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona