Author's Note
I do not own the Hunger Games.
District Ten Female, Laika Bergfalk, 18
She, Hunter, Diego, and Aiolin gathered at one edge of the hall to talk away from the other tributes.
Tributes.
The was a weird Hunger Games, but she was still a tribute.
She might die.
Little Aiolin, who was currently calming addressing them as though far bigger than her tiny size and years older than her young age, was almost certainly going to die.
Laika needed to get out of this alive. If any of the others made it with her, that would be great, but she needed to get out of this alive.
"If we can all get out alive, there's no reason for us to fight," said Aiolin, glancing at the other tributes. "At least not with each other. Remember, we've got the advantage over almost everyone here, except maybe the siblings from Eleven and the group from Four. We've got four of us willing to work together; that puts us in a stronger position than anyone else."
"What about Callum?" asked Diego.
"Screw Callum," replied Laika.
"Agreed. Callum doesn't want to work with us, and could be a danger to us. We don't need him," said Aiolin.
It almost felt comical, that they were all stood here listening to a twelve year old. They all towered over her, and yet the girl had placed herself in charge without a second thought.
"We going it with just us, or we want anyone else?" asked Hunter, glancing around the hall.
Aiolin frowned. "I… don't know."
"District Five and Nine are the usual ones," said Diego with a shrug.
That was the usual Omega alliance, between the three strongest outlying Districts.
"I think the boy that was fighting earlier is from Nine," said Aiolin nervously.
"We don't need a different kind of Callum," said Diego.
"Agreed. What about Five?"
The only kid Laika could see with 'District Five' on their jacket was the little girl that Callum had nearly fought earlier.
"I think it's just her," she said.
Aiolin nodded. "We should ask her."
"She's trouble," said Hunter.
"She's alone."
"She'll put a target on our backs from Callum," said Diego.
"There's more of us than Callum; it'd be five on one."
"You said it yourself; we're strong as we are. We don't need to bring in a wildcard," said Hunter.
Laika laughed. "Says you!"
His family was known for being nothing but wildcards.
Aiolin cast the girl one last look before nodding. "Fine."
District Two Female, Freya Slate, Harmon, 15
Around the hall, many of the tributes had started yelling or collapsed into tears. Freya balled her fists as she turned on her District partners. "Did you know about this?"
It felt like they'd known something, on the hovercraft.
Alexios laughed. "Nah. We just did some theorising and decided on the most likely one."
"Oh." Freya turned in a slow, steady circle. There was a small group of tributes from One, but two were girls smaller than her, while the boy was staying close to them.
"We should be forming a career pack."
That was how it worked. Form the career pack, establish the leader of the group, and build a plan from there. Of course, this wasn't how the Hunger Games usually worked, but they could still work with the rules.
Aelianna shrugged. "Go ahead, if you want. Or let them come to us."
Freya frowned up at her. "You don't plan on forming the pack?"
She wouldn't know what to do without making the career pack. The Academy had always taught that that was the rule, and Freya followed the rules.
"We've got bigger fish to fry," said Alexios.
"And we can't trust the tributes from Four," said Aelianna.
Freya frowned. "They still produce careers."
Four's quality had been steadily dropping over the last twenty years, and the last few Games their tributes had been poor, but they did still have a training centre and produce tributes that joined the pack.
"Four is filled with rebels. We can't trust their tributes," explained Aelianna.
"Wouldn't it be better to keep them close if you think they might be traitors?"
"As I said. Let them come to us if they want an alliance."
Freya glanced at her, but didn't continue arguing.
District Nine Female, Wren Willows, 18
Wren bounced on the balls on her feet, looking around the people gathered around her. She hated people, but the thought of spilling their blood across these shiny white tiles in here was delicious.
"I don't want to work with them," she whispered.
"We won't," replied Wolf.
Wren smiled, circling around the hall. "Can we hunt them?"
She'd never hunted people before. Only animals. Coyotes and foxes and once a bear. But not people. The Barric brothers didn't could; they'd been alone when the twins left.
"Not now. The hall's too enclosed."
Wren licked her lips. "When we leave the hall?"
Wolf smiled and nodded to her. "When we leave the hall."
The other two from Nine had joined a group of younger tributes that in turn seemed to be connected to the group being directed by the girl from Eight. There was another pair in green jackets circling the hall they were, labelled as District Seven, and a tall, lean boy in brown watching from by one of the doors, his arms folded over his chest.
Wren would enjoy watching one of them bleed.
District Eight Female, Nadine Stitcher, 16
The counter on screen hadn't reached 50 minutes yet, and already mayhem had broken out in the hall. Nadine understood. She couldn't lose this competition either. She wasn't going to die here.
"This is insane," Meredith muttered as kids continued fighting around them. A few notable groups had formed, but most of those in the hall were continuing to wander around. In Nadine's opinion, the more of them that froze and failed, the better her odds were, but Meredith must be looking at things differently.
"We can't start out like this." She gestured for Nadine and shoved her way towards the screen.
The boy from Ten that had been fighting before sneered at those around him. "You couldn't even hold together for an hour! You rebel scum are going to pay!"
Meredith stopped before the screen and let out the same shrill whistle as she had earlier. "Listen to me!"
She was the person Nadine needed to be. A swell of hatred swept through her. Meredith was naming herself the authority here. That should be Nadine's position. Why hadn't she thought of trying to do something like this?
"I know we are all scared, and angry, and lashing out at each other! I know we all have grudges and arguments to be had! But now is not the time to be arguing! We can all survive if we work together! So how about we lay down our grudges, stop fighting, and focus on what's truly important?"
Those gathered muttered and exchanged uneasy looks. Some looked to be agreeing with Meredith, but others were shaking their heads.
"If you don't agree with me, if you want to go this alone, go. But if we work together, more of us will live."
Nadine wanted to live.
She wanted to find someone that would fight for her the way Meredith wanted to fight for these kids she didn't even know.
She wanted to be Meredith.
District Seven Male, Terro Fields, 18
Two looked thoughtful as the Eight girl finished her speech. Some of the others were listening to her, but others were jeering and scorning. One girl, the one that tried to fight the boy from Ten, stamped a for against the ground. "I'll not play the Capitol's games! They're monsters and murderers! We need to take a stand against them!"
"Hear hear!" shouted a boy.
"Rebel scum!" yelled another.
"Together, Panem is stronger than them! If we all work together, we can win!"
A handful of cheers rippled through the hall, while other kids were silent, and a few grumbled unsavoury curses in the girl's direction.
Two, however, was staring off to the other side of the hall at a pair of tall, muscular tributes with a distinctive similar look.
"What are you thinking?"
"The Macedon twins."
"About this competition and the girl from Eight."
"Hm?"
Terro groaned. Two could be aggravating, careless, and flippant, but not usually so ignorant.
"And her whole 'work together so more of us live' thing?"
"Oh, yeah, that's a great idea. We should absolutely agree; the lesser people that want to stab us in the back, the better."
"But..?"
"This is meant as a punishment for the rebels."
"I assume you're going somewhere with this?"
"And some of the kids probably were chosen at random, so it looks kinda fair. But I knew the Macedon twins when they were younger. They were extreme Capitol loyalists. If they're in here, it's not random."
District Two Male, Alexios Macedon, 18
"She makes an impressive performance," Aelianna said, watching the District Eight girl circle those that had stayed with her and gather names.
"It'll all come apart with the first blood. Always does."
It was one of the first things they were taught in the Academy. Once the bloodbath started, grudges could bloom, but alliances meant nothing.
Aelianna took his hand. "Nervous?"
"Who, me? Nah."
He had to wear the mask and play the game. If he let himself slip, he'd disappoint the audience and give himself away to the others in here. This was the time and place for them to be perfect, not useless the way they always had been.
"Good."
Three of the tributes from Four, the boys and one of the girls, wandered over. Two looked similar enough to be siblings, like them, while the third was leaner and more rugged.
"You're from District Two?" asked the girl.
Alexios gestured at the number printed across his chest. "Guilty."
"District Four. We're allying. You want in?" asked the bigger boy.
Alexios glanced at Aelianna. On the one hand, none of the other tributes would trust a career pack. On the other, no one would trust them, being from Two, anyway. And it wasn't as though they'd received step-by-step instructions.
"Only if we continue working with that alliance," he said, indicating the bulk of the other tributes, who had gone to the girl from Eight.
The Fours took a brief moment to discuss this. Clearly it hadn't been the plan. At last, the younger boy nodded. "Alright. We're in with that."
District Ten Male, Callum Tanner, 15
This was his opportunity.
These rebel scum, like the murderer's sister and the little girl that spoke of a revolution, had butchered the family he never met. Hunted them down in that fake arena and then electrocuted them when they failed.
The Districts deserved the Hunger Games. They needed to be punished.
The other tributes from Ten had clustered together and were speaking animatedly, with Laika making wide, sweeping gestures with her hands.
Callum felt nothing for any of them.
He circled the hall, getting a look at his competition. There were a few smaller tributes that should be easy prey, two boys from Twelve, the rebel girl from Five, and a young boy from Three. Amid that were a few older ones that should still be easy enough to take out, a girl from Six, two girls from Eleven, a trio of kids from Twelve.
Taking the smaller kids out first would be easier, but it would also alert the older ones to be wary of him.
No, he needed to have a little care and work out how to do this. Some he might be able to make appear accidental, but others would need to be done when they were alone.
But they deserved it, for what they'd done. This had to be the Capitol giving him his chance, and Callum would take it.
The television screen blazed white.
"Attention tributes!" called the loudspeaker, silencing those gathered. Many turned towards the screen, which was still blank. "Level One will begin in five minutes."
The timer on screen, now black against the white background, swelled to take up more of the top left corner.
"Your instructions will be on screen. Good luck, tributes, and may the odds be ever in your favour."