Different Perspectives Chapter 26
Author's Note: I do not own The Hunger Games
Tammy Winchester, 31, Mentor to the District 5 Female, 26th Hunger Games.
"Well, this is unusual" I said to Helios Molyneux, who was Mentoring the boy, Aaron McFall. Looking at the screen, I noticed Lucky was dubbing the Tributes "Troglodytes", a word meaning "Cave Dweller", the irony isn't lost on the Mentors that was in the room as the Games began. I watched as the girl I was Mentoring, Ciela Curie, fell, a pickaxe to the chest. I watched as a small boy from 3 was decapitated by the boy from 2. A girl from 8 fell, killed in a hail of throwing knives; a muscular boy from 10 was cleaved as he fled the carnage, the girl from 2 continued to throw knives at another girl, this one from District 9. The girl from 1, Opal, armed with her pickaxe, pierced a lumberjack's throat, while her District Partner hacked down a pair of Tributes, their grey eyes and dark hair indicating they are from 12. Finally, the boy from 2, John, found a frightened girl from District 6 and within seconds, the girl lay crumpled on the dust covered floor, her neck slashed and blood pouring out of it, mingling with the dust, the ground around the Cornucopia stained blood red. As the Cannons went off, I saw Hovercrafts go in and picking up the corpses of the dead, seeing Ciela's corpse being lifted. She will be headed to the Capitol soon, where the Capitol undertakers will clean her and dress her in white clothing before they put her into a coffin. Once the Games end, the coffins of the dead will be transported back to their home District. Until I successfully Mentored Helios, I had gone familiar with the routine to prepare the dead for burial, due in part of the 3rd Hunger Games, when many of the deceased Tributes' corpses were mutilated by the other Tributes. That was why a morgue was created before the 4th Hunger Games, and I remember watching several of the Tributes take the dead to the morgue. The pair from 9, the boy from 12 and the eventual Victor, the boy from 10, are among the Tributes who carried the dead to the morgue. But even then, the Capitol still inflicted cruelty on the corpses. There is a rumour about a tin box buried by the City Arena, though I am unsure if the rumour is true. Getting up from my seat, I walked outside. The City Arena was ahead, faded posters announcing the 10th Hunger Games, the last to take place in the building, crumbling brickwork in places. The place where 200 Tributes lost their lives within it's walls. The tactic called "Divide and Conquer" approach, forcing the poor to fight against each other while the rich cheer on the slaughter. As I walked down, I saw two teenagers wearing red clothing with a lapel badge. They must be Academy kids, I thought, noting the contrast between the kids at the Academy and the kids fighting to the death in the Cave Arena many miles away. The Capitol's youth will grow up, marry and have kids and will die in their beds, while the District kids either starve to death, die of illness or accidents, or be Reaped and die in the Games. So, either way you look at it, the District kids are destined to live short lives. If they are lucky to survive the Games, they have to Mentor kids from their District.
It has been six days since Ciela was killed, and we watched in horror as the Districts 1 and 2 Tributes tortured a boy from District 4 to death. As the four moved away from Jordan's corpse, Valkyrie of 2 spotted a napping girl and ran towards her. The girl, Elionwy, woke up and grabbing her knife, fought bravely, managing to kill the powerful girl from 2 before dying. "Well, Oregon is gone." I heard Imogen Roosa mutter as she went to make herself a hot drink. Turning back to the screen, I saw a fight emerge between the three stronger Tributes as Aaron climbed up to a large stalactite. Getting up, I went to the next room, a room with a kettle and a coffee machine. This room is used by the Victors while the Games was taking place. Switching on the kettle, I put a tea bag into the cup and waited until the water boiled before pouring it into the cup. Putting in a bit of milk, I stirred it before going back in the room, where on the screen, the boy from 1, Cinnabar, stood over the corpses of his District Partner and John. As he walked towards where Aaron was, a stalactite came hurtling down towards him and impaled him as the fanfares rang out.
"Right, next year, it will be you and Helios" I told Aaron, as the three of us sat on the train heading back to District 5. Aaron looked at me in shock. "Why?" he asked after a minute. "Well, I'm expecting" I announced.
"You're expecting a baby?" Helios said, shocked at the unexpected bombshell.
"Yup." I thought to myself that there is a chance the baby will be Reaped once he or she is a teenager, however I pushed the thought away for now. Next year, I hope District 5 does well. I'm sure Aaron will manage as Mentor next year.
Tammy mentioning the earlier Games when she walked by the City Arena makes sense, as she would be old enough to remember watching them on television, and sixteen years after it was abandoned it's starting to crumble.