The 139th Hunger Games

Chapter 16: Private Sessions

                                                    Head Gamemaker POV - Claudia Harrow

I sit at the table with the other Gamemakers. After a long nap, I'm ready to watch 24 demonstrations, even though most of them will be of useless, puny kids who can't handle a weapon. I'm one of the more attentive Gamemakers, although by the time District 10 comes in, I am way less observant.

A loud bell can be heard now, which signals it is time for the first tribute to come in. I sigh as I check my list. District 1 is particularly weak this year. The male tribute comes in. He practices sword fighting with an assistant. He tries it three times, and wins only twice. I whisper to the other Gamemakers. They nod collectively. An eight.

The girl comes in. Ivory, I recall. She comes from a long line of victors. But, she is vain and pathetically useless. If I could bet, I would say she wouldn't make it past the first day. She comes in and attempts to use throwing knives. Most of the time, she misses. We consult and it is decided. A six.

District 2 comes in. Even though the girl tribute from that district wins ocassionally, historically, the muscular males win more often. He comes in, and swordfights with our most experienced swordfighting assisstant. After some work, the tribute defeats him. We all agree. A ten for the fiercest tribute we will probably get.

The girl comes soon afterwards. She shows to be adept at handling both a bow and arrows, and throwing knives. All of us are shocked. With no discussion necessary, we all agree. This girl is likely going to be the victor. We award her an eleven.

Our first weak district, District 3, comes in. I remember that this is the one with the siblings. The boy comes in. He heads to the medicine station, and demonstrates a few skills. Even though it isn't totally amazing, we award him a five, since it is a necessary skill.

His sibling comes soon after. I can tell by her terrified expression that she has no idea what to do. Finally, she tries scrambling up a tree. Her attempts are unsuccessful to say the least, as she falls five times and only makes it seven feet up. I sigh. A two it is, then.

District 4. I pay close attention, as 4 is my home district. The boy comes in. I remember he refused to join the Careers. He uses a spear pretty well, and can tie decent knots. He seems strong and capable, and with some discussion, we give him an eight.

Then comes the girl, with striking blue eyes. I nearly faint. Those eyes are familiar to me. In the previous Hunger Games, there was a girl, Anabelle, with the same eyes, only softer. Her death has haunted me since. No doubt this girl, her sister, has come to avenge her. She is excellent at using a trident, and we award her a nine.

District 5 comes in, signifying the end of the Career districts. I sigh. More failures. The boy comes in. He is undoubtedly the strongest non-Career. He comes and demonstrates his hand-to-hand combat skills with an assisstant, over and over again. You can't deny that he is very strong. We give him a ten. 

A girl comes on later. I think back to the Reapings. Why on Earth did she volunteer? She does a little demonstration of her medical skills, and since they are better than District 3, we give her a six.

It's District 6 now. The boy comes in. I can tell by his walk that he isn't confident about his abilities as he heads to the fire building station. First, he tries to light a fire using two rocks to create a spark, but fails. Then, he tries building one with matches. This attempt succeeds, and we give him a four.

The female counterpart of the boy comes not long after. She demonstrates medicore skills in climbing and building shelter. I can tell that she is better than that, but she seems to be hiding her talents. If a low score is what she wants, then I will give her that, I think, as I write a six next to her name in neat handwriting.

District 7 comes soon. The boy seems strong, but not nearly as strong as Warren from 5. He is very good at using an ax, and I'm not surprised, as he is from District 7. We award him a seven, and let him go.

The girl comes soon. She's so small, and I feel sorry for her, to have to die so soon. I'm sure she would have some useful skills, but she does enough to get a bad score. Either her nerves, or her strategy. I wish I could give her a fighting chance by giving her a high score, but rules are rules, and I'm forced to give her a three.

The good districts are over. Historically, there have only been twelve victors from districts 8 to 12, I think, as the boy from District 8 heads in. He picks up a short sword and begins fighting. I try not to cringe. He stumbles and falls so much that it is almost comical. And he never wins, not even once. We award him a one.

The girl comes in. Surprisingly, she seems capable as she heads to a section with climbing. Without fear, she scales walls, climbs trees, jumps from dizzying heights, and swings on ropes. It truly is extroadinary, judging by her home district, and I give her an eight for her courage and skill.

And then comes District 9. I can feel my attention span deacreasing as I start paying more attention to my food. The boy comes, and he can handle a scythe, but not that well. Why would you volunteer for the Games if you're not good at anything? I award him a 5.

The girl comes next. Apparently, she doesn't want to be a target, because instead of showing us weaponry, she demonstrates a wide variety of survival skills. Even though it is quite impressive, it won't do her much good, so we just give her a 6.

I'm very tired now, and I just want to go home, but I still have six demonstrations to sit through. The boy comes first, and I recognize him as the victor's son. His father apparently trained him, because he can use most weapons very well. After consulting with the other Gamemakers, we agree to award him an eight.

I only bother to learn the names of a few of the tributes. These are often the ones that intrest me the most. This is the case for the District 10 girl, Cinderli, who went into the Games as punishment for her crimes. If things would have been different, she could have won, I think, as I watch her demonstration of a dart gun and give her an eight. But there is no way the Capitol will let her win.

Only two more districts to go, I think, as the boy from District 11 comes in. He demonstrates useful skills in climbing and hand-to-hand combat, but they are barely average. Thus, he earns a six.

The girl from District 11 suprises me. She is good at obstacle courses, great at using a slingshot, and excellent at edible plants. I sigh as I give her a seven. I know that she won't survive. Sometimes it tires me, watching 24 kids and knowing 23 will die in less than a month. But I can't change anything.

One more district to go, but twelve is also a bad one. This is going to be a very hard half hour. The boy walks in, and immediately heads to the ax station. He's barely mediocre, earning a five. I wouldn't bet on him making it past the bloodbath.

One more tribute left, then I can go home. The female walks in. She heads to the survival skill section and demonstrates skills in running, camouflage, snares, and first-aid. It's much better than I expected, I think, as I give her a seven. Finally, I'm done, and start to head home.