Fighter | The Hunger Games

Chapter Seven

The following morning consisted of another group training session. I channeled my energy into learning all of the basics despite being rather mundane. Cecelia had ushered Mason and me out the door before I could even grab a bite to eat, causing my stomach to grumble loudly all morning. I suppose it was my fault for sleeping in too late. 

Truth be told my body was aching from my training with Jace. I felt bruised and battered, but I remembered what Jace had told me about the Games. I would have to get used to the pain if I wanted to make it out alive.

The girl from District Eight, Olivia, had made another comment to me during training. "Looks like your partner is out there trying to get some serious points with the Careers why don't you join him?" I could not read her expression well but I sensed that her intentions were pure. "I'm not interested" I responded flatly, glancing over at Mason throwing axes in front of an audience. "Axe throwing isn't my cup of tea." Olivia smiled at my comment. Jace would be angry if he knew I had spoken with Olivia twice now; he did not believe in trusting any of the other tributes. 

The rest of the afternoon consisted of lunch, a nap, and more practice with Jace. This time he was a little easier on me, focusing on light knife work and some smaller scale agility drills. Tomorrow was the day we would be evaluated and scored. The Gamemakers would rate our skills on a scale of one to twelve. I couldn't help but feel nervous.

"What's the plan?" I asked Jace as our time in the training center narrowed. He chuckled quietly to himself, "easy there tiger I'll get to that in a second." I finished my final throwing drill, hitting the bullseye three times consecutively before looking at him expectantly. "You need to show that you are proficient in throwing knives without revealing how deadly accurate you are- just enough for them to give you a score of a six or seven. That is enough for the other tributes to write you off. They will go after the higher scored tributes that they perceive as a threat, assuming you will be killed rather easily. You do not want to botch your session with the Gamemakers too much though; they will think that you are manipulating them" Jace spoke clearly and intelligently, revealing just how much knowledge he possessed regarding the strategy behind the Games. 

"Besides the throwing they will most likely have some sort of obstacle course. Maybe a ropes course or rock wall. Again, perform well but not too well. The key is not to reveal how gifted you are." Jace looked to me to see if I was following his plan.

"Easy enough" I shrugged. 

Jace snickered. "If only it was easy. Just remember Avery- you are good, but not spectacular. There are tributes that are much more talented and who have trained longer. You need to be smart. People don't think when they're out there. They make rash choices and act foolishly. Think. After all, it is a game." 

A pit formed in my stomach as the reality of the Games set in. I absorbed Jace's advice and felt that it was best I listened to him and followed his plan accordingly. At one point he had been in my shoes, and he had emerged a victor. We walked towards the elevator in silence. With the Games approaching quickly there was a lot of silence between members of my team. It made me wonder how they did it every year? How could they bond with tributes just to watch them perish in the arena. It had to take a toll on them mentally. I wondered what Jace was like before the Games. How much had he changed? 

I sighed as we exited to our seventh floor apartment where Cecelia was already clinking her glasses together. "Dinner time! No need to clean up Avery it will be a quick dinner today. You need to be well prepared for tomorrow. Again, the training scores will be a perfect chance to gain sponsors." I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Wasn't every day an important day? And why did Mason have that smug look on his face as if he was already the victor of the Games? I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from saying something.