Sang is chosen for the Culling, a series of fights to the death that are generally played by men. In fact, Sang is the first woman selected, well, ever. As the games start, and Sang forms bonds with a group of nine men, she comes to realize that the...
I was certain that we were not the only people in the room to become wary upon McCoy's introduction as Head Gamemaker. Which is why it surprised me that most people seemed shocked that McCoy would be ballsy enough to change the weapon's policy.
"What changes?" A tall man standing on the far side of the crowd shouted, gathering the attention to him. Chet was next to him, so I guessed that this man might have been one of his group. "Why now?"
Thomas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and signaled for silence. "I'm going to explain this only once. I will tell you what I can, but I don't know any more information than I can give you right now. Only the Gamemakers are aware of the full details and they aren't going to say anything, as you know."
He made sure that he had everyone's attention and continued. He paced back and forth as he spoke. "The Capital is acquiescing to the districts' requests by removing most all of the modern weaponry this year. Of course, there will be one or two surprise weapons that will be hidden in undisclosed locations. The reasoning given is that this will fulfill the public demand that tributes from all districts have a more equal chance at winning."
Thomas paused, letting the implications sink in.
There was an explosion of noise as tributes from higher numbered district yelled out in anger, and those in the lower numbers began to talk among themselves in earnest - no longer resigned to the death sentence that was the Culling.
Well, this was interesting news, and would change our overall strategy.
I met Owen's eyes and he seemed to be thinking along the same lines. Surviving this ordeal was going to become a lot more difficult. Victor sat to my left, and I felt him stiffen.
A large part of our plans involved using some of that weaponry and repurposing them to suit our needs. Victor's expertise.
To say that this was inconvenient was putting it mildly.
"Quiet!" Thomas yelled over the crowd, but no one paid him any mind.
"Quiet!" He yelled again and blew on a shrill whistle.
Slowly the people began to settle down.
A shaking hand rose into the air, no one I recognized.
Thomas looked ready to snap at him, but the man quickly spoke. "I know you can't tell us what to expect, or that you even know anymore... So I'm not asking about that. I just have a request for advice, training wise."
Thomas signaled for him to continue.
"What do you suggest we focus on for skills for the next month?" The man waved in the direction of the hall that displayed the advanced weapons, all of which were now useless to us. "Clearly we won't need any of that. So what is the most important thing for our survival?"
Thomas crossed his arms and appeared to be thinking, and I noticed that everyone leaned forward in their seats in rapt attention. "If I had to guess, and keep in mind that I only know as much as I've told you, but I would focus on medieval weaponry. Learn what you can with swords, lances, maces, the bow and so forth. I have a feeling that close combat is going to be the theme, so I wouldn't focus too much on long distance weapons. There still may be some provided though, in my opinion."
He cleared his throat and glanced around before continuing, "On a more personal note, I'll just leave you with this advice. I know that some of you have heard of Mr McCoy. Now, think about what you know of him and his reputation, intensify it by a hundred and try to plan ahead with that in mind."
Well, that's barbaric. This was going to be an interesting test of my healing skills.
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
