Don't Play Games

4

A sharp knock on my bedroom door wakes me with a start. I groan and cover my head with my pillow.

"Hazel!" Claudia's voice squeals outside of the door. "Time for training!"

"Go away!" I shout, pulling the covers up to my chin.

The door opens, and Claudia steps into the room. "Come on deary! Training time is vital here!"

I roll my eyes. "What else is vital in the Capitol? Pink wigs?"

"N-no!" Claudia stutters, placing a hand on her own pink wig, as if to protect it from harm.

I laugh cruelly. "Whatever. I need clothes to wear. Just, please don't make me wear a cotton candy wig."

Claudia huffs in defeat and shoves some clothes at me. I huff back as she shuts the door.

I stare at the ugly clothes in my hands. Grey shirt and pants, with brown boots. I change quickly, then brush my hair and teeth in the bathroom. I put my hair into low pigtails and head to breakfast.

Birch sits at the table, angrily stabbing a sausage. I stifle a laugh as I sit at the opposite end of the table. He glares at me.

I dig into some scrambled eggs and a waffle drenched in maple syrup.

After breakfast is done, which is soon after we started eating, we ride the elevator down to the training gym. Jason should be there, so we can ally or at least talk about it.

The door opens, revealing the vast training gym. Stations with weapons and survival advantages are set up everywhere. Every district except for District One is there already.

I stand next to Jason in the semi circle that surrounds the head trainer, Ami.

The door to the elevator opens again, and District One joins the circle.

"Hello Tributes." Ami begins. "Welcome to the training gym. Many of you will go straight to weapons, but remember the survival stations. Many of you will die due to natural causes. Nature can kill as easily as a knife can. First rule, no fighting with the other tributes. Second rule, you have to eat lunch in the cafeteria. No extra training time. You may go."

The careers run straight for the big weapons. Birch goes over to join them. Other tributes head to survival stations.

"So." Jason says, rocking on his heels.

"So. Wanna talk?" I reply.

"Sure. Lets head to fire starting."

I follow him towards the fire starting station. Ingrid, the girl tribute from 8, is sitting there already, trying and failing to start a fire.

"Hey. Can we join you?" I ask her.

She looks up shyly. "Um, sure."

I sit down next to her and collect some wood to start a fire. I help her start a small flame, and she grows it into a good sized fire.

"Thanks." She says, still shy.

"Hey, Jason." I wave him over from his side of the station. He sits across from me in the short grass. "Allies?" He shakes my hand and nods. I nudge my head towards Ingrid and mouth, 'What about her too?' He nods.

"Hey, Ingrid." I say.

"Hi." She says, hanging her head and letting her long, black hair flow over her face.

"Do you want to ally with us?" I ask.

She perks up. "Really? Me?"

I nod.

"Yes." She shakes my hand.

"Great. Also, do you have any allies in mind yourselves?" I look at Jason and Ingrid.

"I was thinking Kia or Belle." He says.

"I thought maybe Daisy or Clora." Ingrid says.

"Cool. I was thinking Electra, Daisy, and maybe Clora, Belle, or Velma."

They both nod. "I like Electra from 5, she seems trustworthy." Ingrid says. She's getting less and less shy around us. Jason nods.

"Hey, there she is." I say, pointing towards the edible plants station.

We all get up and head to the station. Electra is working quickly picking out edible plants.

"Hey, Electra?" I say.

She pauses. "What?"

"We wondering if you wanted to ally with us." I say as confidently as I can.

"Um..." She ponders for a second. "Sure, I guess."

"Great." Jason says. "Did you have any allies in mind?"

She thinks for a second. "I was thinking about Daisy."

"So was I." I say. "Lets see if we can get more allies at lunch."

As if on cue, the lunch bell rings. Our alliance walks together and finds a table in the back of the room.

"Lets get Daisy or Kia right now." I say.

"How about Coral, too? She isn't with the careers."

We all throw around ideas, before we decide to grab Daisy and Coral from their otherwise empty tables.

When they sit down at our tables, we ask them if they'll be our allies. They both say yes.

"Who else?" Jason says.

"Who else?" Coral questions, raising an eyebrow. "We have a big alliance already."

"Strength in numbers." He replies.

She nods.

"How about..." I pause. "Kia?"

"I'll go get her." Jason says, standing. He heads off to find her.

After lunch, Kia, Daisy, Coral, Jason, Electra, and Ingrid are my allies. We just need Clora now, Velma and Belle are already in alliances.

I approach her while she's at the knife throwing station.

"Hey Clora?" I say, tapping her shoulder.

She jumps. "What?"

"Do you want to ally with us?" I ask her.

She pauses. "Who else is in this 'us'?"

"Jason, Daisy, Coral, Kia, Electra, and Ingrid. And me."

She nods. "Okay. I think we're now the biggest alliance."

"Strength in numbers." I say.

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hey guys! Sorry I haven't been updating 😭 This will be getting more interesting soon, I promise! And I'm sorry it's not a lot and its not very good, I was rushing to get this done. Well, enjoy!

~Zane