Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 8 Get to Know, Learn to Kill

Here's the character list because I was a little confused and there are a lot of people:

New Jersey: Marcy Taylor(13), Seth Winston (16)
New York: Darren Shire (13), Francesca Jewel (17)
Montana: Gerald Frank (18), Hayley Darthel (14)
Texas: Austin Farnuckle (17), Sarah Green (17)
Alaska: Rexford Gull (17), Karolynn Chase (17)
Maine: Brad Shippe (15), Pamela Grace (12)
Louisiana: Tyler Pole (14), Hannah Black (18)
Idaho: Patrick Lancase (15), Samantha George (14)
Iowa: Dylan Beart (16), Nicole Fire (18)
California: Esther Heyschel (16), Levy Enoch (16)

The third and final day of training is here too soon. Levy and I decide to split up to see if we want to make allies with anyone. I go practice the skills I found I'm best at. I get better with the bow and knives and try to prepare for the private training sessions with the Gamemakers.

Marcy has taken to following Patrick around. He doesn't mind. I think he's actually planning to team up with her in the arena. When I ask him why, he says, "A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent."

"Okay..."

"And the scout oath is: On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."

I don't really have the heart to tell him that all his morals and... boyscout-ness will be completely shattered in the arena when all he cares about, the only thing he is desperate to save, is himself.

But I'll let him keep that good mindset until then.

Marcy has taken to him like an older brother. She's even smiling around him a lot.

A child that young shouldn't have to go through something as evil as this.

No one should. Not even the killers from Alaska or Iowa. I'm pretty sure they're career tributes. Maybe the government even trained or hired them to make things more interesting.

I also get to know a lot of the other tributes. None of us know each other except Levy and me. No one even knew any of the others existed until now. The older tributes, the sixteen-, seventeen-, and eighteen-year-olds, stay generally with each other while the rest do too. Levy is getting to know the older ones while I'm trying to be with the younger ones. Only one person, Pamela from Maine, is twelve. Two people are thirteen, three people are fourteen, two people are fifteen, four people are sixteen, five people are seventeen, and three people are eighteen.

Twenty of us. Two will survive. Eighteen will die.

One out of ten chances that I will win.

Ten percent chance.

The odds are not in my favor.

Of course they're not.

They're in no one's.

To my complete and utter surprise, Marcy is a natural with a crossbow. Pamela is pretty good with a slingshot too. Darren from New York is really fast.

I try to find places where I can compliment them. I feel like it's my job because no one else is here to do it.

Of course, all the younger ones break out in terrified tears every once in a while. There is nothing I can say that will comfort them because they know it is a lie.

I can't tell them they might win.

I can't promise them a quick and painless death.

I wish I could promise them all life, but I can't.

Only two people are coming out alive and it's not going to be any of them.

I tell Samantha she's smart. I tell Hayley she's small and very flexible. I tell Brad he's strong. I tell Tyler he is great with knives. I tell Patrick he's awesome with a sword. But what I don't tell them is that it's not enough. Nothing they can ever do will ever be enough. It will for perhaps a short time, but in the end, there is always someone harder, better, faster, stronger.

Couldn't resist the song reference.

There is absolutely no hope for them now.

They have been condemned to death on absolutely no charge.

That has to be against the Constitution.

Sorry, it's short.

Please comment.

Thanks for reading.