𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝑹𝒆𝒅 || 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔

𝟎𝟓 || 𝑮𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔

THE TRIBUTE LIVING QUARTERS WERE BIGGER THAN HALF THE HOUSES IN DISTRICT 8 COMBINED. Yet Evelyn was too nervous to sleep in the fluffy bed that made her feel like she was floating on a cloud. Cassandra had been talking all night about the parade and who she thinks will get the most sponsors, Sasha was trying to give her advice on the training sessions, and now she was standing in the training room wishing that she had paid more attention to her mentor's advice.

"In a few weeks, 23 of you will be dead," The head trainer told the group, her stern stare lingering on each tribute for a few seconds before continuing, "One of you will be alive. Who that person is depends on how well you pay attention the next few days.

There is no fighting other tributes in here, you will have plenty of time to do that in the arena. There will be four compulsory exercises. The rest will be individual training. My advice is don't ignore the survival skills. Fighting alone isn't enough to win," The trainer looked at the careers, making it clear that words were meant for them, "Most of you will die from natural causes. 10% from infection and 20% from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife."

Evelyn heads straight to the spears, examining the sleek handle and the sharp head. They were high quality, easy to throw, and of course, she'd never thrown a spear in her life. The girl took a deep breath and turned to one of the targets, pulling her arm back and then releasing the spear. She missed by a long shot, and the spear found its way into the wall behind the dummy.

There was an amused chuckle behind her, "Nice shot, at least you could kill the arena's walls. A handy skill to have."

Evelyn didn't have to turn around to know that the voice belonged to the boy from 7, and she shot him a glare before turning back to the spears. All she needed to do was focus. She grabbed another spear, but before she could throw it Joshua stopped her and turned her to face him.

"What do you think you're trying to do?" Evelyn snapped in an unfriendly tone, trying to shove his hands off of her.

Joshua took a step back but kept his hands near the spear, "I'm not trying to do anything. You're holding the spear wrong."

"And you know that, how?"

"I just know how to hold handles like that."

He was talking about holding an axe, which was nothing like holding a spear, but Evelyn let him adjust her hands. It was a lot more comfortable than her earlier grip, and when she threw it again she managed to hit the target. It wasn't a bullseye but it was good enough.

The tribute grimaced as she turned back to the boy, but she had to thank him. He just helped her use a weapon that she'd probably use to kill him later. That had to mean something, and if didn't it at least deserved a simple thanks.

"Thank you."

"It's fine, you don't have to do that," Joshua said, crossing his arms, "I can see how difficult that was. It really hurt your soul to thank me, I know."