While the annoying escort rambled about the rules, Atticus glanced around the room. He took in their strengths and weaknesses, who would make for the perfect teammate. He would prefer someone easy to manipulate, and scanned the tributes for the perfect ally. It was time to do what he did best.

He walked over to a girl, one who obviously wasn't happy to be here.. He put on his most sympathetic face, and started to talk to her.

"I heard about your friend." Atticus said, falsely empathetic.

Her answer would either make or break the plan. His entire survival of the games hinged on this girl. If he had guessed wrong, if she knew he was lying, it was all over.

Her eyes were red from crying, and she obviously tried to hold back more tears. Atticus mentally applauded himself. He had sized her up just right.

"I'm Atticus." he said, sticking out his hand.

"Michelle." she replied, shaking it.

Her good judgement was long gone. Grief had replaced it. This could possibly be one of Atticus's easiest manipulations.

"You need to survive, to honor his memory. I'll help you, and I only need a small favor in return..." Atticus said, putting a hand on her shoulder, guiding her to a more private spot.

...

Mikey tried to swing the sword, but it was obviously too heavy for him. He dropped it to the ground, with a large clang, and moved on to a different station. He watched as one of the careers glided gracefully across the climbing wall. She did a mid air somersault, and landed on the ground, approaching the camouflage table.

She would definitely be useful, no doubt. But would she go for it? He decided there was only one way to find out. He started to walk through, just as an arrow flew past him. Right before it hit his face, a small shuriken, more commonly known as a throwing star, broke the shaft.

He picked up the broken arrow. That could have just ended him, before the Games even started. He turned to where the throwing star had come from, and saw the same acrobatic girl. He immediately started to thank her for saving his life, as she basked in his praise.

The hyperactive boy kind of reminded Zia of a pet monkey. He would do nicely for the Games, at least until there were only a few tributes left. Then, he wouldn't be so lucky.

...

Logan watched as John bullied the small girl from District 8. He should just roll away now. Nobody would blame him. Wheel away while he still had use of his arms. John yanked the charm bracelet off of the girl, and laughed as the beads flew off.

Logan sighed. Why did he have to on the good side?

He rolled up to John, getting himself ready.

"Pick on someone your own size. Maybe one of those pandas from history class? Or maybe a gorilla would do. You both have the same brain capacity, so that's a plus." Logan said.

It took the attention off of the girl, and she started to scoop up the charms that fell.

"Oh, I've heard about you. You think you're so strong. You're family used to be rich, until that one  fateful night. Just walk home to your mommy, while you still can. Oh, that's right. You can't." John taunted, his words filled with venom.

Logan wanted to throw him to a rabid group of teething sharks. From a 1200 hundred foot cliff. And then run over him with his wheelchair. But he couldn't do those things, and he was mad. He felt powerless, and angry that this kid was getting the best of him. His last insult was double edged. His mother was dead. She had died in the same car crash he had that paralyzed his legs.

"At least my dad cares about me. When's the last time you saw your's?" Logan retorted.

He knew he was going too far. He knew he shouldn't have said that. His dad was possibly the least respected man in any of the career districts. Always out drinking, gambling, doing horrible things. A few months ago, there was a massive manhunt throughout the districts for him. They hadn't told them what they were searching for, but Logan had pieced together the rumours and clues.

That had been reckless of him to say. But Logan didn't care. The look on John's face was worth it.

John let out a string of words that would've gotten his mouth washed out with two tons of soap. Seething, he picked him up from his collar, and threw him against the wall. Logan felt the blows start, and tried to fight back, but it was no use. 

One bruise, two bruises, a black eye. He accidentally bit his lip, but refused to give a reaction. He could taste the blood in his mouth, but he didn't care. John carried him from his collar, again, and opened the door. They were out on the terrace.

"Wha-What are you doing?" Logan said, coughing out in pain.

A small smile crept onto John's face.

"It's time for you to join your mother."

John shoved his body against the invisible electric fence. A shock crawled across Logan's body, as he screamed in pain. He couldn't hold it in anymore. His nerve endings blew up from the overstimulation, and he felt his legs for the first time in a long time. 

The pain was unbearable, and just as he was about to die, John dropped to the ground. Behind him was the same girl from before, with a slingshot in her hand, and a rock that bounced off John's head.

"H-Help..." Logan choked out, slowly losing consciousness.

(I was totally going to leave you guys off here, but I haven't updated in a while, so I'll keep going. But you'll have to wait for training part two to see what's going to happen to Logan! Don't worry, he's not dead. At least I don't think so...)

...

Merari hit even closer to the bulls-eye. Her aim was getting better, but not good enough if she needed to survive. She had only tried the crossbow a few times at home. It was possibly the most reckless thing she had ever done, "borrowing" one from a Peacekeeper. She had returned it before he had noticed, luckily.

Meanwhile, Clay was using an axe. He threw it, and it went smack in the middle of the target. He yanked it out, and tried it on a dummy, slicing it's head clean off. Clay dropped the axe, and approached Awry.

"I'll cut to the chase. Do you want to be allies? I already have one with the District 8 boy." Clay said hopefully.

He had noticed her using the crossbow, and climbing up the wall. She was obviously trying not to show all of her skills, ditching the wall half way up when there were plenty of grips, and sometimes purposefully missing with the crossbow.

Awry looked over Clay. He was strong, and good with the axe. An ally would be useful, but it was another person she couldn't let die. She did need the help, though. It would be hard to fight by herself.

She wouldn't be responsible for the death of someone who had a family. The boy had skills, but not the strategic mind to utilize them fully.

"We break off when there's only a few tributes left." Merari said, deciding her final decision

They shook hands. Little did they know, a death would be caused by the promise they made.

...

Athena had watched everything from the camera, and stopped the guards from going to help Logan. She had even unlocked the door, from the safety of the control room. As she watched the girl with the slingshot get the boy in the head, she let out a fangirl squeal. Everything was falling into place. The most dramatic and viewed games in all of history were about to go down. 

She heard her comm buzz in and out, a clear voice ringing through the device. She smirked at her ingeniousness. The informer gave her all of the information, and she gave a full smile, one with real teeth and everything. Wynter would finally be proud, her brother would see he shouldn't have ran away.

Her own little rat, within the ranks of the group. This would do nicely.

...

Ooh, suspense. I'll keep the A/N's at a minimum. Maybe I should take a 5 year leave on this book. It would be a killer cliffhanger...

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