Chapter 3

"In two weeks, thirty-one of you will be dead. One of you will be alive. And who that is, depends on how well you pay attention over the next few days. Particularly to what I am about to say. First, no fighting with the other tributes will be allowed. You'll have plenty of time for that in the arena. There are four compulsary excercises. The rest will be individual training. My advice is, don't ignore the survival skills. Everbody wants to grab a sword but most of you will die from natural causes. Ten percent from an infection, twenty percent from dehydration. Exposure kills easily as a knife."

When the intructer says that we can begin our training session, almost all the tributes went straight for stations with weapons. But Leetuek had said that Luhan and I should stay clear of those stations. We were to cover our abilities and focus on survival skills.

Some of the tributes already got injured. And we're not even in the arena yet. Some of the tributes had no athletic ability but are super smart. So smart that they can kill without using any violence.

With these tributes, I can't let my guard down. Not even for a second.

"How are we going to win?" Luhan asks as we eat our dinner.

"Well, obviously the career tributes are really good. They've won in almost every year." Leetuek says.

"Almost?"

"They can be arrogant. And arrogance can be a big, big problem." Leetuek looks over to me. "I hear you can shoot."

"I'm okay."

"She's better than okay. My Dad buys her squirrels." Luhan's talking me up. Why is he doing that? "She gets them right in the eye. Everytime."

He smiles at me. "Well, I know that you're pretty handy with a knife." I start.

He was taken by surprise. "How did you know that?"

This time, I smile at him. "I know what you do in the woods." Luhan's the third person that I know who goes into the woods frequently although it's illegal. I didn't say anything else after that since we both know very well not to talk about illegal stuff in front of Lady. She is still one of the Capitol people afterall.

I look up from my trap I setted as Jonghyun brutally slices the heads of the dummies he's practising on. Onew, the guy from District 1, throws a spear and it hit at the center point directly. Impressive. I see another one of the Careers. Key, I think. I watch as he tries shooting an arrow at the point. This outta be good. He misses. But it is still dangerously close to the center point which if he's shooting me in that way, I'd be dead in a second.

I pay attention to another one of the Careers. The one from 4, Taemin. He's at the knife-throwing station. When the dummies started moving around, Taemin throws knifes at them, hitting directly at the center point. He's almost as good as Luhan. Now I know that the Careers have an extremely sharp aim, I am truly worried. If a run from them, it doesn't matter if they catch up with me or not. They just have to throw their arrow or spear or knife at me or if they catch up with me, slice me with a sword and I'm dead.

I walk over to a station where you learn how to start fires. I already know perfectly well on how to do just that. The reason for me going there is because Luhan's there. Leetuek instructed us to stick together as much as we can but I go there just wanting to see Luhan. He sees me coming and gives me a friendly wave.

I notice that he's not alone. He's with another guy. I remember seeing him on the TV at the District 16 Reaping. But I can't remember his name.

"Hey, Sooyoung."

"Hey."

Luhan sees my eyes darting from 16 to him. "Oh! Um, this is Sehun. From District 16."

"Nice to meet you." Sehun gives me a small smile. I nod in response.

"Leetuek thinks it's a good idea to have allies." Luhan explains. "So I was thinking maybe Sehun could make a good allie. He's strong, he's quick and he's smart."

"I see. But what about the other tribute from your district?" I ask Sehun.

"Oh. She's over there." Sehun points over to the edible plants station where a young girl is training. "Her name's Seohyun."

"How old is she?"

"13."

"And you?"

"I'm 16. Same as you guys." I look around the training centre. There's no one who looks 12. My guess is she's probably the youngest tribute in this year. "She's actually my responsibility. I promised her family that as long as I'm alive, I would try to keep her alive as well."

"You probably shouldn't have promised that."

"Why not? You don't think I'm capable of keeping her and myself alive?"

"Not after what I saw the Careers can do."

"What? What did you see?"

"They have crazy precise aims. I mean like super precise. If they spot you, it's all over. Even if you run, they don't need to catch you. They'd just have throw a spear or a knife at you and you're dead."

"So we don't stand a chance against them at all."

"Our only hope for survival is if we can hide from them. Or maybe camofladge."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Luhan stands up. "Let's go to the camofladge station."

"Tomorrow, they'll bring you in one by one. This is important. Higher ratings will mean sponsors. This is the time to show them your strengths. To show them your ability." Leetuek turns to me. "There'll be bow, make sure you use it." He turns to Luhan next. "Luhan, make sure you show them your abilities with knifes. They'll start with District 1 so the two of you will have to wait for 10 people to go first. And one more thing, make sure they remember you."

The next day of our training, the Peacekeepers calls us out of lunch for our private sessions with the Gamemakers. District by district, first the girl tribute then the guy. Me, Luhan and the other tributes linger in the waiting room, unsure of where else to go. Nobody comes back after they have left. All of us sit in silence until a Peacekeeper summons me. I smooth my hair, set my shoulders back and stand up to go into the gymnasium.

"Remember, Sooyoung. Show your strength." Luhan whispers before I leave. I nod in response. "Good luck." He gives me a reassuring smile.

"You too."

I walk into the gyumnasium and immediately know that I'm in a situation. The Gamemakers already look extremely tired. Some of them had way too much wine. There's really nothing much I can do except go to the archery station. Oh, how I can't wait to get my hands on that bow and those arrows. I take the bow and string it. I spot the dummies I'm supposed to shoot. I pull back on the bow and know that something's wrong. The strings is a lot tighter than the ones I use back at home. The arrow's a lot more stiff. I miss the dummy by a few centimeters and the few Gamemakers who had been paying attention laughs at me.

I am totally embarrased.

But I try again, confident that I can hit a bull's eye and I do. I turn to the Gamemakers. Very few of them are nodding in approval, but the others are more interested on a roast pig that has just arrived on their table. I can feel anger rising up in me. They are going to be one of the causes of my death and they won't even pay attention to me.

Without thinking, I send an arrow to the Gamemakers's table. I hear gasps of alarm as people almost fell. The arrow skewers the apple and pins it onto the wall. They stare at me with shocked faces. "Thank you for your consideration." I say almost sarcastically. I give a bow and walk straight towards the exit without behing dismissed.

"Are you crazy?!" Lady screams at me.

"I just got angry." I simply say. Lady then gives me a lecture on manners which a tune out to since I don't want to hear her annoying voice. I look over to Eunhyuk, who's sitting beside on the couch with me. He rolls his eyes as Lady goes on and on about behaving.

Leetuek arrives and the yapping from Lady finally stops. I expected a lecture from Leetuek too but instead, he gives me a thumbs up. "Nice shooting, sweetheart." Two things that I don't get. One, why is still calling me that? Two, did he just praised for shooting an arrow at the Gamemakers? "What did they do after you shot the arrow?"

"Well, they looked pretty startled." I say.

Leetuek instantly cracks up. "And you said the 'Thanks for you consideration' thing?" He asks. I nod. "Genius!" He smiles widely. "Genius."

"So... What would they do to me?"

"Most likely torture you in the arena."

"That doesn't really matter though since that's exactly what the Death Game's about." Luhan points out.

"True." Leetuek nods. "You know, sweetheart," There it is again. "I would've given anything to see it." He winks.

After dinner, we go to the living room to watch the scores being announced on TV. First they show a photo of the tribute then they flash the scores below it.

The order does not go by districts. The male Careers natuarally get in the 8 to 10 range. The female Careers get in the 4 to 6 range. The other tributes get in the 5 to 7 range. Mostly the females. The males get in the 7 to 9 range. Sehun gets an impressive 10 and Seohyun surprisingly gets a good 9. District 6 comes last. Luhan strikes with an impressive 10. The same as Sehun. Leetuek, Lady, Eunhyuk and the other stylist, Amber congratulates him. I bite my lip as my face comes next. I was expecting a 5 or maybe something below that. To my absolute astonishment, they flash an 11.

11. They actually flashed an 11.

Lady lets out a squeal. Everybody cheers for me and congratulates me. Luhan unsuspectingly gives me a hug. "Congratulations, Sooyoung."

"Congratulations to you too." I smile. I turn to Leetuek. "I thought they hated me."

"Well they must've have liked your temper. They have got a show to put on so they need players with fire."

Luhan and I have done well. But what does it really mean? Does it mean the Careers will try to form an alliance with us? Does it mean we'll be targeted in the arena by the Gamemakers? Or does it mean that we'll have chances of winning? But still, only one can win. And that makes me think about Sehun. And about Seohyun. And it also makes me think about Luhan. The thought of killing them, especially Luhan, makes me sick. I'll just have to hope that I don't make anymore friends.

And that I have to kill this feeling I have about Luhan before I kill him.

Hello, everyone. So the games have started. Well, not technically. The REAL games hasn't start yet. I hope you guys are excited as I am for it. What does the last sentence of this chapter means, I'll leave it to you guys to figure it out. But keep in mind that that sentence will be kinda important in the next chapter. *winkwink*
Also, if you're curious about the tributes and which districts they are in, I might reveal them in the next chapter if you guys want.
So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to check out the next one when it comes out. :)
Btw, I'm supposed to update daily but yesterday I didn't. Why? Because it was the 2013 MAMA. Did anyone else screamed when EXO arrived and performed with SHINee? lol.