The Hunger Games

Here it is. The moment you've been waiting for for so long now. Ever since your name was pulled out of that bowl, you've probably been imagining a number of different scenarios which might somehow call off the games. It didn't happen. Of course it didn't happen. So here you are. Welcome to Hell. In those first sixty seconds, the only thing you can really think about is how you will die, who will kill you and if they manage to scrape up all of your body to take back home.

This is your chance. Those first sixty seconds are when you decide. Because all you have to do is step out into that Cornucopia. You might not even feel it. It's a coward's way out, I know, but what is the alternative? You've had days to think about this and now you must make your decision. If you don't die now, you must be prepared for what lies ahead of you. It's kill or be killed. No matter how much you hate that, there is no way out of it.

Should you decide to stay and fight, I would suggest running. There's little more I can suggest really. You have done all the preparation you can possibly do. It's all led to this. The games have begun and the only thing you can do now is run. It shouldn't be too difficult. You've been doing it all your life. Running from the Peacekeepers and the Capitol and President Snow and everyone else who has oppressed you. Since birth, every citizen of Panem has run from their lives and from the Games. Now that you are here, you can't stop.

Here is when your alliances come in handy. If you've made them, good on you, but I wouldn't suggest sleeping for a while. Or turning your back. Or being within an arm's length of any of them. If you didn't make any alliances, that's not entirely bad either. Either way, everyone's out to kill you. And you in turn must kill them. Neither option looks terribly bright, but that isn't the point. The point is to show the people of Panem that the Capitol has won. You're just another chess piece. You all are.

Simply calling out to your mentor can make them send things to you, like water or bread. If you have sponsors, that is. But I have been telling all along to do well at the opening ceremony and in training and in the interview, haven't I? You can still survive without sponsors. It just means that you need initiative. And the ability to go without food or water for hours on end.

You training will obviously come in handy here if you need to camouflage yourself or figure out which foods are edible in the arena. Added to that, it helps if you've picked up a few fighting skills if you happened to have been inept beforehand.

As for the actual arena itself, I can't help you. It's different every year. It isn't called a game for nothing. The Gamemakers love to play with you. They love to manipulate you. They know what will make you scream, they know what will make you cry, and they know exactly what to do to send you into a murderous rage. It's all part of the show. If the people of Panem wish to see blood, then blood must be shown. But blood is never enough. They want to see pain and anger and raw emotion. They want to see you hurting in every sense of the word. That is why you don't get close to your allies. Not just because they cannot be trusted, but because they must die.

I can't help you any more. There is nothing left to help you with. You are on your own and I'm afraid you will be for the rest of your life should you win these games. If you win these games. No one will understand what you have been through. They can't. How can they? My only piece of advice that I can give you now is to never give up. As long as you still believe in your heart that they have not won, whether you die in the first sixty seconds or in the last, that is all that matters. The only thing that matters is that you show the Capitol that they have not won. That they will never win. You are not theirs to win, remember? They do not own you. Don't let them. Don't ever let them. Show them that you are strong. Show them that you are not their chess piece. Then, no matter what happens, you will have won the Hunger Games.

~The End~