Голодные игры

           Iwonderhowlongwe’llgetuntilthenextcatastrophedrivesusbacktogether.Ifit’sgoingtobetonight,Iwanttogetsomesleepfirst.Icovermygoodeartoblockoutthestrainsoftheanthem,butthenIhearthetrumpetsandsitstraightupinanticipation.

           Forthemostpart,theonlycommunicationthetributesgetfromoutsidethearenaisthenightlydeathtoll.Butoccasionally,therewillbetrumpetsfollowedbyanannouncement.Usually,thiswillbeacalltoafeast.Whenfoodisscarce,theGamemakerswillinvitetheplayerstoabanquet,somewhereknowntoallliketheCornucopia,asaninducementtogatherandfight.Sometimesthereisafeastandsometimesthere’snothingbutaloafofstalebreadforthetributestocompetefor.Iwouldn’tgoinforthefood,butthiscouldbeanidealtimetotakeoutafewcompetitors.

           ClaudiusTemplesmith’svoiceboomsdownfromoverhead,congratulatingthesixofuswhoremain.Butheisnotinvitingustoafeast.He’ssayingsomethingveryconfusing.There’sbeenarulechangeintheGames.Arulechange!Thatinitselfismindbendingsincewedon’treallyhaveanyrulestospeakofexceptdon’tstepoffyourcircleforsixtysecondsandtheunspokenruleaboutnoteatingoneanother.Underthenewrule,bothtributesfromthesamedistrictwillbedeclaredwinnersiftheyarethelasttwoalive.Claudiuspauses,asifheknowswe’renotgettingit,andrepeatsthechangeagain.

           Thenewssinksin.Twotributescanwinthisyear.Ifthey’refromthesamedistrict.Bothcanlive