Something’s Gotta Give
Austin had barely left the viewing room since the tributes were thrown into the arena. His eyes were glued to the screen, watching every move of every tribute, and keeping close tabs of his own. This happened every year, but there was something special about his tributes this year. Gem was smart and determined. Though the two didn’t get along well, he had to give it to the kid, Gem had the natural skills to get him through the games. That was something that most tributes from the lower districts lacked; something special. He didn’t need the training Austin had to offer, it wouldn’t have gotten him any further than he could have gone on his own.
Then there was Alva. There was something in her that reminded Austin of himself. Determined to make sure his partner went home, even if it meant losing his own life in the process. Being constantly reminded that he wasn’t the one that people wanted to come home. There was no doubt everyone from the district would have rather Austin’s partner come home than him. He was the underdog, the one who souldn’t have one. And he could see all of those things in Alva. He knew exactly what he needed to do to train her. She needed to find a way to believe in herself and Austin was determined to find a way to give her even the slightest bit of that.
As the numbers of tributes quickly began dropping, Austin kept waiting for the moment that one of them would go. With the Career pack together, there were plenty of chances for them to be killed. But through everything, they somehow found a way to escape death. Together, they made a team that made them a threat. Austin watched the Gamemakers kill off the other tributes. With the strength of his own tributes, he was waiting for the moment they felt the need to take them out. But again, they found a way around everything that was thrown their way.
The competition continued being killed off and Austin’s hopes were being built up even more than before. His tribute had a chance and he could see that. But no matter how high his hopes got, Austin knew there was only one tribute coming out of the arena and the chances of one of those being his own tribute were still low.
Austin sat next to the bar as the games continued. Gem had just killed Ember and now his tributes were back together. But something was off. Gem was losing it and every time a tribute began to lose it, there were only two ways the situation could go. It would either take him over and he would kill everyone without a second though to it, or he wouldn’t be able to take it and just end it all. As the two tributes spoke, the later proved to be where it was headed. Austin watched as Gem begged Alva to end it for him, to kill him. And within minutes, she followed through with his request. “Dammnit.” He muttered under his breath. One of his tributes were now gone. “You could’ve done it, kid. You could’ve made it.” Austin was now talking out loud to the screen as if Gem could hear the words he was saying.
Alva was now alone and he knew that was dangerous. Austin had a full glass in his hand by the time Alva came across Trillium. The interactions went down hill fast and Austin knew that only one of the girls was going to make it. It didn’t take long before they were going at it and Trillium had gained the upper hand. Austin’s hand tightly gripped around the glass as he watched the fight continue on. And as Alva lost the battle, he finally lost it. Both of his tributes were now gone. His two best tributes in years were dead.
Austin could feel the tears starting to well up in his eyes as he watched Alva take her last breath, muttering out an apology to Austin. He took in a deep breath, before his temper finally got the better of him. The glass in his hand went flying across the room and hit the wall. With a loud sound, it shattered to pieces and Austin pushed him self to his feet. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he tried to find anything he could take his anger out on. First it was the wall, he hit his fist against it, the pain shooting through his entire hand. He clenched his fists as his anger began to subside and he let his back lean against the wall. His face was soaked with tears as he lowed himself to the ground and let his head sit in his hands. It wasn’t fair. His tributes should have won. He poured everything he had into these kids and he had gotten his hopes up that one of them would win. He was stupid to even think they had a chance. Everyone knew Austin was a failure. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to produce a victor for the district. He would be the last victor District Five would have. “Shit, Alva.”
