Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Century Limit Race

After seeing this piece of news, I can no longer lie quietly on the bed.I wish I could do something, learn more about District 13, and be a part of the overthrow of the Capitol.Instead, I sat there with nothing to do, stuffing myself with cheese bread and watching Peeta draw.Haymitch came by occasionally, bringing news from the town, and it was usually bad news.Many more were punished, or slowly starved to death. By the time my feet can almost move around, winter is almost over.My mother let me practice walking, and sometimes let me walk by myself.One night when I went to bed I made up my mind to visit the city the next day, but when I awoke in the morning I found Vinia, Octavia and Flavi smiling at me.

"Surprise for you!" they screamed. "We're early!" Since my face was whipped, Haymitch managed to delay their trip for a few months until my wound healed.I thought they wouldn't be here for three weeks.But I can finally take wedding photos, I still try to look happy.Mom has already hung up all her wedding attire so it's readily available.To be honest, I haven't tried any of them yet. After the usual complaints about my worsening skin condition, they sprang into action.They were most concerned with my face, which despite Mom's painstaking care to keep the scars as small as possible, still had a pale pink mark on the cheekbone.Whipping is not common sense for everyone, so I told them I slipped on the ice and cut myself.Later, I realized that this could also be an excuse for breaking my heel, which means walking in high heels would be difficult.Fortunately, Flavius, Octavia and Venia are not the kind of suspicious people, and I am safe with them.

This time my body hair only needs to be shaved rather than plucked, as the photoshoot will only take hours instead of weeks.I'm going to have to soak in a bath for a while, but that's okay, we'll be getting to makeup and hair soon.My make-up artists, as usual, blather on with all kinds of news, which I usually try not to listen to.But Octavia's casual remark caught my attention. She said that there were no shrimps at a dinner party. "Why can't I eat shrimp? Is it out of season?" I asked. "Oh, Katniss, we haven't had seafood in weeks!" Octavia said, "You know, because the weather in District 4 has been terrible."

I immediately figured it out in my mind.No seafood.few weeks.from District Four.When we were in District 4, the crowd could barely contain their anger.Suddenly, I'm almost sure District Four has rebelled. I started casually asking them what difficulties they had this winter, they were not used to shortages, so some small interruption in supply would make them uncomfortable.By the time it was time for my wedding dress, their complaints had piled up—everything from crabs to music discs to ribbons, missing this or that—so much so that a real rebellion against which borough actually occurred, and my head a mess.Seafood comes from District 4, electrical components from District 3 and, of course, textiles from District 8.I was both excited and terrified at the thought of a possible rebellion in so many districts.

I wanted to ask more, but then Cinna came in, hugged me, and checked my makeup.He noticed the mark on my face right away.Somehow, I figured he wouldn't believe my excuse of falling on the ice, but he didn't ask.He just reapplied the powder on my face, and the faint mark disappeared. The downstairs living room was cleaned, brightly lit and ready for the photo shoot.Effie commanded everyone to take their positions, and everything went according to plan and in an orderly manner.There are six sets of wedding dresses in total, and each set requires matching headgear, shoes, jewelry, hairstyle, makeup, scenery, and lighting.Cream ribbon with pink roses and curls.Ivory ribbon with gold tattoos and greenery.Diamond ornaments and jeweled veils shall shine in the moonlight.A heavy silk wedding dress with long sleeves falling to the floor should be accompanied by pearl jewelry.After shooting one wedding dress, we immediately started preparing the next one.I feel like a piece of dough, being kneaded and molded into different shapes by others.My mother feeds me something and drinks some tea while I am busy.After the final wedding photo shoot, I was already hungry and tired.I wanted to be alone with Cinna, but Effie kicked everyone out, so I told Cinna to call him later.

It was nightfall, and I had worn those damn shoes all day, and my feet were so sore that I had to stop thinking about going to town.I went upstairs, washed off the thick makeup, moisturizer, dye, and went downstairs to dry my hair by the fireplace.Prim came home from school just in time to see me shoot the last two wedding dresses, and she was sitting on the sidelines chatting with her mother.They were all excited about taking wedding photos.It wasn't until I got into bed that they were so happy because they thought I was safe, and the Capitol didn't care that I was involved in flogging Gale, because anyway, they wouldn't care about a man who was about to be executed. People spend so much effort.That's right, it is.

At night, in a nightmare, I ran through the forest wearing a torn silk wedding dress that was full of mud, and my long sleeves kept getting caught in thorns.A group of "tributes" turned into wild dogs approached me step by step, and finally threw me to the ground, panting heavily towards my face, their sharp teeth were about to stab my body, I woke up screaming . It was almost dawn, and there was no need to sleep any more.Besides, today I have to go out and talk to people.Gail's down the well, and he can't be found.I've been stuffing myself with everything that's happened since the last time I went to the lake, and I need to find Haymitch or Peeta or someone to share my troubles with.Illegal escapees, the power grid, the separate Thirteenth District, Capitol shortages, everything.

I ate breakfast with my mom and Prim and headed out.The breeze is warm outside, and there is already a breath of spring.Spring should be a good time to start a riot.The severe winter has passed, and everyone's hearts are gradually becoming stronger.Peeta isn't home, I guess he's gone to town.Arriving at Haymitch's house, still surprised to see him walking around the kitchen so early.I didn't knock on the door, just walked in.I could hear Hazel busy upstairs, sweeping the floor of the immaculately cleaned room.Haymitch wasn't very drunk, but he still wobbled when he walked.Rumor has it that Ripper is back in the bootlegging business, and I'm guessing it's true.I was wondering if I should tell him to go to bed when he said he was going for a walk around town.

Now Haymitch and I have a good understanding, and we can express each other without saying a lot.In a few minutes I told him everything, and he told me about the riots in Districts 7 and 11.If my predictions are correct, at least half of the jurisdictions are preparing to rebel. "You still think you can't do it in our district?" I asked. "It can't be done. The other districts are much bigger, and even if half of the people stay at home, they still have a chance of winning. But here, District 12, we all have to act, or what It can't be done," he said. There are not enough of us, which I hadn't thought about before. "But at some point, maybe we can," I insisted.

"Maybe, but our district is small, our strength is weak, and we don't produce nuclear weapons." Haymitch said, with a mocking tone. "What do you think they'll do, Haymitch? What about those rebellious jurisdictions?" I asked. "Here, you've heard how they deal with District Eight, and you've seen what they're doing here, and that's without angering them," Haymitch said. "If things really get out of control, I don't think they'd hesitate to wipe out a precinct, like they did with the Thirteenth. It's an example, you understand?"

"So, you really think District 13 was destroyed? I mean, Bonnie and Turrell were right about the Mockingjay guess in the TV show," I said. "Well, even if it is, what does that mean? Nothing. There could be many reasons why they use old TV. Maybe it makes the film look more realistic, and it's a lot easier to make, doesn't it?" ?It's easier to press a few buttons in the editing room than to fly there to make a film?" He said, "The Thirteenth District is resurrected again, and the Capitol doesn't care? Sounds a lot like those desperate people. fantasy." "I understand, but I still hope..." I said. "Yeah, because you're desperate too," Haymitch said. I didn't argue any further because, of course, he was right. Prim leaves school, excited because the teacher says there is an official must-see TV show tonight. "It must be the show where you take wedding photos!" "No way, Prim. They just did it yesterday," I tell her. "Well, everyone has heard of it," she said. I really hope she's not telling the truth.I haven't had time to tell Gale to prepare him mentally for all this.Since the last time he was whipped, the only time I've seen him is when he comes to the house for my mother to examine the wound, and he's often on the mine for seven days at a time.Only being alone with him for a few minutes while I walked him back to town, I deduced that the riots in District 12 might have died because of Stride's suppression.He knew I would never run away again.And he also knew that if there were no riots in the 12th district, then I was destined to be Peeta's bride.How would he feel when he saw pictures of me lounging on the couch in my gorgeous wedding dress? At seven o'clock, we got together to watch TV on time, and it turned out that Prim was right.As always, the occasion was bound to include Kaiser Flickman, who announced my upcoming wedding to an overjoyed crowd in the square in front of the training center.The audience is crowded and there is only standing room.Caesar also introduced the audience to Cinna, who became an overnight celebrity for designing my clothes.After a minute of lighthearted talk, he turned everyone's attention to a giant screen. I saw on the big screen the scene of my wedding photo shoot yesterday, and also saw the whole preparation process for tonight's special program.Initially, Cinna designed twenty-four outfits.Since then, the process of continuously screening wedding dress design patterns, making clothing and designing matching accessories has begun.Obviously, in the Capitol, people can vote for their favorite clothing designs at various stages of screening wedding dresses. In the end, the most exciting six outfits are selected, and the wedding photos of these six outfits are played in the program at a very fast speed. .When the wedding photos were shown, the audience reacted very strongly.They scream and cheer when they see a wedding dress they like, and boo when they don't.Everyone has to vote and even bet on the final winning work, so the audience is very emotional.I wonder why I didn't even try on these wedding dresses before taking pictures.Caesar concluded by announcing that interested spectators had until noon the next day to cast their last vote. "Let's pick out the most beautiful wedding dress for Katniss Everdeen!" he shouted to the audience.I was about to turn off the TV when Caesar told everyone to stay by the TV for another big news tonight. "Yes, the seventy-fifth Hunger Games will be held this year, which means that the third Hunger Games Century Xtreme will be held!" "What are they going to do?" Prim asked. "The game is still months away." We turned to our mother, who had a stern expression on her face, her thoughts seemed to go back to the distant past. "It must be time to read the card." The national anthem sounded, President Snow walked to the front desk, and my heart was in my throat.Behind him is a little boy in a white suit, holding a wooden box.After the national anthem, President Snow began to speak.He reminded everyone to keep in mind the "Dark Years", when the Hunger Games began and the rules of the Hunger Games were formulated, namely: every twenty-five years, there will be a "Century Extreme Competition" of the Hunger Games. ", the extreme competition is more grand than any previous competition, to remember the people who lost their lives by the rebellion. No subject is more sensitive than this, and I suspect there have been rebellions in the last few districts. President Snow continued to review the situation of the previous "Century Xtreme Games". "In the twenty-fifth edition of The Hunger Games Century Xtreme, to remind those rebels that it was their own atrocities that cost their children their lives, elections are held in each precinct and voted for A tribute to the game." I don't know what that's like, picking children to die, I think, having your neighbors hand you over is more unacceptable than drawing lots from a glass ball. "At the Fifty Hunger Games Extreme," the President continued, "to remind the rebels that one Capitol citizen lost his life for every two rebels killed, each district was asked to elect twice the usual tribute." I envision facing forty-seven players in the arena instead of twenty-three.That must have brought greater death threats, less hope of surviving, and the end result was that more children died in the game.And this is the year Haymitch wins... "I had a friend in the competition that year," Mom said softly, "Mesley Donner, her parents owned a candy store, and they gave me her bird after that, a canary. " Prim and I exchanged glances.The first time we heard the name of Maisley Donner, maybe my mother was afraid to tell us before, because she was afraid that we would find out how she died. "Now, we are going to start the grand third century extreme race." The president said.The little boy in a white suit held the wooden box in his hand and took a step forward. The president opened the box.We can see rows of yellow envelopes neatly stacked in the box.Whoever designed Century Xtreme prepared the game for centuries to live on.The President picked up an envelope clearly marked seventy-five, ran his finger across the flap, and pulled out a small square card.Afterwards, without a moment's pause, he read: "To remind the rebels that not even the strongest of them can defeat the Capitol, the seventy-fifth Hunger Games Century Xtreme tribute will be chosen from among the existing victors out." Mom let out a little cry, and Prim buried her face in her hands, but I felt more like a viewer on TV.I'm a little bit misunderstood.What does it mean?Existing winners? Then I understood and understood what it meant.At least, for me, it is.There are only three winners in District 12, two men and one woman... I'm going back to the arena again.