Filed To Story: Sunrise on the Reaping Book PDF Free
“I didn’t mean that. Sorry.”
“You needn’t apologize for being astute. I’m just glad you’re paying attention.”
I feel the Peacekeeper move on. “Wiress said there would be clues about the arena in training.”
“Well, I would listen to her. Having been her mentor, I know how clever she is.” He holds up a nail. “This is galvanized. Coated in zinc. Don’t let it touch the coin. These needn’t be a coin and a nail. What you need is copper and zinc. Strips of metal work just as well. You might be able to forage some in the arena, if you get beneath the scenery.” He sticks the nail into the potato, a few inches from the coin. I follow suit.
“She also says every arena is just a machine.”
“Yes, they’re all machines of a sort.”
I think back to our conversation in the kitchen, when I said I wanted to outsmart the machine and make the Capitol look stupid. Now that just seems like an empty gesture. Wiress spent a whole Games doing that, far better than I ever could, and what did it get us? Besides, whatever little thing I might manage, it’d be too easy to keep off camera. The real coup would be to . . . “So, if it’s a machine, it can be broken, right?”
Beetee eyes Ampert. “Yes, in theory. Practice is always a bit trickier. Now let’s connect our potatoes.” He attaches the wire from his coin to my nail and links a third wire to his nail.
Suddenly, I remember a clip of Beetee’s Games. He somehow scavenged parts from his arena and electrocuted all his remaining competitors. I realize if I’m serious about breaking the machine, I will need this man who once not only outsmarted, but hijacked his own arena. Because even if I’m naturally smart enough, I’m still just a poorly educated boy from the hills, who had no idea you could turn a potato into a battery.
“How, Beetee? How can I break it?” I say under my breath. “I don’t know anything about machines.”
“I’m sure you do without realizing it. A screw is a simple machine. A wheel and axle. A lever. Are you familiar with a water pump?”
“Too familiar.”
“That’s a lever. It helps create a partial vacuum and water is drawn upward. Some machines take more know-how than others.”
“I know how a white liquor still works. Does that count?”
I catch a ghost of a smile. “I don’t see why not.” Beetee takes the wire from my coin and the one from his nail and attaches them each to one of the little wires poking out of the base of a tiny bulb. “And here we go.” It emits a faint glow.
Ma would love this. Think of the money we could save on candles. But this will not destroy an arena.
“What would break it, Beetee?” I press.
Beetee leans over, lifts his glasses, and peers under them as he scrutinizes the battery. “The circuit? Well, you’d only need to disconnect one piece – say, remove a wire – and the whole battery goes dead.” I realize there’s another Peacekeeper behind me, and Beetee’s words are for her benefit. “Remember, we’re converting chemical energy into electrical energy to illuminate the bulb. You need to keep the circular path intact.”
The Peacekeeper moves in closer, her nose inches from the battery now, her interest attracting a quartet of tributes in peach outfits. District 8. My unofficial allies, if things work out.
“Can we try that?” one asks.
“Of course,” says Beetee. “Well, thank you for dropping by, Haymitch. Come back if you’d like to practice. And happy belated sixteenth birthday.” I guess Ampert told him. He holds out his hand for me to shake. “That’s funny. I was reaped the day you were born.”
As I grasp his hand, I feel something, palm it, and conceal it in my pocket. “Thanks, sir,” I say before walking away, my fingers probing the plastic packet, bumpy with coins and nails. A little birthday present from Beetee. If I can find some way to smuggle it into the arena, convince people I scavenged the stuff – the coins might be tricky but I can maybe dig up some other copper – and find a potato, I’ll be halfway to a really dim bulb. I’m pretty sure my flint striker’s a faster route to light, but possibly those kids from 8 could use it.
Up on the bleachers, Maysilee puts the finishing touches on an expertly woven braided necklace. Truly, it could pass as anyone’s token from home. She holds it up for inspection.
Ampert strokes it in admiration. “It’s beautiful. And perfectly symmetrical. I wouldn’t believe it’s all one strand. You’re really clever!”
“And you have good taste,” she says, slipping it over his head.
“I wish you were my sister,” he says simply.
A funny look crosses her face. Bet she’s never heard those words before. I wait for a cutting remark, but she only says, “I’ll be your sister.”
“Great. I’m going to show my father!” Ampert gives her a hug, which she stiffly returns, then runs off.
Her brow wrinkles. “His father?”
“It really is his pa,” I tell her. “Remember Beetee, the victor from District Three? Got out of line. They’re punishing him by making him mentor Ampert.”
“That’s a special kind of vicious. Would you want your family to be here?”
“I can’t think of anything worse.”
A Gamemaker announces lunch and we’re directed back to our assigned bleachers, where a Peacekeeper delivers four boxes. I’m still full of breakfast, my gut hurts from Panache’s attack, and the sight of Louella’s unclaimed lunch box kills my remaining appetite.
A parade of blue, brown, peach, and red uniforms makes its way to the foot of our bleachers. I sort out 3, 7, 8, 10.
“Can we join you?” asks Ampert.
“Sure,” I say. If they’re going to be our allies, be good if we can bond a little. They clamber up beside us and everybody shares their names, most of which I immediately forget. The kids from 10 are bruised and scabby from the chariot debacle but look like a sturdy enough bunch.
From the next section, District 11 pretends to ignore us, but as they’ve all gone quiet, I guess they’re eavesdropping. Trying to figure out what kind of allies we’d make.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.