Filed To Story: Sunrise on the Reaping Book PDF Free
“I set the odds for gambling events back in Twelve. I give odds on who will win the Hunger Games.”
“You do?” asks Drusilla skeptically.
“I do.”
“So, who do you recommend our audience bet on?”
Wyatt takes a deep breath and rattles off his projections. “Well, it’s tempting to go for the low-hanging fruit. The odds will always look good for most of the Careers. Like Panache from District One, the largest tribute, trained, high score, I’d give him eleven-to-five odds, which means he has a thirty-one-point-two-five percent chance of winning. Or Maritte from Four, she’s obviously a contender, with her physique and an eleven from the Game-makers, probably an indication that she’s exceptional with a trident. I’d say six to one, or a fourteen-point-two-nine percent.”
“Hmph. Fancy math, but nothing new there,” says Drusilla. “Everybody knows the Careers are a good bet.”
“Obviously,” returns Wyatt. “But what’s made these Games a novelty is that all forty-eight tributes have locked into alliances before the start. Nothing like this has ever happened before. The Careers are powerful, yes, but the Newcomers outnumber them two to one. If I was betting, sure, I’d take a look at the Careers, but if the alliances really hold, if the tributes really defend each other to the death, anyone has a shot. And if you’re not afraid of some risk, it’s better bang for your buck if you back a more obscure Newcomer because the odds are not in their favor, so they’ll pay off higher in the end.”
“Give me a name,” says Drusilla.
“Haymitch Abernathy,” says Wyatt.
“He scored a one.”
“Exactly. With no apparent handicaps. He’s physically fit and his behavior suggests a boldness that disturbs the Gamemakers.”
Thrown, I interject, “You don’t have to do that, Wyatt.”
“I’m not doing anything, Haymitch. This is my honest assessment of your chances. Maysilee’s not a bad bet either.”
“What about yourself?” asks Drusilla.
“Oh, I wouldn’t bet on me,” admits Wyatt. “I simply -“
“No!” cuts in Wiress. “Don’t underrate yourself, Wyatt. No other tribute can do what you just did. Play up how intelligence matters. Reference me. Say Wiress won the Games last year without shedding a drop of blood. Brains matter.”
Wyatt thinks this over a moment, then turns to Drusilla. “Here’s the thing. At any given moment in the Hunger Games, I will know everybody’s odds, how they stack up against each other, and how likely they are to receive gifts. It should keep me from making a lot of stupid mistakes. That’s my advantage. It’s up to you if you’re smart enough to see it.”
“Good,” says Wiress. “Yes. Position yourself as the smart choice for bettors. People who pride themselves on being smart will respond to that.”
When it’s Maysilee’s turn, she and Drusilla stare daggers at each other, but refrain from exchanging blows.
“So, Miss Donner, what do you think of the Capitol?”
“I think I can’t believe people with so much money have such bad taste. Here you are with mountains of cash, and this is where you wound up?” She gives Drusilla’s outfit – a red-and-white-striped jumpsuit with a matching beanie – the once-over. “You look like you jumped right off our candy counter back home. Just a peppermint-stick nightmare, you are.”
Drusilla’s hand goes to her collar. “You’re not going to make any friends with this approach, you little shrew.”
“Who said I wanted friends? I’m here to make people remember me, ‘member? It’s not just you, it’s everyone I saw from the chariot. Garish color, unflattering lines. And there are some fashion choices you people are going to regret. Why you’d want to resemble a barnyard animal is beyond me, but I hope those goat horns are removable. And to the woman with the diamonds implanted along her teeth? People age, there’s no shame in that, but I think those stones are going to make eating a trial when those gums recede.”
“So, we should be emulating what – District Twelve?” sputters Drusilla.
“Heavens, no. People who don’t have two cents to rub together can hardly be expected to dress well. Although there’s not a miner in Twelve who doesn’t have a better physique than the people I witnessed in that crowd. All the surgery in the world won’t change that.”
“What -?”
“And all the money in the world won’t buy good taste. Clearly. Some people in Twelve have a lot more than what I’m witnessing here.”
“Are you done?” Drusilla says.
“Honestly, I have barely warmed up.”
“Sit down.”
It’s Wiress who concludes, “It’s a risky strategy, but yes, they’ll remember you.”
Mags comes back, holding a handkerchief dotted in blood. “She’s drifted off. I don’t know what they’ve got in her ear, but it’s starting to bleed.”
Drusilla waves her off. “Again, not my department. You’re up, Abernanny. So, Twelve has a lunatic, a computer, and a shrew.What are you?”
“Bad news, apparently,” I say. “Else how’d I get a one in training?”
Mags coaches me. “Yes, that’s good, highlight it immediately. Own it.”
“Well, how did you?” asks Drusilla.
“Earned it. The Gamemakers don’t like me. It probably started when I messed with a Peacekeeper during the reaping.”
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.