Max Cowan

Wex didn’t want people to realize just how scared he was, he wanted to seem unaffected by the whole thing. His reaping had been like a lightining in the middle of a hot summer day, unexpected and scary, and he still had to find a way to cope. Hence his inability to sleep.

Knowing full well that there was no way he could rest again (Not while he could still hear the screams of the workers trapped in the factory) he decided to visit the training room. Maybe working a sweat would help with his insomnia.

Once there he immediately saw a light near a table full of various items, most of them little more than trash in Wex’s eyes. And in front of the table a familiar figure, busy working on something that Wex still couldn’t see.

"You can’t sleep either?"

Wex shrugged, doing his best to hide the pained expression still haunting his eyes. “Yeah, too many thoughts on my mind. Guess I’m not the only one, though. You seem to have been at this for quite some time.” He shot a quick glance toward the table and moved to grab one of the improvised weapons lying there, the garrote wire. “Not bad, kid, not bad at all. If you use a longer wire you could set up a trap with this, you know: run fast enough against one of these things while they’re tied to a couple of trees and you won’t even notice your head being cut off from your body.”

“Why don’t you try it?” He suggested casually.  “I mean,  there is no point about sulking in the business.  Time is running,  so the best way to spend time is doing something that could help you out in the future”   The teen added trying to do his best effort to smile.  However, he failed miserably.  It was more than obvious he was not feeling as happy as he was pretending to.

"So, how you doing, Nym?"

Once again part of his speech was to gain Max’s friendship, but Wex found himself actually meaning most of the stuff he had just said. Sure, he wasn’t really hoping that Max would make it out alive (After all that would mean Wex’s death, wouldn’t it?), but the more he talked with the kid the more he took pity on him. Poor guy didn’t deserve this. No one did, actually, but Max in particular was just so… So young, and inexperienced, and… And he even said he wanted Wex to win.

Seeing young Tributes on screen was a lot different. Talking to them, getting to know them… For the first time Wex realized fully what it meant to be a Tribute: it wasn’t just about becoming a murderer in order to survive. The worst part was that you had time to get to know the people you would have to slaughter.

“Hey, dude, if you need people to talk to I’m here.” The smile on Wex’s face was a bit forced because of the depressing thoughts going through his mind, but it was genuine nonetheless. “I’m not like the other grown-ups. The way I see it, we’re not enemies until we set foot in the arena. And even then I’d want to avoid people rather than kill ‘em. I know I’m not going to be so lucky, of course, but…” Wex shrugged and dismissed the topic with a wave of his hand. “Well, it’s like you said: they’re probably going to backstab each other, so might as well let ‘em go on their murdering spree and face the last one standing after they’re done, no?”

“In a way, that will help you out.  Everybody is so hyper about jumping into the arena and killing each other”  He commented as he walked to a lonely part of the training room so they could talk far away from others because he didn’t want people to hear what he was just about to tell. “If you think about it,  that can work in your favor.  Many people don’t see the whole picture, and that can be part of their doom”  He gave the guy cryptic advice because he didn’t want to be way obvious he was helping him. In addition, he wanted to check how smart Wex was to read between the lines.

“I know by sure that people in your district work with axes, and please, do not lie to me telling me you don’t know anything about them, because at least you have seen people working with them”  He  stated calmly as he looked into her eyes.  “I’ve learned some stuff here, but it’s not the same to learn stuff from people who have lived in a place where they use axes everyday”  He added using a neutral tone of voice.

You’ll have to take in a huge amount of calories for going into the Games, kid. Eat before bed to prevent muscle catabolism. Your workouts should be short and intense focusing on big muscle groups. Workout with those weights and the ropes course. 

I still work out for Peacekeeping. The most effective part of my workout has been interval runs. That is where you power-up the treadmill and run as fast as you can for about six to ten seconds. Then you slow down for about 24 seconds, still keeping your heart rate up. You do this for a total of 10–15 minutes, depending on how conditioned you are. If you do it with the proper form, you’ll get a great overall workout, strengthen your heart and burn some calories. It’s intense. But you’ll have to watch since cardio burns calories and it’s hard for you to hold on to them. 

“Oh,  can you give me a second to write down that part?  I want to learn as much as I can, man”

“Perhaps I could try a candy before working out. That may do the trick.  And well, I want to get some meat on before I’ve sent in the arena.  The amount of calories I’ve spent in a day will be huge, I need my body to get some reserves if I want to make it”

“And thank you, by the way.  I like people talking to me very specifically about what to do.  It’s easier for me to follow something when I know exactly what to do”