Ch 5. The Train: After I say goodbye to the Dants I am ushered down the hallway to wait for Thalia. I see a boy our age leave her room with a grin on his face. I am filled with rage; she is led from the room and is sat next to me. "So you're a slut and a backstabber" I whisper to her angrily. She reaches into her pocket and takes out the box. She puts it on my lap "I assume you'd want this back" she says avoiding my gaze. We sit in silence for a time before she speaks again: "What are we going to do Wyatt" she says as she tries not to cry. "WE?" I almost shout in disbelief. "There is no WE you made sure of that, I may not kill you in the arena Thalia but I am DONE saving you" I say to her hatefully. She bursts into tears but I ignore her. The guards return and usher us to the train, I am finally unshackled but I am surrounded by guards. We are photographed and filmed as we make our way from the Justice Building to the train. I am about to board the train when I stop myself. I turn back to the crowd, the capitol workers, and the people of the District. All eyes seem to be on me. "QUELL SAYS REBEL!" I scream to the shocked crowd, then I am tazed and dragged into the train. One of the guards throws me on the ground and starts to kick me. "Enough" I hear a familiar voice say. "He is a tribute now, he cannot be injured until the arena" The female guard from before says. "You may call me Captain Coin" she says as she glares at me. "You are rather young for a captain" I reply. "What can I say I have great connections" she grins at me wickedly. Her silver hair looking so odd against her young face, She seems barely older than me. She seems to not even notice Thalia. "Because District Three has yet to earn a mentor, I will act as that as well as your escort, but do not expect me to save you. If it were up to me, criminals like the two of you would be killed on the spot" she hisses at us then storms from the room.
As the train departs Avoxes file into the room holding tray after tray of food and drinks, "Silver Lining" I say happily as I jump up and almost run to the table I start cramming food into my mouth, I barely seem to chew. I hear noises of disgust from the guards behind me. I turn to them, take a half chewed roll from my mouth and throw it at them. They dive out of the way then raise their weapons. It seems to take every ounce of their control not to pull the trigger. I stand there and smile at them mockingly, almost daring them to pull the trigger. I would prefer a quick end instead of what the Capitol has in store for me. When they lower their weapons I return to the food with gusto. "If I am going to die, I am going to die fat" I say to myself in between bites.
I look back to see Thalia sitting in the corner hugging her legs to herself. I instinctively want to go and comfort her, but then I remember what she did and my hate towards her returns in full force. I want to ignore her until the arena. She is not my problem anymore, she made sure of that, but my curiosity gets the better of me. When I finish eating I go and sit next to her. She looks at me but says nothing. "So" I say after a time "Who was that guy anyway" I ask simply. She looks at me and wipes the tears from her eyes. "I don't know, I thought you sent him. He kept calling me a traitorous bitch." She says. "Well you are a traitorous bitch" I reply. "What exactly did they have to do to get you to turn in the man you claimed to love" I say trying to keep my voice calm. The guards seem interested in why themselves. As if it is their own personal soap opera. She says nothing and avoids my gaze. "ANSWER ME" I scream at her. She jumps when I yell at her but she slowly starts to speak. "I guess there was a mole in the group that hired you or maybe they set us up I don't know", she says as if trying to find the right words. "Barely ten minutes after you left for the job the peacekeepers showed up. They wanted answers about you, they said they would kill me if I didn't tell them, you would have done the same!" She screams at me as she starts to cry again. "You just wish I would so you would feel better about betraying me. Do you so easily forget all the times I gave you the last of our food so you can keep your strength up. All the times I stayed up for days at a time when we lived on the streets so you would be safe. All the people I had to fight off to keep you from getting hurt? I would have rather died than betray you Thalia, I loved you more than anything and you betrayed me. For nothing, you claim you wanted to save your life but now you are in the same situation as me. You are dead to me thalia and soon you will be dead to the world as well" I scream these last words but cannot keep my voice from cracking and I rush from the dining car into the car that is supposed to be my bedroom. An avox opens my door for me. I rush right by her and slam the door. I jump on the bed, barely noticing it's the most comfortable thing I have ever layed on. I burst into tears and sob into the pillow. Being betrayed by the woman I love, being forced into the hunger games, the memories of losing my parents. It is all too much and I finally let myself feel the despair I had been trying to hide for so long.
CH 6 Leah: I spend the rest of the day in my room. I do not even leave the bed. I keep playing every bad memory in my head over and over. There are plenty of things to remember. The avox from before upbrings me a plate of food and puts it on the table by my bed. I don't look at her. She touches my shoulder, I look up at her to see sadness in her eyes. She knows what it is like to be labeled a criminal and punished harshly by the capitol. I sit up in the bed, open the drawer of the table by my bed and take out a pad of paper and a pen. I hand it to her, she looks confused but takes it. "Hi I'm wyatt, who are you?" I ask. She looks at me then the door then back at me as if unsure what to do. She sits down in a chair by the bed and writes on the paper. She turns it towards me. My name is Leah, it says. "Its nice to meet you Leah" I say kindly, "Wish it could be under different circumstances." She nods and writes on the paper, she turns it towards me again. Why were you in chains and who is that girl you yelled at, the paper says. I sigh and tell her everything; from the day my parents were killed to the day of the reaping. She sits and listens to the whole story intently, Avoxes are if anything great listeners. When I finish my story I feel horrible, like I am again the scared little boy who watched his parents die, instead of the hardened thief I had become. Leah gets up from her chair and sits next to me on the bed. She leans her head on my shoulder. I'm sorry Wyatt, she writes on the paper. "Thanks" I say sadly, "So you heard my history, what did you do." Her eyes widen and she gets up. She looks lost in her memories as she paces the room. She sighs and sits back in her chair. She writes on the paper and hands it to me. I said no, it says. "You said no?" I ask curiously. She looks like if she is about to cry. "You don't have to tell me" I say gently.
She looks at me for almost a full minute, then she starts writing again, when she hands it back to me I see nearly a full page full of writing. I begin to read: "I am from the Capitol, I was a model for some of the most well known fashion designers in the capitol. Everyone said my beauty was unmatchable; I used to love all the attention. When I turned 17, President Snow and his son Cornelius visited me. The president told me he had never seen anyone so beautiful. His son agreed, I felt flattered at first they seemed so nice. Then they started to say that I owed the capitol for my success, and I had to pay my due. I was told I was to marry Cornelius and bear his children. I refused, they threatened to kill me, I told them I would rather die. They beat me and had me arrested. At my trial they told me since my words are what caused my arrest then my punishment will be a life of silence. That was almost two years ago, I have been a servant ever since." I finish reading and look at her. She seems lost in her thoughts. I go over to her and hug her. "I'm sorry leah" I say to her soothingly. She shrugs and picks up the paper. "Its not like we can do anything about it" the paper says. "Who says we can't" I ask her. She looks at me as if I am crazy. "Leah, you and I are here because we refused to let the capitol crush our spirits. but I unlike you, have plenty of experience breaking in and out of places. I promise you this, I may die in the arena but I promise I will get you out of here first." I say as my mind starts to work at a mile a minute trying to think of a plan. "Trust me ok?" I say. She looks at me, as if a long lost spark of hope has been reignited. She takes up the pad of paper and writes a short message. "I trust you wyatt" it says.