Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, its characters or its world. Non-canon characters, Allie and Phoenix belong to RandomNerdyKilljoy (here and on Wattpad) and Phoenixsword24 (here on Fanfiction) respectively and Cat is mine. Go check them out! And happy reading.
Author's Note: Hello! Welcome to the second part of the Journies in Panem series: Journey Back To Panem: A New World. If you haven't already, I'd recommend reading The Story of An Allie and Cat: Journies in Panem or this will make absolutely no sense.
Chapter One: Waking Up
Dizzily, Cat sits up. Seeing the three of her friends on the ground, she nods to herself and starts rummaging through her bag. Makeup remover. Snacks. Drinks. Weapons. Blankets. Cushions. Tent. Clothes. Deodorant. Breath mints. Gum. There's even a mobile. She picks that up and looks at it, checking for signal. "Nothing... Oh, God. Of course. Middle of the desert. No reception," she mutters to herself, angrily. "Fat lot of use that is, then. Guess it's up to us... And teleportation means no footsteps to retrace."
"What are you doing?" Allie asks.
"Going through our supplies. We have enough, I think, to get us back. But we have no reception because us being us, we just had to land in the desert," Cat groans.
"I see you're feeling better," Allie remarks. "You knew it was happening again, didn't you?"
"Of course I... Allie, I almost fainted fifty times. Of course I knew. I packed for us all. We just have to find our way back to civilisation. We were stuck in Panem for three years, remember? We can't survive three years alone out here," Cat tells her, looking irritable. "I don't know how to contact anyone. We don't have maps. This is probably all we have. We can look for moss, I guess, but-"
"We're in the middle of a desert. Yeah. When will Phoenix and Jo wake up, d'you think?" Allie asks.
"God knows," Cat replies, looking through her things.
At that, Phoenix sits up, looking dazed. "What happened?" he asks.
"Teleportation, that's what," Allie says, shooting a glance at Cat.
"Teleportation?" Phoenix asks, looking confused and slightly unconvinced.
Cat nods. "Yeah. Teleportation. You feeling okay?" she asks.
Phoenix nods. "Disoriented," he says, looking at her. "How are we gonna change my hair back?"
Allie asks "That's what we're concerned with?"
Cat sighs and goes over to him, holding a spray can. "Hair colour. I got it in a beauty store. The Capitol is awesome," she says, grinning. "It'll stay until we can get water. Until then, we're on our own."
She sprays his hair blue, turning the gold deep blue and the streak purple. Allie asks "Is Jo actually going to wake up yet?"
Johanna growls "Johanna was awake, until the insane girl with the pink explosion for hair started spraying blue fly spray."
"It's hair dye," Cat snaps. "Are you alright?"
"Again, I was. Where are we, anyway?" she asks.
"When we know, we'll tell you," Allie says, giving Cat a look.
"Oh, so I should know?" Cat asks calmly. "Yeah, okay, just... Be grateful I was prepared, okay? We could be out here to die and have nothing. Fight me."
Allie rolls her eyes. "Okay, fine. So where are we going?"
"Mars," Cat replies, sighing, the sarcasm evident. She catches Allie's look, much to the amusement of their friends. "Oh, fine, I don't know. Just... Follow the wind and hope for the best?"
"What wind?!" Johanna and Allie exclaim.
Phoenix looks to Cat and asks "Okay, can you please explain this now?"
"Okay. Thank you for giving me thinking time," she says, patting his shoulder. They all sit and stare at Cat. "Okay. Allie already knows this, so let's get you two up to speed. First of all, Phoenix, I owe you an explanation as to what I said during the execution. I told you to grab her because I know you like her and it wouldn't be right to leave her there, confused and thinking we'd abandoned her. Now for the confusing part. You're more than likely wondering why I was quiet today."
"Kind of, yeah," Johanna agrees, glaring. "Why'd you drag us into this?"
"So you wouldn't be questioned about our disappearance. Now for the explanation. I discovered about ten years ago that I have... Shall we say, an ability? I jump through time and space without meaning to. It sends me spiralling hours before it happens. That's how Allie got involved. I met her through it. We were children, of course, but that's the best way to make lifelong friends. Anyway, she didn't know about it until it happened in the cinema three years ago. We ended up in Panem and rented out an apartment. We claimed we were eighteen, though we were both a bit older. You know how it is. We lived in there for three years. That's how we ended up here. I never know how long it'll be between blasts, but the date is the same on my phone as when we left, albeit a few hours after. So... We've travelled through space... Clearly on Earth. But I need you to know that I can't control it yet. Any questions?" she explains, then tilts her head.
Phoenix and Johanna share an amazed look. "So you're... You can teleport?" Phoenix asks.
Cat nods, blushing a little. "Yeah," she says. "And Allie reads minds."
Allie nods, raising her hand. "I also talk to the dead."
"This is beyond weird," Johanna mutters, then looks to Allie. "Hey, if you can read minds, what were you getting while Haymitch was making out with Trinket?"
Allie shudders. "I blocked them out," she admits.
"Oh? Why?" Johanna asks, looking curious.
"I didn't need to know," Allie shudders. "Cat, help?"
Cat nods. "Look, we don't need to know what thoughts they've been having, we need to know our way home," she says.
"One more thing. How come Allie can control her ability and you can't?" Phoenix asks.
"I had no desire to learn how to control it at the age of ten, I thought it was weird. When I met Allie, it was... Shall we say, stressful? And when we got back in contact, we worked on her abilities," Cat tells him. "I had no desire to move again, it was horrible."
"She also discovered that she can talk to the dead, which is weird, because she has trouble with the living," Allie points out.
"Thanks," Cat mutters. "But yeah. We're not as weird as we seem. We need to find civilisation. As soon as possible."
"Do you hear that?" Allie asks.
Cat's ears perk up. "That shrill noise?" she questions.
"Yeah," Allie confirms.
"Follow it," Cat murmurs, grabbing her bag.
"We're moving?" Johanna asks.
"We are, but if you want to stay there..." Allie says.
"Nope," Johanna says and gets up.
Phoenix asks "What shrill noise?"
"Sensitive ears, totally normal," Cat says. "It came from over that way."
She points toward the sunset. "We'd better hurry, it's getting dark," Allie says.
Johanna mutters "This is like the arena all over again. Should we organise a watch rotation?"
"When we set up. We'll take turns," Phoenix says. "Allie, Cat, how do we do it?"
"Two to a watch. We'll figure out the rotation when it gets dark," Allie says, looking to Cat for confirmation. She must get it, because Cat's silence is determined.
Johanna murmurs "Do you hear that? The footsteps?"
Phoenix listens and nods. "Yeah. Yeah, I hear 'em."
Slowly, the four of them turn. "Well, then. What now?" Allie asks, looking at the thing in front of them.
Cat pulls out a knife from her bag. "Time to get our hands dirty," she murmurs. Phoenix and Johanna take a step back from her as her eyes glint coldly in the dying light.
And here's chapter one! :D Hope you enjoyed! Until next time, hugs! BlackCat46 xoxo
