CHAPTER 2
"I don't know what this looks like to you, Mr. Abernathy, but I take my job very seriously" Flavius Fullner, the special trainer from the Capitol, said to Haymitch. "The Iron Games are not for everyone! They require skill, no, they require proficiency! And here I am, asked to make miracles with some kids in a matter of months! I know this is the will of the President but I find it outrageous nevertheless! Look at them – they are not even Careers! How the hell am I supposed to prepare them for the outstanding show everyone's expecting when I've got nothing to work with?"
Haymitch scratched his head. Flavius was tall and muscular, an 'iron athlete' as they called him, easily towering over him. On top of everything he had the same arrogant attitude and preciousness that was specific to most Capitol people and which managed to get on his nerves every single time.
"The girl, Katniss, is very good" he replied at last."Don't know if you've seen her in the Games but she can shoot like no other"
"I will hear no more of the damned Hunger Games, not to mention that her skills with the bow are of no use" Flavius snorted."No long range weapons are allowed in the Iron Games, any idiot can shoot. Sheer strength is important, and skills in close combat, that's what the audience wants. Titans not children! The only thing that could counter the fact that she's a woman, therefore not very strong, is speed. But then again there are limits as to how fast someone can actually be. That's why I've never seen any woman in the Games so far"
Haymitch sighed. "Well the boy is strong. He can lift very heavy weights, I'm sure that with enough practice he could manage…"
Flavius opened his mouth to protest, but Cinna placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Flavius, I'd like to have a word later if that's alright…"
The giant nodded and walked away.
"I'm afraid he's right, you know" Haymitch sighed again. "Who are we fooling after all? It's just another game to the death, one they can't win. And with a bit of misfortune added we'll make it a game to the death for all of us involved."
"I will talk to Flavius later" Cinna said."The simple fact that he's agreed to be here is already a step forward. Besides, you said it yourself that there is hope, even if you won't speak of it"
"It's only a faint hope, my friend, and I shall speak of it when I actually have something to speak of"
-x-
The Peacekeeper walked back and forth at a steady pace, no doubt to warm himself up in the chill of the night, unaware that he was being keenly observed. Hazel swore under her breath for the fourth time since she'd first noticed the man, still pondering on what to do. Peacekeepers were always an unpleasant surprise, and this time one not provided for, unfortunately. What on earth would he be doing guarding a cemetery? It wasn't like the dead were planning to go anywhere, at least not as far as he was concerned, anyway. Things were always so much more complicated in richer districts, more security, crazy enough since they were the most devoted to Capitol. Or at least the less likely to be involved in an uprising. Hazel swore again - a habit she'd picked from Haymitch, back when he'd been her mentor, as one of the few things he was truly good at. Not to mention it was a great tension relief.
Then it dawned on her, the Peacekeeper was most likely guarding her objective. There was no choice. She took her chance while he was facing away from her, jogged up to him and grabbed his shoulder in an iron grip. Her fist broke the visor of his helmet as he turned, before he even got the chance to pull out his gun. She did however, and fired two short rounds square into his chest. She dropped the gun next to the fallen corpse and stepped forward, assessing her next task.
By the time Hazel finished digging it was well past midnight, as she observed checking her watch. Plenty of time left till morning, provided she had no more surprises coming.
"Ok, ok, this isn't in the least awkward…" she whispered as she used the shovel to crush the joints of the fiberglass coffin. She pushed the lid aside with her foot and reluctantly examined the contents. As expected, intact. Ever loyal to their obsession for beauty, the experts of Capitol had of course restored the body to perfection, only without life in it. The sight triggered an intense feeling of anger and hatred, but she stuffed it down within a deep breath. The time for it would come, hopefully soon enough.
Hazel dug in one of the large pockets of her raincoat and took out the tablet, selecting the text display. Having checked the notes one last time, she then stung the thick needle of the syringe into her left wrist and drew enough blood to fill it. Next, she set the charger ready and tore open the boy's shirt, exposing the place right above his heart.
"Just wait and see how this isn't going to work at all" she grumbled again as she stuck the needle deep into the flesh, emptying the contents and following with a high voltage charge. The next twenty minutes were pure torture. She scrolled down nervously across the text display, in search of further indications, and almost began to doubt the operation's chances of success. She also couldn't help casting wary glances around every five seconds. Remaining in such an exposed place for so long wasn't something she usually did.
The first sign of life had her startled such that she almost dropped the tablet. She checked her watch – just as the instructions mentioned, it had taken exactly twenty minutes for the mutant cells to attach, first to the heart and then gradually to the rest of his internal organs and to set them in functioning mode again. Capitol's fucking miracle of science she thought, not without a tinge of disgust. Too bad it would work against them.
"Oh, right, the embalming liquid has to be eliminated before the functions of the body can be fully restored. Ewwww!" she noted out loud as Cato now sat half upright, coughing and vomiting his heart out over the edge of the coffin. When he was eventually done, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and shot a wild look around, panting heavily.
"Wha- what…? I'm dead!" he barely whispered. Good point, Hazel thought, and a sign that his memory was fully functional. "Who the hell are you? He then questioned out loud.
"Hazel, I'm a big fan. I've been dying to meet you" she replied in a silly girlish voice, helping him up to his feet and out of the coffin. "But more on that later, now I need you to get this mess covered up" she added motioning to the pit and handing him the shovel.
Not entirely unexpected, Cato used the newly acquired tool/weapon to deliver a full blow to her stomach. However, he had an unpleasant surprise when she not only did not even loose her footing, but she also snatched it from his hands in the blink of an eye and served him a taste of his own medicine.
"Don't do that again, I'm in the habit of returning favors" Hazel explained calmly while he lay on the ground, struggling to catch his breath.
"What the fuck…?"
"Let me tell you a little story, Cato" she began swinging the shovel back and forth somewhat impatiently. "Once upon a time there was a Game maker, and he was renowned for creating the most entertaining and deadliest Hunger Games the Capitol had ever seen. Indeed he was deemed nothing short of a genius. One year, a fourteen year old girl from the poorer districts was selected at the reaping. She had no special skills, no particular survival ability and her overall score was well below average. She was dead meat from the start, never had a chance, but the Game maker saw her and he became obsessed with her…"
Hazel took a deep breath before she continued. "So after she was killed in the Games he used her body to create a very powerful mutant that would be used as a weapon against the tributes in future Games… And such she would be preserved, indefinitely. Except his plan went wrong because she escaped from under surveillance, destroyed the laboratory and killed everyone inside it, after stealing all their research. The best part is, he doesn't even know that. They think it was an accident and everything was destroyed in the explosion, including me"
By the time she finished, Cato had managed to haul himself up on his feet again. "You're a mutant?" he asked equally frightened and disgusted. He had not finished the sentence when his gaze fell on the body of the dead Peacekeeper, lying barely a few yards away from the grave. His knees went weak.
"How did you do this?" he asked next, pointing at himself. "I'm dead. I know that much…"
"Technology from the Capitol" she replied bluntly. "My mutant blood contains special cells which have rapidly multiplied inside your body and have attached themselves to your own cells, making them work. But the whole thing is artificial"
"So what now, I'm a mutant too?" Cato stared down at his own hands with un-dissimulated horror. "Wha-what do you want from me?"
"To give you an option. You could return to your family, of course secretly, and sort of still have a life with them – by the way the cells are guaranteed for at least fifty years, or so it says in the manual – or you can come with me and do some damage"
Cato snorted. "I can't go back to my family, I'd put them all in danger, it would be insane! What is that you really want?"
"I want Seneca Crane" Hazel said determined. "And you should want him too"
"Seneca Crane? The Game maker? Why would I want him?"
"Oh I don't know, because he killed you?"
"It was that scum from District 12 who killed me!" he replied angrily. "The fucking Girl on Fire!"
Hazel rolled her eyes blatantly. "You had a full body armor to protect you from her arrows, until the mutts took care of that. He did not want you to win!"
"Why? Why would he not want me to win?" Cato questioned crossing his arms.
"Because it's his job to make the Games entertaining, exciting. And Careers have won the Games for too long, it has become boring. People wanted something else so he gave them something else. You didn't really think that this is about the best one winning, did you? District 2 or District 12, they're all slaves, some more privileged than others but still slaves. The Capitol decides who lives and who dies, on a whim"
For once, Cato didn't look so sure of himself. "I'll… I'll need to think about this"
"Great. You have thirty minutes" Hazel informed him gathering her tools and the tablet, then shoving them back inside her raincoat. She then took out a bottle of whiskey from the other pocket and took a long sip.
"Can I have some of that?"
As a Career of course Cato had never consumed any alcohol, but now it suddenly seemed like a good idea. He took a swing from the bottle and felt the liquid burning his throat and further down into his stomach. For a moment he thought he was going to be sick again, but then it instantly made him feel significantly better.
"By the way, that's pretty much all we eat" Hazel said.
Great! Cato thought but nevertheless he spent the next ten minutes covering up his former grave and making everything look as if it had never been disturbed. He cast a wary glance at the Peacemaker's body, but she shook her head.
"Ok then, let's go" he concluded.
So guys, I had this chapter in mind for quite a while, so I just had to write it. Let me know what u think :)