No volunteers spoke up to save her life. After all Jesse was the only one who probably loved her enough to do that. But well, he was a guy and only another girl would have been able to take her place in the Games. Apparently the big screen above them was showing the contestants from the other districts. She didn't care, this would be the last time in her home, surrounded by her people.

Beca's eyes took the time to see the faces of the boys and girls standing in front of her. They all seemed so proud of her. Proud of what? She couldn't understand how someone could bear so much hope and admiration only by being called to participate in a cruel game. True, if she or Benji won, the district would get all the food and clothes they could get for a whole year. Maybe that was the hope for. Or maybe it was something else? Like hoping for the Games to be completely over after this one.

Beca tried remembering what her thoughts were the year before when she was standing there in front of the tributes when the woman from the Capitol put the hand on her shoulder and guided her inside the building. The doors were shut behind them.

"Phew, finally done" Said the woman with that same forced smile on her face she showed the whole time. "Congratulations Benjamin. Congratulations Beca. You're tributes!" She exclaimed.

As if that was a good thing, Beca thought. She and Benji didn't say a word. The woman was handed a bottle of water and then they kept walking to a smaller room, equally empty except for a couple of chairs. Beca felt shivers down her spine inside there. It was a white room with white chairs and a really high ceiling. One lamp was shining from each wall, not even a small window.

"My name is Aubrey, by the way. Aubrey Posen." The woman from the Capitol said. Her words sounded warm but her attitude was cold, keeping the distance as if the two boys in front of her were some kind of unknown but interesting animal.

A Peacekeeper aimed for her to leave the room and so she did. Beca and Benji were left alone in the creepy room of the Justice Building. Beca took a deep breath and tried moving her arms and legs just to see if she was having the control back. Apparently she was okay and her heartbeat volume was getting lower. She had to admit to herself that was brave and she was maybe stronger than she thought. Looking back at Benji, Beca could see there was a different process going through his head. He was sitting on one chair with his elbows on the knees and the head on his hands facing the floor. She was about to say something to him when the door opened again.

"Benji!" A choir of 3 voices said at once and three little kids ran inside the room to hug the hopeless boy. After them entered a woman and a man, who hugged him too.

Beca fought the tears like she always did. She chose to stand on the farther corner of the room so she wouldn't bother the family saying goodbye. It was a very sad picture. Seconds later though, Jesse's arms hugged her followed by bigger arms that she guessed were her father's. Beca couldn't fight the tears anymore as they whispered in her ears to be strong and brave and come back home. She cried because her friend was about to lose a friend. She cried because her dad was about to lose his only daughter. She cried because she would never get to see feel free on top of the tree again.

She was sitting on the most comfortable couch ever, surrounded by the most delicious food ever, but she wasn't enjoying any of those. Making sure her piece of cloth was tied well around her waist like a belt, she crossed her arms and waited.

Half an hour had passed since they got in the train on the way to the Capitol. Beca and Benji only had exchanged a few words, mostly introducing themselves and wishing the best to each other. Both looked out of the window saying goodbye to their home in silence and then were instructed to go and sit on the couch in the main area of the train. They could eat all they wanted, Aubrey had said. Benji was apparently really hungry because he grabbed a bunch of sandwiches and cupcakes and started eating, recovering a good mood. A few minutes passed and finally someone stepped in the room in front of them.

"Hello there, you must be Beca and you must be Benjamin" The woman said, pointing at them while saying their names.

"Benji" The boy corrected with a full mouth.

"Right. Well my name is Amy, I bet you remember me because I won the Annual Games a few years ago"

Indeed Beca remembered Fat Amy from the Games five years ago, becoming the fourth tribute in the history of district 8 to win a Game. She was 14 years old when she won, that was admirable. It felt weird to have a coach who was only one year older than her, but at the same time it felt safer. She had always admired Amy and in person she seemed like a nice woman Beca could trust.

"I can see you don't want to be here and that is good. I don't want to be here either but this is better than staying in my luxurious house eating all day. Besides I don't want you two to die so let's get to work." Amy said as she clapped her hands and turned to switch the tv on.

Beca changed position, leaning her body forward with the elbows on her knees. She could imagine what was coming next.

"These are the tributes from the other districts" Amy announced as a video started, showing the Capitol shield and then sequences of when every tribute was called.

As Beca was expecting, the tributes from districts 1 and 2 were very recognizable because they smiled proudly when they were chosen and walked towards the building with applause from the rest of assistants. Of course, they were trained since they were very little for the games. Their districts were the favorites of the Capitol and held the most quantity of victors. The images of the video were not in order and that was on purpose, so the contestants would stay uncertain until they met the other tributes in person. Beca could only guess where the people were from and what they did. She saw a weird girl who was whispering and combing her hair in front of the crowd and assumed the girl was from district 3, because in Beca's opinion everybody is weird there. The two tributes with dark skin must be from district 11 but so far they were the only ones Beca could dare to guess.

There was another girl who called Beca's attention when out of the blue, when she was standing in front of the crowd, she raised her hand and made the sign with the three fingers. Meaning thank you, I admire you, goodbye. Seeing this Beca's eyes grew wide open and Amy saw. Apparently she was studying their reactions to the video.

"Yep, that one was brave and confident. The sign is not a crime... yet. But it was used by the rebels during the war so she should be careful" Amy explained.

Beca knew what it meant, her mum had taught her that sign long ago, she believed it was a pure and honest way of saying good things to the people you appreciated... But her mum had also warned her not to make it in public. She would be watched carefully if she did.

So this part of the video was a bit longer that the other due to the unexpected actions and it gave Beca some time to watch the girl closely. She was tall and had light skin. Her hair was red and fell in perfect locks over her shoulders. Her eyes were the lightest and most stunning blue eyes Beca had ever seen.