Chapter 2
"Winter, NO!" Flora shouts, but there's nothing I can do. I don't think you can revoke a death sentence. What have I done? I think to myself. Then I start thinking about Jayden and how she was killed. I'm about to end life that way.
Four years ago, I sat on the sofa watching television. Mother said I wasn't allowed to watch the Games because I was only eleven and they were gruesome, but I persisted and said I wanted to watch Jayden win. On the first day, I saw Jayden ride in a chariot next to some boy I had never heard of. She looked beautiful, even though she was dressed as wheat. Her long dark hair was smooth and silky and she had a small braid going round the side of her head. She looked proud and smiled and waved at the fancy Capitol crowd. I would have never had the courage to do that.
The next day we saw her shoot arrows and throw knives at dummies with ease. She got a score of 10. After that, the Games started. Jayden snatched a pack from the Cornucopia, knocked out two Careers and fled. She hid in the woods for the next few days, but when the Career pack set up camp near to her, she killed most of them while they were sleeping. There was one girl from District 3 named Kessla who woke up before Jayden got the chance to kill her, but instead of taking revenge, teamed up with Jayden. The two girls hunted down most of the weaklings and hunted to survive. They were doing fine until a particularly deadly boy from District 7 came and tried to kill them. Jayden and Kessla ran, but encountered some more weaklings. The District 7 boy attacked the weaklings and stole their food and went away to regain his strength. Meanwhile, Jayden and Kessla were back at camp when Kessla told her, "You know, you should have never trusted me." Before Jayden could get away, Kessla stabbed her and let Jayden bleed to death.
After that, I didn't watch the Games because I was too upset. And Kessla was right. There are some people who you just can't trust.
The Peacekeepers usher me and Brannock onto a train after everyone has given us a round of applause. Flora and my mother are crying. "Why did you do this for me?" Flora asks as I get on the train. I don't reply because I honestly don't know. Brannock smiles through gritted teeth and steps into the train behind me. We sit side-by-side in silence. I break the silence by asking Corynthius what the Capitol is like, since I've never been. "I don't tell stories," he says. I shut up after that.
My mind is empty, but as usual, Jayden fills it. I try and block her out, forget about her, but she keeps on coming back and I keep on seeing Kessla plunge that knife into her body. My big, brave, bold sister being defeated. I can feel the tears running down my cheeks, so I try to think about something else. I remember the times that Jayden and I would climb trees together and make a little den, pretend to battle fierce wild animals, braid each other's hair (Jayden's hair looking a lot messier than mine, though she never complained). I still cry. "I'll, um, be in my room," I tell Brannock and Corynthius. The train has separate compartments for us. We each have our own bedroom and bathroom. That's more than I have in my own house. At home, I share a mattress with my mother and we have public toilets. I am probably going to feel underdressed and stupid when I'm in the Capitol.
Brannock and I have no mentor, so he asks me for survival techniques. I don't tell him anything because:
A) I don't want him to use them against me
B) I don't want to be allies.
I will never forgive him for mocking me when Jayden died and making fun of the fact that I was poor. It's not my fault that Brannock's family is from the Capitol and he's stinking rich. It's not my fault that he rubs his privilege in everyone's face.
