A special thank you to all of the people who reviewed the last chapter. Sorry for such a long delay, I've had some things going on at home and school that have taken up my writing time. I hope this makes up for it.


Chapter 3: Capitol Bound

The room was unnaturally quiet. I was sitting on a soft couch at one end of the room, facing the door. The room was nicely furnished. A framed portrait of President Marks hung above the door.

The wood floorboards outside the door creaked softly, then the doorknob turned. I stood up sharply as the door whined open. Jack's father, mother, and brother stood in the doorway, along with a peacekeeper. "You have three minutes," the peacekeeper said roughly before he shut the door.

Jack's mother stepped toward me swiftly and wrapped her arms around me. I gladly accepted her move and returned the embrace. Her body was shaking slightly, and I could feel a cool drip on my shoulder, then another. She's crying, I thought. I wanted to cry too, to let all of my feelings from the last few hours flow freely out of me, but I knew I couldn't. So I just clenched my jaw and held on to Jack's mother, but it was really the other way around. She was holding me together.

A moment later, she reluctantly pulled away. Her face was red, and her eyes were puffy from tears. She managed a small, strained smile, before she whispered, "It's going to be okay." No it's not, I thought. Your youngest son and I are going to die at the hands of some other kid. Nothing is ever going to be okay again. Nothing.

Jack's brother, Gunnar, stepped up next. "We already talked to Jack," he said slowly, "and we just... we just..." He couldn't finish his sentence. He simply engulfed me in an embrace not unlike his brother's. "Just try to make it home okay," he whispered. "Just try."

"Okay..." I whispered. Gunnar drew back, then squeezed my hand at the last moment. I returned the gesture. He nodded his head, then stood next to his mother, who put her arm around his shoulders.

Jack's father was last. He stood in front of me, held my head in his hands, and rested his forehead against mine. "Be brave." That was all he said.

"Alright, time's up," the peacekeeper from earlier said as he opened the door. "That wasn't three minutes!" Gunnar cried. "I said time's up!" the peacekeeper replied harshly. "Come on Gunnar, time to leave," his father said as he brushed my cheek with his thumb. He then turned and led his wife and son out of the door. The peacekeeper closed the door behind them, leaving me alone in the room. The room was unnaturally quiet.

No one else came to see me. I sat in the silence, fingering a loose string on the hem of my dress and thinking about what my life was coming to. My parents are dead. I'm a runaway. I'm about to be shipped to a government-sanctioned bloodbath. My best and only friend in the whole world is going with me. My life is going to be bloodily cut short at only fourteen years. And I don't know what I'm going to do.

A little less than an hour later, two peacekeepers escorted me out of my room. They led me into the hall, where two other peacekeepers were escorting Jack. I only saw him for a moment before we exited the Justice Building. There was a large and bloody cut on his forehead above his left eye. A purple bruise covered part of his forehead and temple. His lip was busted. His eyes met mine, and in that moment, I saw something in him that I had never seen before-hate. And it scared me to death.

A second after, the doors of the Justice Building were opened, and I was greeted by an astonishing sight: Capitol photographers, news anchors, cameramen, and journalists, all who were asking me questions, taking my picture, sticking microphones in my face. I was so stunned by all of this that I just gazed out into the crowd, not knowing what to make of all of it. I tried to look to Jack for guidance, but his expression was stolid and harsh, and he wouldn't look my way.

We got to the Capitol car that was waiting at the bottom of the steps of the Justice Building, albeit after quite a bit of shoving on the peacekeepers' part. One opened the door and pushed Jack in. He ducked his head, sat, and slid over on the leather seat to make room for me. "Go on," the peacekeeper said. I nodded and stepped toward the door. All of a sudden, time seemed to slow, and one second felt like an hour. I remember being aware of three things in that moment-

the sound of the idle Capitol car's engine,

the sound of the crowd of people behind me,

and the smell of the sea.

Neither of us spoke during the short ride to the train station. I tried to make sense of everything that was happening, but I only became more confused and lost. Jack was impossible to read. He just stared at his hands, unable or unwilling to break the silence between us.

When the car pulled up beside the train, I looked out of the window. The number of people had more than doubled, but I noticed that many were District 4 residents. "They came to see us off," I whispered. Whether it was to myself or to Jack, I still am unsure of, even to this day.

The next moments were a blur. We were taken from the car and escorted a short way to the door of the train car. Jack and I were the only people in that crowd that were silent. The door of the train car opened, and we were ushered inside. The deafening roar of the crowd outside was silenced the second the door slid shut.

And the train started to move.


R/R por favor! Sorry so short, I've got more coming soon.