The doors open and Lily speeds in grabbing me, her eyes red and swollen. "You have three minutes." says the male peacekeeper slamming the door shut. My mother is right on her tail but waiting at the door with tired and scared eyes.
"Lily, Lily, it is okay. Shh, Lily I don't have much time." I begin and Lily is sobbing trying to keep it cool. "Lily, listen. You will be okay; don't take extra food from them. It isn't worth putting your name in more times." I say and Lily nods. She drifts off and I put my hand under her chin. "Lily, Dallas can bring you game. Remember you can sell cheese from that goat I got you okay?" I say with my lips shaking.
"Just try to win. Maybe you can." Lily mumbles still sobbing. I nod trying not to cry. "Of course." I whisper. "And maybe I can, I am smart you know?" I murmur and Lily nods with shaky lips too.
"And you can hunt, Ally." Lily says.
"Exactly." We sit there for a moment when Lily pulls something from her dress pocket. It's the Mockingjay pin I gave her, to protect her. She slips it out and pushes it into my palm. "To protect you." She murmurs pushing a strand of my brown hair out of my face.
"Thank you." I say and Lily forces a smile. I kiss the top of her forehead and we embrace each other. I don't want to let her go but…I will have too because I did this to protect her. I look up seeing my mom looking as she did when my father died. I let go of Lily to talk with my mother. My hands grip her shoulder. "You can't tune out again." I say.
My mother nods understandingly. "I won't."
"No, you can't. Not like when dad passed." I snap and my mother nods again.
"I won't be there anymore, you're all she has. No matter what you feel, you have to be there for her. Do you understand?" I ask dead serious and my mother nods once again. Tears build up in her eyes ready to slip out but I shake my head. "Don't cry." I say. I pull my arms open and we stay like that for a few seconds.
"Don't cry. Don't. Don't." I mumble against my mother's pale brown hair. I swear only fifteen seconds later, the door opened again.
"It's time." The male peacekeeper says and Lily starts to cry again, hysterical. "No! No!" She shouts.
"I promise Lily!" The door slams in my face and I am staring at the door awed. This may be the last time I see them. I will never be there for Lily again, never will be a big sister, never will be a daughter, and never will be in District Twelve where I belong again. The door opens in my face, which is showing bewilderment right now. Dallas steps in and I grip the cuff of his sleeve pulling him in for a hug.
"I'm fine." I say and Dallas doesn't let go of me.
"Yeah, I know." He answers back, with his warm breath panting against my neck.
"I am." I confirm, but in truth, I am scared.
Dallas lets go and looks me straight into the eyes. "Listen to me Ally; you are stronger than they are. I know it."
I stare at him finally showing my fright. "Get to a bow." He orders and I shake my head swiftly. "They might not have a bow-" I start but Dallas interrupts.
"They will if you show them how good you are." Dallas begins. "They just want a good show, that's all they want!" He starts to show worry in his eyes. "If they don't have a bow, then you make one. Promise me. You know how to hunt." Dallas says seriously.
"Animals." I retort quietly.
"It's not that different, Ally." He whispers, his brown eyes gaze at me and I shake my head again.
"There are only twenty-four of us, Dallas and only one comes out." I say with my lower lip trembling.
"Yeah, and it will be you." Dallas explains and the peacekeeper comes in. "Let's go." He orders again pulling Dallas out the door.
"Take care of them, Dallas. Please don't let them starve!" I hug him one last time and he is pulled away from me.
"I'll see you soon, okay?" Before I knew it, that blob of fluffy brown strands was gone. Something told me I wouldn't see Dallas again.
Austin and I are shoved into a car with Effie and she is going on and on about the train to the Capitol. "You two are in for a treat! Platinum doorknobs, crystal chandeliers, and it flies!" Effie trills and continues.
I look at Effie who is blabbering on about the Capitol's train and its refineries while Austin is looking ahead with red cheeks, pink eyes that are puffed up and he is holding in sob which just gave him hiccups. "We'll be in the Capitol no later than two days." says Effie.
Finally after what seemed like forever to listening to Effie, the car hauls to a stop and Peacekeepers lead us out of the driving vehicle only to have everyone in District Twelve watch us leave. Effie speeds in front of Austin and me, ecstatic to get into the silver train. She gestures for us to enter and hesitantly, I do but Austin immediately walks inside. Austin is stopped frozen at the doorway. What? What is there? Something terrible?
But no. It wasn't something terrible Austin was shocked at, his face showed no fright, it showed astonishment. What I saw completely was…amazing. Just like Effie described, crystal chandeliers, but there was some stuff she forgot or maybe I wasn't listening. There was food of all kinds sitting on a small table in the corner filled with creamy desserts, or gooey little things in the form of worms, fruit you can't get out in the woods, solid hard tables which the sunlight brought out the shine and a soft fuzzy blue carpet. The walls were a light blue swirled with designs, not as pale as my mother's dress in which I am wearing now, green liquid in a bottle, plates that glistened with the other utensils and in the middle of the table was candles and glasses which are cups. It was amazing. I couldn't be more fascinated. It was more…fancier than the Justice Building, the most fancy building I've ever been inside of.
Effie sat us down and smiled.
"It's amazing, two-hundred miles an hour and you can barely feel a thing." She giggles and continues.
"I think it's one of the wonderful things about this opportunity, that even though you're here and even it's just for a little while, you get to enjoy all of this!" We stare at her and Effie smiles again. "I think I will go find Haymitch, he's probably hiding out in the bar car." She stands up with her fingers curved and walks out with her arms and hands in the same position as it was when she was sitting down.
My eyes wander to the right and I see the trees pass by in a blur. I'm getting farther away from home each second. Austin and I sit in complete awkward silence as the door slides close. Austin doesn't know what to say because his mouth opens and then closes, but I just ignore him and look around the train. Suddenly, a thought hits me making me not want to speak with him; I don't want to face the fact of me owing him more.
Finally Austin asks something. "Have you ever met him?"
I look around once again ignoring his voice as if he weren't there.
"Haymitch?" He asks again.
I look at the trees again; Austin gets flustered and looks at me. "You know, Ally, he did win this thing once, and he has to mentor us now." I don't respond.
"Look, you know, if you don't want to talk I understand, but I don't think there's anything wrong with getting a little bit of help." Austin says and I finally look at him with my angry eyes. The memory flashes back as he said that. I understand Austin helped me but it doesn't mean he has to bring it up at a time like this. My fist clenched and I looked away livid. I could tell Austin didn't like my stare so he stared off too.
The door slides open again. A man with dirty blonde hair and wrinkled clothes steps out with his hand on his stomach. I stare him, up and down. He is barefoot, wrinkled brown pants, a sky blue shirt and beige vest, the buttons undid and tired, grumpy eyes. He looks at us as if we were the last thing he wanted to see and huffs. He gives me and Austin a slanted smile.
"Congratulations." He greets us. Austin and I exchange a glance at this man.
Walking over, he has a glass cup in his hand ready to slip out of his sweaty palms and sets it on the table pouring some brown liquid in it. I believe its alcohol; something my mother uses to do her remedies. He looks really hung-over and mad. I want to say this is Haymitch…our mentor? Yeah, I don't think I am going back to District Twelve with this attitude of his. Haymitch pours some drink into his cup and reaches for the ice bowl which apparently held…ice. He groans and asks us the most idiotic question.
"Where's the ice?" I stared at him in disbelief, Austin too.
"I dunno." Austin answered. Haymitch slammed the cover back onto the ice bowl lid frustrated and took the whole bottle of alcohol with him to sit down. "May I?" Haymitch asks and Austin gestures for him to sit. Haymitch plopped on the cushioned seat with his glasses clinking each other as he sat. Austin rubbed his hands and smiled politely. "So when, when do we start?"
Haymitch puts a hand up clearly taken back by his question.
"Whoa, whoa." He starts. "So eager. Most of you aren't in such a hurry." mutters Haymitch.
Austin sighs. "Yeah. I want to know what the plan is; you are our mentor you know? You're supposed to go…"
"Mentor?" Haymitch blurts out spitting some drink out.
"Yeah, mentor. You are supposed to tell us how to earn sponsors and give us advice." Austin snaps.
"Oh! Okay. Well um let's try this," Haymitch says. "Embrace the probability… of your imminent… death." Right there I was going to stab him or something but I held my frustration back. "And know, in your heart," He points to his chest with his cup of drink. "That there's nothing I can do to save you." He smirks and Austin is shocked at his answer too.
"So why are you here than?" I ask.
Haymitch considers this a minute and smiles. "The refreshments."
"Okay, that's enough of that." Austin reaches for Haymitch's glass but he uses his foot to keep Austin in his seat. "You made me spill my glass and these are brand new pants." Haymitch growls. Austin is panting probably trying to breathe against the stench of his feet and I am glaring at Haymitch.
"You know, I am going to finish this in my room now." Haymitch stands up to leave the room and does it without another word. I am clearly annoyed by him now; I don't think I will be able to stand his ignorance and selfishness. It's like he doesn't care about us, we are just some garbage waiting to be tossed out. Austin is still determined for his advice and stands up too going to find Haymitch. "He'll come around."
"What? It's no use!" I say.
"I will talk to him." Austin exits the room and I am left alone with all the treats and desserts. I just wonder what my family and Dallas are doing right now and how they are holding up…
Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith are discussing when the moment a tribute becomes a victor on this big screen in the living room of the train. "I remember this year!" Claudius Templesmith smiles.
"One of my favorite years and favorite Arenas, the use of the rubble in the ruined city…" says Caesar Flickerman.
"Very exciting." says Claudius.
"And this moment here, this is a moment you never forget." starts Caesar pointing to a kid beating another kid to death with a brick stone. "The moment when a tribute becomes a victor." They both give the television a smile. I gulp and switch the television off; I don't want to think that I am going to be a victor. It will give me too much hope that I will see Lily, Dallas, or my mother again.
I go to sleep with these thoughts still in my mind. What if I do win? What if I go home to Dallas, Lily and the woods again? My arrow and bow, the fresh smell of pine trees will be there waiting for me as my family and Dallas is now. When I open my eyes again, its daylight so I slip on my dress, braid my hair and head outside for breakfast. Before entering the room, I can see Effie applying makeup, and Haymitch and Austin munching on breakfast. I enter the room and walk to the table.
"You'd freeze to death." Haymitch snaps.
"No because I'd light a fire." Austin defends.
"That's a good way to get you killed." Haymitch says.
"What's a good way to get killed?" I ask, interrupting the conversation.
"Joy. Why don't you join us?" Haymitch smirks and I sit on the chair between the two.
"I was giving some live-saving advice." says Haymitch.
"Like what?" I ask.
"I was asking how to find shelter." Austin says filling me in on their conversation.
"Which would come in handy if you were still alive." Haymitch rolls his eyes. I bite my lip hoping some mean words wouldn't come out. Finally I just ask what's on both me and Austin's mind. "How do you find shelter?"
"Pass the jam." Haymitch licks his fingers from the bread crumbs between his nails. I feel anger rising and I could explode any minute, like a time bomb I've heard about from other people in the Seam.
"How do you find shelter?" I ask again, meaner than I had asked it before.
"Give me a chance to wake up, sweetheart!" snaps Haymitch. "This mentoring is very… taxing stuff." He pours some liquid into his tea cup which I presume is alcohol. My fists clench up and my teeth grind together. Mentoring can't be that hard! Just give us tips to live and move on! I was too irritated with him, I turned to Austin and he was twiddling his thumbs nervously. "Pass the marmalade." Haymitch ordered. The frustration finally burst out of me when I gripped the butter knife and stabbed it into the table between Haymitch's fingers.
Austin was surprised, and Haymitch too. I wanted to see the smirk off his face so I kind of smiled. Effie gasped and looked at me with complete irritation. "That is mahogany!" She snapped looking away from her purple colored nails.
Haymitch cocked an eyebrow pulling the knife out of the table. "Look at you, just killed a placemat."
I stared daggers into Haymitch. "You really want to know how to stay alive?"
I nod, scoffing that he's finally going to tell us. Haymitch looks at me. "You get people to like you." Suddenly, I felt my superior smile vanishing from my face. I don't get along with other people, I am the quiet girl who keeps to herself and doesn't communicate with others. My face frowned as Haymitch took the next laugh.
"Ah, not what you were expecting?" he said. He reached over my shoulder for the jam and started explaining. "When you're in the middle of The Games and you are freezing or starving, some water, a knife or even some matches can mean the difference between life and death." He's right. I grit my teeth again, thinking that Haymitch Abernathy is right. "And those things only come from sponsors. To get sponsors, you have to make people like you." My face softens when it sinks in that I know he's right, we all know it. "And right now sweetheart, you're not off to a really good start." He bites into his bread pasted with jam shaking his head at me.
Austin stands up dashing to the window, excitedly. "That's it." He mumbles to himself. I'm guessing we're almost to the Capitol. Good, I can't stand this train anymore, but I love the showers. Warm AND cold, it's amazing because at home, you could only get cold water, warm water if you were lucky.
"It's huge!" awes Austin looking towards the Capitol. "That's incredible."
We head into a tunnel; it gets dark inside the train until the strain of sunlight breaks through and you could hear cheers and chatter outside, different colors, weird colors when you look outside of the one and only…Capitol people. Some are screaming when the train enters, shouting "Austin!" or "Ally!"
My head cocks to the side as Austin starts waving to the people, they grow more and more anxious to meet us. Hysterical screams are heard. Austin smiles big at me. "Come on! Come on!" He wave again and I stare in utter disbelief. These people are going to cheer for us and when we die they will cry…just like Dallas said. It's disgusting, and very wrong.
"You better keep this knife; Austin knows what he's doing." Haymitch says placing the butter knife in my hands. I stare back at Austin and he is still waving, winning the crowd before me…he's trying to get the best of me and when the time comes, The Games come; he's going to kill me. Austin Moon is working hard to murder me.
Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry I took so long to update :( I was so busy because I got pneumonia and I was out from school for a week and I had ALL this makeup work...the teachers couldn't just give me a break? Anyways, hope you guys luv this chapter! Please...five reviews? Thanks. Love you! Sorry I don't have time to respond to reviews...I have to finish my math homework! Sorry! Anyways bye!