Yawning, I sat upright in my bed, blinking groggily and looking around my room. There was a soft knock; I thought that it was Rose. "Come in," I called, my words dripping with fatigue. The door opened and Helena and Tink walked in, worried expressions on their faces. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"It is going to take longer than we had anticipated making it to District Six. For now, we need to stay on the train until things have, erm, settled," Helena told me.
I tilted my head to the side. "What on earth are you talking about?" I questioned. "What needs to be settled?"
"In District Six…there is, um, well, a riot," Tink informed me. I sat there, my mouth agape, staring at the two in disbelief. There was no way that was absolutely no way something like that was possible. "We are going to tell Rose, now. I take it we will see you for breakfast in ten minutes."
After the two of them left, I tried to wrap my mind around things. Was it even possible? What was there to even riot about? Had Rose and I caused the riot in District Six? Were there going to be more? So many questions swirled around in my mind, and I could not rack my brain for an answer to any of them.
A few minutes later, Rose walked into my room, sleep still having control over her body. She sat down on my bed, yawning loudly. I could see her struggling to stay awake, her eyes closing and then opening slowly again. Just when I thought that she was sleeping, she said in a low voice, "It's probably our fault."
"Probably," I agreed. "So what now?"
"We wait? I don't know. Isn't that what we've been doing the entire time, though, since before the Games? Waiting for it all to be over?" she asked.
"You have to stop using that. It's starting to get old now," I teased. She looked away from me. "It's going to be fine, Rose," I told her. Only I was not so sure about that.
XXX
I thought that being stuck on a train was boring before. Now, though, it was even worse. Each minute—no, second—was agonizingly slow. For the longest time, I had to bite my tongue in order not to scream. I hated it; I loathed it. While Rose was taking a shower, everything was so quiet, so still. The thoughts of the riot were still fresh in my mind, already beginning to haunt me.
For whatever reason, my entire body ached. As I thought about District Six more, my heart would momentarily cease to beat, all of the blood being conserved into one spot, the flow stopping completely. I thought I was going to die; I thought that the eagerness to see what would become of District Six after the riot was going to kill me. Not only that, but just the thought of a riot made my heart skip a beat; it made my breath catch in my throat.
The idea of a riot was scary. The Capitol had always been that big bad place that kept the Districts in line. If we had rebelled against them, we would easily be defeated. It made no sense to me at all, though it still scared me.
Was I going to die?
The riot was obviously my fault, because of what happened with Rose in the arena.
It was clear.
We were going to die.
I heard the shower shut off, and I prepared myself to take one as well. About ten minutes later, she walked out, wearing a yellow dress that complimented her greatly. She smiled at me and then proceeded to walk back to her room.
There was only one shower for the two of us, and it was in my room. Before Rose yelled at me for being perverted, I would joke around and call it a "blessing." Maybe it was just a coping thing, my recklessness. Or maybe I was just screwed up in the head. That is what I heard too often in District Two before the Games.
I had always been the girl who was never quite right, the one who was twisted enough to throw a knife at someone outside the Games if they were to make me angry.
That had only happened in one instance, though, and it was for good purpose. They had been teasing me for my freckles, which made little to no sense. It was right for me to shut that senseless idiot up; I did not even aim it at him, though. I had aimed at the wall right next to his head.
And I never miss.
So it's not like I killed him.
As the warm water cascading down my body, I instantly began to feel better. The steam from the shower swirled around me, and I slowly began to forget everything that was worrying me in the first place. Once I had gotten out of the shower, I still felt refreshed. It was as if twenty minutes of standing in hot water could change a person completely.
Perhaps that was possible.
After changing into orange dress, I headed over into Rose's room, too bored to sit in mine. "What do you want to do? I'm bored. I'm tired. I need something to do before I go insane. What do you want to do?" I asked quickly, my words rushed and nearly slurred. A sly smile crossed my face. "Do you want to play that little game again?"
There was no answer.
I looked at what her eyes were glued to; the television.
They were showing footage of what was going on in District Six at that very second. It was awful. People were shouting. Peacekeepers were forced to beat the people, though that did nothing to make them retreat. They stood their ground, aware of what was going on. Against all odds, they were advancing on the Peacekeepers, even though it was clear that more would just arrive. I saw a small girl in a far corner sitting with her knees hugged to her chest, her body shaking violently. She looked so scared, so alone. Why didn't she run?
And then I saw it.
Two bodies lying in front of her. One was a male, the other a female.
And they both looked exactly like the small girl.
"Rose…" I did not know what else to say.
"They're killing people, Clove. The Capitol will want to get rid of the sources of the riot. We're next."