Chapter 10
Finnick has a knack for inconvenience.
Lincoln and I are in the kitchen laughing and eating grapes, boxing playfully. The phone rings and Lincoln goes to answer it.
"Hello?" He greets uncertainly. "I'm sorry who is this? Oh, no, she's not busy." Lincoln answers, his eyes darkening. "Just wondering why you're calling?"
"Lincoln." I warn. I grab the receiver from his hand. "Yeah?"
"Johanna!"
"Hey Finnick." I say smirking at Lincoln. The jealous prick pouts and looks away.
"Your friend," Finnick begins to explain.
"Yeah I know, he can be annoying." I say glaring at Lincoln. He glares back.
"Annie's laughing right now." Finnick says amused.
"Shut up, both of you." This makes him laugh again and I smile despite myself.
I walk into the kitchen and hop up onto the island and pop a grape in my mouth. "How's things in District Four?"
"Pretty alright." He says. "Annie's been cooking eggs a lot more recently."
"One time, one time I burn an egg and try to give my old mentor food poisoning and you two won't let me live it down."
"It's not our fault I'm a better cook than you!" Annie shouts in the background.
"I make fantastic boiled water, thank you very much." I add rolling my eyes. This makes them both laugh loudly. Lincoln tries not to smile whilst he pouts in the corner of the kitchen.
"Johanna!" Ed calls walking into the kitchen. I look up at him without making a sound, gesturing to the phone.
"Can you walk Max to the forest? I've got to go to town and he needs to learn to chop. You're the expert on destroying shit, so. I assume you'd be the better teacher."
"Alright." I say. "Sorry Finnick, gotta go." Ed leaves. "What people don't understand, is that I'm great at destroying things, but patience is not my thing." I hang up the phone and toss it to Lincoln, who puts it back on the wall.
"C'mon Max!" I shout obnoxiously.
Max bounces into the room. "I can't wait!"
I roll my eyes. Only in District Seven do kids get excited about axes. Lincoln and I walk to the forest when Sabrina runs up to us with a huge smile on her face.
"Eric's getting better!" She shouts loudly. She's two inches from my face, she doesn't need to shout. You know, I'm starting to think that all of my friends have volume control problems.
"Great," I deadpan.
"and he kissed me!" She shouts even louder. Yeah, volume control is really an issue in today's generation.
"Oh goody!" I say sarcastically. "You mean I have to be around him more often?"
"Not just that." She says biting her lip. "You have to be nice too."
All three of us stare at her. Everyone, including Max, except for Sabrina, bursts into laughter.
"Johanna? Nice?" Lincoln wheezes, laughing. "I've never laughed so hard since her pre-Games interview!"
"You laughed during that?" I ask. "That was some of my best acting."
"Yeah, and we all knew it was a load of bull." He defends, still laughing.
I smirk. "It sure was."
"C'mon back on topic!" Sabrina says rolling her eyes.
I roll my eyes. "I doubt I'll be able to control myself. I still throw rocks at his window whenever I pass by his house."
She groans. "For me Johanna?"
"Fine, but don't expect it to last, Brainless."
Max is still a little small for an ax, so we give him a hatchet and send him up the tree to the branches.
Scarlett jogs over to me. "President Snow is in our house, and he wants to talk to you. I'll take over with Max." Why is he in my house?
When I get back to the house, Renee points to the office we never use. I enter the room hesitantly. Sure enough there's the creepy guy, with big puffy lips and the white rose in his lapel.
"Most people knock before entering a closed door Johanna." He says before gesturing a seat to me.
"This is my house." I retort pointedly.
He chuckles. "This is true I suppose."
I tilt my head. "Why are you here?"
"Get's right down to business. This is why I think we'd be great business partners."
"Business partners?"
"See, there are many people in the Capitol who find you very, eh, desirable."
"You want me to fuck anything that pays enough money for it." I say narrowing my eyes.
"You do catch on fast." He's pleased. "Quite blunt, but I believe that's what makes you so liked."
"No," I spit.
"I haven't told you the consequences have I?"
"I don't give a fuck about the consequences, I didn't get chased around by a fucking Manticore, knocked out for days, killed four people, just to be prostituted for money that doesn't even go in my pocket." I snap.
"Alright then. But don't be surprised when things happen that you find undesirable."
"Don't be surprised when I don't change my mind." I growl as he walks out of the room.
That went well didn't it? I stand up and storm back to the forest. I'm halfway there and throwing a rock at Eric's window when I hear a scream. I bolt off to the forest arriving in record time.
Scarlett meets me at the edge of the forest, panic-stricken and teary eyed. "It's Eddy."
"Tree fall? Stray ax? What?" I ask with wide eyes, I grab her elbow and lead her back to find him before she can answer.
"Tree, it got him good too."
When I get to the scene I drop to my knees. It was a big dogwood, and the only part of Eddy you could see was his arm. He had no chance whatsoever of surviving.
Max is crying into Lincoln's leg. Sabrina is standing there, next to Renee with identical looks of shock.
"I'm gonna kill that man." I growl.
"Who?" Scarlett asks kneeling by me.
"Snow, I'm gonna kill him, I swear."
Lincoln picks up Max. "I'm taking him back home." He nods to me and I shoo him away.
I pick up Ed's ax. "Let's get it off of him." I snap to the spectators.
The foreman doesn't complain when I take charge. Joey and I pick up Ed's body to carry him back to Victor's Village. I have to dig his grave now. He'll be buried right next to Xavier. That's two of my family members that I've killed.
When we get to Victor's Village, Lincoln and Max aren't there. We set Ed down and Joey leaves after giving his condolences, Joey was Ed's friend. He's a nice guy. I pity him.
I walk out the door and down to town to try and find Lincoln and my brother. What I find completes the day.
There's Lincoln, with a necklace of rope around his neck, and Max standing below them begging them to let him go.
"What is going on here?" I shout pushing my way through the crowd of spectators.
"He is being hung for his crimes." One of the Peacekeepers answers curtly.
"What crimes?" I demand.
"He stole bread from the bakery." The man says. He's gripping the lever that will hang Lincoln.
"I didn't Johanna." Lincoln panics.
"Who says it was him?" I growl trying to climb onto the platform, I'm kicked back down.
A man steps out with wide eyes. "I do." He looks directly at me, I recognize him as the baker. His hands are shaking, but he manages to choke out the two words that condemn my best friend with confidence.
"There we have it." The Peacekeeper announces. "Stealing is punishable by death."
"But he didn't steal it." Max says loudly. "I was with him the whole time."
"Are you admitting to being an accomplice?"
"What? No!" He screams as they bind his wrists together and drag him up beside Lincoln, lowering a rope necklace around him too.
"No!" I scream. Someone holds me back as I claw desperately towards them. "Max!"
The Peacekeeper pulls the lever, the trap doors below their feet drop down, and they're gone.
"Max! Max!" I panic.
It takes five people to drag me to my house in Victor's Village. When I finally stop fighting my friends, I collapse onto the couch to look around. The girls are crying, except for me.
Scarlett curls up at my side and sobs into my lap. The phone rings again. I push Scarlett aside so that I can answer it as Joey brings in Max.
"Hello?" I answer numbly as I watch Joey close my brother's eyes.
"Johanna!" Annie chirps. "Is everything okay you sound,"
"Yeah. Everything's fine." I interrupt.
"Johanna Mason. Don't lie to me." She scolds.
"Ed, Max, and Lincoln." I name, staring at Max's pale face.
"What happened to them?"
I'm silent. "No, Johanna!"
"What is it?" I can hear Finnick in the background.
I leave the room so that I could talk to the two in privacy. "I refused to get pimped out by Snow. Then, a tree fell on Ed. Lincoln and Max were accused for stealing bread and hung. It happened at least twenty minutes ago." I mumble, my voice betraying me.
"Johanna, are you going to be okay?"
"I have two sisters to take care of Annie. I have to be okay."
"That's not what I meant-"
"S-stop." I stutter. "I couldn't do anything to help them. Except maybe go along with Snow."
"No Johanna." She says firmly. "Never regret anything in your life. Because at some point that's exactly what you wanted."
"You think I wanted my brothers to die?" I snap.
"No, but you don't want to be a slave do you?"
I'm silent. "That's what I thought."
She talks for awhile, and I just listen. It's a great way to keep my mind somewhere else.
"Thanks Annie." I mumble quietly.
"Anytime Johanna." She says. I can hear the smile in her voice.
I hang up and put the phone back onto the wall. Sabrina sits on the couch with Renee's face buried in her shoulder. I sit down next to a stunned Scarlett silently.
"We'll be alright." I nod once, looking at Sabrina for support.
The silence deafens, I can't think. I stand up and grab a shovel from the closet. "I'm going to the cemetery." I say quietly. "I'll come back when it's ready for them."
They nod and Renee's eyes fill with tears.
I walk outside, in my black tank top and jean shorts. It's starting to get dark outside. As I walk towards the cemetery, barely sanctioned off from the dirt roads except for an unsteady wooden fence that I accidentally broke when I was thirteen, the sky opens up and the rain pours heavily on me.
I walk amongst the wooden planks used to mark each person. I find my Mom and Xavier quickly and start to dig.
I dig for hours as it pours. Lightning strikes somewhere in the forest, and for a brief second I'm worried about a forest fire. Then, I think about the metal pole I'm holding.
Yet, I can't bring myself to care. It'd be a good thing if I was struck by lightning. Then I couldn't get anyone else killed. Sure, Renee and Scarlett would be struggling to get food again, but they'd at least be safe from me.
Soon enough I have two holes of the same size right next to Xavier.
I begin the trek back to Victor's Village. I'm filthy and everyone looks up at me. I pick up Max easily. Scarlett and Sabrina grab Ed's mangled body and Renee follows us as we walk slowly to the cemetery.
I lower Max down closest to Xavier. Ed is next to Max. I stand up as the rain washes the sweat from my face.
I take the shovel and slowly begin to fill the holes back up. It's District Seven tradition that the oldest male in the family would do all of the work to bury them, as a sign of respect and gratitude for leaving them the responsibility of leading the family.
Seeing as Dad left, and Ed and Max are being buried, I have to do all of the work.
Next I collect two planks and carve their names, birth and death dates and an ax into the planks. Then I stick the planks vertically into the ground by their heads. With that, all of us turn and go back home, dripping wet, without a care of how we looked.
We take turns showering, except for me. Sabrina sits in the gym watching me work harder than I've ever worked before.
I ran at least ten laps at high speed around the track and I lifted weights for hours until Sabrina stops me and drags me to my room and tells me to go to sleep. I grumble a bit but follow her directions.
I sleep a dreamless sleep and before I know it, its morning and I need to get up. I walk downstairs past Sabrina, asleep on the couch. I mechanically make breakfast; I refuse to think about Ed and Max. The smell of food wakes everyone up and I serve the eggs with toast and a bunch of grapes.
"You learned to cook." Sabrina jokes sadly.
"Yeah, an Avox taught it to me after Xavier died." I try to smile, but ultimately fail as my smile becomes a grimace.
We lost three people that were important in our lives, and suddenly. Now it's time to try to heal. I shake my head as we eat in silence.
"I've got to go chopping today." Sabrina begins quietly.
I wince. "Okay, you want company?"
She shrugs. "Sure."
"Renee and I can go too." Scarlett says.
Sabrina and I nod slowly. I wash the dishes and we set off to the forest. The day goes by unbelievably slowly as we chop away. Everyone but me, breaks down at some point in the day. But I stay strong. I have to, or we'll fall apart.
We separate as Sabrina goes to her own home, and we go back to Victor's Village. I go right back to the gym and work.
I run and run and run until my legs refuse to hold my body upright any longer. I fall to my knees and pant, trying to catch my breath. Suddenly, colors blend together and the ground sways, pushing me face down. I can't see as I lay in a small pool of sweat. I can't hear anymore and everything is dark.
"Johanna," Someone whispers into my ear. Slowly, I resurface from the pool of colors I'm drowning in. "Johanna drink this." I gulp down whatever it is and I feel myself shaking. "Now Johanna I need you to eat this." I recognize who it is now.
"E-Eric?" I ask feebly, hating myself for my vulnerability.
"Yeah, now c'mon eat this." He reassures me. I eat the sugary bread that he's holding out to me. He helps me over to the wall so that I can sit up.
"Johanna, how long have you been unconscious?" Sabrina asks worriedly.
Scarlett and Renee are in the corner pale as the sheets on our beds upstairs. "I-I don't know." I mumble incoherently.
"We couldn't find you until we realized the last time we saw you, you were coming down here." Scarlett says shakily.
"How long ago was that?" I ask numbly.
"We started looking this morning. You've been out all day. Brina went and got Eric."
"I've been out all night too." I mumble as my head droops a bit. I'm shaking like a leaf.
"Twelve hours." Scarlett says to Eric.
"Let's get her upstairs so that we can get her to eat."
Sabrina helps me up and I lean on her to get up the stairs. I'm spilt into a chair by the island. Eric clambers up behind us and immediately takes charge of everyone, telling them what to stuff my face with. I would complain if I had the energy for it.