Chapter 11
K&P Victory Tour, Part 1

The next day, in the dining car of the tribute train
Ten minutes away from District Twelve

Gathered at the dining table were Katniss and Peeta, Haymitch and Effie, and Cinna and Portia. The four adults were shooting the two teenagers puzzled looks, because Katniss had just called a meeting.

By Effie's coffee cup was a large stack of blank index cards. Effie had started to write on one index card, and to mumble to herself, as soon as the train had begun to move.

Katniss looked around the table and said, "Yesterday, Cori—President Snow flew out to District Twelve and had a secret talk with Peeta and me. We talked out in the woods, this is how secret our talk was."

"I nearly froze," Peeta said, laughing.

None of the adults laughed. Haymitch and Effie shared a worried look.

Haymitch asked, "Sweetheart, there any chance you can tell us what was said by Snow?"

Katniss said, "Not yet. But at the end of the Victory Tour will be the President's Ball. This is when President Snow will make two announcements."

Peeta said, "One of the announcements will be that Katniss and President Snow are soulmates."

Katniss scowled. "Peeta! We're supposed to keep everything secret till then!"

Peeta said, "Kat, as soon as you tell Cinna about the dress he has to make, they all will figure out the We're soulmates announcement, hm?"

"Yeah, you're right," Katniss said grudgingly.

Katniss looked at Cinna and said, "Right up to the President's Ball, keep hiding my soulmark. But for the President's Ball, show it off."

Portia said to Cinna, "A slanted hemline would work. Knee-length on the right, ankle-length on the left."

Cinna nodded. "What I was thinking."

Then Katniss said, "Effie, stop writing that speech."

Effie's tone was patronizing: "Trust me, dear, I am listening to your every word. But I need to write both of your speeches and rehearse you two by the time we get to District Eleven, and we have no time to waste."

Katniss shook her head. "That's not why I'm saying this. Me and Peeta, we'll be writing our own speeches. Or if Peeta needs a speech written, I'll write it."

Haymitch was shaking his head hard. Effie's pen was stopped in mid-word as Twelve's escort stared at Katniss.

Meanwhile, Peeta was laughing. "Um, Kat, how about I write my own speeches, and show them to you ahead of time? Sorry, but you make speeches like I sneak through the woods."

Haymitch put down his teacup and said, "This is not a good idea, Katniss. Not a good idea. There are a hundred different ways that you can say the wrong thing and get yourself arrested—"

"Not gonna happen," Katniss said. She reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a folded paper. Without unfolding the paper, she handed it to Haymitch. "President Snow wrote this out in his limousine yesterday morning."

After Haymitch unfolded the paper, he said, " 'Office of the President'—this part is printed. Below it is written out, '74-12-20. Mrs. Katniss Mellark and Mr. Peeta Mellark are not to be arrested or threatened for anything they say or do during the Victory Tour. Even their most extreme words or actions are not to be censored. I make no exception to this order. Coriolanus Snow, President of Panem.' Under his signature, Snow's written a telephone number."

Haymitch looked stunned as he refolded the paper and handed it back to Katniss.

Effie looked worried sick. "Katniss dear, so much could go wrong if you say the wrong thing, and I want to help you avoid trouble."

Katniss scowled, and started to reply, but Peeta laid a hand on her arm. "Effie is scared that, paper or no paper, she'll get blamed if things go sour."

Effie shot Peeta a grateful look.

Katniss said, "I'm not gonna tell y'all about President Snow's second announcement ahead of time, except to say: This paper"—Katniss tapped it with a finger—"relates. And Effie, this paper means what it says. I can say or do anything—including stupid stuff. And just because I don't get arrested for stupid stuff, doesn't mean that Snow will set that stuff aside when I finally face him. So you see, whatever I say on stage, it doesn't matter at all who wrote it, Snow's going to be royally pissed at me."

Peeta said, "As Snow put it, 'With total freedom comes total responsibility.' "

Haymitch lifted his teacup (which had more than tea in it) to his lips. Smirking, he said, "Sweetheart at the microphone, unfiltered—this Victory Tour just got lots more interesting. But I might stay on the train in Districts One, Two, and Four, so when angry mobs kill Sweetheart, they don't kill me too."

The next day
By the District Eleven Justice Building, facing District Eleven's Square No. 1

President Snow had not been stretching the truth, Katniss decided—District Eleven was a big prison. Between the five-meter-tall district-boundary fence that was covered with barbed wire, the many, many Peacekeepers who stood at the edges of the Square with their helmets on, and this Square's unsmiling faces everywhere Katniss looked, District Eleven was a grim, grim place.

At the far end of this Square were two platforms. On one platform, under a huge picture of Rue in her Training Center clothing, stood a family of a man and woman and many little girls. On the other platform, under Thresh's picture, stood an old woman and a teenaged girl. The teen girl (Thresh's sister?) was giving Katniss a challenging look.

Eleven's Capitol Liaison gave a speech that was long on "Yay, Capitol!" Then Eleven's mayor spoke (briefly, thankfully). The mayor surprised Katniss when he ended his speech with "...and now little Vidalia Cooper will welcome Mr. and Mrs. Mellark to District Eleven."

A dark-skinned girl, young but already solemn-faced, stepped forward to the front of the crowd, while holding a bouquet of different flowers. To Katniss, no two flowers in the bouquet looked the same.

Katniss tried her best to imitate an Effie-smile for the girl, but the girl did not smile back. "Are these for Peeta and me?"

"For you, ma'am," the girl said. "For all you did for Rue."

Katniss reached down for the flowers; the girl solemnly handed them up. Katniss walked back to the microphone, briefly hefted the bouquet, and said, "District Eleven, Peeta and I thank you for these flowers."

Katniss was pasting on a fake smile. Peeta, Katniss knew without looking, was smiling a genuine smile. District Eleven continued to stare back at Katniss and Peeta—unspeaking, unsmiling.

Peeta did not talk long—by his own admission, he had not spent much time with either Rue or Thresh. He told the Elevens that Rue followed Katniss around in the Training Center "...but so quietly. I'd look around and there would be Rue, watching Katniss. Rue was so cute." As for Thresh, Peeta said, "...He was so strong! He was amazing on the overhead bars—he was fast, and he made them look easy. I think Marvel, the boy from One, and Marlin, the boy from Four, were both afraid of Thresh—though of course they'd never admit it."

This drew a cheer from the crowd.

Then it was Katniss's turn to speak. She had a hard time not crying as she talked about Rue, and about Thresh's unexpected act of mercy. "District Eleven people, I mourn them both, I really do."

The crowd gasped, and at first Katniss could not guess why. Then she realized that the Elevens were not expecting a Victory Tour speech to be genuine, instead of being crammed full of "rah-rah for the Capitol" bullshit.

Katniss stopped talking then, and looked behind her and to her left. Eleven's mayor smiled at her, but Eleven's Capitol Liaison looked like he wanted to shoot Katniss dead.

Katniss turned her head to look at Peeta, and mouthed the words one month. Peeta stepped to the microphone and said, "People of Eleven, your two tributes kept my wife alive. To show my thanks, I want to pledge one month of each year of my Victor's stipend to go to the surviving family of Rue and of Thresh."

Katniss said, "Yes! A month a year from me too!"

The crowd actually smiled then.

An old man in the crowd whistled Rue's four-note end-of-workday whistle, then he kissed the fingers of his left hand, then he gave Katniss and Peeta the District Twelve funeral salute. Right afterward, everyone else in the crowd (including Rue's and Thresh's families) also gave Katniss and Peeta the funeral salute.

Right after all this, everything went to shit.

An instant later

Behind Katniss, an unfamiliar man's voice yelled, "Haymitch, get them inside!"

A second later, male arms wrapped around Katniss's waist from behind, and she was carried backward toward the Justice Building.

Just before Katniss was pulled inside the building, Katniss and her rescuer were jostled by someone. Katniss let go of the flowers she still was holding.

As soon as whoever had been holding Katniss let go, she pushed open one of the doors and stepped outside, intending to pick up the flowers she had dropped. In the Seam, a gift might be refused or repaid, but it was never abandoned.

But after picking up the flowers, Katniss froze staring at what she was seeing, the flowers in her hand forgotten.

Two masked, faceless Peacekeepers had grabbed the old man in the crowd who had led the district in funeral-saluting the Co-Victors. One Peacekeeper swung his baton down low, behind the old man; the old man dropped to his knees. The other Peacekeeper stepped behind the old man and—Bang!—shot him in the back of the head.

Ba-bang! Two shots sounded from the far side of the Square, where the tribute-family platforms were. Rue's father, and Thresh's grandmother, dropped limply to the floor of their respective platforms.

In the entire crowd, nobody—not one Eleven resident, not one Peacekeeper—said a word. Without any order to do so, every District Eleven resident had dropped to their knees and had put their hands behind their heads.

They are used to this, shocked Katniss thought.

Katniss's right hand (the hand not holding flowers) was grabbed, and a man yelled in an Eleven accent, "Come inside, Mrs. Mellark, it is not safe out here!"

Again a man dragged Katniss into the safety of the Justice Building. The man turned out to be Eleven's mayor.

Soon afterward

The Peacekeepers who were acting as the Twelve Team's escort at the Justice Building, took Twelve's Victors plus Effie back to their train.

Once Katniss was on the train, she went back to her private compartment, locked the door, lay on her bed, and cried for hours. On the train, now Katniss cried more than she had cried at age eleven for her dead father—because young Katniss had not blamed herself for her father's death.

That night, Eleven's mayor held a formal dinner that Katniss and Peeta could not get out of attending. Katniss publicly thanked and praised the mayor for rescuing her, but she barely spoke three words to Eleven's Capitol Liaison or to Eleven's Head Peacekeeper.

Later that night, during the trainride to District Ten

Katniss and Peeta were in bed together, but not for sex.

"I killed them, Peeta," Katniss said, sniffling. "Three District Eleven people who did nothing wrong, and didn't deserve to die. I'm responsible for their deaths."

"No, Katniss, you're wrong," Peeta said. "Those Peacekeepers, they did wrong, not you. They overreacted, they committed murder. You did not tell anyone to do anything that they might be punished for. This is one time that total freedom does not mean total responsibility."

Katniss said, her face determined, "Whether I am responsible for their deaths or not, I will make sure nothing like this happens again."

Hours later

Peeta woke up in bed alone. He pulled on a robe and searched for Katniss.

She was not in her private compartment.

Peeta found Katniss in the dining car, sitting at the dining table, staring into space. An untouched cup of hot chocolate, in its saucer, set by Katniss's left hand.

Katniss must have recognized Peeta's distinctive walk. Peeta was still behind Katniss when she said, "I've figured out a way to prevent Peacekeepers from killing local people during our Victory Tour stops. So Snow will be pleased, right? Not when he hears what I have to say. The second announcement of his, it might wind up not getting announced."

Peeta put his hands on Katniss's shoulders and began rubbing those (very muscular) shoulders. "If this happens"—Peeta sighed theatrically—"I guess you'll have to settle for being merely 'the Girl on Fire,' and half of 'the Star-Crossed Lovers of District Twelve,' and Seventy-fourth Hunger Games Co-Victor, and Mrs. Mellark, beloved wife of the best cheese-bun baker in Panem."

Katniss's hands reached up and back, in order to rub Peeta's arms that were still working her shoulders. "I love you—you know this, right?"

Hours later
Standing at the microphone in District Ten

Katniss said, "People of District Ten, Peeta and I have some remarks that I hope will be worth your time to hear. After all, it's barely above freezing right now, so what Peeta and I say better be worth your time, right?"

The crowd laughed—a little. Katniss figured the Tens were still expecting the standard rah-rah Victory Tour speech, and the Tens resented having to stand out in the cold to hear it.

Katniss continued, "Before I say anything else, and before Peeta speaks, there are things y'all should know. Yesterday in District Eleven, an old man gave Peeta and me the District Twelve funeral salute," which Katniss demonstrated how to do properly. "In District Twelve, it's a sign of respect, and I almost cried at my Reaping when the people of Twelve all gave me the funeral salute. Remember that in the arena, I gave this salute to Rue after she died. Yesterday, the old man in Eleven gave me and Peeta the funeral salute, and everyone in Eleven copied it. I took everyone in District Eleven giving Peeta and me the funeral salute to mean 'We respect you both.' But the Peacekeepers in Eleven saw things differently—they killed three people, including the old man. I saw them die, and I do not want to see anyone else die. So people of Ten, please do not give us the funeral salute, do not throw things, do not scream, do not yell anything—don't give your Peacekeepers any excuse to start shooting. Y'all clapping at the end of our speeches probably won't get anyone killed by the Peacekeepers, but I can't be sure."

Katniss looked out at the sea of District Ten faces. They were not bored now, nor did they look resigned at wasting a half-hour. Instead, every District Ten face looked angry.

Later

At the end of Katniss's and Peeta's remarks, the District Ten crowd was well behaved. They did not make any kind of gesture, or throw things, or yell, or scream—they simply clapped at the end.

And clapped. And clapped. The (unhelmeted) Peacekeepers of District Ten looked pissed, but did not do anything.

Two days later
At the District Eight train station

The Twelve Team was met at the train station by the local Capitol Liaison (who looked disapprovingly at Katniss) and by the district mayor (who smiled warmly at Katniss).

With those two men was a woman in her thirties—whom the mayor introduced as Cecilia Esterhaus the Victor (and whom Katniss recognized as one of her wedding guests). Also part of the District Eight group was a man in his eighties—Woof Weaverson, Victor of the Thirteenth Hunger Games (but not a wedding guest). Alas, Woof now could not walk unassisted, and there was nothing behind his eyes.

Woof was being assisted in walking by a dark-skinned woman in her thirties, whom Cecilia introduced as Distaff Paylor, a floor supervisor at the wool-cloth factory.

Katniss looked into Distaff Paylor's eyes and saw Leadership there—here was a woman who, like Katniss, was willing and able to make hard decisions.

Meanwhile, Peeta was saying, "Paylor? Like in Spool Paylor, the District Eight male tribute?"

Distaff Paylor smiled proudly, "I'm his aunt. Before Cato killed Spool, Spool killed the boy from Four. He was brave."

The Capitol Liaison said, "Ahem. If all of you will please step this way, you will ride to the Justice Building in warmth and comfort in my limousine. Alas, the limousine seats eight but not nine; so Miss Paylor, I regret to say you must stay behind." The Capitol Liaison did not look regretful in the least.

Cecilia smiled a too-kind smile. "You go ahead and ride in the limo, Agamemnon. Take Miss Trinket with you—you folks from the climate-controlled Capitol aren't used to real winters in District Eight. As for the rest of us, we're Victors, mostly. Except for Miss Paylor and our esteemed mayor, we've all gone through worse things than some cold wind."

"Get in the limo, sweetheart," Haymitch murmured. Haymitch and Effie had a brief conversation without words, using looks and eyebrows only, then Effie walked to the limousine.

Meanwhile, the mayor smiled knowingly at Cecilia before he too climbed into the limousine.

As the limousine drove away, Cecilia said, "Shall we walk? Distaff, speak your mind."

Woof really needed Distaff's help to walk, Katniss saw. While helping Woof walk, Distaff said, "District Eight believes that Spool Paylor was punitively Reaped. District Eight almost rioted when Spool was Reaped, we almost rioted when he was killed in the Bloodbath, and Eight has been walking the knife-edge ever since."

Katniss asked, "Why do you think Spool was punitively Reaped? And who do you think did it?"

Peeta asked, "If everybody thinks Spool's Reaping was rigged, why have you not rioted?"

Distaff hesitated to answer. Cecilia said, "Disti, I think you can trust them."

Distaff said, "The who is a no-brainer: Head Peacekeeper Romulus Thread. Why he might have Reaped Spool is because"—Distaff looked at Cecilia, who smiled encouragingly at her—"because I'm active in the Rebellion here."

"Whoa," Katniss and Peeta said together.

Distaff looked at Peeta. "We haven't rioted because we have no proof that Thread rigged Spool's Reaping. Thread doesn't exactly let us Eights rummage through his filing cabinets."

Haymitch asked, "This Romulus Thread guy is from Two, yeah? Forty years old, more or less? He any relation to Remus Thread?"

Katniss asked, "Who is Remus Thread?"

Distaff said to Haymitch, "The rumor in Eight is that Romulus Thread went to Two's Secret Academy"—which teaches District Two teenagers how to be Career tributes—"and went most of the way. But when he was seventeen, he was judged 'Does not meet standards' and got transferred to the Peacekeeper Academy; he did a year there. Do you know what kids in Peacekeeper Academy call kids who were kicked out of Secret Academy? 'Losers.' So Thread probably got called this a lot. Meanwhile, his younger brother, a year behind him in the Secret Academy, went all the way and even was picked to be the Designated Volunteer. One of two, actually—the rules for the Fiftieth Hunger Games were a little different. Anyway, Remus Thread went into the Fiftieth Hunger Games, but an outer-district boy killed him."

"Actually, Remus Thread got killed by a sixteen-year-old smart-mouth from District Twelve," Haymitch said.

Peeta whistled. "Thread is going to love seeing you, Haymitch."

Distaff looked at all three Victors from Twelve. "Head Peacekeeper Romulus Thread hates people in the outer districts—floggings and even hangings happen here at least once a week. He hates Victors—"

"I could tell you stories," Cecilia said.

"—and now I'm guessing he also hates District Twelve. So Katniss and Peeta, be careful."

Way too long later

Old Woof walked slowly, which meant the entire group of six walked slowly. While the wind was cold. By the time Katniss walked into the back of the Justice Building, a big part of her was regretting not riding from Eight's train station to Eight's Justice Building in the big, warm limousine that she had been offered.

Soon the group walked out the front doors of the Justice Building. Distaff said to the Twelves, "It's been nice talking to you," handed Woof off to Cecilia, then headed off to join Spool Paylor's family under his giant photograph. Cecilia and Woof turned to the right; they would stand in front of the Justice Building, beside the mayor, the Capitol Liaison, and Effie.

Besides the Capitol Liaison and the mayor, three other men were already standing with their backs to Eight's Justice Building: three Peacekeepers. Of all the Peacekeepers whom Katniss could see near Eight's main Square, only these three Peacekeepers had gewgaws on their white armor, and only these three were unhelmeted.

Meanwhile, while Katniss was looking at the three head-honcho Peacekeepers, they were looking back at the Twelve Victors. The oldest and gewgaw-est Peacekeeper was glaring at Haymitch.

Haymitch walked up to the man and stuck his hand out for a shake. "You're Romulus Thread, right? Haymitch Abernathy. Your brother tried to kill me a long time ago, but no hard feelings."

Needless to say, Head Peacekeeper Thread did not shake Haymitch's hand.

Peeta nodded toward the microphone stand. "Time to go to work."

"In the cold wind," Katniss said. She strode purposefully toward the microphone stand, as a crowd of silent District Eight residents watched.

Almost everyone in the crowd was unsmiling, besides being silent. But in the front of the crowd, a teen girl with a strawberry birthmark over one eye was beaming at Katniss, as though Katniss had handed the younger girl a stack of ten-PD coins.

Minutes later

Katniss began her speech to the Eights by saying something that District people were not used to hearing: an apology. "We Victors had to show everyone else we're rough and tough, and so at the train station, we passed up a chance to ride in the nice warm car—instead, we walked here."

Peeta said, "Which proves that while Victors are brave, we sometimes aren't smart." The crowd laughed.

Katniss resumed: "Anyway, folks, walking here took longer than we thought it would, so we got here late, which means that y'all had to stand in the cold longer than y'all planned to. For this I am deeply sorry, y'all."

With this said, Katniss began her Watch out for trigger-happy Peacekeepers speech-introduction. She had made the same introductory remarks in District Nine as she had said in District Ten. Now in District Eight, she said almost the same words for a third time—

"Before I say anything else, and before Peeta speaks, there are things y'all should know. Three days ago in District Eleven, an old man gave Peeta and me the District Twelve funeral salute..."

A minute later, Katniss was continuing on: "...But the Peacekeepers in Eleven saw things differently—they killed three people, including the old man. I saw them die, and I do not want to see anyone else die. So people of Eight—"

Behind Katniss, a male voice yelled, "Her words are lies, and her words are treason! Peacekeepers, arrest her!"

AUTHOR END NOTE: I once read a fanfiction that put forth the idea that as a boy, Romulus Thread attended "Career school" in District Two but was not good enough to be a Career-volunteer tribute; later, Romulus's brother Remus was chosen to become a Career tribute (only to be killed by Haymitch in the Second Quarter Quell)—and this explains why Head Peacekeeper Romulus Thread is so cruel to the people of Twelve and to the Twelve Victors.

I would like to give proper credit to that fanfiction story's title and author, but I don't remember either one.