Chapter eleven- District thirteen- Cato's P.O.V:
Hospital lights made me squint and I weakly tried to turn my head around trying to get the picture of where I was. A heart rate monitor beeped behind me and I saw various tubes and wires sticking out me.
Where the hell was I? I kept my head on the pillow and tried to stay calm. Faint voices spoke in front of me.
"Is she awake?" they said. "The girl from district one…Glimmer? Is it?"
My mind blew. I bolted up in the bed glaring at these three men surrounding one clipboard. My feet shot from the bed and I tore the tubes from my body.
"Where is she." I snarled.
The three men cowered back and I grabbed the one with the clipboard by the collar.
"WHERE IS SHE?" I screamed. He feebly pointed to the door.
"D-down the c-corridor…third on the left." He stuttered.
I pushed him into the wall and headed directly into the hallway. I heard the commotion of doctors behind me but my only attention was for glimmer. I thumped the door open and it slammed into the wall making a violent echo explode around the room. As I marched down the path a figure stood from the other end being assisted by a drunken looking man. The figure was Thresh. We held a gaze for a few moments and finally he started towards me. I wasn't looking for a fight…I was looking for glimmer.
"I've already killed you once thresh- Drop it" But the boy kept coming.
I sighed and threw a fist into his face, he stumbled backwards and I ran past him to the third door- desperately I leapt at it and went flying into a ward. I landed on my chest but pushed myself up too see her. And sure enough there she was, sat in bed, scars on her body, her eyes looking into mine. Her jaw dropped and my whole universe went blurry. She was alive…My glimmer was alive and breathing and in front of me.
"Glimmer" my mouth struggled to speak but I knew what I wanted to say. A smile started growing on my face and she laughed as tears filled our eyes. I sprinted to her bed and we crashed into each other blotting out the rest of the room. I wept into her neck and started mumbling words. We squeezed onto each other and breathed in the soft and delicate smells that came from her hair.
"I love you glimmer- I love you- my god I can't-I-you-I just" My words didn't make sense but I didn't seem to matter to her. She tried to smile at me but the tears just kept falling.
"I love you Cato" she cried.
I put my hands on her face and pressed my forehead against her.
I tried to compose myself and pronounce real words but I just shook my head and sighed…Seeing her again… It removed my ability to speak- to think- I just wanted her. I clutched onto her hands and laughed to myself.
"I can't believe your alive" I managed to talk but my voice was so quiet.
"Cato, why are we here…" she put her lips on my knuckles and I lay my head down on the pillow with her thinking for an answer.
"I can tell you that…" We turned around to see a middle aged man staring down at us with several other people around him.
"And who the hell might you be?" I sat up threateningly.
"My name is Plutarch Havensbe; I am the so called current game maker… but also have a key role in district thirteen's rebellion plans… That's where you lot come in…"
Glimmer gasped.
"What do you mean… thirteen?" I looked at them mockingly.
"It's been blown up glim- the idiots obviously don't know that yet…" Plutarch laughed.
"If district thirteen has been blown up then where are you now?" My face dropped and I looked around me. The walls were decorated with thirteen's old symbol and all of the hospital beds had thirteen printed on them.
"How…and why?" I turned my attention back to Havensbe.
"We made a deal with the capitol…to play dead, generally speaking. And if you would like… we can tell you all why you are here and what we need you for."
I looked to glimmer that seemed to be quite scared of this whole situation and I decided to let him talk to us.
"OK then tell us- why are we here?"
"Ha! You are quite the eager one now aren't you? All in good time my boy. But first I think we should get to grips with the rules of this plan hey?" He tilted his head and I stood up to follow.
"Glimmer, come on." I reached for her hand and she feebly got out of bed. She was wearing the same hospital gown as me and her legs and arms were covered in red bruises. It made me gag but I kept a straight face for her. As she stood her knees started to shake.
A doctor came over and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you ok to walk sweetheart or do you want the chair?" glimmer shook her head sadly.
"The chair…"
She looked to the floor and I put her arm over my neck until she was sat down.
"I'll push her" I demanded and the doctor nodded sweetly.
Plutarch smiled ecstatically and we followed him out of the room. His cheerfulness made me sick. Thresh joined the crowd of people and held an ice pack on his cheek but he never looked at me. Glimmer screamed. Everyone turned to look at her- jumping from the previous calm atmosphere.
I bent over.
"Glim are you ok? I-"she silenced me by pushing her way out of the chair.
"MARVEL!" she squealed.
I turned and stood up tall again to see the clumsy oaf come tripping down the corridor.
"Guys!" he smiled.
"Hey marvel." I laughed as he leapt for the both of us.
"Oh my god! Guys i..i cant believe it! I can't ..oh my god!" marvel leapt about in the air and waved his arms about. Me and glimmer laughed but Plutarch came over unimpressed.
"Please- we have been through this once already can we just wait until we get to the rest of them hey?" He folded his arms.
"fine-" I glared at him. And he turned quickly.
I held one of glimmers hands and marvel pushed the chair. The boy just couldn't stop talking- first it was how his neck was still hurting, then how his eyes had miraculously changed colour and then about how he was so confused about district thirteen and he just didn't end it. Usually I'd get fed up with his voice and turn off- but right now- it was like being in heaven to hear his irritating voice again. I patted him on the back with my spare hand and he laughed awkwardly.
"Do you want me to shut up?" he laughed rubbing his neck.
"No! Keep talking! Seriously…don't ever stop again…" I smiled.
"You'll regret that Cato"
Glimmer rubbed marvels hand and put her head on the back of the chair. Marvel stopped talking after that, as we walked into a huge hall with television screens everywhere. Plutarch turned and welcomed the four of us into the room.
"This is command. Welcome. If you'd like to join the others over there and katniss will talk to you all." The three of us shuddered.
Katniss.
Plutarch pointed us to a crowd of around fifteen people and immediately I recognised them as a few of the tributes from the arena. The red headed girl sat holding onto the small girl from eleven. And district three sat alone staring blankly at the floor. I recognised a few faces that I'd killed myself in the bloodbath.
I looked at marvel. He shrugged.
"Hey Guys" We looked to the back of the seats and clove sat smiling at us saving three seats next to her.
Marvel laughed and ran to meet her, I pushed glimmer and took a seat next to clove. Marvel sat the other side and started to mutter into her ear about his longing to see her. I sniggered to myself at the thought of marvel and clove together but was proven wrong when he kissed her. I looked to glimmer my eyes bulging out my head.
"Did you not know that?" glimmer laughed.
"Ladies and gentlemen can I have your attention please." A woman with a strikingly dark bob walked onto a raised platform in front of us all.
"My name is president coin- I am in charge here at thirteen- And it is my job to lay down the ground rules for you staying here." She pulled out a list of rules and marvel groaned. We all sniggered.
"Firstly, whatever happened in that arena is history, none of you shall hold grudges on each other and there shall be NO fights of any kind. Let me express my words clearly. There shall be No fighting. I can't start to express the importance of that rule and if it is broken by any of you- there shall be severe punishments. Secondly, I am in charge here, After all I am responsible for you…coming back…shall we say, and I am in full ownership of you and anything you do. You do anything I ask of you- no exceptions. Thirdly- I wish for you all to stay in the schedule I have planned for you. Each of you has a reasonably similar diary and it will be printed onto your arm at the start of the day and washed off in evening- you follow exactly what it says. Now katniss Everdeen will be speaking to you with Friends to explain to you clearly what will be happening here. Thank you for your patience."
'President' coin walked off stage. Her droning grey uniform was as immaculate as the rest of her. So far I didn't like my experience here at thirteen. Everyone was so stuck up…Then it got even worse. Katniss made her way of stage her hands moving nervously around her shirt. She looked into the audience and smiled at the small girl.
"Hey rue" She winked.
The girl called rue smiled and shuffled in her chair. I gagged at marvel who put his fist by his mouth to stop himself from laughing.
"So… as you all know- we are no longer in the arena…" The pause was filled with tension and she panicked to carry on.
"And obviously you don't understand why you're here… but sometimes there isn't just an obvious explanation…So first, if you could all please stay patient my friend Beetee will explain the questions on your minds." She nodded to an older man down stage who came up holding a bottle of red liquid.
"One year ago… 22 tributes died in the 74th hunger games. Leaving peeta mellark and katniss Everdeen as the victors- As the games ended, a litre of blood from your bodies was removed and stored in a vast storage room in the capitol. The blood was kept for scientific experiments on animals and biological creations…This sparked an idea for the scientists from thirteen. And in everyday language- a group of our experts broke in to the storage room… and took as many blood containers as possible and made nineteen replica mutts to assist us in the rebellion. You are the mutt replicas of the tributes from the 74th…"
The room fell into a furious silence.
"What?" I laughed. "Were mutt clones of…ourselves?" I stood up angrily.
"Then how come we can think? How come I've got my thoughts and memories?" I yelled.
"Their copies of your memories Cato… Your brain is just acting how it remembers you acted." Beetee nodded to an officer who put me back in my seat. I flinched away from his hands and sulked back into my seat. I felt like Cato… so…did that technically mean I was him… or just a hypnotized experiment who believed to be someone he wasn't. And my feelings for glimmer… Where they real…or just copies.
"Thank you beetee" Katniss smiled at him and re took the position in centre stage.
"Please don't be scared about what he just told you… I know it's a lot to take in but I promise you- you are the same people you were one year ago. I've been through the hunger games twice and have experienced Snow's evil countless times… District twelve has been bombed… Nothing is left there. Very few people survived. All of your families are safe and alive thanks to research put out by beetee and the crew. But not all districts are sure about helping us with the rebellion. All of you…died for nothing… all of you died in vain. We brought you back, and now were not just asking but pleading you. Please- somewhere inside you- can you find the desire to help- to go back to your districts and to be televised nationwide, to convince your people to join this rebellion and end this in justice? Why should anyone die in vain-? Please… whatever your feelings are for me, for district thirteen… can't you find it in yourselves to help our cause? We are no longer enemies- but mistreated citizens of Panem. Please. I will leave you for a few hours to get settled into your temporary living quarters. Then I will come over to…see how you're getting on- and im sorry to all of you" She left the stage and all of the tributes stood up.
"If you would follow me please" A woman led the way and all of us followed. Me, Clove, Marvel and glimmer lagged behind and looked at each other keeping our expressions as neutral as possible.
"So, another rebellion hey…" Clove said and linked arms with Marvel.
"What will we do?" Marvel said.
I pushed glimmer forward in the chair and my mind went fuzzy.
"I don't know…" I said. The others went quiet and followed the crowd.
"I want to fight" Glimmer said.
We all worked away in our thoughts glimmers words hanging in our ears.
I wanted to just shut my eyes and wake up in district two like it was all some crazy dream before the reaping… but walking behind the children I'd murdered seemed to keep the dream just a little bit too real.
"I think we all do glim" I replied.
"But that's not the problem Cato… of course we would want to fight… But what about district two? What about home?" Clove said.
And then the words I'd been dreading crept up inside my mouth and practically bled out of my lips.
"It's not our home anymore- It was their home- but we are not them- are we? We are mutts and nothing more…" The others shivered at the truth in my words.
"Cato, Were not mutts…" Glimmer said.
"Yes we are glimmer…" I spat. "Were just machines… heartless, meaningless machines…" the others didn't speak to me for the rest of the walk to our living quarters. My fake heart sank in my chest. And I walked off alone. Wishing I'd never woken up.