District Two
Marvel's POV
Okay. I'll save you the trouble of a lengthy explanation. Clove, Cato, and Connie dragged us to District Two because we went to District One last time…
"Are we there yet?" Connie groaned.
"Not yet, almost. Look over there, Connie! It's the quarry!" Cato yelled and pointed like a child.
"Marvel?" Clove asked.
"What is that?" I asked my girlfriend, pointing at the enormous hole in the ground.
"That's a quarry. What? Did you think we mined all the stone? There are over 17 different types of rock we need to take from quarries! After thirteen got blown sky high, we needed to pick up the slack and graphite mine too." Clove answered.
"But it's gigantic!"
"Seventy-four years of extracting will do that to the earth…"
"Wait, you've used the same spot for seventy-four years? Isn't that a little dangerous?" I asked.
"Yeah, but not as dangerous as the last quarry in Rock Fort." When Clove finished, we drove under a huge wooden sign that read 'Rock Fort Quarry and Town'.
"Okay… I see the quarry, but where's the town?" Glimmer asked.
"Keep going!" Connie giggled. We drove another twenty feet until Cato made us park and get out.
"Still missing the town…" Glimmer said.
"Walk another five feet, then tell me if it's still missing." Clove grinned at us.
Glimmer and I walked up five feet and gasped. The earth dropped off about thirty feet down, then went maybe fifty yards out, then dropped another thirty feet and continued in that pattern. The flat part that went out had houses by the hundreds, enough for maybe a thousand people. The earth went down to a large river and there was a small bay there.
"What? How? I'm so confused. What is this?" Glimmer asked.
"This is Rock Fort. It's an old quarry that was built too close to a river. During the 'Dark Days', we had a small battle, Capitol verses Rebels, here and it ended up cracking the rock. The opposite wall of the quarry fell into the river. Then the remaining people built a new quarry and made the old one the town." Connie explained.
"Wow. This is so cool!" I exclaimed, my face breaking into a grin.
Clove smiled, took my hand, and lead us down into the layered town.
"The lower two levels are the shops and our small port. We send the heavier orders down river and directly to the Capitol from here. This river empties into the west side of the city, right next to the stone warehouse." Cato explained.
"So, where was your house?" Glimmer asked Cato.
"Down in the seventh ring from the top. We're almost to Clove's house… well the one she grew up in. Her step-dad bought a bigger one in the ninth ring…" Cato said as nicely as possible. Clove looked down, refusing to make eye contact with us.
As we walked on, I couldn't help but notice that there was a sort of class system here.
"Are all the houses here so small? They look like shacks." I asked.
"The top three rings have the poorer residence houses. They are the ones that are taken to the mines in the morning. The lower you get, the richer the person. Everyone wants to be closer to the market place at the bottom." Cato explained.
"Where's your house?" I whispered to Clove.
"Coming up." She answered quietly, still looking at the ground.
"I figured. You did say your dad died in a mining shaft accident."
She only nodded and walked on. We were almost to the end of the third row when Cato stopped us.
"This is it." He said. Just like the ones before it, this one was a shack at best.
"Can we go inside? I never got to go in when I was alive." Connie asked sweetly before she raced off and ran into the shack. Glimmer and Cato followed her in. I began to walk, but Clove didn't.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"This place has bad memories and it's a piece of crap! Why would anyone want to go in there?"
"Come on. So it's a shack. Think about where you're living now. You don't have to worry." I tried to get her to walk again, but she stood her ground.
"No. I had too many friends ask where I lived and when they saw it, they never talked to me again."
"Now Clover, they were being shallow. I don't care where you lived-"
"Then why do you need to go inside?" She asked urgently.
"Because, I want to. Come on, let's go together." I said and picked her up bridal style.
"No. Marvel, I don't want to!"
"Too bad, we're in." I said as we walked in the door.
The house looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. There was a thick layer of dust on the ground, doors were thrown off their hinges, and it lacked furniture. We followed the sound of voices down a hallway and into a room full of faded pink stuff. This room, unlike the others, was filled with the furniture of a little girl. Pink bed sheets, pink curtains, pink everything.
"Looks like mom really did forget about me…" Clove sighed. That's when it clicked, this was her room.
"This room is adorable! It's all pink and girly!" I smiled at Clove.
"And if you ever mention it again, I will stab you!" She seethed.
"But it's cute." Glimmer cut in.
"Yeah! Look at the doll house in the corner! It's so pretty." Connie squealed and ran to have a closer look.
"Yeah, sure. This is where I lived before I learned the wonders of being a career." Clove sighed.
"Well… who wants to see the house Clove lived in after she became a career?" Cato asked.
"Yay! We're going to my house!" Connie screamed, grabbed Glimmer's hand, and yanked her out the door. By the time we caught up with them, Connie and Glimmer were halfway down the large slope used to get from each ring.
The difference between the rings was noticeable. The top three had shacks, but as we progressed, the houses got bigger and bigger until they became mansions the size of my old house.
"There it is! There it is!" Connie cheered and threw the door open.
This house, unlike Clove's, was clean and newly polished. The furniture was lively and colorful, the marble countertops shined, and the walls were freshly painted.
"Wow… How is it so clean? Does someone 'live' here?" I asked Cato.
"Well… we had an old maid that died… maybe she still cleans the place?" Cato guessed.
We walked on into the kitchen, living room, and dining room. All the furniture was expensive and made from high grade materials. We continued up to the second level… well, we were dragged up to the second level so Connie could show Glimmer and I around.
"…and that's my parent's room. That's the guest room. And-oooh! There's Cato's room." She squealed and led us into a dark blue room.
There were clothes scattered about, an unmade navy blue bed, and a small cabinet. The cabinet was filled with knives of all shapes and sizes…figures.
Connie continued talking about something involving unicorns and led us to the next room, which just happened to be her room. Pink. That's all there was to say. Pink dolls, pink bed, pink curtains. It actually looks just like her room in Glimmer and Cato's house.
"…but you need so see Clove's room!" Connie squealed and dragged us to the next room.
The room was sky blue, like our room now, with dark wood furniture. There was a knife display case like in Cato's room, and several areas in the wall with knife punctures… maybe she was mad?
"Classic Clove, destroying walls when she was angry." I commented on the walls.
"What do you mean was? You obviously haven't been in my knife room lately. That place is a mess!" She said in a joking tone, but I couldn't help but think she was telling the truth…
"Cato, I'm hungry." Connie whined.
"Well, we have a few options. Go get sandwiches at the deli." Connie made a face.
"Find a restaurant in the next town." No one wanted to do that.
"Or Clove could make us lunch when we get home." Cato finished. Connie jumped up and down, smiling like crazy… we took that as a yes to the last option.
We got back into Glimmer's car and drove away from the town. District Two is in the mountains, so it was a rocky drive out. When we reached the base of the mountains, Connie started babbling about how much fun the trip was and how much she missed the town.
"But Connie, if you lived back there, you wouldn't be with me." Glimmer smiled into the rear view mirror at Connie.
"That's true!" She squealed.
"Yeah, so what are we having for lunch, Clove?" Glimmer asked.
"Whatever you guys want."
"I want a chicken sandwich." Cato said.
"Yeah, I guess that would be good." I told Clove.
"So we all want chicken sandwiches?" Clove asked, while she looked at Connie.
"Yes-WAIT! No, I want chicken nuggets and fries!"
"Ok." Clove replied and looked out the window to enjoy the scenery.
"That was fun. I think we should skip District Three and go to Four. Can you guys say vacation?" I asked.
"Vacation!" Connie yelled.
"Na." Everyone shot down my idea.
I hope that was better. Once again, so sorry about the last chapter. I'm going on vacation next week, but I'll still be on fanfic! Can't wait! Anyways… Review and have a Happy Summer! :)