Ello again. mpawn here. I know that the last 2 chapters have been rather short, but from here on out, the chapters will be 1k+ words, hopefully. This chapter should take us from the train ride to just before the start of the Chariots and Training
After his siblings had left and Jacob had returned to the normal world from dream land, the doors opened again. Jacob was surprised to see that it was Wylie, the District's only winner of the hunger games so far. He had won the 14th Hunger Games 7 years ago. He did it in such a strange way. Many tributes relied on weapons to kill their opponents. Wylie simply used brute force. When it was down to just 2 people in the arena, it was Wylie and the leader of the career pack, a girl from District 1 called Shine. She came at him with her sword, striking his arm. He retaliated by grabbing her wrist, jerking it back so she dropped the sword. While she was still nursing her wrist, he grabbed her, picked her up over his head and broke her back with his knee. (A/N: a la Bane to Batman, without the recovery thing) Ever since then, Wylie became District 7's first victor and mentor.
Wylie was usually running late to events, so it was no surprise that he missed the Reaping. Even though it was required by the Capitol to watch, and that he was on the stage, Wylie always seemed to not be on time. But, when he did miss the Reaping, he usually met the tributes for the first time on the train to the Capitol, not in the Justice Building. "Mr. Wylie, what are you doing here?" Jacob asked.
"Just Wylie please. I'm here to talk to you about your plan for the Hunger Games."
"Sir, don't you usually meet the tributes on the train when you miss the Reaping."
"Yes, but, it's not every tribute that gets picked twice in a row. I wanted to find out why the fates have picked you, to go to this blasted event."
"I don't know."
"Exactly. You need a plan. You can't just go in fueled by revenge for one person."
"Huh?"
"Everyone in the District knows that you are gunning for the District 4 tributes. I want to know what you are planning to do AFTER you get rid of them."
"I don't really kn-"*
"That's my point. You need to go in here with a plan. Remember, I trained Matt, he made it to the top 8. I know what I'm doing. You need to go after the weaker tributes first, or build up alliances. You cannot, cannot just go out for the District 4 tributes. The other Careers would kill you on sight. You're a big guy, so they are probably already out to get you. Got it?"
"Yeah, I think so. But one last question. Why is it that our train for the Capitol leaves so late compared to other tributes?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well I mean, it seems that the other tributes get Reaped, and then have like an hour until they leave for the Capitol. Here its Reap, wait like 3 hours, then head out on the train."
"It's because we're so much closer to the Capitol than the other districts. We are bordering the Capitol to the north of us, south of them. It only takes about an hour by train for our, and District 3's tributes to get there, while Districts 12 and 4 take 3 or 4 hours." With that, Wylie turned and left the Justice Building. "One last thing. Don't be late for the train," he called out as he was heading for the doors. When he had finally left, Jacob realized the other meaning behind what he said. This room would be his prison cell for the next 2 hours. Unfortunately there was NOTHING to do in the room. The walls were barren and spongy so that no tribute could commit suicide before the train left. It worked, unless the tributes really tried.
(Two Hours Later)
The train had finally arrived and Jacob was free, or at least, as free as one could be in the Hunger Games. Jacob was ushered out of his room, cell, to the loading platform where all of District 7 would see Mariam and him off. It seemed like a death train to many tributes, almost as if, had they been alive for them, the trains of the concentration camps of WWII, herding people to their death. The tributes went onto these trains, but they never came back. The needless slaughter of the Hunger Games was symbolized in these trains. But when Jacob saw them, he did not see vessels of death, but of victory. This was the train that would bring him back home.
After boarding the train, Jacob immediately noticed the grandness of it all. There were pure silver plates with golden dinnerware. The chandelier seemed to be lined with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. "If it's this grand on this train, then I wonder how it is in the Capitol. After all, most tributes only see these trains once," Jacob asked Mariam.
"I don't know. After all, no one is allowed to leave the Districts other than the tributes," Mariam replied. When she had finished saying this, Wylie and Elijah boarded the train. At once the doors closed, and a voice called out "Please stand clear of the doors…Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas." The voice sounded very automated, as if it were not belonging to the train, but taken from somewhere else and just used with the train.
"Now that's we're all here, I say that we stay together. Most of my tributes when they get to the Capitol just go running off. That's great and all, but we need to stay together. Got it?" Wylie said.
"Now, Wylie, just because a tribute didn't show up for the chariot races in time doesn't mean you need to put all the tributes under scrutiny." Elijah replied.
"Oh yes it does."
After Wylie and Elijah's little disagreement, the rest of the trip was silent. That is, it was silent until they reached the area known as "Ver Dam" the southern boundary between District 7 and the Capitol. The train passed by Ver Dam, and when Mariam and Jacob saw it, they were amazed. They had never seen anything so massive. "If this is what Ver Dam, the supposed puny southern gate of the Capitol, I wonder what the actual city looks like," Jacob said to no one in particular. At that, the train passed by Ver Dam, through the giant metal gates in the mountain, and into the Capitol
A/N: How do you guys think that was. My first attempted at writing a long chapter.
Anyway, anyone who figures out what Ver Dam is get 5 cookies.
R&R please.
Till next time
~mpawn