Train Rides and mentors: Amber's POV
I finger the seat of the velvet chair I'm sitting in. I look out the window of District 9's Justice Building. Strangely, I haven't shed a single tear. I think I may be in shock. I try to take deep breaths, but my breathing is so ragged. It's okay. I tell myself. You got to spend 13 wonderful years with your family. What am I thinking? Well, I know I'm going to die anyway. The door creaks slightly open, and Sage slips in. Tears run fresh down her face. She runs over to me, and holds my hand. One by one, the rest of my family comes in. My mother is clutching my father's hand so hard her knuckles are white, while he stares at the ground. My grandfather is wringing his hat and looking at the floor too. Aunt Amira is actually sobbing into a handkerchief, while my uncle struggles to hold her up. Even my grandmother is here. Someone must have run back to the house and told her. Maize sits beside me and puts her head on my shoulder. Roy plays with the knobs on a desk. They're both too young to know where I'm going. Maize is 8, so she'll find out soon, but Roy is only 5. Maize looks up at me with big brown eyes. "Amber, when will you come back?" She asks sweetly. I look around the room. It seems everyone except my grandmother is either crying, or looking hopeless. Only she stands proud. I look at her instead of little Maize. "I'll be back before you know it." I swallow, surprised that my voice only shook slightly. Grandma actually gives me a small smile.
"That's my girl." She whispers, and moves over to me. A small necklace slips into my hand. I look at it once, and see that it's pure gold, with a golden sheath of grain on the end. How could she afford something like this? "It was my mothers." She says, and places her own worn, leathery hand into my own. "I meant to give it to you for your sixteenth birthday." Tears have begun to form in her eyes. "Remember all I taught you about plants." She tells me. I nod. Now my father speaks up, lifting his eyes off the floor. "Amber, you won those sprinting races last month at your school, didn't you?" I remember coming home with a small trophy. "Just run, okay?" He asks. I nod again. Now Uncle Omri looks up. "There aren't too many trees here, but when you find one, Amber, you always shoot straight up the trunk. Just find some trees and hide." Now it seems everyone in the room begins to raise their voice. "Oh, she's excellent at hiding." Sage exclaims, and mentions all the times we played hide and seek, and she was forced to give up. "She's clever." Mother says softly. "She's spirited" pipes Grandpa. I offer everyone a small smile, and squeeze my grandmother's hand. "When I get back, you keep the necklace until I turn 16, it will be more special that way." I tell her. She barely has time to nod, before they have to leave the room.
Now I'm running my fingers along the soft fabric of the train seat. Outside my window, scenes of grain fields rush by. Calcius is talking about all the wonders the Capital will have in store, but neither Chase nor I are listening. Suddenly, the door bursts open and the two who must be our mentors walk in. The woman looks about my mother's age, while the man is closer to my grandfather's. Calcius clears his throat. "This is Aluma, victor of the 39th Hunger Games, and here is Garner, victor of the 12th. Aluma has eyes which look kind but alert, while Garner seems slightly out of it. Calcius leaves the room so we can talk about strategy. Chase seems pretty determined. "So what's the plan?" He asks Garner. Garner grins a slightly crazed grin at him. "My boy, I only have one tip for you." Chase perks up, while Aluma sinks slightly into her chair. Garner looks straight at Chase. "Kill everyone." Chase looks shocked, and I have to say I'm pretty disgusted too. This man is obviously insane. That figures. No sane person ever wins. Seeing the look on everyone's faces, Garner continues. "Now, everyone will tell you to come up with some elaborate strategy, but really all you have to do is kill each one. Why, even Aluma here made 3 kills in her Games." Aluma turns slightly white at this. With that, Garner leaves the room. It's completely silent in our compartment until Chase, his face as white as a ghost, goes to his separate compartment. It's just Aluma and me. She reaches over the table to take my hand. "I know I could tell you not to worry, but I really wouldn't be helping." I nod. She wouldn't be. "All you have to do, Amber, is to prove everyone wrong. I don't know what it will take, but I trust you to think of something." With that, she follows the others out, and I'm left alone.
I stare out the window until nightfall. Actually, it's rather calming. We've passed by district 8, with its gray buildings and cotton fields. Now we're heading through District 7, and I can make out hundreds of trees outlined in the darkness. I decide to go back to my sleeping compartment. I take off my Reaping outfit, and slip on the nightgown I've been given. I think of my family, giving me all those tips and saying that I can survive this. I finger the necklace. Maybe I can survive. At least, I'll put up a fight. I stay awake for most of the night planning. By morning, I've come up with a whole strategy. It's based on me proving everyone wrong.
As I walk into the breakfast compartment, and begin to place a muffin on my plate, I'm about to tell everyone what I've come up with. I stop myself just in time. I realize that I can't afford to tell my strategy in front of Chase. He's competition. As much as I hate to think like this, he is another obstacle in my fight to return home. So I keep my mouth shut until Calcius announces that we've arrived in the Capital. It's so beautiful. The buildings are outlined in pastel colors, and the streets are paved with colored glass. The outfits the people wear are like nothing I've ever seen. The people at the station are waving enthusiastically. I realize that they're waving at me! I can start getting sponsors now. I face the window, and wave back just as enthusiastically. Garner laughs loudly and turns to Aluma. "This one sure is a clever one! She's already started playing these people!" What he says doesn't seem too important at first, but when we disembark it hits me. Maybe Garner isn't so insane after all. He was telling Chase and me that we don't have to be the ones who are being played. Then it looks like I'll have to play these people like they've never seen.