AN: So I finally got round to finishing this chapter :D I started it a while back so I'm sorry it wasn't up sooner. Thanks for my review, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, so please please please give me a couple more for this chapter
To clarify I am British so to American readers that don't understand some of the terminology, I'll leave a dictionary at the bottom.
Hope you enjoy it!
(Rated M for language)
Slowly, very slowly, I open my eyes.
"Good to have you back in the land of the living Pepper." I don't even need to look around to know its Chuck; I would know his deep sarcastic tones anywhere.
I groan in discomfort as I stretch my neck out- it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the harsh lighting. We're in a circular room, strung up by our wrists on one, long ceramic wall with our feet just grazing the ground. A grey drain in the middle of the floor is the only thing that distinguishes colour from the otherwise plain backdrop. I count my companions, Chuck, Ben, Millie, Kate and a pair of empty shackles…
"Guys, where is Luke?"
It's Kate who answers me, "They took him out when they brought you in." Her long blonde hair is caught around her wrists and the shadows under her dark eyes seem more prominent somehow. The overall effect: a pissed off Irish ghost.
"And how long ago was that exactly?"
"I'd say half an hour, but we think you were gone at least 2 hours before they threw you in here so I wouldn't be expecting him any time soon"
"Looks like they're interrogating us separately" Chuck adds, "What did they ask you Pepper? They didn't hurt you or nothing?"
I grimace, my neck feels disjointed from my uncomfortable, unconscious position and the force of whatever object they decided to hit me with has already made a small bump on the back of my head. I long to be able to knead circles into it with my fingers, but my hands are too restrained and struggling is making the rugged metal rub deeper against my already sore wrists. I sigh in defeat. "I've had worse… you think Millie can get us down?"
There is a slight pause before they answer me so I look towards her small dangling body and realise the problem. She's unconscious.
"She spat on the face of one of the guards that came in here with you… Turns out she hates American men just as much as British." Kate answers my unspoken question.
"They're called Citizens of Panem now" I say in bitter tones. "Turns out the great United States of America changed its name. Seems appropriate considering this place seems far from united anymore"
"What did they tell you?" Kate asks.
"Not much to be honest. The figure head of this place is a woman they call Coin. Tall, strange eyes and seriously straight hair, all of which are about as grey as her soul."
"Sounds like a charmer."
I smirk, "Yeah I guess you could say that. I already owe her blow to the head and potential memory loss." I'm exaggerating but it has the right effect on my team, judging by their grimaces. "I told her our story, about home and the Safe House but it didn't seem to faze her. She just kept saying that we were trespassing on 'District 13' and that if we couldn't prove we weren't from the 'Capitol' she'd shoot us dead personally for wasting valuable time with our 'fairy tales'"
Kate is the first to recover from their puzzlement "Looks like they're having a bit of a mare with these 'Capitol' people if they feel the need to shoot them. I have a feeling they aren't welcome guests."
"My thoughts exactly" I say.
"Who even are the 'Capitol'" Ben manages to spit. He appears to be chewing on his shoulder blade and I realise that he must be in quite a bit of pain. He is a good few inches shorter than me and my feet barely touch the ground as it is.
Chuck furrows his brows, "Does it mean like capital city?"
"Your guess is as good as mine" I admit, "But there must be some kind of armed dispute between these 'District' and 'Capitol' people because they've got this place under 24 hour surveillance and a fence about 10 meters high. Plus I recon it runs at least 10 stories lower than the Safe House."
Chuck smiles grimly, "Yeah and three guesses which level we're on…"
"I guess that means no fence scaling either?" Says Kate, "I may not like it underground but I don't fancy climbing 10 meters into the air."
"No, but we could blow ourselves a hole in it" I can already see a plan forming in Chuck's head when I cut him off.
"Knock it off; we ain't gonna be blowing holes in nothing unless we can get out of this damn cell." He smiles sheepishly at me before I continue. "So to sum everything up, there is no way in hell she believed anything I said and we're all going to die because of this stupid fight that we aren't even a part of."
The room became silent at my words- interrupted occasionally by Ben's moans about his stretching joints. I watch as drop after drop of sweat hits the floor from the bridge of Ben's nose. My ears arching for any oncoming sound, though I know it's pointless. We are too far underground for anything to reach us. That thought alone sets shivers down my spine and I start to feel so claustrophobic I become dizzy. Damn the Safe House. If only it hadn't become so corrupt and hostile, we would never have even thought about coming here. Not that 'here' is really anything yet. The US or 'Panem' has been nothing but rubble, trees and equally hostile occupants.
But what had we expected, really? They would welcome us with open arms? That we would be allowed to live here, that all of the Safe House would be able to live here? Suddenly all our hopes for our deadened country seem to disappear. These people won't help us. They obviously have their own problems to attend to. Besides if they aren't even going to accept the message, how could we expect them to react to the state of the problem? I know I wouldn't respond well.
I start to feel dizzy again so I quickly decide to break the silence "There was one more-" My voice cracks as I realise what I'm about to say, "There was one other thing I was able to pick up" Their attention is on me again, "They had quite a few television screens floating about."
"Is that necessarily noteworthy Fran?" Kate's hushed sarcasm doesn't escape my ears.
I frown, "I guess not, but it was weird, they all seemed to be playing the same show- well at least I think it was, it all seemed a bit jumbled to me."
"Maybe they're all just huge fans of Coronation Street or something? That show never made any sense to me."
"This show was hardly a soap Kate, it seemed to be some sort of reality deal- it kept zooming in on this group of people sat on a beach."
"Fran that's hardly anything new"
"Yes I know, but I swear at one point, I saw it show footage of these two children killing each other."
An hour or so passes with unproductive comment- each member of my team trying to formulate some kind of plan. Just run for it, slit some throats, wait it out. Reality is we can't do anything until Millie wakes up. So I just keep quiet, trying not to think about anything. Not this damn cell or home or Luke probably getting himself into even more trouble for being cocky to the bitch. I let out a breath and continue to watch the fan above us spinning absently behind a rusting grill. Three arms, three turns and a groan then four turns and another groan. Then two and another.
"Son of a..." It's Millie, one eye half closed and starting to turn a yellowish purple.
"You took your time" I smirk.
She looks over to me, her greasy hair falling over her face and returns the smile, "Sorry I'm late, but I knew you wouldn't be going anywhere."
"Any chance you can bust us out Millie?" Kate asks whilst looking worryingly and Ben. He must have been hanging by his arms a good 3-4 hours by now; one of his shoulders seems twisted and at best only dislocated. I know he's lucky to still be conscious, but I don't think he'll last too much longer.
"Yeah, give me a sec… Chuck is it-"
"Lead, high-security pin-tumbler, yes it is"
"Damn it, I was hoping for at least a human recognition lock, these are just pathetic" and with that, she kicks off her shoes and brings her feet to her hair, somehow managing to hook her toes around a hair pin, and gets to work picking the lock.
It still continues to amazes me whenever she does something like this. Little Millie with her bob of brown hair can squeeze into the tiniest spaces and escape at a moment's notice. Flexible, agile and deadly. Qualities I presume that got her into the Elites in the first place.
"So tell me, is it true you let a guy beef you up?"
She grunts at me from her awkward bent over position, her bare foot flicking around with surprising control.
Chuck shakes his head at me, "Pepper I don't think it's wise to make her angry right now, she'll break her neck."
I can just make out Millie's toothy grin when she says "Don't worry," the lock clicks and falls to the floor and her left arm falls free, "He's gonna regret it, trust me."
Chuck gives a comical woop of joy while she pulls another pin from her hair (the other fell with the lock) and gets to work on freeing her other hand.
"So how did your 'meeting' go Fran?"
I grimace, "Not well I'm afraid. We're still clueless and in the middle of nowhere but with the added benefit of being locked up and potentially slaughtered"
"Perfect" I'm not sure if she's returning my sarcastic news with a sarcastic answer or simply happy she cracked her other lock because the next thing I know, Millie is crashing to the floor.
"That's gonna bruise" she complains as she picks herself up from where she landed back-first.
"Quit fussing and get us down… I suggest you start with Ben" I smirk, "Chuck, you recon they've got any camera's in here?"
"At least two" he replies grimly, "but I doubt they will do anything to stop us from coming down, the door seems to be bolted shut"
"Pin-tumblers and bolts? I thought this place seemed hi-tech" Millie comments as she starts to pick the lock on Ben's left hand. He makes a sound that I can only take to be relief.
"It seems to be, according to what Fran found out, 10 meter fences right?" says Kate
I nod as Ben's hand swings free, "Yeah and at least code 8 security 24/7 marking the perimeter, dorms and 'prisoners'"
Kate looks at me with her eyebrows risen, "Well you forgot to mention that… Code 8, seriously? That's at least 5 times heavier than home"
"Maybe that's why this cell is so simply kitted, they spent up on their armed guards" mutters Chuck.
Ben clatters to the floor with a soft groan and refuses to get up. Instead he slumps against the wall and adds: "Yeah or to give them an excuse to blow our fucking heads off if we manage to escape"
Millie grimaces at Ben's language as she always does and moves over to Kate. "Well it's pointless anyway; if this room's bolted, I can't pick it and we can't get out. Plus the fact you seem to be in no shape to force it open."
"Fuck you Millie"
She turns to him menacingly, "Ben I swear if you do not start respecting me as a woman I will string you back up again and watch your arms rip from your body."
Ben rolls his eyes at her but makes no further comment.
"So I'm guessing they took Luke then huh" Millie says as she returns to Kate's shackles.
"Yes" Chuck replies, "We think they're trying to see if our stories match up."
"We're so screwed" I mutter.
Millie chuckles, "What, you don't think our 'great esteemed leader' can hold a respectable conversation with someone who wants to kill us? How many times did you shag again during our trip?"
"Knock it off Mills, you're not helping" Chuck says as Kate regains her right hand.
"It could be funny though" Kate remarks, "to see her face when he asks her when the last time she got laid was"
"If she kills him, I don't think it will be funny" I scowl.
"Who's 'she'?
"Alma Coin, big boss, she runs this joint" and so I fill her in on the little information we have gathered. By the time I'm done, Kate is on the floor rubbing her wrists and Chuck is almost free too.
"So what's the plan?" Millie asks.
They all look at me. Luke's the one who normally has the plan, but I guess I have to do for now. Considering their half-hearted attempts at formulating a plan seem to be sounding more and more implausible with every comment. "I think we have no choice but to wait here until Luke gets back. Then at least we can knock out a couple of guards and have a chance to escape."
"I'm going to have to agree with you there Pepper" Chuck says, nodding to himself, "I think we really don't have a choice but to wait this one out" His other arm falls to his side and adds, "Great job Mills" then proceeds to do a small victory lap of our cell.
"So what, we're just going to sit here and do nothing until someone shows up?" Kate says, now standing on top of the drain stretching her arms out. "We're like sitting ducks in here"
Millie picks out the pin from Chuck's lock and moves over to me. I give her a once over- shaggy hair, clothes, same old. But something seems just a little… off. The light in her eyes perhaps is too synthetic or the shape of her mouth too forced. I've perhaps known Millie the longest out of the rest of my team. I can pick up when something is wrong.
She is, after all, my sister.
"Well I wouldn't say do nothing…" Chuck says, fumbling around with the back of his jeans and effectively drawing my attention away from my internal Millie-analysis. Finally he finds what he's been looking for, but I let out a small squeal of disgust. "We can play cards."
"Ew Chuck, that's gross, there is no way those could have survived the strip search unless they were up your arse crack. I'll pass, if you don't mind" The pack is bent and ripped and I try desperately hard not to look too closely at the dark stains around the edge.
Millie makes a sound somewhere between a yelp and a gargle that confirms her agreement with Kate.
Chuck looks at me expectantly, "Yeah sorry but Twenty-Crap isn't really my thing"
"You're hilarious, you know that?" He's started to shuffle them mindlessly as he glowers at us.
My right hand falls free from the shackles and I inspect the damage. A deep red ring has started to form around my writs, but I consider myself lucky that I hadn't been strung up as long as the rest of my team.
Millie catches me trying to rub it and she slaps my hand away, "You'll only make it worse Fran" her words are playful but her eyes are sober. She's worried, really worried. So I nod in response and look away. Because it's not that often than Millie is serious about anything.
Well at least that makes two of us. We both know that we won't last two minutes without Luke. Hell, we barely made it through the storm without Peter. If we can just hold everyone together and get out of this place, we can head north to Canada and try to make some sort of life for ourselves. That's presuming that Canada still exists, but we all thought it must do. The Canadians had no part in the nuclear war. Canada had always been our plan B.
"There we go sugar" Millie says as my left hand is released and it takes all I've got not to fall on the floor like Ben. I look over to him and apparently he has no problem playing with dirty cards.
In fact it's not long before none of us see the problem with playing with cards that are only slightly damp. I even win a dozen invisible coins with a good hand of poker. In fact things seem to almost turn normal again, back when we would smoke and play cards at the Safe House.
That is until Chuck suddenly stops mid game. "Shhh!"
I look towards Millie to see that she is looking at me too. Her panic is visible in her eyes. There is someone approaching our cell. Multiple footsteps that echo around the ceramic walls of the lowest level of District 13. And a scrape, or is it a slide? A drag I'm sure, of someone's feet being pulled along the floor.
We all momentarily freeze, as a child would knowing they were about to be caught with their hand in a biscuit tin. But then time starts again, Kate chews on her thumb and frowns as she tries to figure out which card Chuck will place, whilst Chuck himself makes a show of pretending to put one card down but swapping it last second. We continue to play for another minute or so, ignorant of the sound of the bolt being removed from the door and shoved aside. The turn manages to fall upon me by the time the door bursts open.
Two men stand there. Head to foot in grey with uncertain looks on their faces. I find myself internally praising the men for not looking too surprised by our casual demeanour. Then again, they have probably been watching us on the security cameras.
But then I see it, the head of dark messy hair slumped between their arms. My heart stops. I have to keep telling myself he is just unconscious. Because that's my Luke and there is thin line of blood is dripping from his bottom lip- or perhaps his nose- which seems to be oozing at infrequent intervals. His previously quite handsome face is blackened and bloody, and his famous blue jeans are ripped at the side- revealing a long, bloody gash down his thigh.
I have to bite my lip to stop me from calling out to him. But I can't help a small whimper escape my throat.
As if alerted by the sound, Luke stirs and raises his head weakly. His eyes quickly find mine and he gives me a small bloody smile. "That's the woman I've been telling you about Gents" he croaks, addressing his two imprisoners, "told you she was beautiful, absolute cracker in bed."
The two men look uncomfortable and it comes to no surprise to me that he receives a barrel to his head. But I smile regardless: He is alive.
A moment later, another man steps into the cell. It's funny how easily I am able to deduce his profession and rank. The rigid posture, the spotless uniform. Greying hair shaved almost to his scalp. He is older than us by a good 15 years and it makes me wonder what would have happened if we had stayed at the Safe House. Would we look like him? Would Luke look like him? With no hair and no apparent lack of loyalty to his cause. Would he walk round with purpose and pride and look down upon others? I shudder. No, we would have always rebelled. We would never have made it to General ranking.
The man looks us over, our faces, our position and the cards in our hands before he speaks, "Good evening."
We look at each other in disbelief, "Well howdy" Ben replies.
To his credit, the man ignores his sarcasm. "My name is Boggs; however you shall address me as Solider and I have a message from President Coin."
Brilliant.
"District 13 does not have the time or patience to be dealing with Capitol fugitives. If you do not cooperate with our civilised extraction of information, we will be forced to act out aggressively." He pauses, looking pointedly towards Luke. "You must understand that this tale of yours is unfeasible and I advise you not to continue lying to the President." That is where I detect it. That little glimmer of doubt in his eyes. The same as when I saw it in the eyes of Kate and Chuck as I tried to convince them to rebel back home. This man believes us, or partially does anyway.
"Why would we lie about this?" It's Kate, always the first to question a motive. "You had thrown us down here before even questioning us- which means that it can't possibly matter what we tell you because you've been planning to kill us all along."
Boggs is silent for a moment before he tries to answer, but I interrupt, "Do we even sound like them? These Capitol people, do we have the same accent?"
He looks at me with a furrowed brow, "Your accent is not one I have ever come across before… yet who's to say you're not spies from District 1 or 2?" He turns to address all of us, "Your captivity is merely a precaution until we are able to decide the best course of action. District 13 is under severe threat from the outside world; we simply cannot take a group of elitely trained individuals wondering into our midst lightly."
"So you believe us then?" I ask.
"I believe in a great many things Miss Harrow, and although surviving, neighbouring countries may be one of them, it does not necessarily mean I believe you." His tone is harsh and aimed to dishearten me, but it doesn't. In fact I feel uplifted enough to breathe easily.
"I suggest you make no further attempt to escape the confines of this room." Boggs says effectively changing the subject, he then signals for the two men to drop Luke by our feet. "We are now going to take somebody else for their interview. Miss, could you please follow me?" Unfortunately he has directed his question to Millie.
"Bite me soldier boy."
Boggs' men quickly restrain her from behind and she struggles against their hold. Crap. If there is one chance for us to be released, it has to be that they believe us. If Boggs already suspects, then how long would it be until Coin did to?
"Millie" I hiss at her as she is half dragged passed me, "please for the love of all things holy, behave!"
She squirms around to face me with a confused look, "What?"
"Please just trust me okay?"
And then she's gone, the door slams shut and we can hear it being bolted on the other side. I crawl straight over to Luke and call Kate over. We start to clean him up a bit, but it's difficult. We have no water and I'm going to have to use parts of my clothes as bandages. It should give him another couple of hours at least.
Just as I'm securing my belt above his injured leg he croaks, "You're so pretty you know that?" I look at him properly. His green eyes are far off and darting under his bruised eyelids. It is hard to tell whether his skin has turned a couple shades paler because of the harshness of the light or his loss of blood. He was suffering from blood poisoning before we had even reached District 13- he had tripped and bandaged himself up without cleaning his wound. The damage to his leg and lack of fluid in his system has made the whole thing much worse.
I stroke his face gently before whispering, "You're going to be alright, you just need to sleep for a bit okay? Me and Kate will patch you up just fine." He nods in response and closes his eyes.
Stupid Bastard.
Why would he do that? Going out, getting himself into trouble. I rub my temples with my fingers and try to understand the situation in front of me. Luke's down, Millie's gone, Boggs believes and we're all stuck.
"What do you think then Fran?" Kate is looking at me now, "We got a chance of surviving this?"
I look from her, to Chuck to Ben and nod slowly, "Perhaps, but we have to stick together. I mean it, no ditching anyone, no selling each other out. For now we can only play by their rules and we are not losing anyone else."
"Your saying we have to listen to them?" Chuck asks. When I don't reply, we fall silent. Luke's heavy breathing is the only sound in the room and ironically, the only thing that lets me know that he's still alive. He needs medicine, and soon. He's already gone 3 days without it and with his insult to injury I'd say he only has perhaps 24hours. Fears fill me quickly and hope beyond reason that we can make it out of here soon.
"It's a weird name isn't" The sound of Ben's voice makes me jump out of my skin. "Boggs, it reminds me of lumpy porridge."
AN: Tadaa, hope you liked it. Just a reminder to review, it's really easy nowadays just type in the box below. I'm going to try to update within the next month or so.
Penny xxx
Mare- A Problem
Coronation Street- A famous British soap opera that's been around since the dawn of time
Biscuit Tin- Cookie Jar