A/N Hey guys! I hoped you liked my intro. This story is going only as far as the ending of the Games so I'm expecting it to be not much longer than 10 chapters, but I'll do my best to make a good story. I'm home from university right now and I'll be super busy when I go back in January, so I'll try my best to finish up the story before then. Thanks for reading!
I'm in a state of shock as I'm whisked off the stage and into the Justice Centre. I have an hour to get myself together and say goodbyes to my family. Surely they'll come see me before long. Other than them, I don't expect anyone to visit.
But I'm surprised when a few of the girls I'd just been standing with minutes ago, along with some of the boys I know from my year in school, come in the room. They don't stay long, just long enough to say that they're sorry and good luck in the Games. They're not really sorry; they're obviously relieved that it wasn't them. But the thought of having sympathy is nice.
My family comes in as soon as they leave. My mom is a wreck, barely able to breathe through her sobs. I wrap her in a hug. "Mom, it's okay," I tell her. "I'm going to be okay." I'm not foolish enough to believe that I will get a quick and painless death in the arena, but my words bring my mother comfort.
I hug my bawling brother, stoke his hair until his cries are reduced to sniffles. "None of that," I say as I give him a poke in the belly. "You be strong for me."
He looks up at me, eyes threatening to tear up all over again. "Wi-will you come back?" he asks me. The pleading tone in his voice throws a wrench into my gut.
"I'm going to try to," I tell him. "But if I don't, you remember that I love you all, okay?" He nods.
No words are spoken between me and my dad except for "I love you." He gives me a tight hug and then, too soon, a peacekeeper – the watchdogs sent to us from the Capitol – is coming in and ushering them out. The last thing they hear me say to them is that I love them.
No one else visits me.
I know the hour is up when the peacekeeper returns. "It's time for the send off, Ms. Greene," he says. Ah, the send off. One last chance to see your tributes in the flesh before we die. I'll be ushered to the train station by a whole host of guards, and sent on my way to the Capitol. As far as I'm concerned, this is a one-way trip. There won't be any coming back.
I try to take in each detail I can on the ride to the train station. I'm going to miss my district – it isn't much at all, but it's home. A home that, unless I'm really lucky, I won't see again.
Neither me or Glenn have been on a train before – travel between districts doesn't happen, unless it's for an official purpose – so the whole experience is new to us. The lavish train is easily the nicest thing I've ever seen – full with plush carpets, large chandeliers and fancy
The Capitol food is something else. I'm lucky in that I rarely go hungry, but there is no way the food in District 9 can compare.
I suppose the Capitol expects us to be grateful for letting us experience a little luxury before they send us to our deaths.
After I eat, I go back to the train car that serves as my room.
I don't sleep, but spend the night thinking of what's yet to come.