District 5
"When was District 5's last victor?" Kat wondered aloud. The sound of silverware clanging against plate was suddenly silenced as Slader and the Capitol 'escort', or in other words, their babysitter, Corda Pennywhistle, gave me odd looks.
"What?" Corda questioned.
"When did the victor last come from District 5?"
"Well," Corda began matter-of-factly. "It's been at more than twenty years for sure, because I watched the last victor as a child. A beautiful girl with long blond hair that I would die to have! She didn't stand much of a chance in the competition though. The only reason she one was because her brother was her District partner. He was eighteen and built just like a proper factory boy. He knocked out the competition easy. Brought her all the way to the final two, then killed himself. As I recall, the poor girl went insane. They couldn't even get a proper interview out of her and she had a break-down when they rolled the recap of the games."
Suddenly, Slader leapt to his feet, his chair crashing to the ground. Kat and Corda both jumped and Slader said, "Excuse me." Before exiting the room in a rush.
"Whatever is the matter with him?"
"I think I know," Kat replied standing herself, though not as quickly. "If you'll excuse me."
Kat found Slader in the living corridors, hunched up against the wall outside his room. "You okay?"
"How do you talk so casually about something like that?"
"She's a typical Capitol. What did you expect?" Kat laughed lightly.
"I expect her to realize she sounds like one of those psychopaths we hear about in history all the time. Isn't that kind of stuff how they picked them out."
"If you still diagnosed someone that way, then everyone in the Capital would be a psychopath."
"Maybe we are all Psychotic," Slader mumbled.
"Don't say that!" Kat scolded. "When you're raised to believe something is right, then you don't think anything of it."
"Then why do we realize it's wrong!" He burst out, taking in the two of us with his gesture.
"Well, you always have one needle in the haystack," she shrugged.
Slader huffed and banged his head on the wall behind him. Kat sat down beside him, "It's okay to be different, but it's also not wrong to be the same."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, that the Capitals aren't in the wrong just because they've been brainwashed to believe something their whole life."
"I guess so, but what about your grandfather? Is he in the wrong?"
Kat thought a moment. Was he? "My grandfather started the games as a way to get revenge on the rebels. Then, maybe he was somewhat in the right, but the fact that he's let it get to this," a sigh escaped her lips, "I love him, but he isn't in the right anymore."
"Are you going to stop it?" Slader wondered. "When he dies and you become president, are you gonna end the games?"
"I won't be the one taking his place, it'll be my mom or my grandma," Kat stated.
"Oh," Slader sighed.
They sat there a moment in silence, then Kat realized she was enjoying his company. No! She shouted at herself. You cannot start to like him! At all! Not even as a friend! Do something!
"I'm going to bed," she said flatly, standing and moving across the hall to her room. She slammed the door shut behind her and threw herself on the bed, burying her face into her hands. "This cannot be happening!" she grumbled.
~District 5~
Slader continued to sit, pouting on the floor. What was that about? They were actually having a decent conversation, not arguing. He hadn't even come off with anything stupid, yet! She just up and left in some kind of huff!
He pulled himself to his feet, intent on finding the dessert cart and drowning himself in the delectable chocolate. What had he ever done to her in the first place? She had been nothing but, well, just plan mean, since his father had become Head Gamemaker. That had been four years ago, the longest one person had kept the job in a while, they had been eight.
Sure he had snorted at her lovely cat features, but is that a reason to hate someone? He didn't hate people who thought his hair was funny. Then again, the hair had been his choice and he kind of liked it anyhow. Was it because she didn't like hers?
"I'll never understand her," he mumbled as he finally found his destination. He slid back the door only half paying attention.
"You'll never understand who?" Slader leapt at least five feet into the air at the sound of the voice. Corda was standing in the dessert cart with a miniature cake clutched between her fingers, staring oddly at him.
"You scared me Corda," he huffed stomping in.
The woman shifted her bright yellow wig, so it sat properly on her head, and said, "Well, when you walk around talking to yourself, people are bound to ask questions."
"Yeah, whatever," Slader huffed.
"So who do you not understand?"
Slader snatched up a cake and turned to stomp back out, not in the mood to deal with Corda at the moment. "Lots of people!"
~Distirct 5~
"So are you going to tell me what that was about last night?" Slader grumbled under his breath, so only Kat could hear.
"You're going to have to be more specific," Kat replied as the train began to screech to a halt.
"You storming off in a huff like that."
"I didn't storm off in a huff!" Kat protested. She watched Slader open his mouth to retort, but at that moment the door opened and revealed the District 5 train station. A decent uproar arouse from the gathered crowd, enough to keep the Capital happy, no more and no less. Kat put on her most winning smile and stepped out, waving to the crowd. She watched from the corner of her eye as Slader slumped out behind her, paying no mind to the crowd, which wasn't typical, and Corda relished in the attention, she had been doing that since District 1 and it was beginning to tug at her nerves. It didn't help that she was already frustrated from the night before.
Kat could honestly say she was relieved when they finally reached the streets. Even if the air was thick with smock and pollution, it was better than in there, where she had to watch Corda be all Capital-ish. She took in the danky sights of the District. A rough dirt street carved its way around the tall factories that shoved themselves into the usually bright blue sky and released thick black smoke that made it look anything but bright or blue.
"Well this place is cheerful," Slader grumbled, blowing a strand of hair from his eyes.
"Quit being all depressing," Kat snapped, yanking her map from her bag.
"Why? You get mad at me if I'm anything else."
"What is wrong with you? You've been pouting around ever since we left District 4!" Kat snarled yanking his arm as they head down a street.
"Well you've been nothing but rude to me ever since District 2!"
"I've been rude to you? You're the one who-"
"Oh get over it, Kat! I was only curious! What's wrong with that?"
"Everything! You know how I feel about these!" She hissed, yanking at one of her ears. She winced in pain and immediately regretted her action as she was reminded that they were, indeed, attached to her head.
"Is everything okay?" A raspy voice spoke from behind them and the two jumped in surprise. They turned to see a small girl standing in their wake. The everything about the girl made her look like a walking skeleton. Her dark eyes were sunken to far into her head for it to be natural, and her cheeks were hollow. Her skin was the only thing covering her bones, making her look extremely frail, and Kat was almost positive that if they lifted the dirty, discolored shirt, that clung desperately to stay on her body, they would be able to count each rib. The stringy black hair that hung around her face didn't help the look of walking dead that she possessed.
"Nothing, it's just a disagreement," Kat waved it off trying not to look at the stomach turning appearance of the girl. It wasn't really her fault that she looked that way, it was the Capital's. It's my Great-grandfather's fault.The thought made her stomach turn even more.
"You're arguing, aren't you?"
"No-"
"Yes, we are," Slader replied, cutting off Kat's response.
"My parent's argue. I don't like it when they argue, that's why I never go home anymore," the girl said sadly. "Can I help resolve anything, I'd be happy to for something to eat. I'm sure a Capital could spare that much for a service."
Kat felt a pang of guilt as the girl lifted the stale bread clutch in her hand to her mouth, and chewed slowly, but surely.
"No, it's nothing you can resolve, but we can spare food," she offered, pulling one of her bags of food out and holding it out.
The girl looked at it in disbelieve. "You-what do you want me to do?"
"Nothing," Kat said. "Except take it, of course."
"You would give it to me for nothing?"
"Yeah," Kat smiled welcomingly. "Just take it."
The girl darted forward and took it, as if afraid Kat may suddenly change her mind, then stared in even more bewilderment as Slader took out a bag of his own and held it out.
"Thank you, so much! If you ever need anything, anything at all, you can ask around town. People will be able to tell you where I am. Just tell them you're looking for Blakely Harnish." Then she was gone as quick as she came.
"Feels good to be nice to someone doesn't it Snow?" Slader growled pointedly.
"I am not even gonna argue with you about this anymore!"
~District 5~
"Look Kat, according to the map, the Mayor's house is north of here and you're trying to take us south, that's not even remotely the right direction!" Slader argued.
"Slader! We are right there standing in front of that factory!" Kat jabbed a finger at the factory plopped across the sidewalk. "And it shows that to get to the Mayor's house, you have to go that direction and take a right!"
"No! If we go that direction, we're gonna end up in the Victor's Village!"
"No we're not! You're reading it backwards because you're looking at it upside down!"
"But I'm reading it like you're supposed to when it's upside down!"
"Clearly not!" Kat retorted as she watched a group of teenagers, recently let off of school, enter the factory.
"Yes! I am Snow! Why do you always just assume your right!"
"I am right! It's not a very complicated map!"
"Apparently it is, since you can't read it!"
"I can! Look Slader, I did not get this so I could sit and listen to you argue with me about-"
Slader wouldn't know the rest of what she was going to say, for at that moment a resounding boom filled the air. Kat perked up, pink ears erect, and whipped her head around.
"What was that?" Before Slader could respond, another boom filled the air, but this time it's source was revealed as a window blew into shards of glass that rained down upon them. They looked up at the smoke pouring from the factory they were standing in front of.
"What's going on?" Slader shouted over another explosion.
"I think the factories melting down!" Kat shouted back, as people began to rush either toward the sound of explosions or away from it. Kat had heard about factory meltdowns before, it was a common thing to hear about from District 5 or District 8, but to actually be standing in front of one doing just that, it seemed unreal.
"What do we do?"
"I don't know!" Slader replied, looking around at the people, running about like a kicked ant hill. If this was a common thing, one would think the people would be more organized about it.
"There are people inside!" Kat shouted suddenly, remembering the group of teenager's she had seen. "We have to help them!"
"I think these people have it under control!" Slader responded looking around at the still frantic people.
"Are you kidding me? You call this under control? It's like a bomb went off!"
"I'm sure there just getting thing together to help! They'll get it under control, but we need to leave!"
"No, I won't-"
"Duck!" Slader shouted, abruptly cutting her off as he ducked down yanking her to the ground with him. Kat's breath caught as the large steel doors of the factory was blown clean off of its hinges and flung at them, just making it over their heads. It hit the ground only a foot from them. They had to bury their faces into their arms to keep the debris from it from pelting their faces. When they looked up again, the steel had bounced back into the air by the momentum and was spinning rapidly, before it hit the ground again and slide, right into the building across the dirt road. Kat and Slader gaped at each other, before standing up to look, no longer hearing the sounds of the meltdown or the other people shouting and screaming. A large crater had etched itself into the ground where it hit the first time, but it was nothing compared to the trench it had mad in its slide, with rubble strewn yards beyond the point of impact. As she was taking in the sight, Kat felt a pair of hand take hold of her from behind and begin to drag her off.
~District 5~
"It's been three days since the factory meltdown that took place upon my third day here. In the initial meltdown, thirty-five lives were lost, one above the age of sixty-five, twenty-five between the ages of sixty-five and nineteen, Fifteen of reaping age, and four under the age of twelve. Since then we have lost five more above sixty-five, eight more between the ages of sixty-five and nineteen, and two of reaping age and one younger than twelve. Doctors say that more will be lost over the course of a few days. Apparently this is one of the worst District five has seen yet, only one person inside came out unscathed, and only an eighth of the one's still alive are expected to live much longer, and most of those will still be disabled in some unfortunate way for the rest of their lives."
"Who are you talking to?" Kat jumped at the sound of the voice that ventured out from the shadows.
"Who's there?"
"Don't worry, I don't mean any harm," the voice assured, and from the shadows stepped a small girl. She didn't seem starved like Blakely had been, she appeared to be a girl from the better part of town, a merchant's daughter maybe. She wore her curly chestnut in a high pony-tail and her dark brown eyes stared behind a set of thick rimmed glasses. A pencil was slipped in behind her ear and she carried a small field book in one hand.
"Can I help you?" Kat questioned, a little ruder than intended.
"I'm sorry, I was passing through and heard you talking. Curiosity got the best of me. I'm afraid I'm bad about letting it do that. It'll be the end of me one of these days."
"I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Oh! I'm Minerva! Minerva Calling! And your Kat Snow are you not? I suppose you were recording notes then? I've heard you're a journalist!"
"Yeah. Do you have a relative here or something?"
"Huh? Oh! Oh, no! I here for the pure purpose of study! I'm an aspiring doctor, you see."
"You already know what you wanna do? You're like nine," Kat snorted.
"Ten, actually," Minerva replied, pushing her glasses up her nose.
Kat rolled her eyes, "Whatever, the point is, I'm twelve and I don't even know what I'm gonna do!"
"Well," Minerva began in a matter-of-fact tone, "You don't have to concern yourself with jobs. Your grandfather's position means that you'll never have to be financially concerned, so therefore, you're not put in any rush to decide a desired occupation, if any. I, on the other hand, am a District girl, I have to know what I plan to do so I can begin my work and have a better chance and getting such a difficult position, otherwise, I'll be forced to work in the factories and starve."
Kat stared at her looking over her cleanly trimmed plaid shirt over a bright white tank-top and dark brown skirt that reach her knees with knee high socks to match. "But you're a merchant's daughter."
"Correction. I'm a merchant's step-daugter there's a difference, you see. My step-father hates me and it's his apothecary-"
"So he's a doctor?"
Minerva made a face, as though Kat had kicked her. "No, my step-father owns a apothecary business. He makes and sales the drugs and medicines, but beyond that he knows nothing about medics. He'd kill someone before he could save them. Didn't you do any research before you came down here?"
"Yes," Kat shot back defensively, "but the Winner of the 74th Hunger Games's mom owned an apothecary, and she was the District's go to medic."
"That's different," Minerva snorted. "Everyone knows District 12 can't afford a proper doctor, otherwise, I'm sure she would be a doctor herself. I didn't say all apothecary owners know nothing more than the drugs they sale, some not even that, but just because they own the place, well, it doesn't make them a doctor, that's for sure."
Kat stared at her, mouth agape. "You know, it's rude to stare," Minerva pointed out.
Kat blinked, then realized her mouth was open and clamped it shut. She eyed the girl a few more moments before saying, "I am in District 5, right?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Minerva asked.
"Nothing, you just," Kat paused to think of the right words, "you just seem more like a District 3."
Minerva huffed. "A common misconception," she grumbled. "You think of District 3 because I exercise my ability to read a book and think for myself. District 3 is mistakenly called the 'Smart District' but in actuality, most of them are only smart in technology. Human anatomy, proper English, Panima's history, they don't even look at those books unless they share the same interest as me, which is to further my knowledge in every subject."
Kat plopped her head in her hands and said, "Oh, the migraine's back."
"Here," Minerva offered. "this'll help that." The younger girl tossed over a small, transparent bottle filled to the brim with small pill. "Don't take more than two at a time and don't tell anyone I gave them to you. My step-dad would freak if he found out I was just giving away his medicines. Like I care or anything."
Kat watched her trek off into the other room, which she knew was crowded with the injured people. She mentally wondered how on Earth the girl could stand it in there. She popped a couple of the pills into her mouth and pulled snatched her bottle of water off of the nearby table. She swallowed the pills as she pushed through the curtain that separated the small room she had been hiding out in and the main room, slipping the bottle of water and pills into her bag.
The smell hit her first, like a ton of bricks. The combined smell of burned flesh, and blood, and other things she couldn't even name. She nearly gagged and that was even before her eyes swept the room. Half-charred bodies stuck out the most. She barely even noticed the heavily bandaged ones. Cupping a hand over her mouth she retreated back into the other room, and stood there in a mental battle; she needed to go get Slader so they could leave, but she couldn't stand to be in there long enough to find him. The battle raged for at least five minutes, before she finally convinced herself back into the room. She found Slader standing by a boy, maybe eight, who appeared to be asleep, with his arm, or the place that should have had an arm, heavily bandaged.
Kat reached him and grabbed his arm, turning his attention away from the girl he was having a conversation. "Come on, Slader."
"Hello, Miss Snow," Kat gave the girl her attention for the first time and realized who it was.
"Minerva," she greeted curtly. "Come on, Slader seriously."
"Why?" Slader wondered aloud, glancing back at the merchant girl.
"Slader," Kat snapped. "Her intelligence level is way over your head, you don't stand a chance. Now, come on!"
Slader allowed himself to be dragged off as Minerva giggled. Once they were outside, Slader turned on Kat. "What was that about, Snow?"
"That was about me wanting to get out of there!" Kat snapped.
"So why did you have to drag me off!"
"Because, we're supposed to be sticking together remember?"
"You shouldn't have a problem with ditching me, you did it easy enough in District 3!"
Kat huffed. "Are you still on that?"
"Yes! I am!"
"I did not ditch you!"
"Yeah right, next you'll tell me those aren't Kat ears sticking out of your head!"
Kat gave the boy a shove, making him stumble back. "Why do you care, anyways? All you were doing was flirting!"
"Yeah! And she was actually flirting back!" Slader snapped.
"Slader! You're a Capitol! She's a District girl! Grandpa Snow would never allow it!
"Well you know what I think of your 'Grandpa Snow'?"
"Go ahead!" Kat snarled, whipping her recorder from the front pocket of her bag and pointing it threatingly at him. "I would love to see how long it takes Grandpa Snow to fire your father after hearing what you have to say!"
Slader glared at her then threw his hands into the air. "Forget it! You're not even worth it, you self-centered brat!"
"I'm self-centered?" Kat exclaimed, raising her eyebrows at him. "Your one to talk about being self-centered!"
"Whatever, Snow!" Slader snapped. "Just forget it!"
"Why don't I just forget you! I'm sure you'd be happy here in District 5 with your girlfriend!" Kat shouted at him, before turning on her heel and storming off without listening to Slader's response. As she went, she was very aware of all the people staring after her, but she couldn't care less.
~District 5~
"Girls, right?" Slader jumped, whipping around to find a blond boy leaned against the wall, he was at least fifteen, and stood tall and slender. His face was plastered with a wide grin and his dark blue eyes were examining the Capitol boy.
"Yeah," Slader sighed kicking a rock.
"Nut?" the boy offered, holding out a handful of nuts.
Slader stared at the things, "Where did you get those?"
"My dad's the mayor," the boy shrugged.
"No thanks," Slader replied.
The other boy shrugged and popped one in his mouth. "Suit yourself."
"So what are you doing out here?"
"I had to take my brother down here. He said he wanted to see how all the factory meltdown victims were doing, but I know he only wanted to come because he knew Minerva was gonna be here." The boy smirked. "I'm Lawrence, by the way, and I suppose you're Slader."
"Yeah, that's me," Slader grumbled, begrudgingly. "So your brother likes Minerva."
"Trying to change the subject on my, are you?" Lawrence laughed, still smirking wildly.
"No," Slader snapped in response. "I was only asking."
"Whatever, Kid," Lawrence replied, looking at him gleefully. "Yeah, he likes her. Hey, why don't I help you get your mind off of your girlfriend?"
"Kat is not my girlfriend," Slader grumbled.
"Sure. Come on, I know where all the District girls start gathering right about now." With that Lawrence turned on his heel and began off in another direction. Slader paused a moment before hurrying after him.