The Holes in My Heart Chapter 8: Train Ride, a hunger games fanfic

Helloo! Extra sorry I haven't written in awhile. :'( I PROMISE that I will update more frequently. Hang in there, guys. More is coming. I hope you enjoy the train ride to the Capitol chapter!

I kept repeating in my mind what Sam had told me. What did she mean that I could use my weakness as an advantage? The thought wouldn't leave my mind. I desperately wanted it to, but at the same time, I wanted to know what she had meant.

"I guess I'll never know," I mumbled as I fell onto the bed that countless tributes before that are now corpses have slept on. Maybe even my sister. I stared at the ceiling while massaging my temples. Too bad I'd never get to talk to Sam again… I sat up and slumped, covering my face with my hands. What am I going to do? I looked like a weakling at the reaping. An easy target. How was I supposed to use that to my advantage? I silently cursed Sam. Always being so mysterious…

"Eventually, there is a knock on the door. I know immediately it's Katri Rankine. I mean, who else would sound that excited on this death train? Well, she's not the one who would be dying.

"What?" I growl as I open the door.

"Well," she clasps her hands together. "Don't you look lovely?" She smiles. Did I really have a choice of what to wear? Everything in the dresser that stored the clothes came straight from the Capitol. Of course she loved it.

"What do you want?" I ask her, narrowing my eyes.

"Dinner's ready. And you'll finally get to meet your mentors, Blight and Isadora!" She chirps and claps. "I'll meet you in the dining car. I have to fetch Griffin." And with that, she's off.

I, on the other hand, was dreading the moment I'd have to talk to my mentors about my strategies to stay alive. Something that seemed so simple, yet is was so valuable. The thing even Capitolites value the most. Their lives. And mine was on the line. And I had to figure out how to stay alive.

I manage to lighten up as dinner is served.

Man, I've never seen this much food in one place in my life.

Geez, I haven't even eaten this much food in my life!

I fill my plate with anything and everything that fits. Blight, Isadora and Katri all recommend their favorite meals. I have never thought I would be this filled in my life. And after dinner, we watched the reapings. As usual, the kids from one, two, and four looked pretty brutal. Though I thought that that I could've taken any of them if it were just me versus one of them. They're all so arrogant. So confident that they will win. I snorted. They would think that they would be able to take the little girl from seven. If only they knew what I was capable of, what I could do with an ax…

I nearly fell over. That's it! That's what Sam meant! Their arrogance would get the better of them. I would make them underestimate me. Make them believe I'm a weakling. Everybody. The tributes, the Capitol people, everybody. I smirked to myself.

"All right there, Johanna?" Isadora asks me.

I nod smugly. "I'm fine." I had completely zoned out for most or the reapings. I was thinking of my genius plan. And I had Sam to thank.

I glance at Griffin. Sure, I would tell Blight and Isadora my strategy. They're my mentors. But Griffin couldn't know. Sure, we come from the same place, but that doesn't mean I could trust him. Who knows, maybe he'd join the careers and tell them all about it. I snicker to myself. As if the careers would let him join their group.

"So, what do think of your opponents? Any to look out for? To ally?" Blight asks, resting his elbows on his knees. I let Griffin talk. After all, I really didn't pay attention. I guessed I had to make note of them when we got to the Capitol.

Griffin talks on for a good minute or so before Blight turns to me. "What about you, Johanna? Did you think anybody stood out?" I shake my head. "Nobody stood out to you?" He furrowed his eyebrows. I nodded. "Hmmm, we'll have to do something about that." Griffin looked at me skeptically, but I ignored him

After Griffin left, I approached Blight and Isadora. "I have a strategy, but I'm not sure if it would work." They looked at me in a way as if to telling me to go on. So I did. "Well, I'll act like a weakling so the tributes will underestimate me and they'll be so arrogant that they won't even be able to blink before their heads are separated from their bodies.

Isadora raised her eyebrows and exchanged a look with Blight. "I don't see how that couldn't work."

Blight smiled at me. "Not bad. That's never been done before. They won't even see it coming."

They approved. I was smiling that evening until I fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up and looked out the window. We had to be close. And there it was. The Capitol. How could such a beautiful place be filled with such horrible people? It looked like it was a castle on the clouds. The perfect place to live. I got dressed quickly in the most normal thing I could find, tucked my locket under my shirt, and dashed to the dining cart where I could a better view of the beautiful city.

I never wanted the train ride to end. Besides the constant fear of knowing that I most likely would not be alive in two weeks, it was very enjoyable. I still had the idea in my mind that the Capitol was a distant area away. I didn't want to imagine a whole city full of Katri Rankies. The games might never come if I wished for it enough. But there I was at the train station getting off of the train and being led to a place I was told is called the remake center.

And with that, I wave goodbye to the train and I'm standing on Capitol grounds. The Capitol people all with their absurd hair colors and four inch long eyelashes try to reach out. To get us as we walk through the train station. The guards keep them back though.