Note: This one took me a little longer to write, because I had two very different directions I was going to go with it. I decided on this one.
Every day was the same. Sydney and I sat in the cold, dark cellar for hours and hours. Eventually a guard would bring us our daily meal. At the beginning, we talked. Sydney told me about her life growing up in thirteen, and I talked about Peeta and my sister. I could feel myself growing more and more attached to her with each passing day, and I figuring out why the rest of my team liked her so much.
Her sarcastic sense of humor never failed to make me laugh, and she talked about the rebellion and the safety of Panem, there was so much passion in her voice it was hard not to admire her dedication. There wasn't much to do in the cell, so eventually we started to fight each other so we wouldn't become too weak. They were only light combat exercises, but Sydney taught me more advanced things than the military trainers ever could.
In exchange, I taught her how to survive. I taught her about fighting through hunger and dehydration. She asked me how to best make a fire and set up a trap when you hunt. I told her how to recognize certain plants, and how I had used the little skills I had to survive the games. We talked about tactics and battle plans, but we also discussed our relationships with Peeta and Gale. My friendship with Sydney was unlike any I had before.
Gale and I had been close, but there was always that awkward romantic stigma that came with a boy/girl friendship. The closest thing I had to a real girl friend was Madge, and the most we had done was eat lunch together and be partners for school projects. I guess it was the life and death situation we were in, but in what I estimated to be around two weeks, Sydney had become the best friend I ever had.
Finally, our routine changed. The door to our cell swung open, and a Peacekeeper stepped in. "Time to go." He announced roughly. He walked over to Sydney and tried to grab her arm, but she pushed him away.
"Are my legs broken? I think not." She shoved past him and walked to the door. Sydney had a habit of trying her hardest to upset the Peacekeepers. She thought it was funny, and it was, but I worried that it would get us into trouble.
"You too." He said, nodding his head at me. I got up and walked over next to Sydney. I shot her a worried glance, but she only shrugged her shoulders. It was happening. Whatever President Snow wanted with us, he was about to get it. The time had come. I was either going to make it out alive, or I was going to be executed by the Capitol.
He took us to a small room at the end of the hallway and pointed us through the door. It was a set of showers. We rinsed off, and he gave us a fresh set of clothes. These were a bright yellow instead of grey. Right as we were about to exit the room, the guard pulled us aside. He sat us down and pulled out an odd machine with a sharp tip. He ordered Sydney to sit, and used the tool to engrave a series of numbers onto her arm. She took a sharp breath inward at first, but I could see her gritting her teeth to hold back the pain. I sat down next, and he grabbed my arm. The sharp tool cut into my skin and left a faint trail of blood behind it. The searing pain made me want to scream, but I bit my tongue. When he was finished, he let my arm go, and I looked at the numbers. 1355.
We got out of the showers and went up the same steps I had gone through for my first meeting with Snow, but when we began walking down the corridor with the cell doors, we stopped before the interrogation room. The Peacekeeper opened one of the cell doors and pointed inside. "This is where you'll stay now. President Snow has another use for the cell down below."
We headed inside, and the Peacekeeper shut the door behind us. I looked around. This cell was much more spacious. The door was made of a much thinner metal, and it had a barred window that let in some of the outside light. There was a set of bunk beds up against the wall in the corner, and a sink and toilet to the other side. The floors were still ridiculously dirty and the mattresses were thin and probably full of dust mites, but it was definitely an upgrade.
"Looks like we got the luxury suite." Sydney said with a roll of her eyes. "Bottom bunk!" I laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. Calling dibs on a prison bed. She walked over and sat down, bouncing lightly on the mattress. "It's definitely and upgrade from the floor." She raised her eyebrows.
"Why would they do this?" I didn't understand the reasoning behind it. Wasn't the point of capturing us to torture us and make us miserable? Did they think giving us beds would make us come over to their side and proclaim our love for the Capitol?
"You heard the man." Sydney answered. "They need our cell for someone else."
"But who? Who could be more important to keep isolated than us?" She shrugged again and laid back on the bed. I paced the room, trying to figure out what game Snow was playing. Who did he have in that room? Eventually, Sydney fell asleep, but I just kept pacing. I gave myself a headache from trying to figure out the web of lies he was laying out.
The door opening interrupted my thoughts. "Dinner time." The guard said. Sydney sat up expectantly, and I waited for him to bring the food to us. "No, you eat out here now. No more VIP treatment." He laughed coldly and stood outside the door, waiting for us. We followed him through a set of corridors, all lined with cells, then up another set of stairs and into a small cafeteria. There was a buffet line directly in front of us, and long square tables stood in skewed rows between us and it.
The guard left us, and I looked around for Sydney, but realized she was already walking towards the food line. I hesitated, but followed her. I didn't really have a choice after all. I stood in line behind Sydney, and we followed the group of prisoners through the cue. The woman behind the counter handed me a tray of what looked like some sort of stew, but it was grey instead of brown and it smelled terribly. She looked downtrodden and exhausted. The workers must be prisoners also. She looked so familiar, but I couldn't place her face. I shook it off, she probably just reminded me of someone from back home.
The next man handed us some bread and water to have as sides for our stew, and when we reached the end of the line, there was a man sitting there with a piece of paper and a pen, asking for names. Sydney passed him first, and waited for me on his other side.
"Name and ID please?" He asked, staring at the paper instead of me. He had on a white uniform. I guess this job was too important for just another prisoner, so they had a peacekeeper taking names. I looked down at the numbers that decorated my arm. I assumed this is what he meant.
"Uhm..Katniss Everdeen, number 1355." His head snapped up, and his eyes narrowed. Then a smile crossed his lips.
"So I guess the rumors are true." He said. "We've captured the Mockingjay."
I noticed then that the room had gone completely silent. I hadn't picked up on it, but before there had been a slight buzz of activity, what with people moving around and eating. Now I couldn't hear the scrape of forks on plates or the shuffle of prisoners moving through the line. I looked around the room, and every single person's eyes were on me.
No one moved. No one breathed. It felt like time was standing still. I looked from face to face, trying to gauge whether or not I was among friends or enemies. I noticed a little girl who couldn't have been older than six sitting with a man and a woman who looked so familiar. As I looked at each person, I got this nagging feeling that I knew some of them from somewhere. I looked back at the woman serving food, and my eyes widened. I did know them. I lived with them. These prisoners lived in district thirteen.
The woman had served me lunch every day in the mess hall where I ate with my team. The girl was a neighbor of my mother and sister. Why were they here? Snow said he hadn't captured thirteen. The silence around me was deafening. I could hear my own heart beating in my chest. They were all staring at me, and I could see the Peacekeepers closing in around us. I guess they were prepared for the sight of me to start a riot.
"Come on Katniss." I heard Sydney at my shoulder. She turned me around and pushed me towards one end of the cafeteria. I followed her, and I could hear the noises creep back into the room.
We sat down at the end of one of the long rectangular tables as far away from anyone else as we could. I kept my head in my plate, refusing to look at anyone. I felt someone standing next to me, and I looked up. A boy who looked to be about fifteen stood to my left, looking at me eagerly. A woman was with him. She stood across the table next to Sydney. "Can…can we sit here?" He said with a stutter.
"Uh…" I looked at Sydney, but she just stared back at me blankly. She had no clue what was happening either. "Sure." They sat down next to us, and we continued to eat in silence for a while. I didn't know what to say. What did these people expect of me?
"So…you..you're the M-M-M-Mockingjay?" The boy asked shyly. He had bright blue eyes and jet black hair. His glasses were square and crooked, and he had a large bruise over his left eye.
"Katniss." I shot back at him. He looked a little taken aback, and I realized that I had snapped at him. "My name is Katniss." I held out my hand. "Katniss Everdeen."
He grabbed it and shook. "I'm J-J-James." His head shook a little, and I noticed that his leg had a nervous twitch. I looked at the woman across from him, and she smiled at me.
"Excuse my son." She said softly. "When he arrived here, he accidently knocked over a set of expensive gels in the production room, so they electrocuted him as punishment. I'm Caitlin by the way." She finished, offering me a handshake.
"That's awful." I couldn't believe the cruelness of the Capitol. I looked back at James, but he stared at his food. He was skinny as a wire, and I realized that all of them were. The Capitol was starving these people. "So…where are you from?" I asked. I didn't really know what else to say.
She held out her arm. She had an engraving just like mine, except hers read 1324. "District thirteen of course." She said matter of factly. "The first two numbers are your district. The second two are just the order you arrived here." I looked at James, and he held out his arm. 1325. I noticed that Sydney was looking at her arm, and she showed me her number. 1354.
"Why are you here? No offense but you don't exactly look like soldiers."
She laughed. "We aren't, don't worry. We were part of a search party."
"A search party?" Sydney asked, speaking for the first time. "For what?"
James looked confused. "W-w-well. For you two of course."
I looked at Sydney and she stared back at me. I could see the guilt written across her face, and I knew that I wore the same expression. They had been captured while looking for us?
"Why were you looking for us?"
"Everyone thinks you're dead." Caitlin answered. "When you didn't come back from the woods, they went crazy looking for you. They sent search parties out to comb the area. The guards knew you had gone out there, but when you didn't come back they alerted President Coin. They thought you got eaten by some animal. We were captured on the outskirts of thirteen when we got isolated from our search group."
"So you're all from thirteen? You were all captured looking for me?" I asked, dumbfounded. Caitlin shook her head.
"No no. There are only twenty of us from thirteen. The prisoners around you are from all of the different districts. The man who hands out bread is from five. That man over there," she pointed to a bulky man sitting alone at a table across the room, "he's from two. There are at least ten prisoners from each district. They were captured in various battles or raids during the rebellion."
"They stopped the search." I looked to my right. A small girl who couldn't have been older than fourteen sat down on my other side. "I'm from nine and was just captured about four days ago. They had all of the districts searching for you. President Coin said that you were either dead, captured, or you had run away, so we should stop looking. She claimed that you would turn up eventually."
Sydney was staring hard at her plate. Coin hated me, but Sydney was her daughter. Coin had just given up on her. "Don't worry. Not everyone gave up." The girl smiled slyly at us. "Your boyfriends have been to every district looking for you. They've been begging people to help, and there are rewards for information." Peeta was still looking for me. I knew he wouldn't give up, but I guess the better question was why was President Snow keeping this a secret? I would think that he would be gloating about his capture, but apparently the only people who knew we were here were the guards.
She had said boyfriends. That meant Gale was out looking for Sydney too. If Peeta wasn't enough, I knew Gale would be. Nothing could stop him when he was determined. "I'm Lexie, by the way." She said to us. Sydney took the opportunity to introduce herself to the group, and more people came up and joined us. There was Omega from district six, and and old woman named Silvia from district eight. A dark skinned man with an extremely deep laugh was sitting next to Sydney. He said he was from district eleven, but he only introduced himself as Pain. I saw Sydney raise her eyebrows, and she seemed to regret the giant comment she had made when he sat down.
We talked for a while. They asked me about what was happening on the inside with the war. They asked me about Peeta, and Sydney told them stories of our training and the progress that was being made in the rebellion. I thought the Peacekeeper's would care about us discussing the rebellion, but they just stood there like statues, making sure that no one got too rowdy.
By the end of dinner, I had met at least twenty people from varying districts. Sydney and I said goodbye to our new friends and headed back to our cell. "Well that was interesting." Sydney said once the door closed.
"I still don't understand why they're doing this. The last time I was presented to the public, I started a rebellion."
"There's nothing we can do about it." She said. "We don't really have a choice but to go along with whatever they're planning, so we might as well just cooperate. For now at least."
I sighed and climbed up onto my bed. I was really close to the ceiling, so I laid on my side. "They were looking for us." She said. I could hear the smile in her voice. "Gale and Peeta. They didn't give up on us, even when my mother did."
"I knew they wouldn't." I said. A sadness overwhelmed me. "Can I tell you something?" I asked.
"You know you can." Sydney answered.
"We're engaged. Peeta and I." I whispered. "No one knows. He proposed to me the night of the ball. Well I guess…I sort of proposed to him. We just didn't want to wait anymore." I sighed. "Now we're going to be lucky if we ever see each other again."
"Wow…congratulations." She laughed. "I guess. The circumstances kind of suck, but I'm happy for you. Especially now that I know all those adorable stories about his undying devotion to you."
I laughed a little, but I felt the tears start to roll down my cheek. Now that I had said it out loud, it was more of a reality. I was never going to see Peeta again. I was never going to be married to him. I didn't have a future.
"Katniss…" I tried to stifle my tears so she wouldn't hear me. I heard her bed squeak. She stood up and leaned her elbow on my bed.
"We're going to get through this." She said, putting her hand on my shoulder. "I promise. We're going to make it out of this alive. We're going to make it back to them. You're going to marry Peeta and everything is going to be wonderful again." I tried to smile, but my lips shook. "And I am definitely going to be in your wedding, but only if I don't have to wear yellow." She looked down at her prison clothes. "Its definitely not my color."
I rolled onto my back and laughed. I laughed so hard that I kept on crying. She realized how ridiculous it was, and laughed with me. Eventually, I calmed down and let out a final chuckle. "You're unbelievable." I said. I hugged her. I was so happy I had Sydney. I would have gone insane by now without her. "Thank you."
"For what?" She asked.
"For keeping me alive. For keeping me sane. For helping me survive this."
"We help each other." She said. "If you've got my back." She sat back down on her bed. "Then I've got yours." She repeated the words she had said the first day we met. I realized that we had been a team ever since then. As much as I was unwilling to accept it back then, I had formed an unbreakable bond in that combat simulator.
The next day, we were sent off to work in the factories Caitlin had talked about. I got stationed next to James, and he nervously talked to me all day long. I got used to his stutter after a while, and he was really a nice kid. He talked about his dogs and his sister, and how if his eye sight was better he would have joined the army. He told me that he worked in the technology department instead because he was more brain than brawn.
"I work with electronics." He said, while we sorted clothing into piles by size.
"Do you know Beetee?" I asked quickly.
"Yeah! He's my boss. We work on developing new technology. Weapons, shields you name it. He's a really great guy. I've never spoken to him, but he's my hero. You should see the stuff he comes up with. He's a genius." James rambled. I had to laugh at him. I didn't think Beetee would ever be anyone's hero, but there was no arguing that he's a genius.
"Maybe when we get back I'll introduce you to him." Beetee would love that. He didn't have many admirers. James reminded me of him, what with the twitch and the obsession with technology.
"That'd be amazing!" He exclaimed. "You know him?"
I stared at him, confused. Had he not seen the games? Sydney had told me she watched them every year. "Yeah. We competed together in the Quarter Quell."
"O. I wouldn't know. I've never seen the Hunger Games. I've heard tales of it of course, including how you almost swallowed those berries and killed yourself and that boy. Only the superiors in district thirteen watch the games. They keep the rest of us away from the horror."
So none of them had to go through it. I would say they were privileged, but I had to remember that they lived underground like moles and most of their district was destroyed by the Capitol, so I guess they didn't live the most amazing of lives, but James seemed satisfied enough with his. I let him talk. It was nice to not have to answer. He just babbled on and on, and was content with me listening in silence.
This was my new routine. Wake up, work, eat, sleep, repeat. It was better than sitting in a cell all day, but they punished us more here. If you made one mistake, they beat you or whipped you. I ended up accumulating so many bruises that I stopped keeping count. Sometimes it wasn't even for doing something wrong. Sometimes it was just because you looked at them the wrong way, or they just didn't like you.
The blond girl, Lexie, from district nine also worked with us in the factories. I discovered that she was actually thirteen, and she had quite the attitude. She said she had been put in solitary confinement twice since she got here. Since she had only been here for about a week, she felt it was an achievement. Sydney got along with her particularly well, and they spent most of the day making fun of the Peacekeeper's behind their backs.
I discovered that Pain, the man I had met from district eleven, had a son who was also working at the prison. He worked in shipping zone, where packages came in from around the Capitol. It was mostly lifting extremely heavy boxes and crates, so because Pain's son was lean and strong, he got to stay here. I ran into him when I brought a package that had to be delivered to the outskirts of the Capitol. They had to be taken by armored truck because the rebel forces were pushing the border, and it was a constant danger zone.
"Thanks." I said as he took the box from my arms. It wasn't too heavy, put it felt good when he relieved me of the weight. He nodded at me and took the package to the truck. I followed him. "You're Pain's son right?" It was hard to keep up with him because he had such long legs.
"Yeah. So?" He said harshly.
"I've just…I work with him, and he mentioned you, so I just thought I would say hello and introduce myself—"
"I don't need an introduction." He spat at me. "You're Katniss Everdeen. The champion of Panem. Everyone's hero. Trust me. I know who you are."
Why did he seem so angry? I had offended a lot of people, but district eleven was on our side. Shouldn't he support me? "Did I do something to offend you?"
"I'm not your biggest fan is all." He answered. "Sorry if that offends you your highness, but not all of us are here to kiss your ass."
"Ok…sorry. I don't expect you to—"
"Thresh was my best friend." I looked at him, stunned. Thresh saved my life in the first hunger games, and had paid for it with his own when Cato took out his revenge on him. "O Thresh?" I must have looked confused, even though I wasn't. "Maybe you don't remember him. He saved your life in the seventy fourth hunger games, then he died. You probably can't keep track of all the people that sacrifice themselves for you though. I mean, they practically trip over each other to try and save your life."
"Look, I didn't forget Thresh. In case you don't remember, I thanked him and Rue when I visited your district. I'll never forget their sacrifice. I couldn't."
"Of course I remember your fake apology. You survived. What do you have to apologize for? You got to live, and in exchange my best friend died. Does it affect you? No. You just keep getting yourself back into trouble. You don't care who sacrifices themselves for you. Well someday, there won't be anyone there for you, and your recklessness will get you killed." He brushed past me and walked over to the next truck. I just stood there in silence. During the Victory Tour, I had dreaded going to district two because I had killed both of their tributes, but I had never considered the indirect deaths that I caused for the tributes from other districts.
That night, when I was trying to fall asleep, I couldn't stop thinking about what Pain's son had said. "Sydney." I hissed. I didn't know if she was asleep. She usually fell asleep after me and woke up before me, so I didn't know if she was a light sleeper or not.
"Yeah?" She asked. She answered right away, so I knew I didn't wake her.
"Would you die for me?" I asked honestly. I didn't know what I was expecting her to say. I figured she would say yes, but part of me didn't want her to. I thought of all of the people whose deaths I had caused. Rue, Thresh, Clove, Marvel, Cato, Glimmer, Foxface, Wiress, Mags, Craig. All of their deaths were on my hands. I don't know what I would do if one more person died for me.
"Of course I would, Katniss." She answered like my question was ridiculous. "And I know you'd do the same for me. What's bothering you?" I told her about Pain's son, and how I knew what he said was true. It had to be. I was disappointing everyone who had sacrificed their lives for me.
"Yeah. That's Emanuel. I talked to him a few times. He seemed opinionated, and he was talked with a lot of anger. Don't take it too hard. Yeah, people have died for you, but you didn't kill them. You can't see it that way, or you'll go insane. You can't convince everyone to love you."
"You do." I answered. "Everyone we meet loves you. They love me because I'm the Mockingjay. They love who they think I am, but people love you because of who you actually are."
She laughed. "You just don't see it." She said. "You inspire them. You give them hope. They think you're going to lead them in some sort of riot and break us all out of here."
I just sighed. I couldn't lead a riot. I wouldn't know where to start. After three weeks in this prison, I still had no idea if I was going to get out. President Snow hadn't called on me again, and I hadn't received any more information from Peacekeepers or guards. Maybe I should start a riot. At least it would get his attention and remind him that I was still here. I wondered if Peeta was still looking for me, or if Snow had finally come out and said he had me as his captive. I had no connection with the outside world, and after Sydney and I got here, they hadn't brought in any new prisoners who could possibly give us information.
"I don't know what to do." I said finally.
"Well whatever you decide, I'm with you. I think sleep is a good start though." I heard her roll over, and decided not to say anything. She was right. I was exhausted. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep again. Being beaten by guards and spending twelve hours a day doing slave labor had taken its toll on me. Sydney's words had made me feel better. She was like Peeta in that sense. They both had a way with words that I knew I would never develop. I closed my eyes and fell into a restless sleep.
When I woke up, light was streaming through the bars in our cell door. I found that odd, because usually the guards woke us up before lights on in the morning so we could get ready and go to work. "Hey Sydney, did the guards come by and say we didn't have to work today?" I asked. She didn't answer me. "Sydney?" I said again. Still silence.
I hopped out of bed, and realized that she wasn't in the bunk below me. I was alone. I panicked. I went to the door and banged on it. "Anyone out there?" I yelled. Silence. I tried to look out the barred window, but there was no one on the other side. I punched the wall in frustration. Why did it always seem like I was the last one to know what was happening?
I tried to weigh the possibilities. They could have taken Sydney again to torture her, but then why was I still here? That wouldn't stop me from working. They could have sent her off to work and were going to torture me, but they why was no one coming for me? My stomach was in knots. Nothing about this situation was good. Something was about to happen.
I paced the room for hours. I tried to lay back down on my bed, but I could sit still. I sat on the floor against the wall, but the anxiousness made me pace again. Finally, someone opened the door.
"What's happening?" I asked the guard who entered the room. "Where's Sydney?" He didn't answer me, he only grabbed my shoulder and pulled me out of the room. We marched down the hallway, and I noticed it was eerily quiet. I figured everyone was at work, but when the guard led me past the factory, it was completely empty. No one roamed the hallways going from place to place. For the first time since I had arrived here, everything was still.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"Its time. President Snow has decided what he wants with you." My heart dropped. So here was the moment of truth. I didn't ask any more questions. I didn't want to know. I had known it would happen eventually, but I had pushed it out of my mind in fear. As I walked down the hallway, I knew I was most likely marching to my death. I expected to feel afraid. I expected to panic again, but I didn't. I only felt determined. In that moment, I knew what I had to do. I had to stand up to President Snow, even if it meant my life.
We reached the end of a hallway, and the Peacekeeper pointed through a door. "Shower and dress." He said. "Then come back out here. Be quick."
I walked through the door. This was no disgusting prison shower like the one I had used when Sydney and I had gotten out of the bottom cell. This was similar to the shower I had in the tribute building. When I stepped out, I smelled like flowers and apples. It was weird to be clean after all this time. I looked around for the clothes I was supposed to wear, and found a bright red, strapless dress with shiny silver detailing hanging on a hook by the door. I dried myself with a fluffy towel that sat next to the shower, and slipped the silk dress over my head.
It felt strange against my skin. It was so different than the rough prison clothes I was used to. Snow was dressing me up, but for what? No doubt I would be on camera. But what would I be doing? I sighed and slipped on the heels that had been sitting below the dress. There was no use guessing. It would only give me a headache.
I headed back into the hallway and the Peacekeeper led me into an elevator. When we immerged at the top floor of this building, he immediately handed me off to a group of people decked out in the typical insane Capitol clothing. They put my hair in a half up/ half down braid. It looked good, but it was nothing compared to what my prep team could do. They plucked my eyebrows and smeared my face with makeup. It all felt eerily familiar, and I hated it now just as much as I always did, if not more.
"Time to go!" I heard the Peacekeeper say. The prep team scoffed and put some finishing touches on my face before I was pulled out of the chair and led towards some sort of balcony that overlooked a huge runway, lined on either side by long rows of seats filled with people. "Thirty seconds." I heard a voice say hurriedly. The Peacekeeper shoved me into the first plain silver chair next to a larger ornate one that was in the center of the balcony. The people who had been standing around chatting on the balcony took their seats in the row to my right and left.
'Twenty seconds." The voice said. What was happening? Was I about to be on some television show? Was I going to be paraded around like Peeta had? I looked behind the curtain that I had come through, and President Snow walked out onto stage. He sat down next to me in the fancily decorated throne.
"Hello, Ms. Everdeen." He said coldly.
"What are you going to do with me?" I asked him. What game was he playing?
"I'm going to let you experience a very familiar event from a very different point of view." He answered. What was that supposed to mean? A very familiar aevent?
"Ten seconds!" The voice shouted. I looked around me, trying to see if any of this rang a bell. It was all familiar, but I was used to being dressed up and thrown in front of a camera. Something was different. It was all too eery, like I was having an extreme case of déjà vu. I gasped. I felt like I was going to be sick. I knew what was happening. The bright lights. The cameras. The long runway that looked like it was meant for cars. No. Not cars. I realized, my heart filling with dread. Chariots.
"We're live!" The voice from behind the curtain shouted. I heard a speaker crackle, and the audience in the bleachers cheered.
"Citizens of the Panem!" I heard a Caesar Flickerman's voice boom out over us. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't be back here. Not again. I had stopped this. "Welcome to the seventy-sixth annual Hunger Games!"