Chapter 4: Welcome to the Capitol
The Capitol Train completely surprises me. It is way more luxurious than I imagined. This makes the Justice Building like District 12 is to the Justice Building all by itself. "Enjoy what you have here," Sheila says. "It's all for you four. There is food and you each have your own compartments!" Capitol people are way too enthusiastic for my taste, period.
As we head down toward our compartments, Maysilee speaks the first thing that any of us have said to each other since the reaping. "Might as well enjoy it while we're alive," she says.
"Very true," I reply. I look at Owen and Kaylin. They are really pale. I wonder how long they might survive. Maysilee looks as if she'll give a fighting chance, and I plan on making it out of the Games alive, even if it means the other three in this room must die. I owe it to Samie, Justin, and my mother. Screw Cevin, because he doesn't care if I die in the Games. He would have volunteered to go in with me and would have turned on me as soon as we landed in the arena.
I enter my compartment and stand there for a second, admiring that the damn government actually cares about how we live, before we fight to the death. The whole thing is despicable, and this year, I'm a star of this show. But, I know it is on television, so I must play it with actual survival skills for the regular Games and with a television face. I heard that before the Dark Days, the Capitol used to sponsor actual shows on TV with big actors and actresses. I guess Capitol citizens still get that, but all we get is propaganda, the story of the destruction of District 13, and old Hunger Games footage. That just shows that all the citizens in the Capitol are expecting a show, which if I give that, it means sponsors.
I walk over to the bed which in itself is a complete update on the rugged mattress I sleep on every night at home. This is Capitol brand, made either in District 1, the luxury district, or made by a company in the Capitol that gets its materials from the districts, through governmental supervision of course. The corporate offices sell to Capitol citizens, even though the government monitors every little sale, and the Capitol controls the flow of goods through the districts. These companies are basically different brands of the same District-made material, just giving the Capitol more ways to take money from the districts, forcing us into poverty and starvation.
I turn on the television that is near my bed and see that the 25th Annual Hunger Games, where the tributes were voted in the arena, is playing in order to ramp up suspense for the Quarter Quell of this year. The victor was from District 9, and he became a morphling addict within the couple years afterward. He is almost on his death bed and the only other District 9 victor is able to mentor their 4 tributes this year. Easy targets guaranteed. I don't want to be thinking like this, ever, but when you are forced in an arena to fight for your survival, you sometimes are only thinking of you and your family, not the other tributes.
After an hour, I take a shower and change into a simple shirt and jeans, something we don't have the privilege of in District 12. Sheila comes to the door, knocking a calling me to go to the dining car for supper. I walk into the car and the feast has NO equal. So many delicacies we can only dream of in the districts. Chicken with a creamy orange sauce, stew over rice with dried plums in it, rolls with exquisite baked grains that even makes our bakery bread look bad. This is an all you can eat buffet of the finest food the Capitol has to offer. Owen, Kaylin, and Maysilee are all at the table, sitting there quiet as they salivate over the food being served to us. Before we begin eating, Sheila begins speaking.
"Okay," she says. "Before Harrin gets in here, I want you to know he is your lifeline in these Games. Listen to him if you want to get sponsors in order to save your lives. Are we understood?" We all nod. "Okay. Go tell Harrin to come in now please." An attendant for the Capitol walks out of the car for a second and comes in to the car again with our mentor.
"Hello," Harrin says to us. "Well, what are you waiting for? Eat. Enjoy the food. You will need the staying energy for the long days to come in the arena." Sheila nods at this statement. We all begin eating. The food is really delicious, and while we eat, Harrin starts to gives us advice about our time in the Capitol. "Tomorrow morning, we will arrive in the Capitol. You will be put in the hands of your stylists for the Games and their prep teams. What they do to you will not be fun, but I don't want you to object to this at all."
Owen speaks up. "But why?" he asks.
"Well," Harrin says. "You need to have a starting image before the Games begin, in order to help you with sponsors during the Games. The stylists are there to help you look the best. It isn't a beauty contest, but better looking tributes tend to appear in the betting odds more often, and they end up at least in the final eight."
"Okay," I say. "So what about the arena?"
Harrin replies, "Whoa. One step at a time. I'll give you pointers on the actual arena after the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow night. Getting people to like you while you're in the Capitol is your priority until you land in the arena. Sponsors means saved lives."
"What about training?" Maysilee asks.
"After the ceremonies, and that's final," Harrin shoots back. "Now, let's go watch the reapings and see who the competition is for you all." We get up from the table and enter the viewing room where a huge HD TV sits there, glowing a soft light. It comes on immediately and says "Reaping Recap 50" under the Capitol seal.
Here we go, I think.
Out of all 48 tributes, only a few make an impression on me immediately. I might learn a few more of them before the Games begin. There is a red haired volunteer girl from District 2, and she looks dangerous, which means she could become a problem in the Games, as every District 1,2, and 4 volunteer is. The regular Career tributes.
Next is a District 3 female, I guess they say her name is Yoorea. She has curly brown hair and is very pale. I don't know how long she'll last. Next is a female volunteer from District 5. She looks very sadistic due to the crazy smile she is wearing on her face. I have to say, I'm actually scared of her a little bit. Next to make an impression is the little light brown haired 12 year old girl from District 7 and the slightly older girl tribute looking just like her that is holding her hand. They look like sisters, though I'm not sure. The older girl volunteered, probably to protect the younger one or something.
The two males from 7 look sort of confident. One of them volunteered like your average Career tribute. Next, from District 10, a girl with wavy black hair is reaped, and she is shaking, and a cry emanates from the crowd, making me wonder if she was kind of disliked in District 10. The two male tributes are slightly muscular in build and seem like they could stand a chance. If there is anything this Quell does, it's give the other Districts more of a fighting chance for a victory this year. One of the guys, the commentators call him Hunter, I guess, has a sad smile, so I know he isn't happy he is reaped.
There is the District 11 reaping. Only one of the girls stand out, she looks to be 18 even. She looked bored, so I guess that's why she stood out. Then, there's District 12's boring ass reaping with the four of us being called and then the anthem plays after the commentators make the statement, "These will be the best Hunger Games yet! May the odds be ever in your favor tributes!"
Silence follows after the reapings conclude. We finally know who our competition is. I wonder who will make an impression and who will be boring when the audience get's to see us tomorrow. Only time will answer that.
Harrin interrupts the silence after 5 minutes. "Alright. Now you know the opponents you will face. Keep in eye in them in training. I'll explain more later, now go get some sleep because once we arrive in the Capitol tomorrow, it will be a long day."
"Would it kill you to say please?!" Sheila snaps.
"Okay," Harrin says. "Please go to sleep so you have energy tomorrow." Sheila nods, I guess accepting a silent apology from Harrin.
I walk down to my compartment thinking, How funny it is that the escort who is leading us to slaughter is all fed up in politeness. How ironic. I lay down on the bed and fall to sleep. I have a dream that I'm back in District 12 taking Samie on that date I promised her if neither of us were reaped. I was though, she wasn't. She will be cheering for me during the Games. She barely knows Maysilee, and doesn't know Kaylin or Owen.
When I wake up, I look out the train window and see that we're passing what I believe is District 1 or 2, I'm not 100% sure though. Almost to the Capitol.
Sheila calls me down to the dining car, saying there is a "big, big day" ahead for us. I go down to find a luxurious breakfast set up and the other tributes eating at the table. Harrin is just watching them and I'm about to sit down when he says, "Haymitch, is it?"
"Yes," I answer.
He stares me down for a minute but feels like forever. "Seem fit for a Seam guy. Sit." I obey. "Okay you guys, as I said yesterday, we will arrive in the Capitol in a short while today and you will be put in the hands of your stylists for the Games. Let them do what they choose to you, you will be satisfied afterwards, while the during is a different story." I grimace, but lucky he doesn't notice. Sheila just gives me a look. "The Opening Ceremonies are tonight. Initial betting begins with the tributes that stand out. Even if you have a shitty costume, which District 12 normally does, try to look triumphant and the crowd might look past the costume." Sheila stares daggers when he says the thing about 12's shitty costumes, but he's right. It's always miner jumpsuits, which are not crowd attracters.
The windows go dark signaling that we're nearing the Capitol. On the intercom, an attendant says, "Arrival in Denver, C.D., our glorious Capitol, will be in a few short moments." I get up out of my seat and look out the window. When the mountains clear, I see the glorious city that is the Capitol, reigning city of Panem. It's grandeur cannot even be truly captured on television. Even though I hate the government, the city is truly magnificent. We roll into the Capitol Train Station and see adoring crowds, watched over by what I think are Peacekeepers, cheering for another tribute train, meaning the Hunger Games are nearing once again. I wave, noting that if I must get people to like me, I might as well start on the train.
Once we're completely in the station, Sheila escorts us out. A car with darkened out windows picks us up. In about 15 minutes of a conversation-less ride, we arrive at the Remake Center and are ushered in by people we do not know. Sheila says before we're in, "Keep smiling and listen to the stylists!"
I'm brought in a room and told by a Peacekeeper, I really don't know because they have berets, not helmets, to lay on the table and a prep team will be with me shortly. Great, that is all I need, people to tell me how to look and what I'm doing wrong.
Three very strange people walk into the room. The man, surprisingly for the Capitol, looks the most normal, yet he is very devout in his fashion choices here, you can tell. The two females are….cats? They have damn cat whiskers on their bodies. What the hell happened here to make people think it looks attractive to surgically enhance your body to near unrecognizability? I really don't get it. I nickname the girls Cat 1 and Cat 2, and I hear the guys name is Clarence, such a normal name for a person so changed by the Capitol way of life. It is freaking disgusting!
They are starting to wax my hair off my body. What, so I look less manly, earning me less sponsors? I don't understand. They then make me bathe in something that I gag when I smell it. Afterwards, they say I'm ready for the stylist. Surprisingly, that only took about an hour overall.
The weirdest person I've ever seen in the Capitol walks in, and by weird, I mean she looks as if she came from one of the districts, not this crazy fashion city. She has no sign of even being a Capitol citizen, at freaking all. She stares me down for about five minutes. "So you're Haymitch?" she asks.
"Yes," I answer.
"I'm Fantasia, the District 12 stylist for male tributes," she says. Ok, only her name marks her from the Capitol. "Now, I know you aren't going to like the costume, as neither do I, but it's a coal miner jumpsuit." Obviously, because for the Opening Ceremonies, we're required to dress in a costume that resembles our district's industry, such as District 3, electronics, and District 12, coal mining.
"Why don't you like it?" I curiously ask.
"I'm new. The old stylist for the girls won't listen, and he makes jumpsuit designs for your district." I look at her like I'm confused if she's serious, because I am. "I'm being honest."
"Then why do you look so…. normal?"
"Well," she says, looking perplexed at what I said. "I...was...born into a normal family when compared to other Capitol families."
"By district standards you're normal, but by Capitol standards you are strange."
"I am aware of that." I'm a little suspicious of her, but I let it slide, because she is handsoming me up for a fight to the death. "Regardless, the costume is a jumpsuit. Let's get you fitted."
I change into the jumpsuit and miner boots and Fantasia adjusts makeup on my face to make me look like I have just come from deep in the District 12 coal mines and finished a hard day's work. "Okay, the tributes meet down in the bottom of the Remake Center for which you will be given a chariot with the other tributes from 12 for the parade. But, since we have time, let's eat lunch." We walk into a room with a good meal, but I can't remember much because I'm so occupied on seeing my fellow tributes during the few days most of us will be alive, unknowing which of us will emerge victorious and alive with the ability to return to their district.
Fantasia escorts me down to the stables and a Peacekeeper assigns me horse and a chariot and I go over to the horse and stand there waiting. Looking around, I see that competitor wise, only the District 2 tributes have arrived. All of this year's mentors, past Hunger Games victors, are socializing with each other. I find Harrin and he waves me over to his group of him and the most recent non-Career victor, Chaff of District 11, who won the 45th Hunger Games. Chaff lost his arm in his Games, but he refused artificial replacement. He is only five years older than me and is already kind of a drunkard, but I can see he's sober right now.
"Chaff," Harrin says. "This is Haymitch. He's the one I was telling you about. The kid I saw training before the reaping."
"You saw that?" I ask.
"Of course," he says. "A victor has a keen eye for that sort of thing. When I walk around the Seam, I found you and your little girlfriend training. I guess she's lucky not to be reaped in the arena against you." Yeah, I know. I could never hurt Samie. I'd hate the Capitol even more if they reaped us at the same time.
"Sounds like a winner," Chaff says. "My kids seem weak this year. I hate to watch the Games, but 11 really needs a winner. Kid, you're lucky 12 needs one even more. If I could bet, it'd be on District 12 this year. My kids are all scared right now. I told them that won't help in their survival" He hates watching the Games as much as the average District person, but he knows who has a chance of winning because of his victory five years ago.
Harrin speaks up, "Well Haymitch, return to the chariot. Being here early makes you seem on top of things." Well, I guess Fantasia is trying to help me, even though she's preparing me for these barbaric Games.
Within ten minutes, the rest of the tributes file into the stable area. I believe the Peacekeepers are a little embarrassed by the overwhelming amount of tributes this year, which is kind of funny in my opinion. Oh well. Once Maysilee, Owen, and Kaylin make it to our chariot, wearing our jumpsuits as well, we get situated. And the music begins starting the procession of chariots…..
Note: Still SYOT and I apologize for time it took. LONG Chapter and finishing Junior year in High School. I'm back and I still need tons of tribute ideas…..
Tributes already selected:
District 2:
Female #1: Naiad Elphaba, 16 Years Old.
District 3:
Female #1: Yoorea Conchuss, 13 Years Old.
District 5:
Female #1: Jenny Winterwood, 15 Years Old.
District 7:
Female #1: Rika Palavine, 12 Years Old.
Female #2: Aura Avalanche, 14 Years Old.
Male #1: Jax Falcon, 17 Years Old.
Male #2: Ash Tripper, 18 Years Old.
District 10:
Male #1: Ashton Grayson, 17 Years Old.
Male #2: Hunter Rhodes, 17 Years Old.
Female #1: Phoenix Carson, 15 Years Old.
District 11:
Female #1: Gaila Montage, 18 Years Old.
District 12:
Female #1: Kaylin Shroudnet, 15 Years Old.
Female #2: Maysilee Donner, 16 Years Old.
Male #1: Owen Wireson, 13 Years Old.
Male #2: Haymitch Abernathy, 16 Years Old.