To my dismay, the hallway isn't really all that long and we only take a few strides to reach the end. Cassius looks at me for a brief second before he enters the room, and I quickly follow behind him.
When I step out I find myself in a large open room, decorated with black couches and light coloured walls. There are people sitting all over the room, but I notice most are near a television set. Everything seems so normal, like nothing is out of place.
That's when it hits me.
Everyone in the room was in the arena.
I scan the profiles of everyone, quickly moving from face to face. The girl from six and the girl and boy from eight are sitting together at a table, looking at a book spread open on the light wood.
Next I see the boy from three, Gourd I think, sitting alone on a couch by a window.
I see Dale and his partner from eleven sitting together watching the television, whispering to each other.
But then my heart stops. I hear a voice from my left call out.
"Oh my God!"
I turn my head and see Athena standing up from a chair facing yet another television. I feel myself go white as memories of watching Athena kill Cassius flash through my mind. I blink away those thoughts, remembering what Cassius told me in my room. I can't blame Athena for trying to stay alive.
Before I know it Athena is hugging me tightly, sobbing into my shoulder. My arms hang awkwardly by my sides and I don't know how to react. the voices in my head are screaming at me to get away, but I remind myself I'm not in the games anymore. I don't have to be scared of a hug. After a few moments Athena releases me and begins wiping tears from her eyes with her sleeve.
"I'm sorry. I just…" She trails off, seemingly unable to finish her sentence. Something behind Athena captures my attention and I shift my focus behind her to someone else. Kai.
Kai stands with his arms crossed over his chest. His hair is ruffled and unkempt, but he's alive. Kai flashes me a small smile, but I can't seem to return it. Something seems missing. Even though so many of us are still alive, and that's a miracle in its own right, I can't help but be angry only some of us got out.
"We didn't know if you'd wake up." Kai tells me, sitting back down in his chair. I take a quick look behind me to see everyone in the room watching me. I make eye contact with a few, but in turn they each look away and continue their previous activities and chatting. All but one.
When I look at Dale, I think I see a sneer, but I convince myself I imagined it. I look back to Kai, Athena and Cassius. Cassius pats a spot on the couch next to him and I slowly sit down next to him.
"How did all this happen?" I ask after what feels like an eternity. My throat feels so dry and I can't seem to think of any words. Athena is the first to answer.
"I guess people got tired of seeing kids dying." She suggests with a shrug. Thats when Troy walks up behind her.
"Thats it." Troy says, holding a white mug in his hands. He passes the mug to me and leans against the white wall. I take the hot mug that contains a steaming brown liquid. I smell it, getting a face full of steam and sweet aroma fills my nostrils. I look up at the small group.
"What is it?" I ask, clutching the mug tightly, trying to absorb all its warmth. Athena looks up at me, surprise easy to see on her face.
"You've never had hot chocolate?" She asks me. I shake my head slowly.
"Even the victors in Twelve don't get the same treatment as those in One." Troy explains. He motions for me to take a sip which I do slowly, having learned from burning myself on hot liquids on many occasions in the past. A sweet yet bitter taste fills my mouth as the liquid coats my throat. I hear Kai and Cassius chuckle together as they watch me drink.
"Hey." I quip in reply to their laughs. Cassius quickly puts on a serious expression, but this fades back into laughter again, stronger than before. Soon both Athena and Troy join in. I find myself amused, but I can't bring myself to laugh. No one seems to take notice and the conversation shifts once again to our current situation. The three others seem to be bombarding Troy with questions and I take notice that most of the other tributes have stopped their activities and have been listening in.
"Alright. I get you guys have a lot of questions, and I don't blame you. Let's do this right." Troy walks over to the kitchen area and pulls over a dark metallic stool and places it on the center of the room where he sits. I take a final sip of my beverage and turn myself to face him. I see everyone else do the same. Cassius rests an arm on the top of the couch behind my shoulders, which I feel are still stiff from the medical treatments. The first person to ask a question is Gourd, from Three.
"Why us? Why did you save us ten and not the others?"
"Because you were the easiest to save. I'll explain the process again, in case someone missed it. The trackers were a liquid that deactivates upon death. When you died, we'd rescue your body with the hovercraft as quickly as possible. Once you were in the hovercraft we began revival attempts. We had a very high success rate as long as you were rescued within two minutes." Troy explains.
"Then why isn't anyone from the bloodbath here?" The girl from Six asks. I remind myself to try and remember her name for future use.
Troy is about to answer, when someone behind me speaks.
"Because your heart would have been stopped for too long to bring you up. Some of them had been dead for upwards of half an hour, far too long for any rescue. Keep in mind, we didn't have the best resources the Capitol had to offer, with things being stolen and all." I tense up as the woman speaks. I don't need to turn around to know exactly who's behind me.
Dew.
A chill runs down my spine as I recall my final moments before entering the arena, when Dew revealed her past affiliations with not only district Twelve, but Cliff. I bite my lip hard and have to try hard not to react. I can't bear to look at her, knowing what I've likely done to Cliff, her son.
"Excuse me." I whisper. I stand slowly and dig my nails into my palms, causing my hands to form a tight fist and my knuckles to go bone white. I take many short strides across the room filled with people that were supposed to be dead. People I'd seen die and even killed myself.
I feel hot tears roll silently down my cheeks as I turn the corner and walk quickly to my room. Before I close the door I take a quick look back and see no one has followed me.
I slide into my room and close the door softly behind me before crossing the bed and reaching the window. I draw the curtains back and look over the Capitol, now fully engulfed in the early morning sun. I draw in a shaky breath and let the tears continue their silent occupation of my eyes.