I sit alone in my room for the next forty-five minutes. I don't have a single thing to bring with me, I gave my token to Rye in the arena and I've only been here a day, and haven't acquired any possessions.
I think over what Dew has told me. My task is to befriend the President and convince her to essentially reform Panem by removing the District system. A part of me wants this to happen, I hate the games and I hate the poverty we're forced to live in. But another part of me doesn't want to be the one to do it. I'm not like my mother, I'm not a revolutionary and I'm not a leader.
There's suddenly a knock on my door. I quickly stand and cross the room, to open the door and see Apollonia on the other side. She smiles at me politely and speaks,
"It's time to go." She says. I nod and exit my room.
"What do you think of all this?" Apollonia asks me as we slowly walk down the hall together. I shake my head as I stuff my hands in my pockets.
"I don't like how we can't tell anyone." I begin.
"And I don't know if I can handle it." I add. Apollonia nods.
"I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other then." She says with a chuckle.
"Yeah." I say quietly. I finger the piece of paper Dew gave me in the room after she explained us our roles. On it is my backstory. Since we're working so close to the president we were harder to sneak in, so we had others apply in our position while the games were happening.
According to the sheet, I'm a district Two transfer who was top of her class. I've been a peacekeeper for two years and have been in the mayors squad for the last six months.
When Apollonia and I enter the large room only a few people are missing. I notice that both the youngest, Gourd and Aymeline, have been taken already. I notice that both Cassius and Kai are missing as well, but apart from them everyone is present. I notice Dew speaking with Athena and Dale.
"You'll get to see your brother again." Apollonia whispers next to me. I quickly turn to look at her, confusion and slight anger on my face. Before I get the chance to engage with her Cassius and Kai appear from a door behind Apollonia. She looks behind her, sees them and smiles knowingly at me. She looks over and sees Dale, quickly walking over to greet her old District partner. I look back at her briefly before Cassius and Kai approach me.
"Hey," Kai says with a smile.
"Hey," I reply quietly. Suddenly I feel as though all the energy within me has drained, leaving me in a tied state.
Dew takes notice of Cassius and Kai and clears her throat.
"Now that you're all here we can get going. It's about five now, so it'll be getting dark soon, let's go." She pulls out a sheet of paper and calls the elevators.
"Everyone meet me on the first floor." She instructs as the doors open. about half of the others get in, leaving myself, Cassius, Kai, and Athena waiting in silence for another lift. After about a minute of silence there's a ding and the doors open. I get in last and click the button labeled One.
"We're finally leaving." Kai says aloud.
"Kind of terrifying." Athen adds. I feel my heart racing in anticipation of what is coming. When the doors of the elevator open the four of us step out and get our first look at the Capitol from ground level through the large glass windows of the lobby.
"This was a large office tower, but has been rented out for the past ten years, we recently secured a five year rent for a decent price, so this building will act as a home base for all rescue operations. If ever you feel endangered or at risk of being discovered, come here." Dew tells the group before she opens the glass door.
"Let's head out." She pushes open the door and we all begin to follow her out into the Capitol. My hands are shaking, only to be stopped when Cassius grabs one in his own. I look at him and mouth the words thank-you before walking out of the doors myself.
The sun is on it's way down below the horizon, but the sky has yet to give off it's orange glow of sunset. I assume we have about an hour before dark, however it would likely not be a problem given the immense amount of artificial light the Capitol produces.
Dew begins to walk us through the square our building took watch over. I'm surprised by how many people there are in the square, I find myself brushing shoulders with more strangers than I've ever really seen before. The first few times I mutter an apology, but after never hearing a reply, I realize this is probably regarded as odd behaviour.
I remove my hand from Cassius' and quickly doge people until I reach Dew.
"Won't people find it odd that you're pointing out where we'll work and everything? Won't someone think its weird?" I ask Dew in a hushed tone. She looks up at me briefly before turning her eyes back to her open folder.
"Please, everyone in this city is either too drunk to notice or too rich to care. Don't worry about it." She tells me. I nod and fall back to Cassius, Athena and Kai. After a few minutes of walking the crowd begins to think out and we reach a line of stores and cafes. Dew turns around and begins to walk backwards.
"Jasper, this is where you'll be working." Dew says as she points to a restaurant on the corner of the street. Kai smiles and nods, obviously content with his new job.
"Isadora and Case, you'll be at this store here." Dew adds pointing to another building about halfway down the block." She closes her folder and looks at the remainder of us.
"The rest of you will be called upon for your jobs. An escort will find you and bring you there in the coming days. Apollonia and Anastasia," Dew pauses, meeting both of our eyes. "You'll be called on tomorrow morning, seven AM." I nod and Dew watches me for a moment before she continues.
"Now, to your apartments." She says as she turns around and continues walking quickly.
After another ten minutes we reach a block of apartment buildings that stand taller than any building I've seen before.
Dew halts at the entrance to the first building.
"Apollona and Lennox, floor eighteen room 1845A." She pulls out a key from her pocket and holds it in front of her. I briefly meet Apollonias eyes and she bites her lower lip.
"See you tomorrow." She says to me and I nod solemnly. Dale grabs their key from Dew and they both enter the building together. I watch as Apollonia dissapears behind the closing door and we continue walking down the block. Dew stops at the enterance to another building.
"Case and Isadora, Floor ten room 1005B." She reads, holding out another key for them. I watch the pair take their key and slowly walk into their new building. It's just the four of us left, the Careers. I could be roomed with any of these four and be happy. I know I'll likely be paired with Kai, they'll probably want to keep the District partners together, leaving only Cassius and Athena as a pair.
At the next building Dew stops once more and pulls out two sets of keys.
"Jasper and Lea, you two are on floor seven, room 723." She says. I look at Cassius quickly, we'll be together in a room. I know I should be happy, but my hands begin to shake again. Athena turns to me and gives me a hug, which I return.
"Thanks for being my ally." She whispers. I hug her tighter in reply, finding no words to return.
"See you around." Athena says as she breaks the hug. I try to smile but my muscles refuse once more.
"See you, Lea." I say and Athena smiles.
"See you, Anastasia."
I watch Athena walk away with Kai as he pulls her into a side hug. I'm reminded of when I shared a side hug with Rye during our tribute parade.
"You two, floor twenty, room 2003." Dew says as she hands the last key to Cassius. I meet her eyes and she gives me a wink. cassius grabs my hand and begins walking to the entrance that Athena and Kai just used, but I turn to face him.
"I'll meet you up there in a second." I tell him. He looks at me for a second before nodding and continuing his walk towards our new apartment. I turn to look at Dew.
"Thank you." I say quietly.
"You almost didn't make it." She says unexpedly. Confused, I look her in the eyes.
"We almost couldn't get to you, when you died." She continues. "In all the excitement of the finale it was hard to get the hovercraft in. When we finally got you, you'd been dead for almost five minutes. You were in the induced coma for so long because you were so close to dying. Honestly, I'm surprised you made it out alive." She tells me. I see a tear begin to form in the corner of one of her eyes.
"I don't know what kept you strong, but I'm glad you did." She adds, smiling sadly at me.
"After all this is over, after we convince Arvelo, I'll go back to Twelve. I'll find Rye and Cliff and tell them about you." I promise to her. After this she hugs me tightly, like a mother would when saying goodbye to a daughter. Like my mother would have if she had the chance before I was sent off to the games.
"Good luck."