Welcome back, everyone! Wowzers—not only is Geolo about to face Tally's family after all that happened between him and her, but he and the other members of Nessa's team just might be about to add an extra stop to their list! But will District 13 become another intended destination of theirs? Or will some people on the team suddenly not feel so keen about Twill and Patch's plan? Get ready, because this chapter could be filled with tons of surprises. Enjoy!
The Mystery Of District 13
"It's in the supposedly live video of District 13," Twill explained, after Geolo asked which video she and Patch had noticed the clue in. "You know how they always show the Justice Building?"
"Yes," Thresh curtly replied, while everyone else nodded attentively. Twill then started to continue, when Nessa asked, "Wait, what's a Justice Building?"
"It's a very large building in every district where very important events take place," answered Patch. "Like um…like the one that decides who will be the next to take part in the Hunger Games."
"Or weddings, like ours," added Twill, glancing at her husband and giving him a loving smile. A smile he was quick to return.
"Ohhh," Nessa said, intrigued. "So it's kind of like a town hall, only a teeny weeny bit different?"
"Um…" Twill hesitated, glancing at everyone else in the hovercraft, who all seemed as unsure as she suddenly was, "I, well…I suppose. Although I wouldn't promise that without much knowledge of what life in America like."
"Oh," the former giraffe responded, her smile disappearing and making way for uncertainty over what else to say exactly. She then shrugged it off and politely said, "Anyway, what were you saying about the Justice Building?"
Twill's uncertainty vanished, and she continued her explanation. "In the video that shows it, if you look very carefully, you'll see it. Up in the far right hand corner. A mockingjay. Just a glimpse of it as it flies by. The same one every time."
"A mockingjay?" Nessa gasped in excitement, a particularly pleasant memory coming back to her. "Like the ones Rue showed me and the other nice tributes in the arena?"
"Yes," said Twill, unable to resist smiling herself. "Exactly like those."
Nessa's smile grew wider. "Oh, I love love love mockingjays! They always sound so sweet when they sing with Rue, and I really wanted to sing a song for them too. But cheering up your friends—I mean, allies—when they get big booboos always comes first…" She then glanced at Foxface in a reassuring way, and feeling embarrassed, the furtive tribute awkwardly looked away from her and then signalled for the first adults they'd met in District 8 to continue.
Patch noticed her gesture and said, "Anyway, they have been using the exact same video for as long as anyone in District 8 can remember. We believe that it's not live, but old footage from at least 74 years ago. We also believe that they keep reusing it because now, what's really there is not necessarily an empty space. And they don't want any of the other districts to see that because they know it will give them more courage to stand up to the people who have been treating them badly."
As Nessa (along with at least half of the other passengers) nodded, Foxface, Rue, and Geolo nervously exchanged glances. Their explanation regarding why the former giraffe hadn't known or been told in the arena that there was a thirteenth district that didn't have to participate in the Hunger Games until now had been sort of the truth, but not exactly—and they all hoped that nothing and nobody would end up exposing the real truth to her at any point in their journey. They'd mentioned that the Hunger Games hadn't always been a thing, and District 13 had once been just as publicly active as the other districts were, but the Capitol had still "found ways to be mean to the districts" (nobody felt comfortable bringing up the fact that it was presumably solely because of the poverty thing).
They'd then said that eventually all the districts had had enough of being treated like that, and (presumably led by 13; why else would it have been the only district to seemingly get blown up instead of being forced to send its kids to the Hunger Games each year?) they teamed up to try to "play tricks on the Capitol to try and make them stop being mean," only for the Capitol to play even bigger tricks on them and then "confiscate the materials for their tricks so they couldn't play them anymore." Then they'd said that, since District 13 was the district leading the "trick-playing," the Capitol had "used a rare magical item that could only be used once" to make that entire town (except for the Justice Building, which "crumbled" a little due to the impact of the item being used) disappear into thin air, before forcing the other districts to send off tributes every year to play the Hunger Games. It was kind of the truth, but not completely, and they could only hope that the most innocent member of their team would never find that out.
"And that, along with the fact that District 13 had a large population yet was said to have had such a simple job, was what prompted our suspicions," concluded Twill. "We're not sure if the people of District 13 really did survive, but we're hoping that they did, based on the evidence we've seen."
"At least, half of it can be considered evidence," Patch added, seeing some slight skepticism in Astilbo and Toolip's eyes. "The part about their population being so large despite us being told they were graphite miners is the only thing we can truly be sure about…"
"I believe they are still standing too," Foxface put in. "In fact, I know they are. The hints you noticed are simply too obvious, and now I am feeling silly for not noticing them at the very least four years ago."
Nessa smiled and nodded vigorously. "District 13's gotta still be there if Foxface thinks it is! She's the smartest person ever!"
"But if District 13 is still there, why would the Capitol let it still be there?" Toolip asked, confused. "It's the district they're angriest at."
"Yeah," agreed Astilbo. "And wouldn't the people in District 13 have tried to help stop the Hunger Games or something years ago if they were still here?"
"There must be some sort of explanation for it," decided Foxface. "However, I can assure you, the citizens of that district simply having succumbed to the Capitol's attack is not it. They really are out there. Them not being there would never make sense, with Twill and Patch's information in mind!"
"Then why didn't they make it obvious that they were still here?" Astilbo retorted, a sudden sharpness to his voice that made his younger sisters and Nessa jump. "Why haven't they tried to help us somehow? They have an advantage over the Capitol, and it's the one advantage that none of the other districts have! And they have to know what we have to go through every single day. Why wouldn't they do something about it like they did years ago?"
"He's right," commented Fern. "I think Twill and Patch are right too, but…why wouldn't District 13 keep helping us? If they hadn't stopped trying to help, the Hunger Games would have stopped before any of us were born! Rue's name would never have been in that reaping bowl, Juniper Berryharvest would never have had to run away…"
"…and Sonia wouldn't have had to lose her uncle," murmured Geolo. He then remembered both of his friend's parents were right behind him, and he quickly told them, "Which impacts you too of course."
"No, you were right to mention our daughter," Esther admitted, despite the wary sound of her voice indicating that she still didn't exactly trust the evacuees; or at least the rest of them. "Being much younger than us, it was worse for her. Such a thing can shatter someone's innocence and change them…maybe forever." Paul then nodded, the expression on his face indicating that despite being unable to not think of Sonia and hope she was okay, he was now starting to doubt that Twill and Patch's plan was such a good one—despite having agreed to let them go through with it before they'd arrived in District 3.
Silence filled the hovercraft for a few seconds, and then Twill confessed, "Those are good points. And well…we're not sure why they haven't come out of hiding. We're just hoping that they're out there, and that if something is holding them back, we can persuade them to overcome the obstacle and help us unite the districts."
"Why would something be holding them back though?" Appara inquired. "Like um…like that boy said," she gave Astilbo an apologetic glance, having become so caught up in everything that was going on that she'd forgotten his name, "District 13 has an advantage over the Capitol, and it's the one advantage that none of the other districts have. They could easily overthrow that ruthless city! If anything's stopping them from helping us, it can't have anything to do with the items they possess. Considering everything, I think the reason why they haven't come out of hiding is because while most of them managed to escape the Capitol's wrath, a few residents did end up obliterated, with one of the unlucky few being the mayor of District 13. Then once they found out there were survivors, the Capitol probably realized how strong they were and hired their most loyal and trusted aide to take over District 13 in the mayor's place, so they could manipulate the rest of the district into not rebelling against them anymore."
"But how would that stop the rest of the district from rebelling against their new mayor and then the Capitol?" asked Paul.
Before anyone could reply, Geolo perked up a little, noticing something outside the windshield. "Uh, everyone, we're less than thirty seconds away from Tally's house. So if, if, we're going to go to 13, I'm not saying we will now that I know that's the place you described and everything, then we need to decide when we'll be doing it."
"I don't think we should," stated Rue, her tone cautious and sounding slightly nervous. "If they haven't done anything to help the other districts, then that probably means they're working for the Capitol now. Which means it won't be safe to try to get them to start helping us again. Not if they have all those…that new clear stuff."
"But that doesn't mean they wanna hurt us," said Nessa. "They might just be helping the Capitol because they're scared that if they don't, the Capitol's gonna hurt them or make them play the Hunger Games."
"But again, why would they be scared if they have such a strong advantage over the Capitol?" questioned Appara.
"I don't know, but we should give them a chance anyway," the former giraffe replied. "Maybe some of them wanna help us and they just can't for some reason."
Foxface quickly shook her head. "No. If we try to find out whether or not that is true, it could be a trap. We are better off leaving District 13 off our lists and continuing with the evacuation as we originally planned it."
"But if we don't go to 13, it could cost us our chances of not only escaping Panem, but also saving its remaining residents from future Hunger Games and problems with Peacekeepers and the Capitol," Twill reminded them. "I know reasoning with them is risky considering the circumstances, but it's our only hope if we want to give all of Panem a better future. I think we should do it. Even if they really are working for the Capitol, that doesn't mean they won't decide to betray them if we reason with them enough." She then seemed to realize the accidental hypocrisy within that statement, since there was also a possibility that Clove was working for the Capitol and she hadn't been willing to trust her since first finding out she was an unwanted member of the evacuees' team. However, she quickly pushed that thought aside. There was still a small chance that District 13 wasn't helping the Capitol, and it was a chance she was willing to take for Panem's sake.
Thresh shrugged, clearly agreeing with Foxface and Rue. "Find another district."
"Yeah," Fern agreed. "You can—"
Suddenly everyone jumped, feeling the hovercraft stop moving forward. The rest of the passengers all turned to look at Geolo, who was just turning to look at them. "I just found Tally's house," he said. "So…to save time, are we going to 13 or not?"
"We're not," declared Fern. She then turned to look specifically at Twill and Patch, and continued, "We're going to District 6 instead. It's the first option when it comes to vehicle-making. You can just tell them to make their strongest hovercrafts even stronger and Geolo and his mom can help you too!"
"It won't suffice," Patch told them with obvious sadness and reluctance. "Not when the Capitol has hovercrafts in their possession and even more resources to upgrade them than District 6 or even District 3. If District 13 has the resources we think it has, then we are better off going to it instead."
"And what if Foxface and the Elev…and Rue are right? What if it is a trap?"
Most of the people in the hovercraft flinched when they heard that particular quote. It wasn't the message itself that startled them; everyone there knew someone was bound to say it at some point in an attempt to try to discourage the possible extra stop. But what no one had expected was for Clove, whom they were all reluctant to trust, to be the one to say it. If she was only pretending to have turned good, and therefore was undoubtedly strongly considering the possibility that District 13 was working for the Capitol, then why would she vote against letting Twill and Patch put their plan into action? Thresh, who knew for sure that the Career was on the Capitol's side and just needed a moment to find out how skilled in physical combat Appara was before he could decide whether or not it was time to kick Two off the team, was especially surprised. He was pretty sure District 13's current version was also going to turn out to be on their list of enemies after everything the allies he trusted had said and all the time that place had spent in hiding. If she was secretly working with President Snow too, Two had to know that as well. So why would she try to lure them away from that trap rather than into it?
After a second, a visibly nervous Geolo took a deep breath to calm himself, and (with less tension than she expected to remain in him by this point, Clove couldn't help noticing; again—why did it suddenly seem like the power her presence had over him was inexplicably starting to fade away?) then steered the hovercraft toward the neighbourhood it was flying above. Lower and lower he took them, until the vehicle was directly above the houses on the left side of the area. Next, he hid the hovercraft right behind the closest house to it—the one Tally's family lived in—despite doing so causing the vehicle to become very close to the area of ground there. And then finally, he made the hovercraft visible again and extended its ladder downward as much as he could.
As he got off the pilot's chair and walked toward the vehicle's exit, Geolo braced himself, knowing that unlike the last few times someone had needed to leave or enter the vehicle, this exit and entrance wouldn't be such a physically comfortable experience due to the bottom of the hovercraft literally only being about ten centimetres away from the ground. Yet he didn't know how long he'd have to talk to the Gearingtons for, and since a troop of Peacekeepers could show up at any minute (it still felt strange that one hadn't already), he thought it was best to just get in and out as quickly as possible. Which involved making sure he hid the hovercraft so no one outside of it would see it temporarily become visible as soon as he could, as close to the right house as possible.
Once he was standing in front of the exit, Geolo nervously turned to face his mother and everyone else in the vehicle, and said, "Okay, I…I'm going to go find Tally's family and talk to them. Remember, no matter what happens, don't follow me out of here. I have to do this myself…and by the way, if the whole District 13 thing comes down to a vote, I say we skip that place and just go to 12 and 11."
Most of the other passengers nodded, and Rue gently but worriedly advised, "Be careful, Geolo."
"I will," vowed Geolo, "I promise. And I um…I'll be back as soon as I can."
And with that, he tightened the knot he'd tied Nessa's Peacekeeper pants into so they were more likely to stay around his head, and began climbing down the ladder once again. He quickly made it to the ground, and the moment he did, he raced around the Gearingtons' house, leapt toward its front door, and knocked on it. His heart then began beating very fast and hard as the realization that he was really about to do it—face Tally's family for the first time since his district partner's death, admit that he was to blame for her not being in the circumstances that would have saved her life, and try to make things right as much as he could by inviting them to participate in the evacuation effort all in what he hoped would be a few minutes—suddenly kicked in, and instantly he was filled with fear and a little bit of guilt. Was this really such a good idea? This was a lot of information for four people (Tally's mother had been killed by a Peacekeeper when the girl was seven for reasons he'd never uncovered, so the only relatives she had left were her father and three older brothers) to process in such a small amount of time…and there was still that chance they'd decline his offer to take part in the evacuation because of the grudge they were likely about to hold against him…
As he waited for someone to answer the door, Geolo could feel himself getting more and more nervous. The Gearingtons were probably going through a lot of emotional troubles as it was knowing that Tally was dead to begin with. And now he was about to show up out of the blue and tell them why she'd gotten killed so easily, leaving them in not just sadness stronger than it had ever been so far, but also a lot of other negative emotions now that they would know he was the one to blame for the loss of their daughter/sister? No, he couldn't do this. Maybe he should just back out now, while he still could…
Yet before he could even turn away from the door, he saw its knob turn. The boy immediately froze, his heart pounding more than ever now. Okay, now there was no way he could back out of this. He was just going to have to hope for the best and try his hardest to maintain his composure.
Slowly, the door opened, revealing a boy that he, after his time in the Capitol, guessed was about as tall as Katniss. He recognized him right away; it was Virt, the youngest of Tally's older brothers. A seventeen-year-old boy with straight, almost-black dark brown hair so short that it stopped just a millimetre above his ears, eyes that had the same light brownish eye colour as Tally's but weren't at all the "near-tears-like-even-when-there-aren't-actually-any-tears-there" kind of eyes, the kind of mouth Tally had sometimes wished she possessed due to it "not looking droopy," and even now, a rather odd but nice choice of clothing: a greyish-beige tunic with a thin black waistline and a thick dark grey scarf, both worn over a a greyish-beige shirt with long tight sleeves, thick black gloves that were usually only worn in winter, greyish-blue trouser shorts with leg spaces much wider than his legs, and knee-high black boots. Tally had always described him as the "liveliest" of her family, always succeeding in making himself stand out in the best ways and bringing light to the darkest of moments, and her relationship with him had always been a playful and close one.
But just as Geolo was fully grasping the fact that, out of all her relatives, losing Tally was undoubtedly the hardest for the teenager standing in front of him, the visibly, uncharacteristically, but understandably miserable Virt took one look at his face and flinched in surprise, recognizing him. "G…Geolo?"
The tribute stared at the ground in sadness, his eyes filling with tears yet again today. He couldn't help it—he had been so busy wallowing in his own grief over losing his friend that he hadn't even thought of how much anguish her family was likely going through until today. And now that he was here, about to tell the Gearingtons what he had to tell them…it was enough to make him emotional all over again. Tally had been the youngest member of this family, the one who'd had the most life ahead of her and the one who'd deserved love and compassion more than anyone else in her family had and still did. Sure, she'd received some of it from her relatives and, until the gymnasium incident, himself, but that was far from enough. And now she was gone, and it was all his fault.
Virt saw his tears before they even left his eyes and quickly stepped in front of the doorway, closing the door behind him. "Hey, hey," he calmly but worriedly said, bending down towards him. "What's wrong?"
Geolo sniffled, willing himself to not let his crying get in the way of what he was here to do. He had to do this now, in case the worst transpired. So, giving it all he had, he tearfully replied, "It was my fault she's gone, Virt. The Careers forced me to make fun of her when she split her lip in the Training Centre, and I just laughed with them! I didn't stick up for her, and she never wanted to speak to me again, and I didn't even try to protect her in the bloodbath or keep trying to survive without the Careers' help which was what she wanted the two of us to do together before I ruined everything—"
"What in the world are you talking about? What happened to her wasn't your fault!"
"Yes it was!" Geolo sobbed, not fully realizing what his companion had just said until a few seconds later. "I should have been the friend she deserved! I…what?" Had he heard that right? Did Virt really say that the death of his own sister, whose side he'd never once left, wasn't his fault? Why would he say that?
"Look, I get why you're blaming yourself," Virt told him, his tone now sounding sort of matter-of-factly. "We all know you didn't exactly focus on Tal until her corpse got scooped out, and Dial only just finished getting over that this morning. In fact, if you had shown up last night instead of right now, I'd say he would have smacked you in the face or something if he'd answered the door instead of me."
Geolo wasn't surprised to hear that part. Dial was Tally's second-oldest big brother who had also been pretty close to her. He and the oldest son in the family, Mec, had both reached adulthood a while back (Dial was now 25 while Mec was 30), so neither of them had been in danger of being reaped for a while. However, both young men still lived with the rest of their family, which Tally had said was out of fear that she, Virt, and their father would suffer the same fate as their mother had. Plus, ever since she'd started getting bullied at school, Dial, always having been courageous and defensive (which made Geolo envy him ever since his own courage had been shattered), never hesitated to find out where his sister's bullies lived, march up to their homes, and tell them off in front of their families. Which only made things at school worse for Tally, but it wasn't like Dial believed that was partly his fault.
"But you know who Dial's more angry at?" Virt continued, his tone now filled with nothing but guilt and sadness. "Me. Maybe no one volunteered for Tally, which wouldn't have surprised me even if we did try to encourage someone to do that—"
"What?" Geolo asked, shocked enough to look up at Virt. "You didn't try to convince someone eligible to volunteer for her? I mean, I admit I didn't either, but that was out of fear that I'd get picked on for it or stabbed or something. I feel really bad about that being the reason why I held back, but…you? And your brothers?"
"Well, Dial was going to, for both of her reapings, and tried to talk me into it too. But Dad convinced both of us and Mec not to. He thought of it as just getting some other girl killed in our sister's place, even if he knew we were just doing it to protect Tal. So we didn't do it…at least not to my knowledge. But as a 17-year-old boy, I could have volunteered for you and tried to make it easier for her to win. Dial practically forced me to do it after she, Dad, and Mec went to sleep on the night before this year's reaping actually. He kept remembering how scared he'd been for her at last year's reaping, and he was frustrated that his attempts to get those mean classmates of yours to leave her alone weren't working, and he thought that if…" now it was the seventeen-year-old's turn to get emotional, "that if I volunteered and spent as much of the Games as I could protecting Tal, everyone would see how much she mattered. I don't think he realized that would mean risking me or both of us dying in the Games, but I didn't say that. It was the densest I'd ever seen him, and I knew he would have accused me of being selfish if I said that. I just went with it, and I promised him that if our sister's name was picked, I'd volunteer if mine wasn't."
"But what if yours had been?" Geolo sniffled. "In case you're wondering, he never told me anything about me volunteering if you and Tally both got picked. He didn't visit me and force me to protect her at all costs after I was reaped either."
Virt sat down, his cheeks now almost as wet as his companion's. "Your mom's been pretty good to us men when you and Tal were off playing together. Knows exactly what it's like to lose a romance partner to avoidable circumstances. Dad was pretty depressed ever since our mom got shot, and when you and your mom came here for the first time, she was the one who helped him get all the way back up. He and Mec had to take turns being the main man of the house until that happened, and it wasn't easy for either of them. I guess since you were the only other Keyship left, not forcing you to volunteer or die for anyone was Dial's way of repaying your mom, and he figured that since you were younger and never took tesserae, unlike me, you wouldn't get reaped. And when you ended up picked after all, he just couldn't bring himself to choose between his sister and the woman who might have saved our dad from suicide. If that's how far what he went through got. Thankfully we'll never know that part for sure."
"He should have forced me to risk my life for her though," wept Geolo. "I wasn't there for her enough, and it was all because I wasn't brave enough. I should have been the one who died! Not Tally! She should be the one standing here with you. I should just…I…" He lowered himself to his knees and cried some more.
"Look, my point is, you're not the only one who got scared and therefore let her down big time," Virt told him, now on the brink of sobbing himself. "I promised Dial I'd volunteer if Tal and someone other than me got picked, but…well, as soon as soon as your name was called, the pressure hit me hard. I was scared of maybe losing my sister, probably dying myself, the possibility that both of us dying and leaving the oldest Gearington men all alone…and by the time I was able to push it all back so I could volunteer, it was too late. You and Tal had already shaken hands in front of the crowd, and you were officially being named District 3's tributes of the 74th Hunger Games. And then while we were having our last in-person 5 minutes with her, Dial got so angry that he literally tried to twist my thumb off. Mec and Dad both had to pull him away from me and Tal found out about the little conversation we had the previous night because of it. She didn't say anything about it, but as the Peacekeepers escorted us away from her, I could see the look in her eyes. I'd betrayed her out of fear for my own life, and there was no way she would have seen it coming. And he managed to get over what you did, or at least the part of what you did that he knows about…but he's still mad at me."
That surprised Geolo even more. "Really? But…we were both in the Cornucopia! I had a chance to save her life, and I didn't take it! I didn't even think anything of it."
"Yes, well, that's not much different from what I did at the reaping, which was also nothing. Nothing that could have saved her life, anyway," said Virt. "The only thing that sets the two of us apart is the reason why he decided to forgive you. You cried for her as soon as you knew she was dead, and well…all I did ever since she was reaped was not cry, and instead focus on trying to be the mentally strongest person in this house and be everyone's light in the darkness. Just because I wanted to make up for not volunteering for you. Stopping any tears from leaving my throat, constantly saying that maybe you'd be able to protect her, or maybe she'd be able to outsmart the other tributes, things like that. Even after she was killed, I was still trying to cheer everyone up. One of the things I said was that it would probably be okay in the end, since we still had each other and she's more than likely in a better place now. That was when Dial lost it. He ordered me to stop being so insensitive and accused of never really…caring ab…about…" And that did it. Tally's brother, unable to hold it back any longer, burst into sobs—even harder ones than Geolo even assumed were still in his body, waiting to come out.
How long had Virt been holding all that back? Had he even let himself cry when he was alone, and didn't have to worry about his brothers and father seeing or hearing him? It didn't seem like it…but what surprised Geolo most was learning that, despite not deserving it or even believing it would happen, he'd been forgiven by Tally's family. He also hadn't expected Virt to be the unforgiven one, rather than himself. Or the events that had led up to that. He'd thought he'd been the only one close to Tally whose fears and insecurities had resulted in him failing to protect her had resulted in her getting killed, but…apparently not. As far as the Gearingtons—or at least Dial; he wasn't sure if Tally's father, Coyle, or Mec shared his point of view—were concerned, Virt was the one who'd acted cowardly and insensitive and sealed her fate. Not him…at least not exactly.
And then suddenly, Geolo felt any tears left in his throat slowly disappearing. He still felt bad for Virt of course, but at the same time he felt…at peace. Like a large part of the burden he'd been carrying had just been lifted off his chest. Some of it was still there though, since he knew it was still technically his fault that Tally was gone, and then there was the whole thing with Sonia and his hopes that nothing bad would happen to the teammates that were still with him…but somehow, knowing the Gearingtons hadn't taken his mistakes quite the way he'd thought they would and that even the impulsive and defensive Dial had found it in him to forgive him, and that Virt understood his grief and regret more than anyone ever could…it helped him feel more calm. Just knowing that Tally's entire family had forgiven him…it made him wonder if, wherever she had gone, there was a chance that Tally had, or would, forgive him too. Even if she'd been hurt the most, considering everything she'd been through before her name was pulled out of the reaping bowl…maybe, just maybe this was a sign that…
Geolo sighed. He knew he'd never know that part for sure, and he wouldn't blame her if she never did forgive him. All he knew was that he had a job to do, for the sake of her family. And it wasn't completely finished yet. Virt still didn't know why he was here, and the other Gearingtons didn't even know he was the one who'd knocked on their door. And it wasn't like he had all day to sit here and wallow in his emotions at a time when he and his allies weren't in the middle of travelling to another district. He had to get a move-on.
Feeling really bad about interrupting Virt's emotional moment (especially after having several of them himself, for reasons that couldn't be more similar), Geolo wiped the remnants of his tears off his cheeks before standing up. He then reluctantly walked over to his companion and said, "Uh, Virt…I understand why you're sad, and I really want to keep you company and everything, but there's something I need to do. And um…it kind of involves coming into your house and talking to you and your whole family. Right now."
Virt looked up at him in surprise for a moment, but then quickly got up, nodding. "Oh yeah, if…yeah." Next, he opened his front door again, and led Geolo inside.
Back in the newly-camouflaged hovercraft, however, things weren't going quite as smoothly. Whether or not District 13 was going to end up on their list of stops had still not been decided, and the fact that Clove was apparently siding with those who didn't want to risk going there had only made the situation more complicated. If she really was working for the Capitol, she would have tried to steer them toward 13; and yet she wasn't. Was she on their side after all? Nessa thought so by now of course, even though she was trying to encourage everyone to go with Twill and Patch's plan, but nobody else felt so comfortable trusting her. And Thresh, well…knowing for sure whose side she was really on, he simply stayed quiet, trying to read the Career's mind. Foxface and Rue did the same, but neither of them dared to stay focused on her to as high of an extent as the latter's district partner because the debate was still going on, and while they still felt uneasy about the whole Clove thing, neither of them was willing to choose to go to District 13 simply because she was trying to discourage it. They didn't trust her, but they also still had their doubts about 13.
It was a very tough debate. Esther had sided with Nessa, Twill, Patch, and Paul (the latter of whom by this point was unsure about both options and had only really decided to stick with the side hoping to go to 13 because of the whole backup thing) after learning that Clove was rooting against them going to 13, while Astilbo, Fern, Toolip, and Appara vocally decided to continue trying to discourage their possible extra stop despite not trusting Clove either. Both sides had good reasons to discourage the other side, but neither side was willing to give in.
In the end, however, Thresh could only come up with one possible explanation: the Career was so determined to make sure that whatever she had in mind worked that she didn't want any help from District 13. She just wanted to be the star of the show, and lead her "allies" to a downfall all on her own. Something he never would have believed she could have done with so many enemies around her if he hadn't known there was a fairy in her backpack. A fairy that, now that he thought about it, was more than likely the one who had sent Nessa into the Twelves' escort's body. He didn't know how exactly Two had managed to find and kidnap her, or if she was capable of making souls swap bodies by force, but he wasn't about to take any chances in case forcing her to do that at some point was on Two's agenda.
As he listened to the debate over whether or not they should go to District 13 still going on, he groaned, but in a way so quiet that nobody heard him. How could that powerful district fight against the Capitol one minute and then the next minute form a secret alliance with them?! It wasn't fair. After everything that had been said in the debate so far, Twill and Patch's plan did indeed seem like the only way to make things better for the whole country, and they couldn't put it into action! Or it was just safer not to, since Nessa and the couples from District 8 weren't backing down and, based on their responses to the rest of the group, it didn't seem like they had much of a choice. If they wanted the Hunger Games and all the other horrible things happening in Panem to be stopped, which everyone in here did, then they'd have to go to District 13. Something that would be risky for all of them, even himself and Two. It was a risk they couldn't take…but then again, Rue, her family, and his own weren't the only people back home that he didn't want to have to deal with poverty, intense hunger, and the Games again…
"…and besides," he then heard Two say, "even if going to District 13 wasn't a bad idea, do you really think reuniting all the districts will be possible? District 2 is loyal to the Capitol because they want to be, and they can be pretty fierce. They'd probably even try to hurt me, a fellow citizen of theirs, just because I sided with a team of rebels!"
Thresh unhappily rolled his eyes. If they did end up going to District 13, he hoped they'd try to hurt her—or better yet, kill her—for betraying them. He could see it now. President Snow had obviously told her to lure them into 13 because they were secretly working for him too; it was just an unlucky coincidence that Twill and Patch had noticed the signs that the place was still standing and wanted to try to use it to their advantage despite it being suicidal. And she was so full of herself and obsessed with impressing the Capitol (the Peacekeepers of which he was sure were supposed to come and pick them up once 13 imprisoned them by threatening them with their nuclear weapons; 13 was only supposed to be a temporary prison) that she wanted to betray the rebels her own way: by waiting until they arrived in that district of traitors and then taking advantage of whatever circumstances had resulted in her capturing that poor fairy, forcing her to make her swap bodies with him, and using his body and her knives to kill every single one of her so-called allies. Just to prove to District 13 that she didn't need their help or anyone else's to succeed in doing service for the Capitol, and to prove to the Capitol that she was stronger than Katniss Everdeen and the Game Makers had made a mistake giving her sworn enemy an 11 after their private training sessions with them.
Yes; he hoped the people of District 13 would have the blind anger to finish her off if they got the chance. It would prove to the grownups from District 8 that despite their belief that it was the best thing to do in order to save all of Panem, going to 13 was a mistake because nobody there had any mercy, and they were just setting themselves and their allies up for failure.
Suddenly it dawned on Thresh that, if that was really what was going through Two's mind, then that was the only way to get rid of her once and for all. If he put it off any longer for the sake of getting more fighters on the team and strengthening Appara and the adults from 8, that would give the Career all the time she needed to lead her "allies" to a fatal defeat. He just had to make sure they went to District 13, and then he would make sure that only he, her, Three, Twill, and Patch left the hovercraft and entered the underground area the districts' surviving residents were in. And that the vehicle was put in camouflage mode after the right people left it before they even got to that district's borderline. Then he'd wait for the people of 13 to make their move, and after that he would reveal what Two was planning to do and provoke them enough to make them kill her, and by doing so confirm to Twill and Patch that they simply couldn't be persuaded to betray the Capitol. And while all this was going on, Three would sneak off and find some way to take control over any nuclear weapons he could find, so that as soon as he, himself, and the extra couple from 8 evaded 13's citizens long enough to get back on the ground level and into the hijacked hovercraft, the entire underground area of civilization would be blown to smithereens.
It was a very dangerous plan, but Thresh didn't have a choice. He knew Twill and Patch were never going to back down on the District 13 thing, and he couldn't really blame them. They were so determined to make things better for the entire nation that they were willing to risk the whole team falling into an elaborate but still pretty surprising trap, and at this point, proving that the people in 13 were just as unredeemable as Two by having them flat-out see just how careless about the other districts they really were was the only way to convince them that they weren't worth their trust.
Unfortunately, what Thresh didn't know was that he wasn't exactly on the right track. Clove did mean harm and needed to be gotten rid of as soon as possible, but she hadn't discouraged going to District 13 to steal the spotlight from them. In fact, she'd only done it because she knew nobody involved in the evacuation trusted her. So, why not take advantage of it for a while? Even she hadn't known District 13 was still standing (not that she was upset with President Snow for keeping that a secret from her; he'd probably only done it because, given that 13 had seemingly been destroyed before he'd become so important, he'd had to swear an oath to not even tell District 2 that the Capitol's previous leaders had failed to destroy an entire district; something that would make the Capitol look kind of weak—not that it was weak of course), but if it had stayed out of the Capitol's way for decades even with its strong advantage in weaponry, and didn't even have to play the Hunger Games (not that she envied them; she was actually a little disappointed that she, Cato, Glimmer, and Marvel hadn't been scheduled to have 22 easily-beatable opponents instead of just twenty), then that was definitely a sign that it was now on the Capitol's side.
But of course, with that and Thresh's knowledge of whose side she was really on in mind, there was no way Clove could have stood a chance of convincing her "allies" to go to District 13…that is, unless she used reverse psychology and as much of it as possible. Which was actually pretty easy to do, because she really didn't want to go to it. It might be on the Capitol's side as far as everyone was concerned, but that didn't mean that someone who lived there would happen to overthrow the district and betray it and the Capitol just as its very saviour, herself, and her enemies came its way. No; in case that happened, she didn't want to go there and risk it. But then again, a district that carried a humongous stash of nuclear weapons and that was working with the Capitol—and that those desperate adults from 8 still thought was worth trying to lure to their side—could be the perfect opportunity to get rid of Thresh before he ratted her out.
As she listened to District 11's male tribute finally fall for her trick and vocally change his mind about the going-to-District-13-thing, Clove mentally smiled in satisfaction. She now had Thresh exactly where she wanted him. Now all she had to do was make sure they got to District 13 without giving any indication that she wanted to be there, and secretly tell the people who lived there that she was also on President Snow's side and reveal to them what she was trying to do. Then they'd kill Thresh for her before he could spill the beans, and she and the rest of the team would evacuate before her tracker would wind up leading the Capitol's Peacekeepers to District 13. She trusted that place, but if there was a powerful traitor living there, she didn't want to spend any more than half an hour there. She was supposed to lead Nessa's team into a trap, not the Capitol!
And that's once again it…for now! Oh boy…looks like the evacuees and company are going to end up going to District 13 after all! But well, we all know whose side the current residents of that place are REALLY on (not that it'll make Foxface, Rue, and everyone else who was completely opposed to seeking an alliance with them feel any better), so it looks like Thresh and Clove could both be in for a surprise! Which means that absolutely nothing could go as planned—but one thing's for sure. They both want to use District 13 as an opportunity to get rid of each other, and it's not going to be pretty.
So…who will win and manage to stay on Nessa's team? Thresh or Clove? Brace yourselves and stay tuned for the competition of a lifetime :D
