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Chapter 13- Cass Oceansong
My hands shake as I finally undo the braid my mother did before I left. You can hardly tell it's a braid anymore, just a rope of fuzzy hair; I could leave it in longer, but I want to be pretty, even just for a minute. Everyone else in here is as bedraggled as I am, but I don't want to arrive in the Capitol like this. Whenever that will be.
A few feet away from me, Aldera, the District 12 girl, coughs and coughs. Part of me wants to go and take care of her, but the other part of me is scared of getting sick, like she obviously is. As our stay on this train gets longer and longer, I'm getting more scared of everyone else on board. Especially that boy Sanguin. I don't want to get hurt; I don't want them to hurt me. I don't want to hurt them!
I finally untangle my hair from the braid and start combing it out with my fingers; I feel dirty and hungry and thirsty, and I want to go home! I want my family, and I want to jump into the ocean and wash away everything that's happened to me so far.
When my hair is as untangled as I can get it, I stand up, almost falling over, and make my way over to the water bucket that sits several feet to the left of Aldera, who watches me with overlarge pale eyes. To my disappointment, the bucket is nearly empty, with only a few inches of scummy water at the bottom. I scoop up a little in my hands and drink, then splash another handful on my face.
"Quit wasting the water," Beade snaps.
"I'm not wasting it," I say, drinking another handful. It tastes terrible, but what can I do? There's nothing else here. After I've drunk, I dip in the handkerchief that Tempest, Sea, and Wave gave me, that they put the food in. Maybe I can scrub off some of the worst dirt on me.
My eyes fall on the empty sack that held the food earlier, and my legs shake. I was scared to go in and fight for the food, and now I'm going to go hungry until we reach the Capitol. I'm not the only one; Jet's lying still, apparently asleep, but with no food next to him.
If I can't even get food, how can I survive the Hunger Games?
"Cass," Aldar says, making me jump.
"What?" I say, my voice coming out in a whisper.
"Come here." I don't trust him, shouldn't trust him, not where I'm going, but I walk, wobbling, over to where he sits by the door anyway.
"What is it?" I whisper.
"Here, we're even," Aldar says, reaching up and handing me half a loaf of bread.
"For me?"
Aldar cracks a smile. "Yeah, for you. You gave me food, now it's my turn. We're even, and I don't owe you any more, okay?"
For the first time in almost three days, I smile, making my cracked lips hurt. "Thank you."
Aldar keeps smiling, but waves me off; I stumble backwards and get back to my place on the other side of the door, clutching the bread for dear life. I didn't even consider the fact that he might think he owed me for me giving him the cheese.
My legs give out as soon as I reach my usual spot and I collapse next to the door, still holding the bread tight in one hand, my handkerchief in the other. While I pull of pieces of bread, I scrub my face and arms until I feel cleaner than I did earlier. Aldar really is nice for giving me the bread when he didn't have to. While I eat, I look at everyone else, and I notice that Oak is giving Aldar a funny look, and I don't really know what it means.
"Agh!" I whip my head around to see Silver holding her eye and wincing.
"What?" Glow asks.
"Something dropped in my eye!"
Beade jumps next, dodging something that I can't see. "I think it's raining."
"And of course they didn't nail the roof shut, did they?" Rigg says.
"Nope," Beade says.
A drop of water falls on me next, running down the back of my neck. It's cold. "Well this is just what we need, isn't it?" Flick says, brushing water from his own head. The drops fall more steadily, drumming on the roof, floor, and into the bucket, until the floor of the train car is slick and my clothes are damp.
The rattling of the train is now accompanied by the sound of the rain pounding on the roof, resulting in a truly deafening sound. All light has been extinguished, so we all sit in a horrible damp darkness, waiting for it to be over.
Somewhere through the noise I can hear someone, a girl, sobbing, as well as cursing that's probably coming from Oak or Tulsee. The rain and the thundering sound and being soaked just adds to my misery, and I can't hold back the tears anymore.
Oak, it's definitely Oak, shouts some obscenity against the Capitol, and one of the loyalist girls shouts something indecipherable back at her. I'm not as passionate in my hate for the Capitol as Oak seems to be, but I don't understand how Silver and Beade can keep supporting them! We're on a train going to be killed; how can they still like the Capitol? I don't understand. I never fought for or against the Capitol during the war, but I hate what they're doing to us; pitting us against each other already. It's loyalist against rebel, and I'm stuck in the middle.
The train seems to shift subtly under me; I know this feeling well now. We're going to make a stop. I'd shout and let everyone know, but Silver and Oak are still arguing, and I doubt I can make myself heard over them. Especially since I'm still crying. I have the overwhelming urge to get off this train right now and just run. I don't even care where; I just need to get out of here before I go crazy.
Without much warning, the train stops, more abruptly than usual. I slide forward slightly on the damp floor, holding my now soggy bread to my chest. Water runs down my face, making me feel like I'm coming out of the ocean. When I thought earlier I'd like to jump in the ocean, I didn't mean this!
"Are you happy? Are you happy with the cards the Capitol has dealt you now?" Tulsee shouts over the rain.
"It's your fault we're here!" Beade screams, sounding like she's losing all control.
"Quit the arguing and shut up!" Glow says. I hate arguing, have always hated it. Right now, I want to curl up next to my mother and forget everything that's happening.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop!" Keek screams, and she actually makes everyone go quiet.
"Just shut up, all of you," Volt says.
"Like to see you make me," Tulsee says.
"Please, just stop!" I say. On the outside of the wall I'm sitting against, I can hear the lock being removed. With a bang the door slides open and I scuttle backwards, out of the way.
I can't see well, not with how dark it is outside. Two flashlights come into view, and so do two Peacekeepers and two tributes. In the dim light of the flashlights I see the boy, and I shrink back, terrified. He's taller than the Peacekeepers, and probably taller than anyone I've ever seen before. Tall and broad and strong looking, and I can tell that from just the dim light. I don't want to share this train compartment with him.
"How about you take these things off me," he says in a deep voice.
"No can do," says one of the Peacekeepers, but I can hear a slight hint of fear in his voice. If a Peacekeeper is scared of the boy, what is it going to be like having him here with us?
"Just get in, Buck," the girl says, and I'm relieved to hear that she sounds nicer than the boy, Buck. From what I can see of her she's tall too, but not as tall as Buck, and thin.
"Shut up," Buck says, standing his ground. "I'm not getting in there."
"Get in!" the other Peacekeeper says. Buck turns around and slams his fists into the Peacekeeper, knocking him to the ground.
It's funny, but I don't even realize what I'm doing until I've gotten up and slid my way across the floor, ending up next to Tulsee and Oak, as far away from the door as I can get.
"What are you doing?" Tulsee hisses at me.
"I'm scared," I say, crouching down next to her.
"So?"
"Let her stay," Oak says, her voice low. Tulsee breathes out noisily, but she doesn't say anything more to me. Buck is dangerous, I know he's dangerous, but I feel safer next to these two who can obviously fight if needed.
I can't see what's going on outside now that I'm over here, but I can hear struggling outside, and the girl saying, "Buck, don't! Don't!" Aldera and Keek have started crying again, which doesn't help anything. My terror of the dark and of the boy outside is beyond tears.
"Get him!" someone shouts from outside, and I can hear lots of feet running.
"Get the hell away from me!" Buck yells. I hear a crack, the sound of a stick against a skull, and Buck crashes into the side of the train, making the whole boxcar shake. Silver screams and I start chewing on my nails, trying not to cry out too.
The world outside is lit up by dozens of flashlights; more Peacekeepers probably. While I watch the door, the girl gets pushed in; she scrambles to her feet, slips, and falls hard again onto the damp floor.
Beams of light dance around the inside of the boxcar, illuminating each of us in turn. Keek is sobbing into her hands while Volt has his arms around her; Sanguin looks even more unhinged, rocking back and forth while clutching his knees; Flick's forehead is creased with confusion and worry. The girl jumps up again and moves over to the wall where I was sitting before, next to the door.
"Got him?" a Peacekeeper outside shouts, and others shout back in agreement. Buck yells, and then he's thrown through the air into the train and lands with a crash that shakes the boxcar.
"Shut the door! Go!" another Peacekeeper says, and before Buck can get up, the door is slammed shut and the lock reattached, leaving us all in darkness, and with a very dangerous boy.
"Start the train!" someone else shouts. The train jerks to life underneath us and the rattling begins again, adding to the confusion and commotion that's happening inside and out.
Buck gets up from where he's lying in the middle of the train and, from the sounds of it, starts kicking at the door. I can hear it start to splinter when Glow says, "Who the hell are you?"
"I might be asking you the same thing," Buck says. "Why should I answer you?"
"You just got on the train accompanied by a squad of Peacekeepers, and now you're trying to break down the wall. Yeah, I think we can ask you who you are," Flick says.
"Buck, just quit it. We're here, let's think our way out of this," the girl says.
"You shut it," Buck says. "And I'm not going to make friendly with the rest of you."
"Big surprise there," Oak says, and Tulsee quietly laughs.
"I'm not here to make friends or allies or whatever you want to call it. I'm here to get back to District 11, and if I have to kill every single one of you to do it, I will."
Aldera gives a sob that turns into a hacking cough. The rain's let up a little, but still drips down on me steadily. My dress is soaked through, and my teeth chatter on their own accord; my bread is little more than mush now.
Buck shouts and kicks the door again; this time I can hear the wood break. "He might make things easier for us," Oak mutters to Tulsee; I pretend I didn't hear them. There's no way I'm going back to my usual spot tonight; I'm going to stay right here next to Oak and Tulsee, because neither of them seems to be afraid.
There's the sound of a match being struck, and then the new girl comes into view, illuminated by the tiny light. From her pocket she pulls a candle as thick as two fingers and as long as her hand, and lights the wick with the match; immediately there's a small circle of light that surrounds the girl.
"You brought matches?" Volt says in obvious surprise.
"I stole matches and the candle from the room I was being held in," the girl says serenely. In the dim light I can see Tulsee's admiring look, her eyes on the girl.
I can see the girl from District 11 look around, seemingly searching for someone; the candlelight shines just bright enough so that I can tell what she looks like. Dark skin and dark eyes; her black hair braided into two long braids. Her eyes wander around the boxcar, before falling on me. Getting up, she slides her way over to where I sit, and she crouches down in front of me.
"I'm Willow," she says, sticking her hand out; I take it and we shake. "Who are you?"
"Cass," I say.
"Want to go sit over there?" Willow asks, nodding her head to the corner on my left. "It looks drier than the rest of the train."
"Okay." I get up carefully, leaving Tulsee and Oak behind, and follow Willow to the corner, lit by candlelight.
"How old are you?" Willow asks, sitting down beside me in the only dry spot on the train. The roof is solid above the corner, which really makes it the best place to sit.
"I'm fourteen," I say, pressing some water out of my skirt.
"Fifteen," Willow says, nodding. She looks at me hard, but not unkindly, then smiles. "Looks like everyone else's broken into alliances. Want to make one with me?"
I look at Willow, and for some reason I trust her. She reminds me of Tempest, so maybe that's why. And I desperately need a friend for the days ahead.
"Okay."