p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There is no allotted time in our schedule for me to talk to Katniss directly after The Reaping. Following the anthem, the grandly carved doors of The Justice Building swing open to reveal a neat row of masked peacekeepers. They don't touch us, but their presence as we are ushered inside is enough to remind us. We are prisoners from here on out. The hall dims as the heavy doors fall shut once again. We walk in step. I'm just close enough to nudge Katniss's pinky finger with my own without being noticed. Not that I think our interacting is forbidden, but I relish getting to share just one private gesture with my oldest friend before we fully belong to the state and their cameras. In return, Katniss stretches out her finger against mine and I know she knows what I'm thinking. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"From there we are separated. Each sent to wait in our own private room. It must be one of the most finely decorated rooms in all of District 12. And for what? Nobody lives here. The only time other than The Reaping anyone enters The Justice Building is to register for Tesserae or when there's been some tragic loss of life. Or at least these are the only two uses span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I've/span ever had for the audacious building up until now. Not in this room, upstairs somewhere in one of the offices, is where I received my father's medal of honour after he died. Today, this is where I will say goodbye to my family for the final time. On neither of these occasions am I comforted by the plush carpet and mahogany wood carvings. Is all this wealth- these hours of labour and wasted materials- is it just here to remind us that The Capitol span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"chooses/span to let the rest of us live in poverty? That they could lift us from it at any moment if they thought we deserved it?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There's a couch waiting near the row of high, narrow windows that cast bars of afternoon light across the floor. But I don't sit down. Instead, I pace. Left to my own devices, my rage has returned. It fizzes through me, lifting the hairs on my arms and unsettling my stomach. I want to tear the place apart, screaming treason at the bugs I know this building must be lined with. But that won't help me or Katniss or my family, who are most likely to be punished in my place for any dissent once I'm gone. Instead, I try to mentally organise everything that I need to tell my mother before I go. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I'm so amped up by the time my family make it in to say goodbye, that I'm rigid and unable to return the hug Hazel engulfs me in. "Katniss's mom has a book. It's filled with edible plants, pictures and descriptions. You have to learn them all." I say instead of goodbye, I love you, I'm so sorry that I'm leaving you. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Never mind all that, just come home to us, kiddo. Please say you'll try to come home," Hazel says with her weathered, washerwoman hands pressed to either side of my face. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But since I can't promise her that, I continue down my list. "The fishing poles are easy enough to use. They're at the edge of the lake where the reeds are at their thickest. And Prim will give you cheese and milk if you can get Mrs Everdeen the herbs she needs for the apothecary. You guys have to look after each other now." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Then I move on to my brothers, who are just old enough to understand the instructions I leave them. "Don't take the Tessera, it's not worth it. You have to promise me." They do./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Posy sobs in my arms. She's not yet four, but she knows what death is. Knows that it's coming for me this time. I swallow a sob of my own. Clutch Posy a little tighter. I don't know what I could possibly say to her. I hope Hazel has the good sense to shield her eyes during Mandatory Viewing. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Gale," Hazel croaks. She knows me too well to not know what I plan to do. "I know that you love her, we all love her. But we love you too. Gale, honey you have to at least try." When I say nothing, she cries, "Don't be so stubborn!" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""She'll take good care of you all. I know she will," is all I can say. I can't lie to her, not in our last moments together. She crumples to the floor and me and the kids follow. Then we sit there in a pile, like pups in their den, until the Peacekeepers come to take them from me. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I'm not expecting anyone else. There are some girls from school I've fooled around with once or twice, folk I've drank with at The Hob. No one I'm close enough to expect to see now. But the door opens again anyway, and my next visitor enters. It's Mr. Mellark, the baker. He's clutching a white paper packet. I have no idea why he's here. We know each other well enough, I suppose. Both me and Katniss prefer trading with him over his witch of a wife. He's never stingy. He doesn't look at us with the same wary disgust that the other merchants do. But he is not a friend. Not family. Not span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Seam/span. He hands me the packet. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What's this?" I ask without opening it. I don't know why, but it feels like a trick. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cookies, for your journey." For such a large man, his voice is unusually soft. It's rare to hear him use it at all, actually. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I want to ask why he would bring me anything, let alone something so expensive, but I find I don't much feel like speaking either. So I just nod and tuck the packet in my trouser pocket. Then we stand there in uncomfortable silence until our time is almost up. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I said the same to the girl, I'll make sure the little ones are eating enough," He says when the Peacekeeper comes to collect him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And if the cookies were confusing, this promise is ludicrous. This man owes me nothing. Barely knows my family. But I'm not about to spit on the offer, not when it's the only one I've got. So despite my suspicious, better instinct, I tell him, "Thank you." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"No one else comes through the door again but the Peacekeepers who have been sent to fetch me for the car ride. This is where me and Katniss are reunited. This is our first time ever in a car. I scan her, worried somehow that she's already been hurt, even though that makes little sense. They will want to keep her whole and pretty for the arena. On her dress, glints something gold. It's Madge's pin. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Madge gave you that?" I ask, surprised. There's another emotion there too. Irritation? Jealousy? I don't know. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katniss stares down at the pin with me. Her expression suggests that she's just as perplexed as I am. "She said I get a district token."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And I remember that that is allowed. Then I remember something else and my stomach drops with shame. "Maysilee Donner." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Madge's aunt. She was Reaped for the 50th games with Haymitch. I think that was her token." I know this because my father was friends with the Donner twins when they were at school. Apparently, the Seam merchant divide wasn't so bad twenty years ago. There are photos of them together in which Maysilee is wearing that pin, which we keep in a tin on the mantle. I get them out whenever I think I'm forgetting his face. I feel stupid for not putting it together earlier. The other thing I realise, as I stare carefully at the pin, is that it's not just any bird, it's a Mockingjay. The birds are a reminder, to those that know, of the time The Capitol lost control. The time that the districts got one over on them. I smile. Then I let it drop. It's at this moment, I realise that I have judged Madge poorly. Since I will never be able to apologise to her, I say instead, "I'm glad you have it. That was nice of her." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"We exit the car to reporters circling us like prey. I snarl at a Capitolite who pokes his lense far too close to my face. I swat at another who keeps demanding to know what my relationship with Katniss is. I answer nothing. They continue to consume our image regardless. Always hungry for more. Then, we are made to stand in front of the train door together for what feels like a long time. More flashing cameras. Neither one of us smiles. But we don't shrink away from our assailants either. We stand tall and proud. Together. I don't think we look too pitiful. Not like the usual canon fodder at least. Sure, Katniss is small for her age and we both could stand to gain a couple of pounds. But when I catch our reflection in one of the darkened train windows, there's a fierceness about us. Our faces are dry. Eyes the colour of steel. When they meet, hope shoots through me like lightning. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The train departs the second the doors seal closed behind us. I have to catch myself on the wall before my body recovers from the sudden lurch. Sure of my feet again, I take in our luxurious, moving prison. It's even grander than The Justice Building. I move through it warily, longing for the forest. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"In my quarters (we both get our own sprawling compartments on the train), I'm told by an attendant that I'm to help myself to whatever I like. There's hot running water, a novelty only very few have access to in 12. My bed is giant and made with down-stuffed silk sheets. At home, I share my bed with Rory. I'm not sure that I'll even be able to sleep in a room by myself anymore. I've also been given access to a closet full of rows and rows of unfamiliar articles of clothing. I paw at the feathery collar of one of the (what I think is) cashmere jackets. Try to imagine myself sporting anything similar. Fail. There are trousers as green as Effie's suit too, made from shiny green scales. I don't want any of it. I want to keep my father's clothes on for as long as they'll let me. I slam closed the closet door and make to find where they're keeping Katniss. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One thing I notice about the train is that every room, every narrow corridor, every section of the train can be sealed with an electrified door. It is a sprawling expanse with them all open. But I can't help but note how quickly they could lock us into any small, cramped chamber of this vehicle if they wanted to. With just the touch of a button, far away in a control room no less. The eerie sense that I'm already in the arena washes over me. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The next thing I notice, as I'm lingering in the corridor outside of what I think is Katniss's quarters, is a vent. It's small and painted the same colour as the wall, positioned high in the corner, almost at the ceiling. Like it doesn't want to be noticed. It's far smaller than the air conditioning units that The Justice Building is fitted with. And it's not a heater; since hot air rises, they are always positioned close to the floor. Thinking that maybe the advanced technology afforded to The Capitol has simply shrunk the AC, I reach up to see if I can feel cool air. I can't. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Mr Hawthorne," A Peacekeeper appears behind me, making me jump. "The dining cart is this way." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I nod. Dropping my hand but not the thought. If that vent isn't to keep the train cool, then what are they using it for? I want to bring it up to Katniss, but I think it might annoy her. For me to be once again fixated on something not essential to our survival. But I can't help it. When you've set as many traps as I have, it becomes impossible not to start looking for strings. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I want to speak to Haymitch," I tell my warden as he guides me to supper. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""He's sleeping. You'll see him later." Is the unhelpful reply I get in return. I suppose that I will, I was just hoping that it could be without Katniss present. It will be harder to convince him that she is this year's victor with her fighting my every word. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I'm the first to arrive in the dining cart so I pick a seat closest to the exit. Not that I could run anywhere going at 250 miles per hour. Katniss files in behind Effie just a moment later. Her braid is damp at the end and her skin is flushed pink. She must have braved the shower then. She's changed into fresh, unfamiliar clothes, but she's still wearing her pin. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey Catnip," I greet her like nothing is out of the ordinary. That's the way we have always managed our fears together. "You look squeaky clean. So much for our pact, I guess." The pact we made just over a year ago, that if one of us were Reaped, the other would take care of both of our families. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Some odds, huh?" Katniss plays along, taking the chair opposite me. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Effie, standing in the centre of the carriage in another preposterous suit, cocks her powdery head to the side like a bird. "Where's Haymitch?" Both me and Katniss shrug. "Well, we shan't wait. I'm sure you're both just ravenous after all of that excitement!" She actually seems relieved that the drunkard isn't joining us this evening. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I decide to draw the line of things I span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"won't /spantake from these people at dinner. Because despite myself, I actually am hungry. And I know better than to turn down food. Besides, we have a lot of bulking up to do this week if we want to stand a chance in the arena. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I slurp down the first course of carrot soup like I've been starved my whole life. Which, comparatively to someone like Effie, I have been. Katniss matches me in speed but not noise. Effie seems displeased with my manners and keeps reminding me to save space for the next course. There are five in total. My favourite is the lamb chops, which I've never eaten before. The lamb is fattier than the game that I'm used to and has a sweetness to it. It tastes so good in fact, that at least for this evening, I forget to be mad about the unjustifiable abundance available to The Capitol. I do remember to glare whenever Effie leaves wasted food on her plate though, which I know will only end up in the garbage. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And I do actually broil with rage when Effie says, "At least, you two have decent manners. The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion." Because I remember last year's tributes. They were both Seam. Both tiny, starving things who had never seen food like this in their lives. Both died in the bloodbath. Katniss clearly remembers them too. Because after a shared look, we both continue the meal using solely our fingers. Katniss even wipes her gravy-slick hands on the tablecloth after the main course. Which makes me grin. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If it didn't mean certain death for me, I'd be glad to have her here with me. The comfort just being able to make eye contact with her across the table brings me, is immeasurable. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"By the time we've finished our food, I feel slow, encumbered and not entirely sure I'll be able to keep it all down. Katniss doesn't look much better. Neither one of us is used to food this rich. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""If I can hang on to Greasy Say's winter stew, I can hold onto this." She tells me when she catches me looking. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Greasy Say's winter stew consists of minced meat, pig entrails and tree bark. My belly ripples with laughter, which doesn't help my situation at all. However, I think if I can sit still enough for long enough, I too should be able to keep this meal inside my stomach. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The next thing on Effie's carefully compiled schedule for us this evening is to watch back The Reapings. They're staggered throughout the day so Capitol audiences can watch at their leisure. Then they're compiled into one neat little hour-long program for Mandatory Viewing in the districts. I have been both anticipating and dreading seeing our competitors for the first time. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Districts 1, 2 and 4 are exactly what you'd expect. All volunteers. All twice our size. Particularly notable is the boy from District 2, Cato. He's even taller than me by the looks of it and about twice as wide with a nasty snarl of a smile. I shudder, thinking of Katniss caught between his giant bear paws. We should get rid of him as quickly as we can from as far away as we can. The tributes from District 3 don't look like much. But the technology district is not to be counted out just because they are lacking in muscle. I study every face that I'm shown. Somehow convinced that they will give some important piece of information away to me that way. Names and faces start to blur together as we continue through 6,7,8 and 9. When the boy from District 10 hobbles onto the stage with a crippled foot I want to turn it off, horrified. But I make myself keep watching. Katniss visibly flinches when she sees the tiny, twelve-year-old girl from District 11 be called to the stage. Rue. No one volunteers to take her place. The boy from her district is huge though, maybe even bigger than Cato. And so I tell myself that he will take care of her, shoving back the knowledge that only one of us is going back to our district sans coffin. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Watching our own Reaping means reliving it. It's painful, but we prevail. The fear in Katniss's voice as she calls for Prim tears through me. I see myself carrying Prim up the aisle to Mrs Everdeen. The commentators tell the audience to pay close attention to my face. Then there's the refusal to applause, the silent salute. This, the commentators have little to say about. Other than that District 12 has always been a little backward, but that local customs can be charming. This is reassuring. The Capitol doesn't seem aware of our district's dissent. Then my name is called. Compared to Katniss I am completely dispassionate. Nothing is readable on my face as I place Prim down on the floor and march toward the stage. This too, reassures me. Strong and silent, for a boy, I know is marketable. Which is good, because I don't think I'm cut out to give anyone anything more. We raise our hands together and that is the final shot. They cut to the anthem and the program ends. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The only part of the program that seems to get a rise out of our escort is the jaunty angle of her ridiculous pink wig. "Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behaviour," she says snippily. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Mimicking her accent, just like I did in the forest this morning. I say, "Quite. I do imagine he'd benefit greatly from some lessons in propriety from you, Effie." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I quite agree!" Chirps Effie. "If only my schedule allowed for it." She shakes her head. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katniss, quicker to pick up on the fact that I'm mocking our escort, snorts. Though she attempts to hide it behind her sleeve. Encouraged by the sound I continue, this time directing my words at her. "I do hope you're not blowing your nose on that, young lady. Don't you know it's made of the finest silk in Panem?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Effie blinks. "Oh no dear, that's not silk. It's a crepe. It's made from sheep's wool." She corrects me earnestly. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I manage to keep a straight face about as long as Katniss does, then we both burst into giggles. More than my performance probably deserves, but once the laughter starts it's impossible to stop. Katniss slaps my knee hard and I have to close my eyes and breathe deeply to recover. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right." Effie bleets, sounding hurt. "I'm glad you both find this all so amusing, but I for one take my job a little more seriously. If you're okay having an embarrassment for a mentor, then so am I. Just so long as you know your mentor is your lifeline to the world in these Games. The one who advises you, lines up your sponsors, and dictates the presentation of any gifts. Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As if on cue, Haymitch uses his moment to make his entry. He's still blind drunk and staggering. "I miss supper?" He slurs. Then he projectile vomits, all over the plush carpet. Some of it even splattering up onto the gold fringe that lines the velvet couch. He falls into his own mess promptly after this. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So laugh away!" Scolds our escort. Before leaving us to deal with Haymitch and his messes. br /br /"That wasn't nice," Katniss chides me. But her eyes are still wet and shiny from her laughing fit, so I don't take it to heart./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"From there we are separated. Each sent to wait in our own private room. It must be one of the most finely decorated rooms in all of District 12. And for what? Nobody lives here. The only time other than The Reaping anyone enters The Justice Building is to register for Tesserae or when there's been some tragic loss of life. Or at least these are the only two uses span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I've/span ever had for the audacious building up until now. Not in this room, upstairs somewhere in one of the offices, is where I received my father's medal of honour after he died. Today, this is where I will say goodbye to my family for the final time. On neither of these occasions am I comforted by the plush carpet and mahogany wood carvings. Is all this wealth- these hours of labour and wasted materials- is it just here to remind us that The Capitol span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"chooses/span to let the rest of us live in poverty? That they could lift us from it at any moment if they thought we deserved it?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There's a couch waiting near the row of high, narrow windows that cast bars of afternoon light across the floor. But I don't sit down. Instead, I pace. Left to my own devices, my rage has returned. It fizzes through me, lifting the hairs on my arms and unsettling my stomach. I want to tear the place apart, screaming treason at the bugs I know this building must be lined with. But that won't help me or Katniss or my family, who are most likely to be punished in my place for any dissent once I'm gone. Instead, I try to mentally organise everything that I need to tell my mother before I go. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I'm so amped up by the time my family make it in to say goodbye, that I'm rigid and unable to return the hug Hazel engulfs me in. "Katniss's mom has a book. It's filled with edible plants, pictures and descriptions. You have to learn them all." I say instead of goodbye, I love you, I'm so sorry that I'm leaving you. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Never mind all that, just come home to us, kiddo. Please say you'll try to come home," Hazel says with her weathered, washerwoman hands pressed to either side of my face. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But since I can't promise her that, I continue down my list. "The fishing poles are easy enough to use. They're at the edge of the lake where the reeds are at their thickest. And Prim will give you cheese and milk if you can get Mrs Everdeen the herbs she needs for the apothecary. You guys have to look after each other now." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Then I move on to my brothers, who are just old enough to understand the instructions I leave them. "Don't take the Tessera, it's not worth it. You have to promise me." They do./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Posy sobs in my arms. She's not yet four, but she knows what death is. Knows that it's coming for me this time. I swallow a sob of my own. Clutch Posy a little tighter. I don't know what I could possibly say to her. I hope Hazel has the good sense to shield her eyes during Mandatory Viewing. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Gale," Hazel croaks. She knows me too well to not know what I plan to do. "I know that you love her, we all love her. But we love you too. Gale, honey you have to at least try." When I say nothing, she cries, "Don't be so stubborn!" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""She'll take good care of you all. I know she will," is all I can say. I can't lie to her, not in our last moments together. She crumples to the floor and me and the kids follow. Then we sit there in a pile, like pups in their den, until the Peacekeepers come to take them from me. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I'm not expecting anyone else. There are some girls from school I've fooled around with once or twice, folk I've drank with at The Hob. No one I'm close enough to expect to see now. But the door opens again anyway, and my next visitor enters. It's Mr. Mellark, the baker. He's clutching a white paper packet. I have no idea why he's here. We know each other well enough, I suppose. Both me and Katniss prefer trading with him over his witch of a wife. He's never stingy. He doesn't look at us with the same wary disgust that the other merchants do. But he is not a friend. Not family. Not span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Seam/span. He hands me the packet. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What's this?" I ask without opening it. I don't know why, but it feels like a trick. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Cookies, for your journey." For such a large man, his voice is unusually soft. It's rare to hear him use it at all, actually. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I want to ask why he would bring me anything, let alone something so expensive, but I find I don't much feel like speaking either. So I just nod and tuck the packet in my trouser pocket. Then we stand there in uncomfortable silence until our time is almost up. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I said the same to the girl, I'll make sure the little ones are eating enough," He says when the Peacekeeper comes to collect him. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And if the cookies were confusing, this promise is ludicrous. This man owes me nothing. Barely knows my family. But I'm not about to spit on the offer, not when it's the only one I've got. So despite my suspicious, better instinct, I tell him, "Thank you." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"No one else comes through the door again but the Peacekeepers who have been sent to fetch me for the car ride. This is where me and Katniss are reunited. This is our first time ever in a car. I scan her, worried somehow that she's already been hurt, even though that makes little sense. They will want to keep her whole and pretty for the arena. On her dress, glints something gold. It's Madge's pin. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Madge gave you that?" I ask, surprised. There's another emotion there too. Irritation? Jealousy? I don't know. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katniss stares down at the pin with me. Her expression suggests that she's just as perplexed as I am. "She said I get a district token."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And I remember that that is allowed. Then I remember something else and my stomach drops with shame. "Maysilee Donner." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Madge's aunt. She was Reaped for the 50th games with Haymitch. I think that was her token." I know this because my father was friends with the Donner twins when they were at school. Apparently, the Seam merchant divide wasn't so bad twenty years ago. There are photos of them together in which Maysilee is wearing that pin, which we keep in a tin on the mantle. I get them out whenever I think I'm forgetting his face. I feel stupid for not putting it together earlier. The other thing I realise, as I stare carefully at the pin, is that it's not just any bird, it's a Mockingjay. The birds are a reminder, to those that know, of the time The Capitol lost control. The time that the districts got one over on them. I smile. Then I let it drop. It's at this moment, I realise that I have judged Madge poorly. Since I will never be able to apologise to her, I say instead, "I'm glad you have it. That was nice of her." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"We exit the car to reporters circling us like prey. I snarl at a Capitolite who pokes his lense far too close to my face. I swat at another who keeps demanding to know what my relationship with Katniss is. I answer nothing. They continue to consume our image regardless. Always hungry for more. Then, we are made to stand in front of the train door together for what feels like a long time. More flashing cameras. Neither one of us smiles. But we don't shrink away from our assailants either. We stand tall and proud. Together. I don't think we look too pitiful. Not like the usual canon fodder at least. Sure, Katniss is small for her age and we both could stand to gain a couple of pounds. But when I catch our reflection in one of the darkened train windows, there's a fierceness about us. Our faces are dry. Eyes the colour of steel. When they meet, hope shoots through me like lightning. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The train departs the second the doors seal closed behind us. I have to catch myself on the wall before my body recovers from the sudden lurch. Sure of my feet again, I take in our luxurious, moving prison. It's even grander than The Justice Building. I move through it warily, longing for the forest. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"In my quarters (we both get our own sprawling compartments on the train), I'm told by an attendant that I'm to help myself to whatever I like. There's hot running water, a novelty only very few have access to in 12. My bed is giant and made with down-stuffed silk sheets. At home, I share my bed with Rory. I'm not sure that I'll even be able to sleep in a room by myself anymore. I've also been given access to a closet full of rows and rows of unfamiliar articles of clothing. I paw at the feathery collar of one of the (what I think is) cashmere jackets. Try to imagine myself sporting anything similar. Fail. There are trousers as green as Effie's suit too, made from shiny green scales. I don't want any of it. I want to keep my father's clothes on for as long as they'll let me. I slam closed the closet door and make to find where they're keeping Katniss. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"One thing I notice about the train is that every room, every narrow corridor, every section of the train can be sealed with an electrified door. It is a sprawling expanse with them all open. But I can't help but note how quickly they could lock us into any small, cramped chamber of this vehicle if they wanted to. With just the touch of a button, far away in a control room no less. The eerie sense that I'm already in the arena washes over me. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The next thing I notice, as I'm lingering in the corridor outside of what I think is Katniss's quarters, is a vent. It's small and painted the same colour as the wall, positioned high in the corner, almost at the ceiling. Like it doesn't want to be noticed. It's far smaller than the air conditioning units that The Justice Building is fitted with. And it's not a heater; since hot air rises, they are always positioned close to the floor. Thinking that maybe the advanced technology afforded to The Capitol has simply shrunk the AC, I reach up to see if I can feel cool air. I can't. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Mr Hawthorne," A Peacekeeper appears behind me, making me jump. "The dining cart is this way." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I nod. Dropping my hand but not the thought. If that vent isn't to keep the train cool, then what are they using it for? I want to bring it up to Katniss, but I think it might annoy her. For me to be once again fixated on something not essential to our survival. But I can't help it. When you've set as many traps as I have, it becomes impossible not to start looking for strings. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I want to speak to Haymitch," I tell my warden as he guides me to supper. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""He's sleeping. You'll see him later." Is the unhelpful reply I get in return. I suppose that I will, I was just hoping that it could be without Katniss present. It will be harder to convince him that she is this year's victor with her fighting my every word. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I'm the first to arrive in the dining cart so I pick a seat closest to the exit. Not that I could run anywhere going at 250 miles per hour. Katniss files in behind Effie just a moment later. Her braid is damp at the end and her skin is flushed pink. She must have braved the shower then. She's changed into fresh, unfamiliar clothes, but she's still wearing her pin. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey Catnip," I greet her like nothing is out of the ordinary. That's the way we have always managed our fears together. "You look squeaky clean. So much for our pact, I guess." The pact we made just over a year ago, that if one of us were Reaped, the other would take care of both of our families. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Some odds, huh?" Katniss plays along, taking the chair opposite me. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Effie, standing in the centre of the carriage in another preposterous suit, cocks her powdery head to the side like a bird. "Where's Haymitch?" Both me and Katniss shrug. "Well, we shan't wait. I'm sure you're both just ravenous after all of that excitement!" She actually seems relieved that the drunkard isn't joining us this evening. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I decide to draw the line of things I span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"won't /spantake from these people at dinner. Because despite myself, I actually am hungry. And I know better than to turn down food. Besides, we have a lot of bulking up to do this week if we want to stand a chance in the arena. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I slurp down the first course of carrot soup like I've been starved my whole life. Which, comparatively to someone like Effie, I have been. Katniss matches me in speed but not noise. Effie seems displeased with my manners and keeps reminding me to save space for the next course. There are five in total. My favourite is the lamb chops, which I've never eaten before. The lamb is fattier than the game that I'm used to and has a sweetness to it. It tastes so good in fact, that at least for this evening, I forget to be mad about the unjustifiable abundance available to The Capitol. I do remember to glare whenever Effie leaves wasted food on her plate though, which I know will only end up in the garbage. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"And I do actually broil with rage when Effie says, "At least, you two have decent manners. The pair last year ate everything with their hands like a couple of savages. It completely upset my digestion." Because I remember last year's tributes. They were both Seam. Both tiny, starving things who had never seen food like this in their lives. Both died in the bloodbath. Katniss clearly remembers them too. Because after a shared look, we both continue the meal using solely our fingers. Katniss even wipes her gravy-slick hands on the tablecloth after the main course. Which makes me grin. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If it didn't mean certain death for me, I'd be glad to have her here with me. The comfort just being able to make eye contact with her across the table brings me, is immeasurable. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"By the time we've finished our food, I feel slow, encumbered and not entirely sure I'll be able to keep it all down. Katniss doesn't look much better. Neither one of us is used to food this rich. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""If I can hang on to Greasy Say's winter stew, I can hold onto this." She tells me when she catches me looking. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Greasy Say's winter stew consists of minced meat, pig entrails and tree bark. My belly ripples with laughter, which doesn't help my situation at all. However, I think if I can sit still enough for long enough, I too should be able to keep this meal inside my stomach. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The next thing on Effie's carefully compiled schedule for us this evening is to watch back The Reapings. They're staggered throughout the day so Capitol audiences can watch at their leisure. Then they're compiled into one neat little hour-long program for Mandatory Viewing in the districts. I have been both anticipating and dreading seeing our competitors for the first time. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Districts 1, 2 and 4 are exactly what you'd expect. All volunteers. All twice our size. Particularly notable is the boy from District 2, Cato. He's even taller than me by the looks of it and about twice as wide with a nasty snarl of a smile. I shudder, thinking of Katniss caught between his giant bear paws. We should get rid of him as quickly as we can from as far away as we can. The tributes from District 3 don't look like much. But the technology district is not to be counted out just because they are lacking in muscle. I study every face that I'm shown. Somehow convinced that they will give some important piece of information away to me that way. Names and faces start to blur together as we continue through 6,7,8 and 9. When the boy from District 10 hobbles onto the stage with a crippled foot I want to turn it off, horrified. But I make myself keep watching. Katniss visibly flinches when she sees the tiny, twelve-year-old girl from District 11 be called to the stage. Rue. No one volunteers to take her place. The boy from her district is huge though, maybe even bigger than Cato. And so I tell myself that he will take care of her, shoving back the knowledge that only one of us is going back to our district sans coffin. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Watching our own Reaping means reliving it. It's painful, but we prevail. The fear in Katniss's voice as she calls for Prim tears through me. I see myself carrying Prim up the aisle to Mrs Everdeen. The commentators tell the audience to pay close attention to my face. Then there's the refusal to applause, the silent salute. This, the commentators have little to say about. Other than that District 12 has always been a little backward, but that local customs can be charming. This is reassuring. The Capitol doesn't seem aware of our district's dissent. Then my name is called. Compared to Katniss I am completely dispassionate. Nothing is readable on my face as I place Prim down on the floor and march toward the stage. This too, reassures me. Strong and silent, for a boy, I know is marketable. Which is good, because I don't think I'm cut out to give anyone anything more. We raise our hands together and that is the final shot. They cut to the anthem and the program ends. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The only part of the program that seems to get a rise out of our escort is the jaunty angle of her ridiculous pink wig. "Your mentor has a lot to learn about presentation. A lot about televised behaviour," she says snippily. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Mimicking her accent, just like I did in the forest this morning. I say, "Quite. I do imagine he'd benefit greatly from some lessons in propriety from you, Effie." /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I quite agree!" Chirps Effie. "If only my schedule allowed for it." She shakes her head. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Katniss, quicker to pick up on the fact that I'm mocking our escort, snorts. Though she attempts to hide it behind her sleeve. Encouraged by the sound I continue, this time directing my words at her. "I do hope you're not blowing your nose on that, young lady. Don't you know it's made of the finest silk in Panem?" /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Effie blinks. "Oh no dear, that's not silk. It's a crepe. It's made from sheep's wool." She corrects me earnestly. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"I manage to keep a straight face about as long as Katniss does, then we both burst into giggles. More than my performance probably deserves, but once the laughter starts it's impossible to stop. Katniss slaps my knee hard and I have to close my eyes and breathe deeply to recover. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right." Effie bleets, sounding hurt. "I'm glad you both find this all so amusing, but I for one take my job a little more seriously. If you're okay having an embarrassment for a mentor, then so am I. Just so long as you know your mentor is your lifeline to the world in these Games. The one who advises you, lines up your sponsors, and dictates the presentation of any gifts. Haymitch can well be the difference between your life and your death!"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As if on cue, Haymitch uses his moment to make his entry. He's still blind drunk and staggering. "I miss supper?" He slurs. Then he projectile vomits, all over the plush carpet. Some of it even splattering up onto the gold fringe that lines the velvet couch. He falls into his own mess promptly after this. /p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""So laugh away!" Scolds our escort. Before leaving us to deal with Haymitch and his messes. br /br /"That wasn't nice," Katniss chides me. But her eyes are still wet and shiny from her laughing fit, so I don't take it to heart./p