Octavia Jacobs, 18

District 2 Female

I was shaking with rage as the train doors closed behind me. I could still feel Drusus's sloppy kiss on my cheek and see Cassius's smug smile. That sorry excuse for a human got to me before I got to him.

I threw myself down in a plush pink chair and did my best to fight back my angry tears. Val hadn't said anything, but his face was worryingly blank. He was just staring absently out the window.

"So!" Vivi said brightly. "You two are twins, right?" Val nodded once and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Yes," I croaked. I needed to pull it together. If I was going to get back to my son I had to get my head in the game.

"That's so exciting!" Vivi gushed. "You two are going to get a lot of sponsors."

"Yay," Val said, his voice completely deadpan.

"This is wrong," I growled. "Cassius rigged the Reaping. I'm sure of it."

"I told you not to stay with him," Val snapped. "You could have come back to live with me. We could have repaired our family name together."

"No, we couldn't have!" I yelled. "You screwed over everyone with influence. You have more enemies now than when our parents were alive! Drusus is going to be the Jacobs heir because you ruined our family name!"

"I'm only getting back what they owe us," my brother replied, his voice icy. "They are the reason our family is dead and they have to pay."

"Except they won't," I said. "Because we're in the Hunger Games and we're going to die."

"And we're here to prevent that," a new voice said. We turned to see the friendly face of Rourke O'Malley, one of District 2's most popular Victors. Enobaria stood behind him, sneering.

"I knew something was going on," Enobaria growled. I couldn't help but stare at her sharpened teeth. Everything about the woman was meant to be frightening, but I refused to be intimidated.

"My husband rigged the Reapings," I said. "And clearly bribed the volunteers too." Rourke nodded.

"I never liked Cassius Jacobs," he said. "Too much dirty business." Then his eyes fell on Val. "But then again will people do underhanded things when they want something badly enough."

"What are you accusing me of?" Valerius snapped. Rourke shrugged.

"Nothing. People do what they need to to survive. That's an important lesson for the Games. Everyone is going to give all they have."

My mind went back to Drusus. I told him that mommy would be home soon. She was just going on a trip. What remained to be seen was if it would be a round trip.

"Do either of you have fighting experience?" Enobaria asked.

"We both trained a little at the Academy as kids," I told her. "But only for a year or two."

"It's better than nothing," she said. "I'd try to align yourselves with the Careers. You aren't exactly trained, but you're going to get a lot of sponsors, what with being twins and Octavia having a kid."

"Fine by me," Val said. Then he glanced at me.

"Can Octavia and I talk privately for a minute?"

"Of course," Rourke said. He ushered Vivi and Enobaria out of the train car as Val sat down across from me.

"If it comes down to the two of us, I want you to win," he said. My eyes widened.

"Why?" It came out more accusatory than I'd intended, but Val seemed unbothered.

"Because you have Drusus," he said. "And I want you to take down Cassius Jacobs."

Trayne Treadwell-Lang, 17

District 6 Male

"So… what were you in jail for?" I asked Alley as the train lurched into motion. I could tell we were moving from the scenery speeding by, but in the train car everything felt still. Alley stared at me for a moment before answering.

"I crashed a cab and killed my passenger when he tried to feel me up."

"Good."

The corner of Alley's mouth twitched up slightly in the beginning of a smile. I grinned.

"And what about the black eye?" I probed.

"I hit a girl in the head with a weight and her friends beat me up."

"You're badass," I told her. "Want to be allies?" Alley looked wary for a moment, but then she nodded.

"Yeah. I think we're both crazy enough to do some damage."

I held out my hand and Alley shook it firmly.

"Hey," I said. "I have Alley for my ally."

"I can still ditch you," she warned, but she was smiling.

"I'm glad to see you two are getting along," Journey Holton said as she entered the train car. Axel Early followed behind her, ducking his head in a failed attempt to seem smaller.

"I think an alliance would be a really good idea. You both handled the Reaping very well and you're fit enough and old enough to be considered competitors."

"All those years of hockey finally paid off," I joked. Axel, who'd sat down and was staring at his lap, looked up at me.

"This is a serious situation," he said quietly. "It's good to have a positive attitude but you have to realize the gravity of being a tribute."

I swallowed heavily. Up until now, I'd managed to keep calm. I was able to pretend this was just a fun vacation to the Capitol. But Axel was right. I could be dead in a week. I sat down on the couch, suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of shock. But Alley sat down next to me and poked my shoulder a few times, breaking me out of my stupor.

"You know what the good thing about life-or-death situations is?" she asked. I glanced at her.

"What?"

"You get to do whatever the hell you want." I laughed a little and Journey smiled.

"We should focus on strategy, but I can turn a blind eye when we arrive in the Capitol. Just remember; training should be your main focus." Alley and I nodded.

"Should we look for more allies?" Alley asked.

"I'd keep an eye on the other tributes during training," Journey told us. "But we'll watch the Reapings as well, to get a feel for the competition. Having allies who have strengths in areas you're weaker in is almost always a good idea."

We spent the rest of the afternoon strategizing and eating pastries. Axel warned us to go slow because the food was so rich, but we couldn't help it. Alley, who was used to prison food, looked like she was going to cry when she tried a little cake with molten chocolate inside.

As it started to get darker outside the train car, Axel ordered hot chocolate and we sat down to watch the Reapings. I noted that the boys from 9 and 12 seemed strong, and Alley commented on the younger girl from 7.

"She's young, but she volunteered. And she looks strong," she said.

When it was over, Journey put a hand on each of our shoulders.

"I won't say that you two are Victors. But I can tell that you're strong. I really do believe you stand a chance."

Amberlynn Hyde, 15

District 9 Female

I'd managed to keep the tears back when I was reaped, and when my family and friends said goodbye, but now that I was on the train there was no way to stop them. I sat down on a fancy white chair, put my face in my hands, and sobbed.

"Hey, it'll be okay," my district partner said gently. He patted my shoulder and I looked up at him meekly.

"It's the Hunger Games," I whispered. "We're going to die."

"It's a possibility," he agreed. "But you can't give up. You have to fight, for yourself and for the people who love you."

"He's right," Destiny said. She came to sit on the couch across from me. I sniffled as I looked at my escort. She was a guest at my party less than a day ago. Now she was one of my lifelines.

"I'm going to do whatever I can to support you two," Destiny said. "And so will Maddox and Dakota."

I shuddered a little at the mention of Dakota Grangerford. Her reputation as a surly and bitter woman was widespread. I didn't think I could handle my mentor being mean to me.

But I didn't have time to worry about it because she and Maddox Hume were entering the train car. Dakota wheeled her chair up to the couches and crossed her arms.

"Amberlynn," she said in greeting, nodding her head to me. "I heard you're quite the party planner."

"I was," I said quietly. Then we all fell silent.

"Do you want to be mentored together or separately?" Maddox finally asked. I glanced awkwardly at Robbie. He seemed nice, but he was also way bigger than me. I wasn't sure if I trusted him.

"I'm fine with whatever you decide," Robbie said to me. "I know I want allies, but I don't want to pressure you."

"Can we be mentored together, but not be allies?" I asked. "For now, at least. I don't want to decide yet."

"That works for me," Robbie said. I had no idea how he could be so calm. I was still sniffling and he looked like he already knew he would win. "Where do we start?"

"What sort of allies do you want?" Maddox asked. He and Destiny sat down with us.

"Girls," I said without thinking. Then I winced. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Dakota said. "Be confident and stand up for what you want. You need to grow a spine if you're going to stand a chance."

I nodded awkwardly and knitted my hands together.

"I want a bigger group of allies," Robbie said. "We can all do different jobs in the alliance. That'll help us stick together."

"It's a good plan to start with," Dakota said. "But remember; only one of you can win."

I sucked in a rattling breath and squeezed my eyes shut. But the tears were spilling out again. I didn't want to die! I liked the Capitol. I thought it was glorious and grand and my ticket to a better life. Now I would spend my time there preparing for my death. It wasn't fair.

Robbie reached over to comfort me again and I suddenly couldn't stand his niceness.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled. I jumped off the couch and ran from the train car. I dashed down a new hallway until I saw a door labeled '9F'. I threw it open and flung myself onto the bed. The blankets were softer than anything I'd ever felt and it made me cry harder. They gave us so much, but they took away even more.

Hi everyone! The Train Rides chapter is ready, and so is the blog! Thank you to cassy2002xo for the idea and the help with finding faceclaims. Here is the blog link: everything everywhere 69 . we ebly . co m. You'll have to remove the spaces to get it to work, since ff.n is a jerk. Please let me know what you think of the blog and of this chapter! I obviously had to give Trayne a POV, but do you think Octavia and Amberlynn were good choices for a train POV?

QUESTIONS

1) Will Alley and Trayne be a good pair?

2) Do you have any alliance ideas or predictions?

3) Which mentor did you like the best? Which did you like the least?

4) Do you like the faceclaim I chose for your tribute?

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona