Sabrina called out her name for the third time, and even dared to shake Eliza lightly.
"You're gonna be late, you should be dressed already!"
"I'll be up in a second."
"Fine, but then don't complain when they take it out on your schedule for tomorrow."
She was right of course, but at that point, Eliza hardly cared.
She was not usually an over sleeper, but waking up that morning felt like a punishment. It could have been all those nights staying up until late finally catching up to her, or the last few days at work being terrible. But the truth was, her conversation with Gale had struck the ultimate blow.
It had been a while since the last time she'd felt like that. As if her body had been shoved into the ground, stomped on, and then tossed away like a piece of trash. She'd fallen asleep on that feeling the night before, wallowing in her bed the most quiet she could so Sabrina wouldn't notice.
When Eliza finally got up, it was as if there was no strength left in her body. Not for studying, not for working. And especially not for holding conversations with whoever she crossed paths with. Mindy sensed something was off when they met for breakfast, commenting on the dark circles around her eyes and her puffy cheeks.
Miraculously, she also stopped pressing her on the matter as soon as Eliza vehemently asked her to shut up. After that, she got added to the list of people she would be actively avoiding, in order not to have to explain what was going on. Whatever it was.
As she was waiting in the hallway for her new trainer to call her into her office, Eliza wondered if it would actually be that bad if she missed her schedule once or twice. It was possible for Katniss, right? She'd said she had barely been to any of her classes, and no one seemed to care. Granted Eliza was not the Mockingjay, but maybe one or two days wouldn't make much of a difference.
"Eliza!" Teri exclaimed as she saw her standing outside. "Great, you're here, we can get started!" She signaled with her hand, and Eliza followed her down the corridor, staring at her perfectly straight shoulders and posture, with toned arms and legs to complete the package. They'd only met that same week, as Teri had just been promoted to trainer, which also helped to explain why she was incredibly optimistic about Eliza's physical capabilities.
"So, I have good news," she said with a smile, the determination palpable in her voice. "I think I've figured out what your problem is, and from today on, we're solving it."
Her words came as a bit of a shock, because Eliza had no idea where one could even begin to solve someone's natural lack of talent. She also thought to herself that she'd lost the perfect opportunity to test out whether or not she could ditch some of her training sessions without much consequence.
"What do you think my problem is, exactly?"
"You lack the intention." When that did not take the confusion out of her face, Teri continued, "You try to avoid the hits, and don't hit back. Even when you try to hit your opponent, there's no strength in it."
Her explanation meant more than she expected, and against the sea of apathy she'd been experiencing the last few hours, Eliza's pulse raced.
"What does that even mean?" She sent her eyes looking around the room, everywhere but in Teri's direction.
"Well, I've been watching you closely. Your survival instincts...in a way, it's as if they're numb. You don't fight back; you either freeze or run away. As if hitting back is not even an option."
"That's not true," Eliza heard herself say with a shaky voice, "I hit Morris in the torso the other day, you saw it. And I'm always hitting the dummy." She insisted, attempting a joke, "It already doesn't like me very much, don't you see the way it looks at me?"
"Yes, but..." Teri hesitated for a second, completely focused and unamused, "The dummy doesn't fight back, there is no reason that you'd be afraid of it."
Eliza nodded, without any idea of what else she could add to that conversation without making herself look even more pathetic. They got to the combat training venue, and she thanked the spirits above them that at least there were not that many people around.
Practical as ever, Teri clapped her hands together, standing in front of her and saying, "I want you to hit me in the face."
"What?!" Eliza remembered very clearly the strict instructions they'd been given in the beginning, making sure people knew the limits they should move by. "I can't do that, I'll hurt you."
"That's the whole point!" Teri shouted, sending a shiver down her spine. A few heads turned their way, and Eliza admonished herself once again for not staying in bed that day. "It is supposed to hurt! If it's not me, it will be you!" She took a step in her direction, with a hint of a threat.
Then she threw a real punch.
Eliza ducked at the last second, feeling her breath falter and her pulse begin to race. Teri clicked her tongue in frustration, and then got back to the shouting.
"What happens if we're attacked?! What happens if someone comes for you?!What'll you do? Just sit there and let yourself be killed?!" She threw another punch, this time brushing Eliza's arm at the last second. "D'you realize you've been taking others' food just 'cause you're from 12?! And you do nothing to make it worth it?!" She kept sending punches her way, which Eliza kept barely dodging. She could sense all of the people present looking at them, at the poor excuse for a training they were having, and leaving her to wonder, why were none of them coming to get Teri away from her.
That's when she finally got a hold of Eliza, grabbing her shirt, giving her a violent shove the next second. "It's like you're just begging for it!"
Those last words got her mind vibrating.
"You're just begging for it. You really think you fool me?"
She took a step back, painfully aware there was nowhere to escape to. He stood by the door, and despite his frail body, Eliza knew she had no chance against him. Just like she'd never had.
A second later he'd closed the distance between them, his foul breath screaming at her face, "You're as thick as your dumb mother, you know that?! She thought she could take my money too. How did that turn out?!"
He grabbed her by the neck, and pushed her to the ground. Eliza squealed out of despair at first, but a second later his kick on her stomach got the air out of her.
She tried to escape, squirming away from him, hands and knees on the ground.
Then his foot came crashing down, stomping right on her hand.
Eliza stopped dodging, the cracking noise of her finger bones echoing in her ears.
Teri hit her right in the stomach, thrusting the air out of her lungs. Not half a second later, she felt another hit on the side of her face, and time seemed to stop.
The room was spinning when Eliza's knees touched the ground, pulling a confused whimper out of her. She bent over herself, trying to catch her breath and letting a hand to the side of her face, feeling it grow hot.
"We are not actually supposed to hit them, what's wrong with you?!" A voice shouted far away.
"She just stopped moving! Didn't even try to dodge those last ones." Teri's voice sounded far away too, as if coming through a double glass window.
Eliza tried to stand up in spite of the pain, but as soon as she got a foot on the ground, her vision blurred and forced her down again. She heard the shuffling of people getting closer, and then the unmistakable voice of Officer Heath came through, "You put Burrich on combat training in your first week?!" He sounded like thunder, making Eliza cover her ears instinctively. "She's from the cleaning staff, not going into battle! What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I was just—"
"Go wait in my office!" He interrupted with a final tone, and Eliza heard him getting even closer, "C'mon Burrich, let's take you to the infirmary."
She felt his presence behind her, but wasn't quick enough to move before his hands met her waist and armpit, hoisting her up. A rush of adrenaline went through her veins, and she acted before she could think it through.
"Don't touch me!" She tried to flee from the hold of his hands, her vision still blurry, and the shadow of someone breathing on the back of her neck.
"Just calm down," Officer Heath stated, but without letting go. His grip only got firmer as he hunched slightly over her, looking to control and avoid her hits.
"Get off me! Please, get off me!" Eliza's voice kept coming out in shrieks while she waved her arms around, anything to free herself from his weight. Then she kicked her feet with all her might as she felt him lock her arms behind her back. "Get off me!"
There was a sharp twinge of pain on her arm, and a few seconds later, everything went dark.