The Hunger Games Part 1: The Tributes
Chapter 6
The Training Center has a tower designed exclusively for the tributes and their
teams. This will be our home until the actual Games begin. Each district has an
entire floor. You simply step onto an elevator and press the number of your
district. Easy enough to remember.
I’ve ridden the elevator a couple of times in the Justice Building back in District
12. Once to receive the medal for my father’s death and then yesterday to say my
final goodbyes to my friends and family. But that’s a dark and creaky thing that
moves like a snail and smells of sour milk. The walls of this elevator are made of
crystal so that you can watch the people on the ground floor shrink to ants as you
shoot up into the air. It’s exhilarating and I’m tempted to ask Effie Trinket if we can
ride it again, but somehow that seems childish.
Apparently, Effie Trinket’s duties did not conclude at the station. She and
Haymitch will be overseeing us right into the arena. In a way, that’s a plus
because at least she can be counted on to corral us around to places on time
whereas we haven’t seen Haymitch since he agreed to help us on the train.
Probably passed out somewhere. Effie Trinket, on the other hand, seems to be
flying high. We’re the first team she’s ever chaperoned that made a splash at the
opening ceremonies. She’s complimentary about not just our costumes but how
we conducted ourselves. And, to hear her tell it, Effie knows everyone who’s
anyone in the Capitol and has been talking us up all day, trying to win us sponsors.
“I’ve been very mysterious, though,” she says, her eyes squint half shut.
“Because, of course, Haymitch hasn’t bothered to tell me your strategies. But I’ve
done my best with what I had to work with. How Katniss sacrificed herself for her
sister. How you’ve both successfully struggled to overcome the barbarism of your
district.”
Barbarism? That’s ironic coming from a woman helping to prepare us for
slaughter. And what’s she basing our success on? Our table manners?
“Everyone has their reservations, naturally. You being from the coal district.
But I said, and this was very clever of me, I said, ‘Well, if you put enough pressure
on coal it turns to pearls!’“ Effie beams at us so brilliantly that we have no choice
but to respond enthusiastically to her cleverness even though it’s wrong.
Coal doesn’t turn to pearls. They grow in shellfish. Possibly she meant coal
turns to diamonds, but that’s untrue, too. I’ve heard they have some sort of
machine in District 1 that can turn graphite into diamonds. But we don’t mine
graphite in District 12. That was part of District 13’s job until they were destroyed.
I wonder if the people she’s been plugging us to all day either know or care.
“Unfortunately, I can’t seal the sponsor deals for you. Only Haymitch can do
that,” says Effie grimly. “But don’t worry, I’ll get him to the table at gunpoint if
necessary.”
Although lacking in many departments, Effie Trinket has a certain
determination I have to admire.
My quarters are larger than our entire house back home. They are plush, like
the train car, but also have so many automatic gadgets that I’m sure I won’t have
time to press all the buttons. The shower alone has a panel with more than a
hundred options you can choose regulating water temperature, pressure, soaps,
shampoos, scents, oils, and massaging sponges. When you step out on a mat,
heaters come on that blow-dry your body. Instead of struggling with the knots in
my wet hair, I merely place my hand on a box that sends a current through my
scalp, untangling, parting, and drying my hair almost instantly. It floats down
around my shoulders in a glossy curtain.
I program the closet for an outfit to my taste. The win dows zoom in and out on
parts of the city at my command. You need only whisper a type of food from a
gigantic menu into a mouthpiece and it appears, hot and steamy, before you in
less than a minute. I walk around the room eating goose liver and puffy bread until
there’s a knock on the door. Effie’s calling me to dinner.
Good. I’m starving.
Peeta, Cinna, and Portia are standing out on a balcony that overlooks the
Capitol when we enter the dining room. I’m glad to see the stylists, particularly
after I hear that Haymitch will be joining us. A meal presided over by just
Effie and Haymitch is bound to be a disaster. Besides, dinner isn’t really about
food, it’s about planning out our strategies, and Cinna and Portia have already
proven how valuable they are.
A silent young man dressed in a white tunic offers us all stemmed glasses of
wine. I think about turning it down, but I’ve never had wine, except the homemade
stuff my mother uses for coughs, and when will I get a chance to try it again? I
take a sip of the tart, dry liquid and secretly think it could be improved by a few
spoonfuls of honey.
Haymitch shows up just as dinner is being served. It looks as if he’s had his
own stylist because he’s clean and groomed and about as sober as I’ve ever seen
him. He doesn’t refuse the offer of wine, but when he starts in on his soup, I
realize it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him eat. Maybe he really will pull himself
together long enough to help us.
Cinna and Portia seem to have a civilizing effect on Haymitch and Effie. At least
they’re addressing each other decently. And they both have nothing but praise for
our stylists’ opening act. While they make small talk, I concentrate on the meal.
Mushroom soup, bitter greens with tomatoes the size of peas, rare roast beef
sliced as thin as paper, noodles in a green sauce, cheese that melts on your
tongue served with sweet blue grapes. The servers, all young people dressed in
white tunics like the one who gave us wine, move wordlessly to and from the
table, keeping the platters and glasses full.
About halfway through my glass of wine, my head starts feeling foggy, so I
change to water instead. I don’t like the feeling and hope it wears off soon. How
Haymitch can stand walking around like this full-time is a mystery.
I try to focus on the talk, which has turned to our interview costumes, when a
girl sets a gorgeous-looking cake on the table and deftly lights it. It blazes up and
then the flames flicker around the edges awhile until it finally goes out. I have a
moment of doubt. “What makes it burn? Is it alcohol?” I say, looking up at the girl.
“That’s the last thing I wa — oh! I know you!”
I can’t place a name or time to the girl’s face. But I’m certain of it. The dark
red hair, the striking features, the porcelain white skin. But even as I utter the
words, I feel my insides contracting with anxiety and guilt at the sight of her, and
while I can’t pull it up, I know some bad memory is associated with her. The
expression of terror that crosses her face only adds to my confusion and unease.
She shakes her head in denial quickly and hurries away from the table.
When I look back, the four adults are watching me like hawks.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Katniss. How could you possibly know an Avox?” snaps
Effie. “The very thought.”
“What’s an Avox?” I ask stupidly.
“Someone who committed a crime. They cut her tongue so she can’t speak,”
says Haymitch. “She’s probably a traitor of some sort. Not likely you’d know her.”
“And even if you did, you’re not to speak to one of them unless it’s to give an
order,” says Effie. “Of course, you don’t really know her.”
But I do know her. And now that Haymitch has mentioned the word traitor I
remember from where. The disapproval is so high I could never admit it. “No, I
guess not, I just —” I stammer, and the wine is not helping.
Peeta snaps his fingers. “Delly Cartwright. That’s who it is. I kept thinking she
looked familiar as well. Then I realized she’s a dead ringer for Delly.”
Delly Cartwright is a pasty-faced, lumpy girl with yellowish hair who looks
about as much like our server as a beetle does a butterfly. She may also be the
friendliest person on the planet — she smiles constantly at everybody in school,
even me. I have never seen the girl with the red hair smile. But I jump on Peeta’s
suggestion gratefully. “Of course, that’s who I was thinking of. It must be the hair,”
I say.
“Something about the eyes, too,” says Peeta.
The energy at the table relaxes. “Oh, well. If that’s all it is,” says Cinna. “And
yes, the cake has spirits, but all the alcohol has burned off. I ordered it specially in
honor of your fiery debut.”
We eat the cake and move into a sitting room to watch the replay of the
opening ceremonies that’s being broadcast. A few of the other couples make a
nice impression, but none of them can hold a candle to us. Even our own party lets
out an “Ahh!” as they show us coming out of the Remake Center.
“Whose idea was the hand holding?” asks Haymitch.
“Cinna’s,” says Portia.
“Just the perfect touch of rebellion,” says Haymitch. “Very nice.”
Rebellion? I have to think about that one a moment. But when I remember the
other couples, standing stiffly apart, never touching or acknowledging each other,
as if their fellow tribute did not exist, as if the Games had already begun, I know
what Haymitch means. Presenting ourselves not as adversaries but as friends has
distinguished us as much as the fiery costumes.
“Tomorrow morning is the first training session. Meet me for breakfast and I’ll
tell you exactly how I want you to play it,” says Haymitch to Peeta and I. “Now go
get some sleep while the grown-ups talk.”
Peeta and I walk together down the corridor to our rooms. When we get to my
door, he leans against the frame, not blocking my entrance exactly but insisting I
pay attention to him. “So, Delly Cartwright. Imagine finding her lookalike here.”
He’s asking for an explanation, and I’m tempted to give him one. We both
know he covered for me. So here I am in his debt again. If I tell him the truth about
the girl, somehow that might even things up. How can it hurt really? Even if he
repeated the story, it couldn’t do me much harm. It was just something I
witnessed. And he lied as much as I did about Delly Cartwright.
I realize I do want to talk to someone about the girl. Someone who might be
able to help me figure out her story.
Gale would be my first choice, but it’s unlikely I’ll ever see Gale again. I try to
think if telling Peeta could give him any possible advantage over me, but I don’t
see how. Maybe sharing a confidence will actually make him believe I see him as a
friend.
Besides, the idea of the girl with her maimed tongue frightens me. She has
reminded me why I’m here. Not to model flashy costumes and eat delicacies. But
to die a bloody death while the crowds urge on my killer.
To tell or not to tell? My brain still feels slow from the wine. I stare down the
empty corridor as if the decision lies there.
Peeta picks up on my hesitation. “Have you been on the roof yet?” I shake my
head. “Cinna showed me. You can practically see the whole city. The wind’s a bit
loud, though.”
I translate this into “No one will overhear us talking” in my head. You do have
the sense that we might be under surveillance here. “Can we just go up?”
“Sure, come on,” says Peeta. I follow him to a flight of stairs that lead to the
roof. There’s a small dome-shaped room with a door to the outside. As we step
into the cool, windy evening air, I catch my breath at the view. The Capitol
twinkles like a vast field of fireflies. Electricity in District 12 comes and goes,
usually we only have it a few hours a day. Often the evenings are spent in
candlelight. The only time you can count on it is when they’re airing the Games or
some important government message on television that it’s mandatory to watch.
But here there would be no shortage. Ever.
Peeta and I walk to a railing at the edge of the roof. I look straight down the
side of the building to the street, which is buzzing with people. You can hear their
cars, an occasional shout, and a strange metallic tinkling. In District 12, we’d all
be thinking about bed right now.
“I asked Cinna why they let us up here. Weren’t they worried that some of the
tributes might decide to jump right over the side?” says Peeta.
“What’d he say?” I ask.
“You can’t,” says Peeta. He holds out his hand into seemingly empty space.
There’s a sharp zap and he jerks it back. “Some kind of electric field throws you
back on the roof.”
“Always worried about our safety,” I say. Even though Cinna has shown Peeta
the roof, I wonder if we’re supposed to be up here now, so late and alone. I’ve
never seen tributes on the Training Center roof before. But that doesn’t mean
we’re not being taped. “Do you think they’re watching us now?”
“Maybe,” he admits. “Come see the garden.”
On the other side of the dome, they’ve built a garden with flower beds and
potted trees. From the branches hang hundreds of wind chimes, which account for
the tinkling I heard. Here in the garden, on this windy night, it’s enough to drown
out two people who are trying not to be heard. Peeta looks at me expectantly.
I pretend to examine a blossom. “We were hunting in the woods one day.
Hidden, waiting for game,” I whisper.
“You and your father?” he whispers back.
“No, my friend Gale. Suddenly all the birds stopped singing at once. Except
one. As if it were giving a warning call. And then we saw her. I’m sure it was the
same girl. A boy was with her. Their clothes were tattered. They had dark circles
under their eyes from no sleep. They were running as if their lives depended on
it,” I say.
For a moment I’m silent, as I remember how the sight of this strange pair,
clearly not from District 12, fleeing through the woods immobilized us. Later, we
wondered if we could have helped them escape. Perhaps we might have.
Concealed them. If we’d moved quickly. Gale and I were taken by surprise, yes,
but we’re both hunters. We know how animals look at bay. We knew the pair was
in trouble as soon as we saw them. But we only watched.
“The hovercraft appeared out of nowhere,” I continue to Peeta. “I mean, one
moment the sky was empty and the next it was there. It didn’t make a sound, but
they saw it. A net dropped down on the girl and carried her up, fast, so fast like
the elevator. They shot some sort of spear through the boy. It was attached to a
cable and they hauled him up as well. But I’m certain he was dead. We heard the
girl scream once. The boy’s name, I think. Then it was gone, the hovercraft.
Vanished into thin air. And the birds began to sing again, as if nothing had
happened.”
“Did they see you?” Peeta asked.
“I don’t know. We were under a shelf of rock,” I reply.
But I do know. There was a moment, after the birdcall, but before the
hovercraft, where the girl had seen us. She’d locked eyes with me and called out
for help. But neither Gale or I had responded.
“You’re shivering,” says Peeta.
The wind and the story have blown all the warmth from my body. The girl’s
scream. Had it been her last?
Peeta takes off his jacket and wraps it around my shoulders. I start to take a
step back, but then I let him, deciding for a moment to accept both his jacket and
his kindness. A friend would do that, right?
“They were from here?” he asks, and he secures a button at my neck.
I nod. They’d had that Capitol look about them. The boy and the girl.
“Where do you suppose they were going?” he asks.
“I don’t know that,” I say. District 12 is pretty much the end of the line. Beyond
us, there’s only wilderness. If you don’t count the ruins of District 13 that still
smolder from the toxic bombs. They show it on television occasionally, just to
remind us. “Or why they would leave here.” Haymitch had called the Avoxes
traitors. Against what? It could only be the Capitol. But they had everything here.
No cause to rebel.
“I’d leave here,” Peeta blurts out. Then he looks around nervously. It was loud
enough to hear above the chimes. He laughs. “I’d go home now if they let me. But
you have to admit, the food’s prime.”
He’s covered again. If that’s all you’d heard it would just sound like the words
of a scared tribute, not someone con templating the unquestionable goodness of
the Capitol.
“It’s getting chilly. We better go in,” he says. Inside the dome, it’s warm and
bright. His tone is conversational. “Your friend Gale. He’s the one who took your
sister away at the reaping?”
“Yes. Do you know him?” I ask.
“Not really. I hear the girls talk about him a lot. I thought he was your cousin or
something. You favor each other,” he says.
“No, we’re not related,” I say.
Peeta nods, unreadable. “Did he come to say good-bye to you?”
“Yes,” I say, observing him carefully. “So did your father. He brought me
cookies.”
Peeta raises his eyebrows as if this is news. But after watching him lie so
smoothly, I don’t give this much weight. “Really? Well, he likes you and your
sister. I think he wishes he had a daughter instead of a houseful of boys.”
The idea that I might ever have been discussed, around the dinner table, at the
bakery fire, just in passing in Peeta’s house gives me a start. It must have been
when the mother was out of the room.
“He knew your mother when they were kids,” says Peeta.
Another surprise. But probably true. “Oh, yes. She grew up in town,” I say. It
seems impolite to say she never men tioned the baker except to compliment his
bread.
We’re at my door. I give back his jacket. “See you in the morning then.”
“See you,” he says, and walks off down the hall.
When I open my door, the redheaded girl is collecting my unitard and boots
from where I left them on the floor before my shower. I want to apologize for
possibly getting her in trouble earlier. But I remember I’m not supposed to speak
to her unless I’m giving her an order.
“Oh, sorry,” I say. “I was supposed to get those back to Cinna. I’m sorry. Can
you take them to him?”
She avoids my eyes, gives a small nod, and heads out the door.
I’d set out to tell her I was sorry about dinner. But I know that my apology runs
much deeper. That I’m ashamed I never tried to help her in the woods. That I let
Just like I was watching the Games.
I kick off my shoes and climb under the covers in my clothes. The shivering
hasn’t stopped. Perhaps the girl doesn’t even remember me. But I know she does.
You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope. I pull the covers
up over my head as if this will protect me from the redheaded girl who can’t
speak. But I can feel her eyes staring at me, piercing through walls and doors and
bedding.
I wonder if she’ll enjoy watching me die.
Chapter 6
The Training Center has a tower designed exclusively for the tributes and their
teams. This will be our home until the actual Games begin. Each district has an
entire floor. You simply step onto an elevator and press the number of your
district. Easy enough to remember.
I’ve ridden the elevator a couple of times in the Justice Building back in District
12. Once to receive the medal for my father’s death and then yesterday to say my
final goodbyes to my friends and family. But that’s a dark and creaky thing that
moves like a snail and smells of sour milk. The walls of this elevator are made of
crystal so that you can watch the people on the ground floor shrink to ants as you
shoot up into the air. It’s exhilarating and I’m tempted to ask Effie Trinket if we can
ride it again, but somehow that seems childish.
Apparently, Effie Trinket’s duties did not conclude at the station. She and
Haymitch will be overseeing us right into the arena. In a way, that’s a plus
because at least she can be counted on to corral us around to places on time
whereas we haven’t seen Haymitch since he agreed to help us on the train.
Probably passed out somewhere. Effie Trinket, on the other hand, seems to be
flying high. We’re the first team she’s ever chaperoned that made a splash at the
opening ceremonies. She’s complimentary about not just our costumes but how
we conducted ourselves. And, to hear her tell it, Effie knows everyone who’s
anyone in the Capitol and has been talking us up all day, trying to win us sponsors.
“I’ve been very mysterious, though,” she says, her eyes squint half shut.
“Because, of course, Haymitch hasn’t bothered to tell me your strategies. But I’ve
done my best with what I had to work with. How Katniss sacrificed herself for her
sister. How you’ve both successfully struggled to overcome the barbarism of your
district.”
Barbarism? That’s ironic coming from a woman helping to prepare us for
slaughter. And what’s she basing our success on? Our table manners?
“Everyone has their reservations, naturally. You being from the coal district.
But I said, and this was very clever of me, I said, ‘Well, if you put enough pressure
on coal it turns to pearls!’“ Effie beams at us so brilliantly that we have no choice
but to respond enthusiastically to her cleverness even though it’s wrong.
Coal doesn’t turn to pearls. They grow in shellfish. Possibly she meant coal
turns to diamonds, but that’s untrue, too. I’ve heard they have some sort of
machine in District 1 that can turn graphite into diamonds. But we don’t mine
graphite in District 12. That was part of District 13’s job until they were destroyed.
I wonder if the people she’s been plugging us to all day either know or care.
“Unfortunately, I can’t seal the sponsor deals for you. Only Haymitch can do
that,” says Effie grimly. “But don’t worry, I’ll get him to the table at gunpoint if
necessary.”
Although lacking in many departments, Effie Trinket has a certain
determination I have to admire.
My quarters are larger than our entire house back home. They are plush, like
the train car, but also have so many automatic gadgets that I’m sure I won’t have
time to press all the buttons. The shower alone has a panel with more than a
hundred options you can choose regulating water temperature, pressure, soaps,
shampoos, scents, oils, and massaging sponges. When you step out on a mat,
heaters come on that blow-dry your body. Instead of struggling with the knots in
my wet hair, I merely place my hand on a box that sends a current through my
scalp, untangling, parting, and drying my hair almost instantly. It floats down
around my shoulders in a glossy curtain.
I program the closet for an outfit to my taste. The win dows zoom in and out on
parts of the city at my command. You need only whisper a type of food from a
gigantic menu into a mouthpiece and it appears, hot and steamy, before you in
less than a minute. I walk around the room eating goose liver and puffy bread until
there’s a knock on the door. Effie’s calling me to dinner.
Good. I’m starving.
Peeta, Cinna, and Portia are standing out on a balcony that overlooks the
Capitol when we enter the dining room. I’m glad to see the stylists, particularly
after I hear that Haymitch will be joining us. A meal presided over by just
Effie and Haymitch is bound to be a disaster. Besides, dinner isn’t really about
food, it’s about planning out our strategies, and Cinna and Portia have already
proven how valuable they are.
A silent young man dressed in a white tunic offers us all stemmed glasses of
wine. I think about turning it down, but I’ve never had wine, except the homemade
stuff my mother uses for coughs, and when will I get a chance to try it again? I
take a sip of the tart, dry liquid and secretly think it could be improved by a few
spoonfuls of honey.
Haymitch shows up just as dinner is being served. It looks as if he’s had his
own stylist because he’s clean and groomed and about as sober as I’ve ever seen
him. He doesn’t refuse the offer of wine, but when he starts in on his soup, I
realize it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him eat. Maybe he really will pull himself
together long enough to help us.
Cinna and Portia seem to have a civilizing effect on Haymitch and Effie. At least
they’re addressing each other decently. And they both have nothing but praise for
our stylists’ opening act. While they make small talk, I concentrate on the meal.
Mushroom soup, bitter greens with tomatoes the size of peas, rare roast beef
sliced as thin as paper, noodles in a green sauce, cheese that melts on your
tongue served with sweet blue grapes. The servers, all young people dressed in
white tunics like the one who gave us wine, move wordlessly to and from the
table, keeping the platters and glasses full.
About halfway through my glass of wine, my head starts feeling foggy, so I
change to water instead. I don’t like the feeling and hope it wears off soon. How
Haymitch can stand walking around like this full-time is a mystery.
I try to focus on the talk, which has turned to our interview costumes, when a
girl sets a gorgeous-looking cake on the table and deftly lights it. It blazes up and
then the flames flicker around the edges awhile until it finally goes out. I have a
moment of doubt. “What makes it burn? Is it alcohol?” I say, looking up at the girl.
“That’s the last thing I wa — oh! I know you!”
I can’t place a name or time to the girl’s face. But I’m certain of it. The dark
red hair, the striking features, the porcelain white skin. But even as I utter the
words, I feel my insides contracting with anxiety and guilt at the sight of her, and
while I can’t pull it up, I know some bad memory is associated with her. The
expression of terror that crosses her face only adds to my confusion and unease.
She shakes her head in denial quickly and hurries away from the table.
When I look back, the four adults are watching me like hawks.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Katniss. How could you possibly know an Avox?” snaps
Effie. “The very thought.”
“What’s an Avox?” I ask stupidly.
“Someone who committed a crime. They cut her tongue so she can’t speak,”
says Haymitch. “She’s probably a traitor of some sort. Not likely you’d know her.”
“And even if you did, you’re not to speak to one of them unless it’s to give an
order,” says Effie. “Of course, you don’t really know her.”
But I do know her. And now that Haymitch has mentioned the word traitor I
remember from where. The disapproval is so high I could never admit it. “No, I
guess not, I just —” I stammer, and the wine is not helping.
Peeta snaps his fingers. “Delly Cartwright. That’s who it is. I kept thinking she
looked familiar as well. Then I realized she’s a dead ringer for Delly.”
Delly Cartwright is a pasty-faced, lumpy girl with yellowish hair who looks
about as much like our server as a beetle does a butterfly. She may also be the
friendliest person on the planet — she smiles constantly at everybody in school,
even me. I have never seen the girl with the red hair smile. But I jump on Peeta’s
suggestion gratefully. “Of course, that’s who I was thinking of. It must be the hair,”
I say.
“Something about the eyes, too,” says Peeta.
The energy at the table relaxes. “Oh, well. If that’s all it is,” says Cinna. “And
yes, the cake has spirits, but all the alcohol has burned off. I ordered it specially in
honor of your fiery debut.”
We eat the cake and move into a sitting room to watch the replay of the
opening ceremonies that’s being broadcast. A few of the other couples make a
nice impression, but none of them can hold a candle to us. Even our own party lets
out an “Ahh!” as they show us coming out of the Remake Center.
“Whose idea was the hand holding?” asks Haymitch.
“Cinna’s,” says Portia.
“Just the perfect touch of rebellion,” says Haymitch. “Very nice.”
Rebellion? I have to think about that one a moment. But when I remember the
other couples, standing stiffly apart, never touching or acknowledging each other,
as if their fellow tribute did not exist, as if the Games had already begun, I know
what Haymitch means. Presenting ourselves not as adversaries but as friends has
distinguished us as much as the fiery costumes.
“Tomorrow morning is the first training session. Meet me for breakfast and I’ll
tell you exactly how I want you to play it,” says Haymitch to Peeta and I. “Now go
get some sleep while the grown-ups talk.”
Peeta and I walk together down the corridor to our rooms. When we get to my
door, he leans against the frame, not blocking my entrance exactly but insisting I
pay attention to him. “So, Delly Cartwright. Imagine finding her lookalike here.”
He’s asking for an explanation, and I’m tempted to give him one. We both
know he covered for me. So here I am in his debt again. If I tell him the truth about
the girl, somehow that might even things up. How can it hurt really? Even if he
repeated the story, it couldn’t do me much harm. It was just something I
witnessed. And he lied as much as I did about Delly Cartwright.
I realize I do want to talk to someone about the girl. Someone who might be
able to help me figure out her story.
Gale would be my first choice, but it’s unlikely I’ll ever see Gale again. I try to
think if telling Peeta could give him any possible advantage over me, but I don’t
see how. Maybe sharing a confidence will actually make him believe I see him as a
friend.
Besides, the idea of the girl with her maimed tongue frightens me. She has
reminded me why I’m here. Not to model flashy costumes and eat delicacies. But
to die a bloody death while the crowds urge on my killer.
To tell or not to tell? My brain still feels slow from the wine. I stare down the
empty corridor as if the decision lies there.
Peeta picks up on my hesitation. “Have you been on the roof yet?” I shake my
head. “Cinna showed me. You can practically see the whole city. The wind’s a bit
loud, though.”
I translate this into “No one will overhear us talking” in my head. You do have
the sense that we might be under surveillance here. “Can we just go up?”
“Sure, come on,” says Peeta. I follow him to a flight of stairs that lead to the
roof. There’s a small dome-shaped room with a door to the outside. As we step
into the cool, windy evening air, I catch my breath at the view. The Capitol
twinkles like a vast field of fireflies. Electricity in District 12 comes and goes,
usually we only have it a few hours a day. Often the evenings are spent in
candlelight. The only time you can count on it is when they’re airing the Games or
some important government message on television that it’s mandatory to watch.
But here there would be no shortage. Ever.
Peeta and I walk to a railing at the edge of the roof. I look straight down the
side of the building to the street, which is buzzing with people. You can hear their
cars, an occasional shout, and a strange metallic tinkling. In District 12, we’d all
be thinking about bed right now.
“I asked Cinna why they let us up here. Weren’t they worried that some of the
tributes might decide to jump right over the side?” says Peeta.
“What’d he say?” I ask.
“You can’t,” says Peeta. He holds out his hand into seemingly empty space.
There’s a sharp zap and he jerks it back. “Some kind of electric field throws you
back on the roof.”
“Always worried about our safety,” I say. Even though Cinna has shown Peeta
the roof, I wonder if we’re supposed to be up here now, so late and alone. I’ve
never seen tributes on the Training Center roof before. But that doesn’t mean
we’re not being taped. “Do you think they’re watching us now?”
“Maybe,” he admits. “Come see the garden.”
On the other side of the dome, they’ve built a garden with flower beds and
potted trees. From the branches hang hundreds of wind chimes, which account for
the tinkling I heard. Here in the garden, on this windy night, it’s enough to drown
out two people who are trying not to be heard. Peeta looks at me expectantly.
I pretend to examine a blossom. “We were hunting in the woods one day.
Hidden, waiting for game,” I whisper.
“You and your father?” he whispers back.
“No, my friend Gale. Suddenly all the birds stopped singing at once. Except
one. As if it were giving a warning call. And then we saw her. I’m sure it was the
same girl. A boy was with her. Their clothes were tattered. They had dark circles
under their eyes from no sleep. They were running as if their lives depended on
it,” I say.
For a moment I’m silent, as I remember how the sight of this strange pair,
clearly not from District 12, fleeing through the woods immobilized us. Later, we
wondered if we could have helped them escape. Perhaps we might have.
Concealed them. If we’d moved quickly. Gale and I were taken by surprise, yes,
but we’re both hunters. We know how animals look at bay. We knew the pair was
in trouble as soon as we saw them. But we only watched.
“The hovercraft appeared out of nowhere,” I continue to Peeta. “I mean, one
moment the sky was empty and the next it was there. It didn’t make a sound, but
they saw it. A net dropped down on the girl and carried her up, fast, so fast like
the elevator. They shot some sort of spear through the boy. It was attached to a
cable and they hauled him up as well. But I’m certain he was dead. We heard the
girl scream once. The boy’s name, I think. Then it was gone, the hovercraft.
Vanished into thin air. And the birds began to sing again, as if nothing had
happened.”
“Did they see you?” Peeta asked.
“I don’t know. We were under a shelf of rock,” I reply.
But I do know. There was a moment, after the birdcall, but before the
hovercraft, where the girl had seen us. She’d locked eyes with me and called out
for help. But neither Gale or I had responded.
“You’re shivering,” says Peeta.
The wind and the story have blown all the warmth from my body. The girl’s
scream. Had it been her last?
Peeta takes off his jacket and wraps it around my shoulders. I start to take a
step back, but then I let him, deciding for a moment to accept both his jacket and
his kindness. A friend would do that, right?
“They were from here?” he asks, and he secures a button at my neck.
I nod. They’d had that Capitol look about them. The boy and the girl.
“Where do you suppose they were going?” he asks.
“I don’t know that,” I say. District 12 is pretty much the end of the line. Beyond
us, there’s only wilderness. If you don’t count the ruins of District 13 that still
smolder from the toxic bombs. They show it on television occasionally, just to
remind us. “Or why they would leave here.” Haymitch had called the Avoxes
traitors. Against what? It could only be the Capitol. But they had everything here.
No cause to rebel.
“I’d leave here,” Peeta blurts out. Then he looks around nervously. It was loud
enough to hear above the chimes. He laughs. “I’d go home now if they let me. But
you have to admit, the food’s prime.”
He’s covered again. If that’s all you’d heard it would just sound like the words
of a scared tribute, not someone con templating the unquestionable goodness of
the Capitol.
“It’s getting chilly. We better go in,” he says. Inside the dome, it’s warm and
bright. His tone is conversational. “Your friend Gale. He’s the one who took your
sister away at the reaping?”
“Yes. Do you know him?” I ask.
“Not really. I hear the girls talk about him a lot. I thought he was your cousin or
something. You favor each other,” he says.
“No, we’re not related,” I say.
Peeta nods, unreadable. “Did he come to say good-bye to you?”
“Yes,” I say, observing him carefully. “So did your father. He brought me
cookies.”
Peeta raises his eyebrows as if this is news. But after watching him lie so
smoothly, I don’t give this much weight. “Really? Well, he likes you and your
sister. I think he wishes he had a daughter instead of a houseful of boys.”
The idea that I might ever have been discussed, around the dinner table, at the
bakery fire, just in passing in Peeta’s house gives me a start. It must have been
when the mother was out of the room.
“He knew your mother when they were kids,” says Peeta.
Another surprise. But probably true. “Oh, yes. She grew up in town,” I say. It
seems impolite to say she never men tioned the baker except to compliment his
bread.
We’re at my door. I give back his jacket. “See you in the morning then.”
“See you,” he says, and walks off down the hall.
When I open my door, the redheaded girl is collecting my unitard and boots
from where I left them on the floor before my shower. I want to apologize for
possibly getting her in trouble earlier. But I remember I’m not supposed to speak
to her unless I’m giving her an order.
“Oh, sorry,” I say. “I was supposed to get those back to Cinna. I’m sorry. Can
you take them to him?”
She avoids my eyes, gives a small nod, and heads out the door.
I’d set out to tell her I was sorry about dinner. But I know that my apology runs
much deeper. That I’m ashamed I never tried to help her in the woods. That I let
Just like I was watching the Games.
I kick off my shoes and climb under the covers in my clothes. The shivering
hasn’t stopped. Perhaps the girl doesn’t even remember me. But I know she does.
You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope. I pull the covers
up over my head as if this will protect me from the redheaded girl who can’t
speak. But I can feel her eyes staring at me, piercing through walls and doors and
bedding.
I wonder if she’ll enjoy watching me die.
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