The Boy with the Bread

Chapter 5

Once lunch is over and I am given a moment to relax, Portia decides she wants to show me where the opening ceremony for the games will begin. Though I'm still in my robe, she leads me out of the room and down the main hall again before we enter an elevator. Elevators are not very common in District Twelve, so my momentary confusion and surprise at the contraption is all too apparent when the doors close and we begin to travel down to the tower's basement. Portia doesn't say anything, however, and merely beckons me to follow her to a large chamber which turns out to be stables housing several horses and large chariots. She points out the chariot that Katniss and I will be riding, black and studded with silver. The horses are black as well.

"How do they expect us to stay on those things?" I can't help but wonder.

Portia just laughs. "By holding really tightly."

The day is wearing on and soon I'm back inside the Remake Center, with Portia and the prep team preparing me for the evening. It's then that I discover what my costume is: a black, form-fitting one-piece Portia calls a unitard. I'm given black boots to wear as well. Before I can put this on, however, Portia oversees Marcus and Thea as they work on my face again. There's no shaving this time, but they do wash it before dabbing on some lotion to cover blemishes. It also helps conceal the bruise that is still apparent on my cheek. Thea then produces some golden powder for what she calls "highlighting." I only hope the makeup isn't too apparent and I don't look too bizarre. Portia messes with my hair a bit, brushing it away from my eyes. No gel or anything is administered to it though. Marcus then helps me with getting the unitard on and I pull on the boots after that, lacing them up. It's quite a rigorous process.

The last touches are a cape with a matching headpiece. The cape has patterns of bright oranges, yellows and reds that look like fire. It falls from my shoulders and down to my heels.

"Do you like it? Once the procession starts, the plan is to light it on fire, along with your headdress, there." Portia tells me, as calmly as if she were talking about the weather.

I blink. "Uh, say what?"

"Oh, it's perfectly safe, I assure you. It's not real or anything," she waves my growing panic aside. "We want you two to leave an impression, and you can be we'll be able to tonight!" She's becoming more and more excited with each word she says while I'm becoming more and more terrified.

I'm going to die even before the games have started, I think.

While Portia, Marcus and Thea gush about how fantastic the costume looks, I try my hardest not to think about burning alive as we leave the room to meet the others. I spot Katniss, wearing nearly the same getup as myself, with the same headpiece and the same cape. We take a moment to look at one another while our prep teams and Portia chatter on and on about the costumes to the man who is undoubtedly Cinna. He is dressed simply like Portia, wearing black and with short hair.

We travel down to the basement where the stables are. This time, the place is crowded with different stylists and the tributes. Each chariot for each pair of tributes is lined up in the order of the districts, so of course, ours is last. Cinna helps Katniss up onto one side of the chariot and I pull myself up next to her. Both our stylists tell us how to stand, where to hold the chariot for support and so on while they adjust our capes and headdresses. Soon, they step off of the chariot, leaving me and Katniss standing side by side. We haven't spoken to each other since this morning on the train, and while I would normally be glad to see her, I'm too distracted and perturbed about the possibilities of burning alive.

"What do you think?" Someone's whispering to me, and I realize it's Katniss. "About the fire?" She leans towards me a little, and I can tell by the look in her eye that she is just as terrified of the fire as I am.