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chapter thirty six, aurora borealis
The first thing that Indie missed from her old life was the fresh air.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt wind, real wind. Not generated by the Capitol. And there was certainly no wind down in the stony halls of District Thirteen. Fresh air seemed like so far away. They'd told her how far below the surface they were, and yet, she found herself unable to remember how far it was from what felt like freedom, but would only be more of a prison than here. At least, there there was the lie of being free. Here the stone walls felt like a cage surrounding them.
The second thing she missed from her old life was, as improbable as it seemed, Victor's Village.
It was where she'd once felt the smallest amount of safety, knowing, or at least having the lie that none of them would leave her. Of that small community that lived there they couldn't possibly die because they already had. And while she felt no sense of attachment to District Five, she missed it. The people that were there. Now miles upon miles away from her reach. Beyond her grasp. Her sister and nephew and brother in law included.
That was, if they were there.
Annie Cresta had been taken from District Four, knowing how much she meant to Finnick as part of his only family there. Perhaps it was the same for her family. Despite District Thirteen's resources, they couldn't tell her whether or not they were there. And that alone sent her the feeling of a panic in her chest, as thoughts of her small, barely three month old nephew behind Capitol walls where she couldn't protect him. The thought life the taste of bile in her mouth.
District Thirteen was something she heard about. A cautionary tale from the Capitol. And to find that it was still up and running gave her the smallest amount of hope. But also bitterness. Sure, they'd explained their reasons for hiding, but how many of the tributes she watched sent into the games would've been alive if they simply tried? How many districts would've followed the cause because they had something to believe in? Perhaps none. But there was a chance that those children she'd mentored wouldn't have died. No one would have suffered. And she herself would have lived a long happy life.
Beetee seemed to be the first tribute that recovered, despite the fact that he was one of the most injured, now sentenced to a life in a wheelchair. She recovered second, being one of the least critically injured, and found herself with nothing to do.
It wasn't the time to talk with Finnick. Not even he wasn't in the right mind, still in the hospital. So she found herself working beside Beetee in the labs, still, clearly not knowing as much as him but knowing a little more on certain things than everyone else. Enough that they found use for her and she didn't feel like an extra burden. Everyone here had a job to keep the system running, much like every district had a certain job in order to keep the Capitol running.
