You Won't Drown: A Hunger Games story

Chapter Five

Annie POV
Just like that, I'm dragged out the door; just like that, I lose Finnick, again. It's enough to make me scream, so I do, shouting obscenities and threats at the peacekeepers until my throat is raw. They don't even pay me any mind, the weak girl from district four couldn't possibly be a threat, not to them.

I'm not even allowed to walk, instead I'm thrown over the shoulder of one of the peacekeepers like I'm some sort of prize catch. Despite my desperate attempts to break free, nothing changes, except I get graced with a punch to the face that probably breaks my nose. Seeing the blood is disconcerting and a part of my mind tries to distance me from this awful reality that's made strikingly real by the sharp contrast of blood on the white peacekeeper uniform.

The streets are empty, just like they were when Finnick and I first opened up the door, however long ago that was. It must have been at least an hour or two because the sun has now fully set and although the streetlights are on, their light seems pitiful now. Besides, even if there was a spotlight shining directly on me, there isn't anyone who would be foolish enough to help me. In the inner districts, as the Capitol "favorites," we're usually treated more fairly but most of us make sure not to push our luck on that. Finnick is the only person who would help me, and I have a sinking feeling that I'll never see him again.

We walk through the Victors Village in near silence except for the sound of peacekeepers marching determinedly down the middle of the street, stomping on the pavement. None of the houses look like they have their lights on inside, which is smart. When peacekeepers come marching through here with purpose, sometimes it's best to make yourself disappear before they help you with that. There is no freedom, not even for the victors, and apparently, there's not even a small semblance of safety either. Now that we're getting reaped, there's no horror that we're safe from.

Time passes strangely at this time of night, seeming to both speed up and slow down all at once. Maybe it's my panic, maybe it's my brain playing one of its many tricks or maybe it's something else entirely, but I can feel myself slipping away from reality and being powerless to stop it. I'm powerless here and I always have been. Why was I so stupid, so reckless? If I could have just held out then maybe Finnick and I could have met up again, had more time together, found a way to not get separated...

I hardly ever go outside anymore, especially not at night, so I don't necessarily recognize where we're going. Buildings all blur together as we leave the Victors Village, and now some lights are on and quiet chatter filters out of several houses. The whole thing is like an incoherent buzzing in my ears and a spotty picture in my eyes as even my own senses start to betray me. 

This is when I would usually wrap myself up tight in a blanket and huddle in a corner, desperately trying to calm my breathing before the hallucinations started. This is normally when I'd hide in one of the innermost rooms in my house, away from doors and windows that things could enter through. Of course, that leaves me father away from an escape but somehow that never seems to be quite as important as simply keeping myself hidden. It's what I did for almost the entire time during my Hunger Games and I made it out alive so it clearly worked. Well, it worked in that situation.

Finally, the peacekeeper carrying me comes to an abrupt stop and I can hear a distinct swooshing sound as something slows down and stops just a few feet from us. It takes my mind a second but I register that it's a train; this is the train station at one of the outer edges of the district, the one that I've only ever been at a handful of times. Once when I was leaving for the Hunger Games, off to my almost certain death, and then again on the return trip. Both times, there were knots in my stomach but for different reasons. I can only assume that this train will take me to the Capitol, and I shudder to think of what awaits me there.