An Extra Tribute

-getting to the capitol-

When Johanna and Katniss get moved to Simulated Street Combat, I get kicked out of their class. I'm promoted to Lieutenant by Boggs and thrown onto the firing range with Gale, Finnick, and the other elites, training from seven hundred hours to eighteen hundred hours. I keep up easily with the guys in the group, at one point even having a push up contest with one. I won. We go on five miles runs every morning before practicing basic hand-to-hand, which Fin and I dominate, hit the shooting range, and then spend a lot of time in simulated training. Finnick and I are natural training partners and Gale has fit in with us splendidly. Every so often, I catch sight of a camera filming us on the firing range or in hand-to-hand when Finnick and I end up teaming against the rest of the partners. It's like they're trying to warn the Capitol that we're coming. Or maybe they're not airing it in the Capitol. That's probably it.

Coin decided that it would be a good idea to get Peeta into basic training. So, they took off his handcuffs and had him start doing the workouts with the teenagers. He's still got his two guards, but I think that it's good for him. He's been locked up in his hospital room for so long and needs exercise. I don't know if he should be thrown into combat, but to get a few shots for the propos showing that he's fighting for the rebels and not for Snow, I'm okay with that.

A few days before we leave for the Capitol, I get called in by Boggs. He tells me that I've made the cut, obviously, and that I'll be on his squad. He gives me a stamp on my hand that reads 451 and sends me down to remake to do what every soldier has to. Get their hair cut. All the guys get a really short buzz and all the girls get their hair chopped to their shoulders, which most of them already have because, well, it's 13. I get down there and am surprised to see that it's Katniss' prep team waiting for me instead.

"Octavia? Flavius? Venia? What are you guys doing here?" I ask. Venia grins at me.

"It seems that they didn't want one of their stars to go with a bad haircut," she says. "Come on, let's get you set up."

Over the next three hours, they re-dye over my spotty workmanship, cut, and highlight my waves. We talk while letting my hair air dry and when they turn me around to see the finished look, I'm shocked. My natural beach waves fall in gorgeous platinum blonde curls with highlights that make it look like it was lightened naturally from the sun, like it was when I was a kid. Octavia looks at me nervously, playing with her fingers.

"Do you like it?" She asks. I run my fingers through the waves in awe.

"Like it? Guys, I love it!" I spin around to face them. "Thank you so much!" I give them all hugs.

"Well, you have to have good hair when walking into battle," Flavius says with a smile. "Especially when it's on national television." This is news to me.

"National television?" I ask. They nod, glancing at each other.

"That's what Plutarch told us when he said that we were doing your hair," Venia replies. "He emphasized it because you need to look good in front of the country."

"Okay," I say with a nod. "Thank you guys again."

"Of course!" With that, I exit the remake room and head to Command, which ironically, is my next timestamp on the schedule printed on my arm. I burst through the doors with a touch of drama. Boggs laughs lightly when he realizes that it's me who just ran into the room and when I see Katniss standing with Finnick and Gale, I understand why. Katniss probably just did the same thing a few minutes ago. When I give the group she's with a once over, everything adds up; the guys not having a buzz, Katniss not having her hair cut, my hair being dyed for battle, and all four of us being in the same group. This is for propos.

"Please stand with your squad, Lieutenant Bryant," Boggs says. I exchange looks with Gale, but he just seems confused as to why I'm so on edge. I should be excited to be on this team, with Boggs leading, me as his Second, and three of my best friends being soldiers, I should be stoked. They don't know. I nod and cross the room in a soldier-like stride, my hands clasping behind my back as I stand in rest position in between Finnick and Katniss. I see Katniss straighten up and copy my position out of the corner of my eye as Heavensbee begins explaining what the battlefield will look like, pulling up a hologram of a Capitol street map. There are a variety of pods installed into several areas down each block, each designed to throw us off and kill our armies. Some with mutts, others with weapons or other biological mess they've managed to cook up in one of their labs. We know where a lot of them are placed and those markings show up on the map in multi-colored dots. I've been in all the meetings. I've made the connections. Now, it's their turn.