[Flowers] • The Hunger Games

Twenty Five

Asteria wasn't allowed off of the train for the rest of the tour. Not until they reached the Capitol, at least- where attendance would be strictly mandatory. Her nerves were shot all the while. Locking herself in the bedroom and refusing to eat for days on end.

She could use the batshit crazy excuse. Try and convince Snow she had completely lost it. She couldn't be a real danger to him if she was so crazy she thought the sun was a huge spy camera. She could figure something out. This wasn't hopeless!

Who was she kidding?

There was no thinking herself out of this one.

She'd been so careful, and for what? She might've gotten Gale's brothers killed, or Madge's father. She might've signed a death contract for Haymitch, the only person they knew she cared about- or even Finnick. It all depended on how bad the incident had really been. She hadn't been around long enough to see the full extent of the damages done. Had the other districts seen what had happened, or had the broadcast cut away before then?

The thought of meeting Snow again made her sick. The idea of leaving her room made her sick. The whole world felt fucking sick, but she'd have to face it anyway.

They made it through the districts in receding order. After 11 had been 10, then 9, so on and so forth. Haymitch had talked Gale into keeping his mouth shut for the rest of the tour. Asteria noticed while he was on screen that they'd had to cover half of his face with makeup to conceal the bruising she'd left. Part of her felt a sense of pride in that. But mostly she couldn't muster enough energy to feel anything about him.

It was plain as day that they weren't in love. Now that she had taken a step back to view their relationship from a wider distance. Madge didn't even spare him passing glances anymore. And Gale had never looked at her again in the same way he had in the arena. They weren't lovers- they weren't even friends. Which meant there would be hell to pay for all of them when they reached the Capitol.

Eventually the train made it to district four. They didn't go deep enough into the district to see the ocean, but it's scent wasn't too far away. Asteria had never seen it, for reasons that should be obvious. There was an ocean on the other side of twelve, but that was miles beyond the fence. She hadn't known anyone to ever make it to the coast.

Her window, forcibly tinted from the outside looking in, gave a clear picture of the district. The two tributes from district four were dead before the second day, unusual for tributes from four. Neither of them were careers- but the female had at least escaped the cornucopia. Gale read half-heartedly from a cue card Effie had written before the two were quickly ushered back onto the train when a few hands raised in the district twelve salute. By now- they were shooting protesters on sight. And Asteria made herself watch every single time. She'd started this. She wouldn't turn away from the repercussions of her actions.

District four didn't produce as many outliers as some of the other districts. Nobody wanted to bite the hand that fed them, especially when they'd been fed very well- compared to the other districts. But the hands still raised the same as they'd had in the districts before it.

Finnick was here somewhere. That brought her some relief, and also made her nerves skyrocket once more. He'd be taking his own train with the other victors to the Capitol, as they would all be invited to the President's manor for the victory celebration. She'd promised him six months ago that they'd see one another. But with as much trouble as she'd caused in 11, the further away he stayed, the better off he'd be.