Her Victory, Their Life| F. Odair

2. Goodbyes

Emory was dragged off the stage by two peacekeepers and was stuffed into a room. The door was opened again a minute later by a peacekeeper and her family. "You have 3 minutes," he said before shutting the door.

Emory rushed forward to her mom's arms. "Mama, I don't wanna die," she cried into her arms.

Her mom shook her head, getting on her knees, "You're not, you're not I promise. You're going to be yourself; you're going to get a lot of sponsors."

Elliot leaned down as well. "Hey, you remember what Cierra and I taught you, with the knives and how to climb, how to find shelter?" Emory nodded.

"Then you're going to be fine," Cameron smiled at his niece. "You're going to see us in a few weeks and have had an amazing time in the Capitol, it'll be like a little vacation."

"Promise?" She cried and he nodded, crying as well as he hugged her.

"Promise." She moved to her dad.

"We'll see you again sweet pea, I love you," her dad kissed her head. Cierra took her into her arms.

"I love you; we all love you, don't forget that don't let anyone intimidate you, don't let them know what you can do." The peacekeeper came back and ushered them out.

"Whatever you do, don't show them anything!" Her brother yelled as he was forced out. Emory wiped the tears off her face again as she was left alone in the room. She knew that ever since her sister was 14, they had been planning what to do if they were ever sent into the games.

Now she just had to actually do it.

Emory wasn't alone for long as Porter came into her room. She kneeled down in front of the little girl. "Everything's going to be okay," Porter assured her. "We'll get you ready for those games. Come on," she held out her hand. Emory grabbed it and they left the room to get on the train.

They got on the train and Emory looked around. She was a lot less emotional than other tributes. If anyone had to guess it would be because of the shock. She hadn't accepted that she was already dead– or that she would be soon.

Emory finally let her eyes wander around. The seats and couches were a deep emerald green. She chose one at a table with more exotic food than she had ever seen. It was filled with pastries and foods. Falle was already seated there with Porter.

"Feel free to eat or drink whatever you like dear," Falle said with a huge smile on her face, holding up a piece of bread. Emory accepted the bread and took a bite of it.

"It's good, thank you," she smiled at them before finishing the piece and grabbing a different one to try.

Falle sighed, "Crystal chandeliers. Platinum donuts. 200 miles per hour and you can barely feel a thing. I think it's one of the wonderful things is about this opportunity, that even though you're here and even though it's just for a little while. You get to enjoy all of this."

Everyone looked over as the door opened again to Coran and Evan. Evan took a seat across from Porter and Coran took the seat across from Emory.

She reached for a drink and looked inside to find apple juice. "This is just a snack; you should see dinner. It'll be out soon," Evan laughed. "Porter should get a large tasting, seeing as it's her last year as a mentor."

"It is?" Emory asked, looking at one of her mentors. The older woman nodded. She had been a mentor for the past 29 years; this would be her 30th.

"So, how do we win this?" Coran asked the two mentors.

Both mentors looked at each other and Evan gestured for her to go first. "First thing you need to know is about finding water and shelter. One of the most important things. Then, we'll talk about the cornucopia, teams or no teams, how to build a fire, how to combat infections, finally we'll coach you through interviews. If you win, we'll coach you through that too."

Evan nodded, "Training will start in full swing tomor–"

"How about during dinner?" Coran asked, impatiently. Emory was thinking the same thing, she didn't want to waste any time.

Evan leaned forward looking at the boy, he had a much better chance of living than Emory did. "Yeah, okay," he nodded. "Just didn't want to overwhelm you both. Emporia–"

"Emory," she corrected.

"Emory, you okay with it?" He asked her and she nodded.

They stayed in the same cabin until it was time for dinner. They all sat down as they placed steaks in front of them. One of the servants helped Emory cut hers as they started to eat.

"Okay," Porter smiled at the two. "Water is scarce, and they sometimes use it against you. You must know how to swim in that case. Swim parallel to currents, not against them."

The whole dinner was consumed with learning. Emory had started taking notes on a piece of paper she had found.

Soon dinner had ended, and she was sent to her room. She looked over her list. Study it, memorize it, improve it. Emory laid down on her bed. It was almost too comfortable, way too different from home.