Soul, No Survivor

Ch. 2- Luckless

TW- brief mention of blood

Rose picked her way through the people crowding the square, stuffing the money into her skirt pocket. Elbows, knees, and hands jostled her as she went to stand with other girls of her age. The horn piped a few short alerts in fast succession, urging everybody to organize themselves faster.

Rose found a spot by the partition between boys and girls and planted her feet, wanting to have a good view of the podium. She wondered to herself what kind of outfit their escort, Beckhum Sunbee, would be sporting that day. One time, he'd taken his name literally and worn a gown made out of dead bees' husks. Rose shivered at the thought.

She turned her head, studying the boys' side to try and catch a glimpse of her brother. Roman was tall and wiry from working the slaughterhouse, and usually easy to spot from the sporadic spatters of blood that crusted on his clothes. A dark head of hair turned towards her and smiled, giving her a wave. Rose waved in reply, a small grin peeking around her expression. Her brother was, as usual, surrounded by his friends, and wasn't about to move to speak with Rose. No matter, though, a wave was nice of him.

Rosie turned her focus back to the girls' side after trying and failing to locate Harrier. She spun lazily to face the girls' side and got promptly ambushed by Mayzie. The shorter girl's hair was done up in some braided capitol-esque style that teetered when she moved.
"ROSIE!"
A sharp shush from some grandparent on the sidelines.
" Rosie! Guess what, guess what, guess!"
Rose's eyes glittered and she leaned in conspiratorially.
"Did Mulberry ask you out?" Mayzie's eyes rolled and she shook her head.
"No, he's dating Dilla from school."
"Strawberry?"
"Well, yes, but not what I'm talking about!"
"Wait, WHAT???"
"Last guess!"
Rose's nose wrinkled.
"Not Apple, surely."
Mayzie mimed gagging, then laughed.
"You couldn't pay me!"
Both the girls dissolved into laughs, and Mayzie shook her head.
"Alright, I'll just tell you, Roz. So I heard from Dilla's brother who heard from Simeon who heard from Maia who heard that Harrier wants to ask you to go out sometime!"
Rose blinked. She shook her head.
"No, definitely not. Dilla says that he likes her. But I guess if she's dating Simeon (Mulberry)-"

The trumpet sounded again.
Here we go.

The square's humming stopped abruptly, and the district escort, Beckhum Sunbee, emerged from backstage with a grand swooping motion of his hand. He sported a gold sequined gown with a glowing sun headdress. It might just be Rose's new favorite outfit of his.

Sunbee's capitol accent spoke the usual speech flippantly, explaining the history and procedure of the games. Rose had paid attention the first two years, but it was always the same speech. She did pay attention to the video, because it was sort of interesting still. Then, Sunbee clapped his hands and announced it was time to pick a tribute.

There it was.
The knot of fear in her stomach that had been ignorable until now.
Rose took a deep breath and kept her eyes locked on Sunbee.

Somebody sneezed.

His manicured nails reached into the women's bowl and rifled the papers around for a minute. He plucked one out ceremoniously, unfolding it to reveal the name.

"Razmouhi Greene."

What?
Her brain stopped working. Her mouth couldn't form words. Her pulse rushed. She turned to Mayzie, shocked into silence.
And then a peacekeeper grabbed her on either side and pushed her to the stage.

She didn't try to run. What's the point? She just went up the steps and stood.

"Razmouhi Greene, give us a wave!"
Sunbee prodded her in the shoulder, and Rose's hand drifted up. She waved lightly, eyes searching the crowd. They landed on her brother. His hand covered his mouth, and his eyes looked sorrowful. For a minute, I wondered whether he'd volunteer to help me. But that would be stupid. He's needed to support the family.

The crowd's murmurs slowed to a stop.
Sunbee moved towards the men's bowl, with the same pomp as before. He plucked a slip out, though Rose wasn't paying much attention.

"Clydesdell Skink!"

A boy that looked about Rose's age, maybe a little older, was pushed up the stairs to the stage by three peacekeepers. He put up a bit of a fight.
Should I have done that?
Should I have protested, or run?
Clydesdell stumbled to stop by Rose's side, blowing thick black hair out of his face.

"Clydesdell! Give us a hello, Clydesdell!"
The boy didn't move.
"Alright, then! Ladies and Gentlemen, youuurrrrr trrribuutessss!!"

Up on stage, the hot breeze was more suffocating than warming. Rose balled up her fists, clutching the fabric of her skirt. One hand was promptly tugged into the air by Beckhum Sunbee, and he held the boy and girl there for the district to see. The city stifled the sunshine, but kept the heat. Clouds were thicker. The sky, which had seemed so, so blue, was grey.

As the peacekeepers led her away, Rose looked over her shoulder at Mayzie, and at Roman, and at the old innkeeper.
He and Lucky were very far away.

The doors slammed shut.

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A/N: Here we go! The exciting part begins!
Let me know if you'd like me to include anything and I'll try! As always, please feel free to give critiques!
🧿🧿🧿
Be well, StarKat