the way things go [s. plinth]

i i

Ophelia awoke to a loud banging noise outside of the truck's metal door. She tightened her grip on Marcus's hand. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"I don't know," said Marcus.

The door opened, causing light to flood into the dark interior of the truck. Ophelia blinked to adjust to the harsh change in light, wishing she could shield her eyes. With her bound hands, that would be nearly impossible. To do so successfully, she would have to let go of Marcus's hand, which she didn't really want to do.

Through squinted eyes, Ophelia could see a squad of Peacekeepers. They grabbed her first, tearing her away from Marcus. Once she was removed from the truck, Ophelia could see that she was at District Two's train station. It was on the outskirts of the district, so Ophelia hadn't really been there before. It was old and kind of run down. Part of the ceiling had collapsed from bombs in the war.

Ophelia was dragged to a train, the only one in the station. A Peacekeeper slid open the door just enough for her to climb in. It closed behind her. What about Marcus? Ophelia didn't have to worry for long, as the door slid open once more to let Marcus in.

As soon as he entered the train car, the door slammed shut again. Ophelia heard the clinking of metal as they were locked in.

Ophelia nervously looked around the train car. She and Marcus weren't the only tributes here. Ten other children of varying ages sat around the perimeter of the space, paired off, most likely by district. Most of the tributes avoided eye contact. All except two: a girl a few years younger than Ophelia, with short red hair, and a curly-haired boy about Ophelia's age. The girl stared at the newcomers with skepticism, narrowing her eyes at them. The boy looked at Ophelia with curiosity. She found herself smiling shyly at the handsome boy.

"What are your names?" asked a girl from the opposite side of the train car. She was on the older end, Ophelia suspected she was around sixteen or seventeen. She sat beside a boy who had only one eye. Based on appearances alone, Ophelia couldn't tell which district they were from.

Ophelia opened her mouth to respond. Before she could, Marcus elbowed her in the ribs.

"What was that for?" she whispered.

"Don't talk to them," he whispered back.

"Why not?" asked Ophelia.

"We're not here to make friends," said Marcus.

Ophelia rolled her eyes and faced the others once more. Learning the other tributes' names couldn't hurt her.

"I'm Brandy," said the girl who had spoken first. "This is Tanner. We're from Ten."

The girl with short red hair had introduced herself as Coral. She and her district partner, Mizzen, came from District Four. Facet and Velvereen were from One and Hy and Sol from Five. The boy who had smiled at Ophelia was revealed to be called Treech. He and his partner, Lamina, came from District Seven.

"Ophelia," said the girl. "And this is Marcus. We're from Two."

Beside her, Marcus sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh hush," said Ophelia. "Telling them our names isn't a bad thing."

"Whatever," he grumbled.

The train whistle blew, making Ophelia jump. The car shook as the train began to move out of the station. Ophelia began to lose her balance from the sudden movement. Ophelia wished she could see out of the car better, so she could see her home one last time, but there was only a thin sliver of a gap to look through.