the way things go [s. plinth]

x i i

Ophelia opened her eyes. They felt puffy from crying herself to sleep. She felt terrible.

"Morning," muttered Treech from next to her. He looked nearly as bad as Ophelia felt.

"Rough sleep?" she asked.

Treech nodded. "You?"

"Same," said Ophelia.

"Hold on," said Treech. "This won't make things better, but maybe it'll cheer us up." He pulled a napkin out of the pocket of his jacket. He unwrapped it to reveal a frosted cookie. He broke the cookie in half and offered half to Ophelia.

"What is it?" she asked, taking the dessert from his hand.

"A lemon cookie," said Treech. "Venus made some for me. Ma used to make them for birthdays in Seven. Try it."

Ophelia skeptically took a bite of the cookie. Her eyes lit up when the tart flavor hit her tongue. Treech laughed. "Good, right?"

Ophelia nodded enthusiastically. "Not bad for a last meal," she joked.

"How's your ankle doing?" asked Treech.

Ophelia straightened her legs in front of her. She pointed and flexed her injured foot, testing its strength. It was still sore, but healing well.

"Better," said Ophelia. "The new shoes help."

"How'd you get them?" asked Treech.

"Sej brought them for me, I think they're his ma's," said Ophelia, wincing as she thought of Sejanus and how she'd treated him last night.

"Do you want me to rewrap the bandage for you? It'll stabilize the joint better if it's tight," suggested Treech.

"Thank you," said Ophelia. She swung her leg across Treech's lap. He pulled off her shoe and sock, then unraveled the wrap and tightened it around her leg.

"How's that?" he asked once he was done.

Ophelia repeated the same motions. This time was a bit more difficult because of the stiffness of the bandage. "Way better, thank you," she said.

"Of course," said Treech. "Shit. They're here."

Ophelia looked in the direction he was looking in. Sure enough, a squad of Peacekeepers had arrived in the enclosure, rounding up the remaining fifteen tributes. Ophelia shoved her foot back into her shoe.

Treech stood, pulling Ophelia to her feet as well. Ophelia took his hand, seeking comfort in his touch. They joined the others in the back of the truck. Instantly, Treech found Lamina and tried to calm her. Ophelia didn't mind being left alone again. She'd been abandoned by nearly everyone else in her life, what was one more?

The truck ride felt agonizingly long. Ophelia was terrified. She was starting to regret declining Treech's offer of an alliance, but it was too late. She was going into the arena alone. She didn't even have Sejanus to watch out for her anymore.

When the tributes arrived at the entrance of the arena, they were organized in a single file line. As the tributes from District One were dead, Ophelia was first in line. She had to be first in the arena, and she didn't like it. An armed Peacekeeper stood on either side of Ophelia, escorting her through the gate. The whole building felt even larger than it had last week. The walls seemed to stretch up for miles above Ophelia.

As they passed the turnstiles, Ophelia noticed the other entrance had been damaged, so it was now unusable. A tangle of barbed wire covered a gap at the bottom of the debris pile. It was big enough for someone could fit through. A squad of Peacekeepers guarded the space, most likely to prevent the tributes from making more escape attempts.