Songs & Seas | Hunger Games

XIV.

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MARIA WISHED SHE COULD REMEMBER ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED DURING HER VISIT TO DISTRICT 7 BUT SHE WAS TOO FOCUSED ON DISTRICT 6. How was she expected to face the families of Nora and Titus after failing to protect one and killing the other? It didn't seem to matter though, because here she was on the train just as she had been for the last five districts.

A gray car picked them up at the station to shuttle them into the city center, she expected the transportation district to have more vehicles on the roads, but no. The road was empty apart from themselves and the peacekeeper vehicle that followed behind them as escorts. When they spit out the other end of the tunnel, the city was finally revealed. Maria was immediately put off by how eerily similar District 6 was to District 8. With the overwhelming smog and concrete buildings, she would bet money that the bus lines only ran till eight o'clock just like back home.

It wasn't long before they drove past the citizens as they made their way towards the ceremony in the city center. They were all so pale and sickly thin that they practically crawled down the sidewalk. When they pulled to stop a Peacekeeper opened her door. She stepped out of the car and something shattered under her heel.

She looked at the Peacekeeper cautiously out of habit, but they didn't make any moves. She carefully lifted her heel and looked down to see a broken syringe scattered on the cement. Devina was quick to hook onto her arm.

"Come along," Devina said giving a kind smile to the Peacekeeper before dragging the girl away. The colorful woman pampered the girl while the mayor of 6 gave his speech to his people. She gently brushed out her hair and smoothed down her dress. Devina pulled over a lipstick and gently dabbed it on the girl's lips. "Perfect."

As if on her cue the big doors opened and Maria was facing the crowd. Unlike the other times, she couldn't bring herself to look at either family as she walked out. Instead, she stared down at her cards and recited the lines given to her. When she did look up, she instantly regretted it.

The citizens of District 6 stared up at her like zombies, there was no emotion on their faces, and she doubted there was a thought behind their eyes. They swayed back and forth in the wind like they were waiting for it to knock them over. In the center of the crowd was their lynching stage. District 8 didn't have a stage they used a tree. It was the only tree in the whole of the city, a cruel reminder of the fact that everything natural had been stripped away from them.

Maria's eyes dared to look over at the podiums. Nora's innocent face stared back at her. Her father had an arm wrapped around his wife. No siblings, Nora was their only child. Her mother was thin, too thin and her father sickly pale. They might be far away but Maria could see them wiping away their tears.

She nearly stumbled back when she looked over to Titus's platform. His frighteningly dark brown eyes bore into her once again. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her gaze fell to his family. His sister and brother standing beside their parents. She anticipated hatred, she expected them to curse her name and spit on the ground she walked on.

But instead, they looked ashamed. His mother was looking at her shoes, and his father was looking at something above Maria's head. Their young son had a black eye, and his sister was crying into her hands. She couldn't have been much younger than Nora.

Maria sucked in a breath when she realized she hadn't been talking all this time. She cleared her throat and stepped closer to the microphone.

"The tributes of this District were great and noble warriors. They brought honor to their families and pride to their people. All of us are united. Both victors and vanquished in serving a common purpose for the power and glory of the Capitol. Panem today. Panem tomorrow. Panem forever."