Black Ice (The Hunger Games--Fanfic)

t h r e e

At first we don't actually get on the train. We stand in the entrance as the camera people take photo after photo of us. I blink repeatedly to stop the light from the flash making me go blind. After a minute or so, we finally are allowed to go onto the train properly. The doors close behind us and then we are shut off from the outside world.

It feels good, now that the stupid light have finished destroying my retinas. I blink a couple more times, still seeing the blinding light every time I close my eyes. I'm surprised that I don't have a headache. If I do, I'm sure that there will be something I can take for it. The capitol have medicines for everything. Apparently, they even have one that makes your eyebrows turn green.

It wouldn't surprise me.

The train starts moving. I walk out of the entrance and over to a window. I can barely take in the scenery that I pass. Everything moves so quickly. I am shocked at the speed. I don't think I had ever realised how fast it really is.

No one in district 4 could really imagine that. None of them, apart from the victors, have ever been on a train, and most are probably hoping they never get to. If they did, then they'd be in the same position as me. Which, I can assure you, is not a good one. Not at all.

I walk away form the window, desperate to explore the train a little bit more. I walk about for a little, and admire how fancy everything is. Even the smell of the train. The air is fresh, and does not smell like the salty waters that my district is surrounded by.

"Mira?"

I look up. Clementine is standing in front of me, waving her arms around. I feel obliged to smile. I don't want to. I want to frown at her and maybe tell her that I don't like her. But my father always told me that was rude. So, I just stick with the smile. I hope it looks forced.

"Shall I show you to your room?"

I nod. I'm not really in the mood for words. I am struggling to hold back the tears which I can feel forming in my eyes. I want to try and blink them away like I did with the light from the cameras, but that wont work. That will just make me look like I'm having a seizure, and they will still roll down my cheeks.

I follow Clementine and Samuel, as they ponder down the carriages. I am shown to my room, and then the others walk off to find their own. I'm glad they're gone. I don't want them to follow me around. I want to have some time to myself before they broadcast my death for the capitol and districts to see.

I open the door, slowly. Inside I see a large bed, which is scattered with pillows. Almost as thought it is my first instinct, I walk over then throw myself onto it. I fall and hit the soft mattress, before springing up several inches into the air, and landing back down again.

I walk over to another door in my room. When I open it, I see a large bathroom on the other side. From an outside view, I would never have imagined the train to be so big. I was wrong though. Clearly.

I look over and see pipes running around, leading to a giant tap head. I turn it on. Water comes out, steaming hot, the colour of rose petals, and scented like the sugary syrup I once had when I was extremely ill with a fever. It smells extremely sweet, but reminds me of home.

Home. That word. It's everywhere. But as I take off my clothes and step under the warm running water, it's all I can think about. What are my parents doing? Is my mum okay? Is my dad worried about me? Is my brother crying? All the thought rush into my mind at once.

I wish I could just remove them, but it really isn't that simple.

Half-an-hour later, there is a swift knock on my door, as Samuel (who told me to call him Sam), tells me that he was asked to tell me that I am supposed to be in the dining room with everyone else. The way he says it makes it seem like he really didn't want to, but was forced to remind me of where I was supposed to be.

If I was in a better off situation, like in stories I've read, I may've refused dinner. But I am in no position to do so. The capitol will take advantages of my weaknesses as they display my death, so I will take advantage of their fancy trains and exotic foods.

I enter the dining room and stop dead in my tracks. There is a huge table, lined with plates, cups and cutlery, and the compartment itself is bigger than my whole entire house.

I am speechless. I have nothing to criticize. I wish I could've pointed out how stupid it all looks, but they are about to give me more food than I have eaten in my whole life so far. So I smile. This time, I hope it looks genuine.

I walk over and take a seat at the table next to Sam and Annie (one of the previous victors, who does not seem too happy to have been dragged along on this trip).

We eat and eat and eat. All foods I have never had before. Clementine seems shocked when I point out that I don't know what steak tastes like. All we really get our protein from in District 4, is fish. To be honest, I quite like the steak. It's something different.

After several platefuls, I am surprised that there is still more to come and I am handed a bowl with a generous serving of tiramisu, which I begin to eat for the first time. I am shocked to say that it is also really nice.

Finally, after eating way too much, we are allowed to leave the table, and go into another room, where we watch all of the other reapings from the other districts.

It makes me sad to watch as each of the tributes makes their way up onto a stager for the world to see their faces before all but one of us is brutally murdered.