The Fourth Quarter Quell

II

Balyn's POV

I boarded the train with the other boys. I was standing between Farley and Kolin. I was the same height as Farley despite being three years younger. Not having a lot of food can stunt growth a little bit and living in District 12 meant not having a lot of food. I had only ever spoken to Orion but that was only because we were only a grade apart and our ages/grades shared a lunch at school. He didn't have many friends and they were all older so he just sat with Thea and I, because it was just the two of us. I had never talked to Hudson or Farley but they shopped/traded at the Hob too so I had seen them a lot. They looked almost like twins, messy black hair, stormy gray eyes, and thin but muscled bodies. They were almost free from the Games being eighteen, but they were reaped. Sometimes people would rather go into the Games than the mines, but others find the mines a sort of heaven for being able to make it to a death from an explosion rather than by poison, mutts, or another human being. 

I sat down on one of the chair/bench things placed at a table laden with different types of food, most of which I had never seen before. Farley left to go into one of the rooms on the train. Kolin sat next to me, Justice across, and Orion diagonal from me. Nyra Teloney was sitting with Katniss and Peeta Mellark, and Haymitch Abernathy on the couches behind. Hudson stayed standing not really knowing what to do before squeezing onto the bench next to Orion.

We sat in silence. No one talked. Not even the mentors and escort who had known each other for a few years now. I wanted to break the silence but my mouth was glued shut. I had the nerve to scare Thea with a bow in hand and an arrow notched but I couldn't bring myself to talk to people that had the possibility of dying in less than two weeks. We had more of a chance at surviving but only for a few months because then we would be sent straight back into the arena where only one tribute lives. 

Hudson broke the silence by biting into an apple. It was a small, timid bite but it made noise nonetheless. He stared at the apple as if confused at the red fruit. It wasn't a surprise. The chance of ever having an apple were slim to none, because apples rarely grow in District 12. He took another, more hungry, bite and chewed it happily. A look of complete ecstasy making an appearance on his face. He smiled as he continued eating the apple. Justice grabbed an apple as well. He looked at Hudson questioningly. Hudson merely nodded, still happy. Justice took a bite and the same look on Hudson's face appeared on his. 

Orion, Kolin, and I grabbed various other types of food from the table, taking hesitant bites, then digging in like we had been starved, which we had. Katniss came up behind me and snatched an orange fruit from the pile of fruits. I stared at the fruit. She grinned at my questioning expression. "It's called an orange." And she began peeling the orange, the inside being a paler orange.

After a few more minutes, Farley came out and joined us. He wasn't wearing his reaping clothes. Instead, he was wearing a cleaner, white shirt and trousers. I asked Kolin if I could get up, he moved out of the way, I walked towards where the rooms were. They had the doors numbered 1 through 6. The door Farley had been in was slightly opened, the number 4 on the door. 'He was the fourth reaped, so does that mean I'm 6?' 

I pushed the door open and was met with a room the size of the kitchen/living room in my house. The bed was huge, not just a small mattress that was laid on the floor that would be pushed up against a wall during the day. There was a closeted spot full of clothes just my size. 'The servant, Avoxes, probably put the clothes in when I was eating.' I pulled out a plain grey shirt. The texture of the shirt was so much different than what I was used to wearing. It was softer and cleaner, not like it had been worn for three days before being washed again. 

I found a bath/shower room and decided to wash off. There were buttons along one of the walls, and after turning the water on, pressed one of the buttons. A foul smelling purple liquid started filling the tub. I pressed another button and the purple liquid drained away, replaced with sweeter smelling blue bubbles. I pushed a few other buttons, some sweet colorful bubbles, others foul smelling like the purple liquid. I found one button I liked and cleaned myself off with it. It wasn't a very strong smell nor a color. I dried off, for once actually feeling clean.