The Hunger Games - Extended Epilogue -- ON HOLD

Chapter 11 - Train

Katniss' POV

The last time I was made into Beauty Base Zero I was still in District 13. And I looked good. This time, it's for the last Hunger Games ever. The Capitol Games. I probably look like I'm stressing out and tired, so I need a good and clean make over. My prep team talk about how things are going in the Capitol now that President Snow is gone. I zone out after President Coin is mentioned. Octavia starts a bath with the same dried flowers that my mum used before the Victory Tour to perfume the air. After a while the bath is filled to the rim with boiling water and dried flowers. Octavia pushes me into the bath. My whole body burns. Octavia tells me to stand up and I can see the steam coming off my body. Venia, Flavius, and Octavia tell me to put my hands out and they start half waxing my arms. When they are done I look at my arms. They look like a little kid's arms. Soft hair, not a lot, and not very obvious. But it's there. I get out and Venia wraps a towel around me. Once I'm dry, Flavius leaves the room to go get something. Venia immediately grabs my head and holds it in her hands. She whispers something to Octavia, who then starts painting my body. Venia works on my face. I just stand still and wait. I close my eyes and listen to the sound of the birds outside.

After about half an hour, Octavia asks me to open my eyes. I do, and at first all I see is the bright sun in my eyes, but then I see that I'm looking at myself in the mirror. I look incredible. Flavius has dressed me in a beautiful aqua dress. It is made of thin material, and it flows at the slightest movement. It has two straps that both sit comfortably on my shoulders. There are layers on top of layers at the bottom, but at the top it's just one thicker layer. I look down at my feet. I am wearing matching shoes. They are the slip on/slip off shoes, with a point at the end and a tiny heel. I then look at my face, and I gasp. I look absolutely flawless. I have a hint of blue eyeshadow, and a little bit of mascara. Venia has made sure that when I stand in the sun my eyes glitter. My grey seam eyes have a hint of blue, but are otherwise left alone. My olive skin looks more perfect now than ever before. I thank my prep team and go downstairs. Waiting at the entrance for me is Peeta, wearing a matching aqua tie, with a black suit. His shoes match mine. For once I am happy that we are matching. I run down the stairs and hug him. He seems startled by this, but immediately hugs back.
"I'm sorry." I whisper in his ear.
"Don't be." He whispers back. And then, without any care about what's going on around us, we're kissing. And I am so glad for it. It seems like we are frozen in time, and no one else is there. Suddenly we hear someone coughing. It's Effie.
"You've got a lot of time to do that later, but right now we're on a very tight schedule. Come, come." She says.
"Sorry Effie, we were just..." Peeta tries to explain.
"Just warming up." I say with a smile. He looks at me, and we hug again. We then walk to the train station hand in hand. People have come to see us and are lining up in the streets. We wave at them. We smile at them. But we keep on walking.

We get to the train station and the train opens its doors. We stand in the entry way. Someone calls for silence and we get it.
"We would just like to say that we are all grateful for you coming here. For those who don't know, we are off to the Capitol for the final games. The Capitol Games. You will be told more about them while we are on our way. But we have to go now, so... Goodbye." Peeta says. We then salute them with three fingers. Then we turn around and walk into the train. We go to the right, just as Effie told us. Then come Haymitch and Effie, then the prep team, together with the three people that were picked to prep Peeta. Then come Paylor and Gale. And then three security guards. They are not peacekeepers, however, they were training to become them. Instead, they are now our security guards. The door shuts and the train starts to move.
"Well done." Effie says, and then she shoves us all into the lounging cart to discuss what's going to happen in the next two or so weeks.

"So you will not have to make any speeches until we get to the Capitol." Effie tells us. I sigh. "Don't get too excited, Katniss. Once you get to the train station you will both have to stand outside, wave, kiss, and say a speech. Don't worry, you'll be given the speeches. And it's not like the... Garbage" she spits out the word "I wrote for you during your victory tour. It's different. Better." Effie says. Her voice cracks by the end of the sentence.
"Effie," Peeta walks up to her and rubs her back. "That wasn't garbage. It was just hard to read because we both had different intentions. Now we have the same ones. So please, don't worry." Effie seems to cheer up a bit at that. Peeta works wonders.
"So, once you've given your speech you will both be brought to a building previously known as "the Training Centre". There you will find out more. Any questions so far?"
"Um, yes, actually," I say, which, of course, surprises everyone. "How long is the trip and how come we aren't stopping at all? Also, what will we be doing for the time on this train?"
"Okay. The trip is a full two days long. That is very fast for the distance we have to travel. We have made a train track that cuts across all the districts in the fastest and safest way possible. Therefore, we can't stop anywhere. However, I recommend that you wave at the people in the districts when you see them, only because they will appreciate it more than you can imagine. For the time while we're on here we have a pretty relaxed schedule. The only important thing is that at 14:00 o'clock lunch starts. At 15:00 o'clock lunch finishes. At 18:00 o'clock supper starts. At 19:00 o'clock it finishes. Breakfast starts at 9:00 and ends at 10:00. You have to be in bed by 23:00 o'clock and awake by 9:00. The rest is up to you. I think that that's pretty simple. I will give you two a tour of the train after. Any other questions?" She looks around. "No, okay, let's go. Katniss, Peeta. Come."

We stand up and follow Effie. Peeta holds my hand. He squeezes it as if to say "are you okay?" I squeeze back, letting him know I'm fine. We get to the end of the train. There is a door that opens up so you can stand outside feeling the wind. Then there is a room where all the walls are lined with books.
"This is the library." Effie tells us. "These books have stories in them from before the dark days until the rebellion. Fiction and nonfiction. If you know a certain book that you want, say the title or the author of it. Books that match that will line up in front of you, and you can pick the book you want." I stare intently at all these amazing books. "Katniss, let's go." Effie says, tapping my shoulder. We move on. We walk into a room that is baby blue. There are a million draws with stuff in them and a lot of toys.
"This is the play room. I know it looks childish, but there are games for people your age, people my age, people Haymitch's age, and even older. Just say your age range, and games will line up before you. Then you can pick one." We walk on. We walk past the lounge cart into a room that is set out like a really big really expensive kitchen. Peeta starts looking at the difference between the five different ovens. "This is the kitchen I suppose?" He says.
"Yes, and this..." She walks into the next room. It contains three large fridges, three large freezers, a hundred draws for utensils, and two massive cupboards. "Is the pantry." Peeta and I stare at the room. It's crazy. I can't believe there is so much food now. A year ago, people were starving all over Panem. Now, there is more food here than I had ever eaten in my life. After a minute of silence Effie drags us across to the next room. The dining room. It has one large table suitable for sixteen people to sit at. There are beautiful soft and comfortable chairs at the table and three smaller tables that fit two people each. We walk on. We enter a room that has five closed doors and one open one.
"These are the bedrooms. Through each of these closed doors there are three bedrooms. Peeta, Katniss, you two will be through the first door with Haymitch. Gale, Paylor and I will be in the next. Katniss, your prep team will be in the third. Peeta, yours will be in the fourth. The security guards are in the last. The open door at the end is to walk through to the end cart, the cart with the back window. That one hasn't changed at all. Any questions?"
"Effie, where will the drivers and others sleep?" I ask. Peeta looks at me strangely.
"They have there own rooms."
"Ah, okay."
"You guys should take your bags and stuff to your rooms." Effie says. We nod our heads and head back to the lounge cart.