There's Nothing More Important than Family, chapter 3

We are escorted into the Justice Building, and I still don’t let go of my brother. Usually, for goodbyes, the tributes are put into separate rooms, but they put us together since we are a special case. My mother bursts into the room, bawling. She rips me from Nathan, and squeezes me tightly instead. Father enters with Alex, Louisia and Katie. Louisia drops Katie into Nathan’s arms.

“I can’t believe this,” whispers my father. “This can’t be happening.” He hides his face in his hands.

Nathan changes the subject. “Where’s David?”

“He fainted when you were called up.” Mutters Louisia. “The neighbors are taking care of him.”

My mother sniffles and wipes her eyes. “One of you has to come home.” She cries. “I won’t be able to handle losing both of you.”

Nathan passes Katie to me, and embraces my mother. “We’ll try.”

“Promise me you’ll work together!”

“Always.” He answers. The Peacekeeper comes in and escorts our family out. We wait, but no one else comes to see us off. Eventually, the Peacekeepers tell us it’s time to leave. I no longer cling to Nathan’s waist, but his hand holds mine as we are led to the train platform. There are cameras everywhere, but we ignore them as we board the train.

Palana and two others are waiting for us inside of the train; a man and a woman. I recognize them as previous victors, and realize they must be our mentors. The man is bald and middle-aged. His face is heavily scarred. The girl, however, is much younger. She has wavy brown hair and a warm face. She sighs. “I’m so sorry this has happened.” She whispers. “This is horrible. It’s just so cruel.”

“I know.” Agrees the man. “I’m sorry, you two. I’m Sean, and this is Olivia. We will be your mentors.”

Nathan raises an eyebrow at Olivia. “Aren’t you a little young to be a mentor?”

“I’m nineteen.” Clarifies Olivia. “I won four years ago. There’s no other female victors so, yes, I am a mentor.”

I close my eyes and hang my head. Sean must notice me, for he says quickly, “Let’s go have lunch in the dining room. You must be starving.” I keep my head down, but Nathan guides me to the dining room. As gently as he can, he pushes me into a chair. I look up. The train is the most beautifully decorated place I have ever been in. The furniture looks expensive and much fancier than anything back in District 9. Nathan is sitting beside me and Olivia and Sean are across the metal table. Palana sits at the head of the table, like a king.

“You’re going to love the Capitol!” Palana giggles. “It’s so much nicer, and cleaner, than the districts!” I see a muscle in Sean’s jaw twitch and Nathan eyes Palana dangerously. She seems oblivious to the fact that she did anything wrong. “You’re only going to be here on the train for a day, but we want you to be as comfortable as possible. Now, Nathan, your room is down the hall and to the left. Zania, you’re on the right.”

“No!” I cry. Everyone looks over at me, stunned. I’m surprised that I spoke, too. “No.” I repeat. “I want to share a room with Nathan.” Nathan pats me on the shoulder.

“I don’t know if that’s allowed!” says Palana.

“Do you know what our parents told us to do?” asks Nathan. “They told us to work together. To watch out for each other. We’re both being torn from our family and one of us, maybe both of us, will be dead in a couple of weeks. It’s the least you can do.”

“Palana, its fine. They’re siblings. They’re scared. Let them stay together.” Olivia persuades her.

“Oh, alright.” Says Palana quietly. She clearly isn’t used to being argued with.

Just then, some Capitol attendants carry out some platters of food. My mouth waters at the sight of the food. A giant turkey, every type of fruit known to man, rich soups and refined Capitol bread dominates the table. Nathan helps me dish up my plate, and we begin to devour our food. After last night’s disappointing meal, this food tastes heavenly.

When we clear our plates, Olivia and Sean take us to the sitting room. On the television, we watch reruns of the other districts’ Reapings. A few stick in my mind; the volunteers from 1, 2 and 4 all look strong and athletic. They should, seeing as they’ve been training for the Games their whole lives. We call them ‘Career Tributes’ back in District 9. I’m not the only twelve-year-old. There’s a girl my age from District 12. She’s much smaller than I am, though. The boy from District 7 is huge and evil-looking. There is only one other volunteer, the girl from District 6. She looks very intimidating and self-assured.

When the Reapings are done, Olivia turns the TV off. “Oh, it’s so horrible. “She whispers. “This year’s tributes are so young.”

Sean counts off his fingers, “Two twelve-year-olds, three thirteen-year-olds and three more who are fourteen. I see what you mean.”

Olivia sighs. “Well, the only good thing that comes out of that is that you’re chances of winning are greater.” It’s ominous to think this way, but I know she’s right. I think again to all of the other tributes. In two weeks, twenty-three of us will be dead. It’s surreal to think about it. I close my eyes and bring my knees up to my chest. “Zania, don’t worry.” Says Olivia. She reminds me of Louisia, and thinking of my sister is painful. “We’ll do our best to get you ready for this.”

“We will.” Agrees Sean. “Usually, we have to work against each other, Olivia and I, but I don’t think that will be the case this year.”

“Zania and I will work together.” Nathan says firmly.

Sean grunts. “That’s what I thought. Now, that gives us an advantage; all of our planning will be about the two of you working together.”

“We know what we’re doing before most of the others do.” Confirms Nathan.

“Exactly.” Sean looks at me. “Are ready to start planning now, or do you want to wait?”

“I don’t know.” I say quietly. “Can we wait until tomorrow?”

“Yes, of course. Sean and I will start talking tonight, and we’ll discuss it tomorrow, before we get to the Capitol.” Says Olivia. I glance out the window. We’re going so fast, the landscape is a blur.

“When will we get to the Capitol?” I ask nervously. “What time is it now?”

Palana responds from the other room, “It’s about four o’clock,” she yells. “We’ll be in the Capitol around ten-thirty tomorrow.”

“Okay, so we can’t strategize with you once at the Capitol.” Explains Olivia. “At least not tomorrow night. You’ll be with your stylists, preparing for the Tribute Parade.” She thinks for a moment. “Can you be up by eight? That gives us enough time for you to have breakfast and for us to get a lot of talking in.” Nathan and I promise that we will be up by eight.

I sit in front of the window, watching the scenery zoom by for a while, until Olivia tells me it’s dinner time. The food is still magnificent. By the time we are done eating, it is quite late. I change in mine and Nathan’s room, and then wait outside the door until he’s done. When I come back in, he too is dressed in pajamas provided by the Capitol. He gently removes the circlet from my hair and places it on the bedside table beside his token. We crawl into bed, and I curl up against my older brother’s chest. He holds his arm around me protectively.

“Nathan?” I say.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want to win.” I whisper. “Not if it means going home without you.”