Electric Heart (Coriolanus Snow)

15

Sally highly doubted that Coriolanus or any of the other mentors would be returning to the capital zoo after the incident of the day before.

Arachne was dead, and so was her tribute. As she predicted, the peacekeepers had made no effort to remove the tributes decaying body from the enclosure. Instead, they were all expected to step around it, pretending it wasn't there.

Arachne was being mourned, and recognized as a brave child lost in a brutal murder. But no one seemed to care for the fallen tribute.

Sally wondered about her family back at home. If she even had one.

In the afternoon, Flickerman, the newscaster returned, his spirits were weirdly higher than ever. He was eager to interview Lucy Gray Baird- the capital "favorite" as they were calling her.

Sally had only heard of her reaping. Apparently she had gotten on stage and sung for them, right after dropping a snake down another girls dress. She liked her.

"Is it true? About the snake at the reaping?" She was finally able to ask, as Flickerman had moved on to Coral.

Lucy Gray smiled. "Yes, it is. I've always had a bond with snakes I suppose."

"Why'd you do it?"

"She was the Mayors daughter." Lucy Gray began. "My ex boyfriend, Billy Toupe, cheated on me with her. She hates me. She and her father saw to it that I was put into the games. It wasn't my name on that slip of paper."

Sally couldn't imagine hating someone so much that you would willingly allow them to enter the arena.

"I'm sorry." Sally said. She really was. It was an awful thing to have your entire future decided for you at the hands of a cheating liar.

Lucy Gray shrugged. "It's alright. There ain't nothing to do about it now."

She soon left Lucy Gray to care for Jessup, and went to sit against the metal bars beside Wybie, who looked to have some sort of sun poisoning.

"You should be sitting in the shade." She pointed out.

"What's the point." Replied Wybie with a yawn. "I'm going to die in the arena before the skin cancer can catch up to me."

Sally hit him in the arm. "Don't say things like that."

"Sally it's true. I mean- how much longer are we going to pretend that these aren't our last weeks."

She said nothing, knowing he was right. Sally didn't feel sad, or even angry. She wasn't sure if she'd skipped all the way to the acceptance stage of grief, or if she'd simply never passed denial. It was the strangest feeling in the world, knowing you were about to die.

"Just promise me something." Wybie spoke again, his voice raspy.

Sally turned to look at him, their eyes meeting.

"When we get in the games, we won't kill each other."

Sally hadn't even thought of that. It never would've crossed her mind because she never would.

"Wybie I could never hurt you. Ever."

His eyes were tearing up and he blinked them away. "We'll be a team in there. We'll protect each other. For as long as we have."

Sally nodded in agreement. If it came down to it, she wouldn't be able to kill Wybie. She didn't even know if she had it in her to kill any of the tributes. They were kids. Some younger than others.

There was little Wovey, who hadn't uncovered her ears since the day before, afraid that the gunshots would return. Amina, who was around Sally's age but hadn't stopped crying since they'd arrived.