Chapter 20:
Ariel leads the way as she gives me a tour if the train. The train hasn't left yet, and won't leave until she's done showing me around.
Each car is a different room. The first one we walked into had two couches a table and some chairs.
The next room was similar. Except it had plates of food, drinks, and snacks. Even though district twelve isn't poor and starving anymore, I've never seen so many different kinds of food in my life.
We kept walking through the cars, Ariel showing and explaining anything and everything. There are a couple bathrooms, a dining car, a bar car, and rooms for us. I get my own car, which is my room, and Ariel gets one as well. There are two extra rooms, but Ariel says that one of them is taken. It can't be by the other tribute, because I'm not aloud to see him or her.
The last car she shows me is a room with a corner couch a table and two chairs. There is a bookshelf on the back wall filled with, something, I can't tell what they are, and there is a giant flat-screen television and a place under it for storage.
"This is the entertainment car." She says. "Back here," She says motioning to the bookshelf, "is all of the tapes from the previous Hunger Games on this side, and at the far end there are some other movies, tapes, CDs, anything you might want to use."
"Wow." is all I can say.
"Yes, it is pretty impressive!" she says.
I nod.
"Well," she says looking around, then down at her watch, "looks like we should be on our way to the Capitol. Oh, you are going to love it!"
'Yea, when I'm not fighting for my life.' I think.
"Um, I'm going to tell them we're ready." She heads out the door. "Let me know if you need anything!" She says on her way out.
"Okay, thank you!" I yell back.
I walk around the room and make my way over to the bookshelf. Each Hunger Games tape is labeled from Game 1 to Game 75, along with the victor's first and last name.
The other side is filled with movies, CDs, video games, and other tapes.
I walk to the first car. Ariel is just coming back in.
"Oh, hello Kamela! Do you need something?" Ariel asks.
"No," I reply.
"Oh okay." She says.
"Actually," I say, "can you tell me when we will be leaving?"
"Yes, we should be leaving shortly." She says. "It will take us about 3 or 4 days to get the Capitol."
"Okay, thank you." I say "Also, um, who is all coming with?"
"Oh, just you, me, and Cronin." She replies. "A couple people to help out as well. You probably think of them as an Avox. But we don't call them that anymore. And they can speak, well, when given permission--."
"Wait," I cut her off. "who's Cronin?"
"Cronin? Oh he's your mentor. Everyone gets a mentor." She replies.
"But he hasn't....... he's not a victor." I say.
"No, but the youngest victor is too old to mentor the New Games." She walks over and sits on a chair. "So we've chosen mentors this year."
I go over and sit down in a chair across from her.
"We'll have to chose mentors until every district has at least one victor." She says.
"Oh." I say.
"Is there something wrong?" Ariel asks.
"Oh." I say. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm fine."
She has a look on her face and I can tell that she doesn't believe me.
"Well, okay." she says.
The door opens behind me. I turn around to see a man in about his 30s walk in. He's wearing dress pants, shoes and a coat. Almost like what Haymitch Abernathy wore when he was mentoring for Katniss and Peeta.
"Oh, hello Cronin!" Ariel says.
"Hello Ariel." Cronin replies.
He has a slight Capitol accent.
"You must be Kamela." Cronin says to me.
"Yes." I reply.
"Nice to meet you." he says.
"You too."
"I might as well start by telling you the plan." he says. "First day on the train, we're not doing anything, feel free to do whatever. Second day we'll discuss some necessary things you'll need to know for the next couple of weeks. The rest of the days on the train you can ask questions. Anything else we do will depend on how tomorrow will go."
He just looks at me and I look back at him.
"I'll tell you what else we'll do once we're in the Capitol." He says. "Okay?"
I nod.
He sighs. "You're gonna have to learn how to talk better soon, we'll work on that."
He walks into the next car. Ariel looks at me and then follows after Cronin. I'm left alone in the room. Not that I don't mind.
About 10 or 15 minutes later the train starts to move. I watch out the window. The tracks go around district twelve not going through any areas where people live. It only went past one market square. There weren't many people there either.
"We start off slower when we go through district 12." Ariel says.
I jump a little, I didn't hear her come in.
"Once we get out of the district we'll go faster." She says.
I don't respond, just continue to look out the window.
She was right, we sped up right when we past the district twelve boundaries. Soon after that I walked over to my room.
*3 hours later*
I get bored of playing with all the technology the Capitol has to offer that's in my room and go to the dining car to eat. Ariel and Cronin are already there.
"Just in time." Cronin says. "We just started eating."
"Yes, why don't you come join us Kamela." Ariel says.
I walk over go the table and sit across from Ariel. An avox, well whatever they call them now, puts a plate in front of me and another comes in with food and we serve ourselves.
"Would anyone like anything to drink?" Ariel asks.
"Um may I have something to drink, please?" I ask.
"Oh of course!" Ariel says. She motions to an avox.
The avox, or whatever they call them now, comes and pours a drink in my cup.
I start eating my food. We have mashed potatoes, gravy, and turkey, with corn, biscuits, and some other food that I've never seen in district 12. It's the best food I've ever tasted. After we've finished our food the avoxes clean of the table. A few minutes later they bring in another plate for each of us and then a huge tray of desserts.
I take a piece of cake and have a glass of milk with it.
After I finish I stand up and head out the door towards my room.
"Meet in the first car by 9:30 tomorrow morning." Cronin says before I go through the door.
I look back and nod.
I go to my room and change into the pajamas they have provided for me. I get under the blankets and turn of the light with the remote on the nightstand.
This is the softest, most comfortable bed I've ever felt. The pillows are also comfortable too.
If I wasn't worried about the next few weeks, I would be asleep already. But I'm not.
Eventually I fall asleep though. I'm hoping that tomorrow never comes.
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The New Games: A Hunger Games Story
FanfictionThey all thought the Hunger Games were over. They all thought that the Games would never come back: no more reapings, no more killing, no more starving. They thought that the Hunger Games would be just a memory. Well, they were wrong. The Hunger...
