Always: A Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 48

Katniss

"Hello?" A girl with blonde hair that's pulled into a pony tail walks slowly into the room.

"Hi," I reply, nervously shifting on the leather couch I'm sitting on. The boy walks in behind her. He has a look of misery on his face. Of course, I'm sure all of these kids do.

"I'm Daisy," she says. That's right. This girl is Daisy, the one who reminds me of Prim for some odd reason. "I know I'm supposed to hate you, but I know you saved us. You saved everyone, even if I am here."

I give her a reassuring smile. More hints of Prim in her show. Her kindness towards us. Her partner, Caleb, awkwardly glances around the room next to her.

"I'm sorry about everything the Capitol did to you. I understand why these Games had to happen, and I forgive you, and all of the other victors."

"Thank you," I whisper. My eyes shift to Caleb, almost expecting him to say the same thing, but he doesn't. He looks away again. I guess he isn't as forgiving. "I will try my hardest to get you out alive. One of you."

Daisy nods and mumbles an almost nonexistent thank you. Caleb's eyes catch mine and I study them for a minute. Green. Like Finnick's stunning eyes. He reminds me of him. Bronze hair, green eyes, and he even smells like water. I have to bite my tongue to hold back tears.

"Well, if I'm stuck with you, I might as well learn something," he says. I choke. That sounds like something Finnick would say. But I have to stop. I can't keep seeing people in others. Prim is not Daisy. Finnick is not Caleb. Ruth is not Rue. Those people will never, ever come back. I have to get it through my mind. These people are just people; not the people I came to love.

"You'll need sponsors," I say right away. I suddenly feel like Haymitch the first day I met him. "It sounds silly, but because of my sponsors, I'm sitting here."

"Because of them, we're sitting here," Caleb says, fake smiling. I ignore his comment. If he doesn't want help so be it. I can help Daisy. 

"And Katniss, we don't exactly have a star-crossed lover story," Daisy addss. She looks at Caleb and they both move about a foot away from each other. "And we aren't going to. Besides, if we reuse it, then people won't buy it. Not after you and Peeta."

"She's right. That's how you got sponsors. How do we?" Caleb asks.

"You suck up to people," I say. It's simple. You have to smile and be nice and wonderful. "You have to put on a show."

"How?" Daisy asks, hunching over slightly.

"The Interviews, the training sessions, the parade. All good times to do it. Smile, act pretty, be grateful and nice."

"I can't use any weapons. I'm not going to get a high score in training," says Daisy.

"You don't necessarily have to be skilled with weapons. Are you strong? A climber? A painter?" I ask, going over any of the skills I've seen become useful in the past. Cato obviously used his strength in the Games. Rue climbed trees. I did too, when I had to get away from the career pack. And Peeta used his camoflauge to hide himself on the river bank. It may have just saved his life, too. 

"Not really. I can tie rope though. And I'm good at cooking, so maybe I can identify plants."

"Those are skills. But we'll talk more about training later. For now, do your best to relax," I say. "If you can."

I enter the next train car. I'm not sure who I'm visiting next, but I hope it will go as well as the first. The next set of tributes sound fairly intimidating; their names, anyway. Sapphire, Park, Red, and Fox.

I walk into the room and see a small girl with curly red hair sitting on the couch. Next to her is a brown haired boy with plain brown eyes. "Look who finally showed up," says the boy. "Fox."

"What?" I asked. I feel like an idiot right after I say it. He meant 'Fox', as in his name.

"My name. It's Fox," then he turns to who I assume is Red and whispers "When I heard we got Katniss, I thought she'd at least be smart." It isn't very much of a whisper. I ditch the idea of being nice. I don't have to be nice anymore. That's their job.

I stride forward and hit Fox right across the face. He looks dazed at first, from the shock of being hit. Then he cradles his cheek in his hand. I hear Red giggling obnoxiously behind us. "Call me stupid, but I can kill you in a second," I hiss, trying my hardest to look him in the eyes. I have to stand on my tiptoes to be face to face with him. I know I'm not short, Fox is just freakishly tall. Anyway, I'm happy with how angry I sound because Fox backs up and sits down on the couch, next to Red.

"I'm not exactly easy going; if you haven't noticed. I'm not going to baby you," I say.

"That's what your star-crossed lover does," Fox mumbles. I shoot him an intimidating glare, which shuts him up.

"The Games aren't just games. They're real. They're going to happen. And if you keep acting like that, you'll be dead in the first five minutes."

Red moves her position uncomfortably. I know they aren't used to being treated like this. They are from the Capitol after all. But they need to. The Hunger Games are brutal and vicious, not something that they can just make fun of and pretend isn't going to happen.

"Are you any good at anything?" I ask.

"Other than good looks?" Fox asks, which makes Red giggle harder. I hate them both. It takes everything in me not to walk up and strangle him.

"Obviously, because you don't have any," I say. I immediately feel proud of myself for saying it, although I'm not completely sure why. Red laughs even harder. She's really getting on my nerves.

"I can throw knives. I used to practice. To be like the people in the Games," Red says. A said look takes over her face. "I wish I had taken them more seriously."

"Throwing knives could get you far in the Games. But you'll have to go into the Bloodbath to get them."

"I know. . ." she whispers.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do when that gong goes off. I can tell you what the advantages and disadvantages are but I can't make that decision for you."

"Okay. But what about finding water? Do you know any good tips or anything?"

"There aren't exactly tips. Sometimes it's extremely hard to find, other times it's not. I don't know what kind of arena it will be, but I can tell you it isn't going to be good," I say. "But look for mud. And maybe wildlife that could have gotten a drink, but never trust strange animals you don't recognize."

"So mud? Moss?" Fox asks. I nod and turn away from him.

"What if we're injured or something? We can't get medicine in the arena."

"Sponsors. The key to survival. But that means you have to get sponsors," I say. "And you haven't exactly made a very good impression on me so far." The color crimson begins to spread in Fox's cheeks, along with satisfaction in my heart.