The Avox (ON HOLD)

Chapter 2- The Backup

*SORRY THIS CHAPTER IS SO SHORT. HAD TO STOP IT TO MAKE THE OTHER ONE MAKE SENSE. ENJOY!*

The next morning I get up, Peeta still sleeping, and walk to the mirror in my room to look at my hair. It’s always such a mess in the morning. As I use my hands to take out any tangles or loops, I notice the ring. It shines so brightly on my hand. I have never had any piece of jewelry besides this, so it is very special to me, especially being my engagement ring. Then I realized…I am going to get married! It just got to my brain fully. I was probably so surprised from seeing all those people standing in my kitchen and the cake…yesterday was just a blur. “You sure do like it, huh?” Peeta says. I jump to the sound of his groggy, morning voice. “I do, so much. So…are we planning a wedding date today? I mean, the wedding should still be just a toasting, but with more people. Don’t you think?” I ask. “Whatever you want, it’s fine with me. I just want you to be happy, Katniss. I know that hasn’t been what you have felt for a while, but I’m hoping that is going to change.” he says. “It already did.” I say as he gets up and gives me my morning kiss and hug.

After eating our usual breakfast of bread and milk, we decide to go to the meadow. We come here often to talk and swim. It gives me hope, this place. Hope that someday I will be happy again. Peeta started to raise my hopes yesterday, I still glance at that ring every chance I get. We get there and we always sit in the same spot. Under the most beautiful tree I have ever laid my eyes on. It is a cherry blossom tree and it has millions of pretty, little, pink flowers covering the branches. They fall in our hair as we pull grass from the ground, rip it up, and throw it in the air, watching it sail with the wind.

Suddenly, interrupting our peace, Peeta says, “Katniss, look.” He points somewhere far in the distance of the grass plain that lies beyond the woods. “I don’t see anything.” I say. “Look, it’s right there, in the middle. Someone running towards us.” he says. “I see it! Who is it, Peeta?” I say. “I don’t know, but it looks like a girl. Looks a little bit like…” he stops. “Like who?” I ask. “…The Avox girl…” he says. And then I see her. Running towards us. The Avox girl that I saw here, in this same spot as I am sitting in now. I saw her in need of help, running towards me like she is now. The memories of that day in the woods with Gale come flooding back. She reaches us, and since she cannot speak, she starts motioning different things to us with her hands. I cannot understand her, but Peeta can. He says, “She is saying something about the Capitol…the Capitol is gone?” She shakes her head no. She makes a point with her hands, symbolizing the Capitol. Then, she lifts two fingers up. Peeta guesses again, “The Capitol two times? The Capitol two…Two Capitols? …Two Capitols…Two Capitols…” He keeps repeating it over and over again, and with tears in her eyes, the Avox girl finally nods, yes. And I understand. There are two Capitols.

“I should have known! I can’t believe that I was so stupid that I couldn’t figure it out!” Peeta yells, pacing back and forth. The Avox girl has not seen me since the last Games, so she gives my stiff, shocked body a quick hug. I sit down with her in the grass. “Peeta,” I say, my voice trembling, “How could this happen?” “Katniss, the Capitol was smarter than we thought. They knew that they needed some kind of back up. They had to do something to make sure that the Capitol was safe. So, they made a backup Capitol.” he says. “So your saying that we can still be ruled by this place?” I ask. The Avox girl stands up and nods her head, yes. Feeling light-headed, I stand up too. “Peeta, we have to do something about this.” I say, and then realize something that sends shivers all over my body. “Wait,” I say to the Avox girl, “So if you know about this, and they punished you,” I reference her inability to speak, “…then were the people that took you away that day I saw you here, the Backup Capitol?” She nods, yes. It all makes sense now. She probably ran away from her home, and found wherever the Backup Capitol’s location is. They didn’t want her to run and tell everyone that there was one, so they cut off her tongue and sent her to work in the Capitol. I can’t believe I was so oblivious that I didn’t realize this. Peeta is still pacing, so somehow I gather enough strength to go over to him and calm him down. “So where is it? The Backup Capital…” I ask the Avox girl. She just stares at me, her face blank of expressions, and her eyes teary. She takes my hand, then Peeta’s, and starts walking. “Wait, if we are going there now, shouldn’t we get prepared first? I mean, we are probably going to have to fight-“ “Already got that covered, Katniss.” Peeta says, his voice still a little bit paranoid. He hands me my bow and arrow that I hide in the cherry blossom tree. “We have to get food, and water.” I say. “I’ll be right back.” he says. He comes back minutes later with my game bag, and another big sack. I know he must have put in things we need to survive for a couple of days, in the bags, and confidently, I say, “Okay…lets go.” And we walk off into the woods together.

“Peeta, I think my shoe ripped.” I say. I check the bottom of my shoe, and sure enough, there is a hole about the size of a quarter on the bottom of it. I probably got it from all the walking. The shoes I had were not as stable and tough as the ones that we got for the Hunger Games. Those were Capital shoes. They were made to withstand anything, just like every other genetically engineered or specially made item in the Capital. And now that I know that there is another Capital, I expect to see those types of things again when we get there. The Avox girl, whose name I still have not figured out, taps Peeta on the shoulder. They are a few feet in front of me, standing on a slight hill. Suddenly, Peeta looks up at the Avox girl, raises his hand, and slaps her face. Then he slides down a tree next to him, his face in tears. The Avox girl, her face as shocked as mine, walks over to me and takes off my shoe. Then, she takes my hand and leads me to the small hill. When we get there, what I see makes the hair on my back stand up. I feel light-headed. I want to cry. Because what stands in front of me is a place that has brought me so many nightmares. What stands in front of me is…the arena.

When I wake up, Peeta is sitting on the hill with the Avox girl. There is a wet rag on my forehead, and it adds additional chills down my back. I probably fainted after my surprise encounter with my old death trap. I can’t wrap my mind around why we are at the arena, so I walk over to Peeta and the Avox girl, and sit down next to them. “Katniss,” Peeta says, “Layla says that she brought us here because this is where the Backup Capital is.” I am shocked because he figured out her name, but more because we are at the location we set out for, but it’s somewhere that I have been before. I never thought about it. I never thought about what the Capital had done with the remains of the arena after I blew it up. “What…what do you mean it’s here, Peeta?” I ask. I’m still unsure about what he means by, ‘Where the Backup Capital is.’ It doesn’t make sense that we are at an arena that I blew up into smithereens, and it is supposed to contain an organization. It just doesn’t make sense…

*I WILL PUT MORE UP ASAP! MAYBE NEXT WEEK!*