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AVANI AND JACK HARDLY SPENT ANY MORE TIME ON THE STAGE BEFORE THEY WERE WHISKED AWAY FROM THE CROWD AND INTO THE JUSTICE BUILDING BY PEACEKEEPERS. Avani felt completely numb and empty, the true agony of a girl who knew she was going to die. Her body was moving on autopilot, her feet going forward without much thought. Everything was blurry, foggy, wrong. She was just a walking corpse now, a zombie. She was already dead. She was dead the moment her name got called.
As soon as they made it out of the camera's sight, headed toward the rooms where they'd say goodbye to their families for the last time, Jack doubled over and vomited all over the carpeted hallway near Avani's shoes. Actually, kind of on Avani's shoes.
She didn't have it in her to move away. In fact, she slowed next to him, not daring to move or speak, but hoping maybe her presence would give him some kind of consolation that he wasn't alone in his agony. It was no use, however; a couple of peacekeepers took her away in the blink of an eye, leaving a few more behind with Jack and his mess.
The deep-stained wainscoting and velvety, crimson carpet seemed to go on for years before she was finally led into a guest room. There were bookshelves on either side of a large window, and some plush, floral sofas flanking a large rug and coffee table. It all looked foreign — so much nicer than anything they had in the Seam. The lights were on but dim, and as soon as she turned around, the door closed. She was alone.
She felt a bit like throwing up, too. The thought of leaving... of never coming back... She couldn't leave her father. Not after her mother died giving birth to her, not after she became the only person in his life, his only family, only priority. Not after she watched his glow fade when her name was called. She couldn't leave him like that, she couldn't.
A few moments passed of her thoughts ramming around in her skull like the clapper of a massive bell. And then the door opened.
Her father came through the door, led into the room by a peacekeeper. His eyes were dull, duller than she'd ever seen them. Everything was dim. He wasn't glowing anymore, not in the slightest.
Avani just stood in the center of the room, and he stood near the door, in silence, staring at one another. She saw her father's eyes brim with crystal clear tears for the first time in her whole life. His shoulders were hunched, his lips drawn into a thin line, and he looked away from her. Hopelessness glimmered behind his tears; the same hopelessness that was in her eyes, that she saw in Jack's. In the screaming woman's.
"I'm going to fight," Avani mumbled quietly, drawing her arms around her torso with a shaky sigh as she focused on the floor, trying to regulate her emotions. Letting them go would just make everything worse, and she didn't want to magnify her father's anguish. The least she could do was be strong the last time he saw her.
He moved forward in one swift motion, drawing her into a warm embrace. "I'm so proud of you, peanut," He said, voice quivering. "I'll see you in a few weeks, okay?"
