POV: Leo Valdez
Well that Was it. He was dead. Leo just didn't get why everything after that had to be so hellish too.
*cough* the train ride *cough*.
His stupid escort had made them watch the Reapings about 10 times on repeat, the food had made him throw up, and his district partner, Sienna, was really grumpy. You couldn't blame her really, but she could at least talk to him!
Not to mention his absence from his pet project.
The young Latino bounced up and down, staring out the window at the ever-approaching Capitol. Huge fountains graced the borders, massive buildings- bigger than the Justice building back home- rose up into the sky. The pavements were startling colours of pale blue and flowery pink. Was concrete usually that colour in the Capitol? Leo thought so. Just another example of money gone to waste in the Capitol. Money that could have gone to the districts...
Leo's thoughts turned to a new path, to the new automaton him and his dad had been researching. The Capitol had recently issued a new weapons-tech factory and lab, and his family, or what was left of it, had been positioned in there. Leo wasn't complaining, but now he'd have to die in a stupid arena, he'd never see the prototype, Festus, turn to reality.
Unless he won.
But he wouldn't.
At an the abrupt sound of cheering, Leo snapped out of his thought bubble. Pressing his face against the strangely warm window, he saw crowds. Lots of them. All craning for a glimpse of the new tributes. A bit like sizing up the metaphorical pig before it went to slaughter.
That's cheerful.
And with that, he waved as hard as he knew how out the window, taking all the attention off the surly Sienna and onto him, wiggling one hand around like a lunatic and grinning from ear to ear.
Come sponsor meeeee!!!
Leo made up a little song in his head, even dancing around to it and blowing kisses out the window.
Come sponsor the awesome Leo! Send him back to District 3!
And the Capitol people did seem to be enjoying the attention. They all blew him kisses back, roared their approval and pressed so close to the window, he could have opened it and smacked them all silly.
He kept this up until the train slowed down, the crowds were forced away, and he was pushed down a blue- paved street by Peacekeepers, onto a green one, and inside the doors of the Tribute Remake Centre. His smile fell as the doors slammed shut, and he was lead away into a startlingly orange room.