lets get out of here | theo&dorothy [93rd]

[☢️]

DOROTHY HOPE

Being at the train station, I have officially travelled the furthest ever from home. Stepping onto the train and that record will be broken again. Once the train sets off then, the distance is just going to rise as quickly as the train moves. I moved quickly with the peacekeepers from the justice building, not wanting to give anymore family members the chance to crawl out of the cracks and drop some bullshit on me. Blackston’s ten minutes of prayers is the most time I have ever spent with that cousin, I am glad it will likely be the last.

Not many people join us on the train, and I don’t wait to wave at those standing at the platform watching our departure, as if any of them really care about who I am. It is not like I care about any of them as I turn my back on my home. This train is already my savior, the golden carriage that will whisk me far away from here. It is even filled with jewels and I have not seen as much food since grandma’s funeral wake. That was the last time I have ever overstuffed myself. Out of all the funerals I have been to, it felt more like a cousin’s birthday celebration than a time of mourning.

”So, Theo? What made you come here, are you running away from something?” I ask my district partner, someone I have never met before. I pick at the platter of cherries, sucking up the sweet fruit and spitting out the stone pip back onto the plate of uneaten fruit. ”I hope the train departs soon, I want out of here!”

[marcellus rhodes 11b arc]

They were waiting for me outside. Of fuckin' course they were. The peanut gallery of Eight doesn't have fuck else to do. "AYYO- THEO, WHAT COLOR YOU LOOK GOOD IN? I WANNA GET YOUR FUNERAL READ-" A voice shouts out and I spit at the fucker.

"Naked, bitch. You look too much when we're changing." Like, damn, dude. I'm gay but I don't go out here staring lasers into Woods' dick.

actuall-

Aytac's a son of a bitch runaway, anyway. For no damn reason, too. All I know about the dude is he came from nine and is a drunk. Was the whiskey not good enough in nine? The missing incisor? Maybe they got bad teeth over there. That'd explain Aytac's grill at least. Dude brought the gambling to the BASE. So, naturally, he was the ringleader here. He suggested this shit, and then Sinatra was out there kicking my ass if I didn't commit. Axton is dying anyway, so he wanted someone else to beat him to it, I guess.

Marshall was just eating food as he always fuckin' does. Fatass. I turn to give the one-buck-toothed fucker one last bite. "Don't worry, I'll hire a dentist for you when I'm home. Snaggletooth ain't fun." I step into the train, and meet my co-volunteer. She's out here munchin' on a cherry. She must think she's cool shit, the way spitting that shit. ”So, Theo? What made you come here, are you running away from something? Running? Nah. I like it here for the most part, but a bet's a bet. And I'm no bitch to a bet. "I hope the train departs soon, I want out of here!”

A part of me wonders if we'll be greeted by our mentor. If she's gon' be useful for once. She'll appear if she feels like it, I guess. I pick up the nearest bottle of whiskey, taking a seat nearby the Hope girl. "Nah." Pulling the bottom of shirt up, I tighten it around the cap and twist it off, taking a sip of the repressive substance. "I lost a game of poker. Loser had to volunteer. So here I am."

[☢️]

DOROTHY HOPE

Firing cherry stones through my lips would have had me scolded by now. A mouthful of vomit from my dad about how rude and disgusting it is. I recount word for word what he would say and I just wait to hear it. Everyone here looks unbothered though, even my district partner just pops open a bottle of some dirty looking liquor, hogging the bottle to himself. No one else is here to scold me, not even a mentor or the escort that is more bothered about patching up their face with powder in a mirror.

They must not have much hope for the pair of us, not like District Eight has had much luck for victories during my entire existence. Bet they will blame that on me too. Oz was literally born the year Shelby won, the fucking golden child he is.

”Sounds like you don’t have much luck already, dude!” I guess it is a more interesting excuse than my boring cliché wanting to escape the family reason. ”I won’t go into detail on why I am here, just a messed up family that don’t deserve me.” It is not like there are slim pickings of Hopes either, seems to be a baby shower every other month.

I clear the plate of cherries, the mini pink fruits replaced by the wet and mushy stones that I have spat out onto the silver tray. ”Are you going to share that bottle you have in your hand? Though no, maybe not after you have had your mouth round it! Rather not have a taste of your backwash…”

[marcellus rhodes 11b arc]

”Sounds like you don’t have much luck already, dude!” Yeah, you're fuckin tellin' me, kid. But I guess the luck is my fault for taking the bait. Locker room talk and shit - we blow smoke up each other's ass until the fire has already consumed us. But it'll make winning that much fuckin' better when I get back. They're gonna be begging hand and knee to get into the village and I can tell them to go win on their own. Eat shit, you toothless, brainless fuck. If you can even chew without losing another tooth. ”I won’t go into detail on why I am here, just a messed up family that don’t deserve me.” Can't blame a girl for that. Families can suck. I raise my bottle towards her in support. My momma never gave me a reason to leave her, but even if I did, she would track my ass down and kill me. I take another sip before replying. I need this shit to act quicker than slower, get this train ride over with.

"Yeah, I wouldn't like Pierre as a relative either." I hardly know anyone else (alive) that exists in that family, personally, so he's my only resource. Soon enough, the girl's plate is empty, and I realize that I'm hungry as hell too. But not for any of this shit. Where's the pizza box? They can't even give the thought to treat us with greasier food to drown ourselves in? ”Are you going to share that bottle you have in your hand? Though no, maybe not after you have had your mouth round it! Rather not have a taste of your backwash…”

Who the fuck said anything about sharing? I let out a scoff, looking at her in disbelief. I got this bottle for myself. What do I owe her to be drinking the same bottle? I point at the cart, several other bottles sitting in a rusted, tin bucket filled with ice. "There's another bottle. Take it." It's not like the people that are forced to the capitol want to do it in a full sense of mind.

But, seriously, where's the greasy food? I want to feel good, not healthy. It's probably one of the last times that I can.

[☢️]

DOROTHY HOPE

I lean over the table, picking at the different fruits and sweets that are laid out for us both. It is a feast that could feed my entire family from dead grandmas to the new born second cousins. How could all of this really have been prepared for just the two of us? It certainly feels like just the two of us, nobody has bothered yet to even come and talk to us. Not even the escort that has somehow left the carriage without me noticing. Great, that fills me with the sense of confidence that they have for us.

Theo refuses to share the bottle that he cradles, there is another one but it looks entirely different to his hard liquor, it is a dark maroon bottle. Corked. Looks more like a wine. I guess it will have to do. The bottle pops as I pull out the cork before flinging it across the carriage. If I spill this, it will stain the leather seat and the clean marble looking floor. Not that it seems anyone cares about what I am doing right now.

”It seems like they have just left us too it, where even is Shelby? Or am I just being inpatient. You would think they would have a plan set out for us already. Unless they really don’t give a fuck about us.”

Theo is just another poor soul that I am going to have to use, just like my schoolmates. The unfortunate one to find himself taking the same journey as me. He could be my courage, my heart or my brains. Though I doubt it is the latter but I have to suss him out first. ”What made you play poker anyway? I thought that was an old people’s game.” I knock back the bitter fruity red wine as I let myself sink into the comfort of the leather chair. This is going to be a long ride,

[marcellus rhodes 11b arc]

Maybe I'm selfish for keeping my bottle to myself, but I don't really care. Finders keepers, dude and I'm not here to share one of the last emotional deterrents. Gotta numb myself before they do the numbing. She pops the cork of a darker liquid, I assume wine, and speaks up once again. ”It seems like they have just left us too it, where even is Shelby? Or am I just being inpatient. You would think they would have a plan set out for us already. Unless they really don’t give a fuck about us.” We don't have the most remarkable success rate, either. I ain't expect her to come out of retirement for a washed up tribute relative and a dude with no legacy. I sure as hell wouldn't.

I take a moment to set the bottle down on the table. Food is probably best now, but what am I supposed to eat? Looking at the buffet table, the only thing that looks relatively comfort-food eqsue is the plate of danishes. I usually don't go for sweets. This is about the best option I got. I stack a few onto a platter and sit back down. What the fuck happened to the team of people we're supposed to have here? ”What made you play poker anyway? I thought that was an old people’s game.” Good god, I don't know. I wanted to be cool? "The boys decided to play that, and I needed somethin' to do." The BASE was boring as hell sometimes. If there wasn't food, a wrestling mat or some other stupid shit they had inside, it was normally cards. "Keeps us distracted from how cold it gets in there." We don't really have much warmth in the joint, so keeping our minds active prevented the thought of anything cold.

"You could also think of that ol' boys will be boys mantra." Because boys are dumb, you know? "It snowballed into a huge bet and I guess I had the wrong deck."