DRESS, coriolanus snow

06, enjoy the show!

DRESS
( then suddenly, the world exploded )
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THE NEXT DAY, Charlotte and the remaining mentors gathered in the Academy courtyard promptly at ten in the morning. Everyone seemed to be rather distant that morning, and she wondered how long until someone asks what actually happened to Clemmie.

"Hey guys," Lysistrata approached Charlotte and Julianna, a solemn smile on her face, "How're you feelin?"

"Alright," Julianna sighed, "Do you know what happened to Clemmie? I haven't seen her."

"Oh. I think she caught a flu or something," Charlotte blurted and the two girls looked at her.

"How'd you know?" Lysistrata asked.

"Oh — well, I was with her when we went to Dr. Gaul's office, she was feeling a bit sick," Charlotte said, hoping that they wouldn't question her any further.

"Huh. . . that's weird, she was fine at the funeral — sad, but not sick," Julianna said, a confused look on her face.

"Oh, I don't know, that's just what she told me."

Their conversation came to an abrupt end as the sounds of vehicles advanced toward the crowd of students. The mentors piled into a few Academy vans and headed for the Capitol Arena, where the Games would be held, just as they did every year. In it's day, the huge, state-of-the-art amphitheater had been the site of many an exciting sporting, entertainment, or military event. High-profile enemy executions were staged there during the war, making it a target for rebel bombers. Whilst the original structure stood, it was now battered and unstable, useful only as a venue for the Hunger Games.

Professor Sickle, their chaperone for the outing, ordered the mentors to leave their belongings in the vans when they arrived. As they stepped from the air-conditioning into the blazing sun, she saw the tributes standing in a line in handcuffs, heavily guarded by Peacekeepers. The mentors were directed to take their places beside their respective tributes, who'd been lined up numerically. She gave Julianna a smile as she went toward the front of the line, her tribute being from 3. Charlotte made her way next to Wovey and shot her a comforting smile, behind her she could spot Reaper standing alone and Lysistrata showing Jessup something.

The Peacekeepers removed the heavy bars from the entrance, causing the massive doors to swing open, revealing a huge lobby lined with boarded-up booths and fly specked posters advertising events from before the war. Holding their formation, the kids followed the soldiers deep within to the far side of the lobby. A bank of full-height turnstiles, each with three curved metal arms, stood covered in a thick layer of dust. They required a Capitol token for admittance, the same one still used for the price of a trolley fare.

Charlotte couldn't recognize this entrance, the Vanderbilts must've entered through another entrance, demarcated by a velvet rope. Unlike most of the arena, it had a roof, a retractable glass window, and air-conditioning that had made the hottest day comfortable.

Peacekeepers posted at two turnstiles pumped tokens into the slots so each tribute and their respective mentors could pass through simultaneously. At each rotation, a cheerful voiced piped, "Enjoy the show!"

"Can't you override the ticket barrier?" asked Professor Sickle.

"We could if we had the key, but no one seems to know where it is," said a Peacekeeper.

"Enjoy the show!" the turnstile told Charlotte as she passed through. She gave the arm at her waist a backward push and realized that no exist was possible. Her eyes travelled to the tops of the turnstiles, where iron bars filled the space to the arched door-way.