Everyone Has a Chance

Amara pursed her lips as he tried to give her reassurances she didn’t want to admit she needed. After all, he didn’t know the other man and couldn’t really know anything about what it took to survive where she came from, but she also needed to hear someone else say what she was trying to believe. All she could really do was nod, unable to think of any words she could write down to express what she felt at that moment. It’d been so long since she’d talked about her daughter and her old life, but at the moment it didn’t feel like it’d been more than a few days since she was taken from the Wilds. She thought about it all day, everyday. The constant comparisons and frustrations and pain of being separated from her family - most of whom were dead, unaccounted for, or in the same position she was.

When he said “she”, Amara assumed he meant the sleek-haired woman that was the president of the country. She’d always been told Panem was run by a family by the name of Snow, and the woman didn’t match the description of the man from her parents’ stories at all. They used to say they would return if the president fell, but they only found out too late that he had, and that things hadn’t improved at all. Not wrong. Just obvious, Amara scribbled out on a new piece of paper and handed it to him. Smirking a little, she added another note that she personally found funny even if morbid. At least it wasn’t my whole head.

Silently, Milo wished that Amara could talk. Of course for reason like taking someone’s tongue was so cruel and unusual, and people could still be slaves with a tongue.. But also the fact that he would love to hear about this other country that this woman was from. She seemed confused about things, so it was obvious that they didnt really follow anything about Panem. He also wondered how they were found. What were people from Panem doing in another country? Was it all accidental or were they somehow spotted. “Someday when you get the change, you should write a book. Even if it’s just for me..” The male added. “I would love to read about this other country, I had no idea there were even other places out there.” He admitted softly. “You havent said, wrote, much about the country itself but I’m sure it has to be better than this shit.” The male sighed.

“No problem man.” Looking back down, Satin slowly looked back up when the other started to talk again. Smirking when he saw the other was. Almost laughing waiting to see what the other was smirking about. “Survive the arena by hiding, hey it’s smart and it works for a lot of people. It helps get them far anyway.” Chuckling again. “I’m glad I could open your eyes though, they are pretty nice eyes.” 

“It’s very possible. I mean, it’s how I’m standing here at the moment, I was a big baby and just hid away.” He said with a laugh, shrugging his shoulders. Even if that was his tributes plans as well, he hoped that they would at least come out so he could give them some tips on hiding. “You think so? Uh, thank you.” His shyness was showing.

Amara sighed quietly as the questions he was asking were getting too complicate for her to be able to answer with just simple hand motions and head movements. She signaled for him to wait and went over to one of the end tables next to the couch to pull a pad of paper and pen out from it. She began to write as quickly as she could, though admittedly her writing skills were subpar and she was just hoping it was legible to the man. Her father, she wrote first, taking up the whole page and flipping it to show the mentor. No more elaboration was needed, as she was certain her daughter’s father was still keeping her safe and hidden away from the people in this country who kept trying to take them away from their home. Her only worry was they’d got north and not east or west, so they’d suffer more in the cold. She only needed to nod when he asked if she’d been taken from her daughter. It took a minute or so of thought before she figured out how to write the proper response. I’m not from this country. I’m from very far north and east of here. Your president didn’t like that so they took some of us away. It took several pages and she simply ripped them off and handed them to him, looking at him almost daringly once she was done to see what response he might have. 

He was the first person who’d asked her a question like that, not even the other Avoxes or her supervisors seemed to care all that much. It wasn’t surprising, since most other Avoxes wanted sleep instead of socialization after work was done, but it still felt so relieving to finally let someone know that this wasn’t where she was supposed to be. She simply crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look before rolling her eyes when he asked about whether the Avoxification hurt. 

“Her father?” He repeated as he read the two words on the paper. “I’m sure you dont need reassured since you know the man, but I’m sure he’s taking great care of her. A parent always does.” The last part was a lie. He knew a lot of kids that came into Panem that had awful stories about their parents and what they had done to them. He just hoped for Amara’s sake he was taking good care of her. When Amara answered his next question, he read each paper carefully. When he saw the words “not from this country” his eyes grew wide. He had never met anyone that wasnt from Panem. Being small minded, he didnt even think there were any other countries out there. But amybe he just thought that because it was overwhelming to think of how big the world actually was. “I’m so sorry he did this to you and to the people from your country.. I dont support anything that she does but that is only between you and I.” He felt awful to live in a country that stole people from their control and forced them to a slave.It was all so wrong to him.

Satin was standing there looking over a pad with digital sketches on it when he heard the man talking to him, looking up he smiled at the man. Frowning though at the question, Satin shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, I haven’t seen kids from Nine anywhere, truth be told I haven’t seen kids from any of the districts, I’ve been working. Though isn’t Nine one of those districts where the kids are like excellent hiders?” 

Milo nodded his head. “It’s alright, thanks.” At the next thing he said, Milo couldnt help bbut smirk a little. That was very true. Nine had a lot of great hiders. He was actually one of them. If he didnt hide in his games, he kenw for sure he would be dead. “You absolutely right, we are great hiders. Thank you for opening my eyes. I’m over here thinking they need to learn a lot but they are already doing fantastic.”

Harper chuckled when Milo spoke.  “You’re gonna have to master the art of wrangling the tributes, Milo,” she told him.  Harper beamed at him then shook her head playfully.  “I can help you look if you want.”

Milo chuckled soflty and shook his head. “Right? I’m a little rusty at this. It’s like I’m getting too old. Last time I was here I was in my twenties.” He sighed. “I’d appreciate it, Harper. Have you met your’s yet?”

Trixanna raised a brow when she heard the man’s questions. She turned her attention to him and smiled softly. “I have not.” She said softly. “However, dear, I’m going to tell you what my own mentor told me…. sometimes they just don’t want help.” She shrugged. She tried to live by those words when it came to her late mentor, but it was often times easier said then done. Especially once they died. 

“I guess that that is true but I’ve never run into anything like this before. They are usually up my ass full of question. But now, I dont think they’ve even said a word to me.” He said with a sigh, shrugging his shoulders. “But I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.. thank you.”

Amara nodded slightly, not entirely convinced by his claim simply because not even she could see herself as anything but a servant recently. Could she really be anything more at the moment when she was still so unused to this country? Maybe, in the future, she could muster enough hope and support to overcome this position in life and return home, but she had yet to realize just how impossible that was. After some more knocking, when the tributes didn’t come out, she lifted her hands with the palms facing up and shrugged. Amara waved her hand dismissively and rolled her eyes. Trying to rouse children and teenagers from sleepy or grumpy states wasn’t new to her at all. Even when she was still a teenager, she was among the few oldest and always seemed to be tasked with getting the others to wake up or get involved with community things. She pointed at herself before making a rocking motion with her arms as if cradling a baby and held up five fingers. It hit her right at that moment that six whole months had passed, and her daughter would now be six years old. She quickly held up one more finger with her other hand, well aware that the couple second’s delay wasn’t exactly easy to miss though she forced herself to try to appear as if it hadn’t happened.

Milo watched the girl as she was trying to communicate with him. Watching closely, he was never great at charades and hoped that he could realized what she was saying. He would feel pretty awful if he wasnt able to understand what she was trying to tell him ever. She had first held up five fingers and then changed it to six. “You have a six year old kid? Who has custody of them while you are away?” The word ‘away’ made it sound like she would some day be able to go back home which he hoped would happen some day. But chances seem highly unlikely. He asked her to be sure if that was really what she was trying to tell him. “The Capitol took you away from your child?” It was very obvious that the Capitol didnt care about ripping family members away from their families but he was still in shock. He had only ever seen children pulled from their parents, not the other way around. “I’m not trying to, you know, be all that nosy.. But why are you an avox? What happened to you?” Amara had been his District’s avox for the last six months and he knew nothing about her. He wasnt sure if that was because she wanted it that way or if he was just rude and didnt take time to ask about the avox. “Can I ask another question? Did it, uh, hurt?” He asked, pointing to his mouth.

‘‘What? Did they already die in the Cornucopia?’‘ he mocked the other man mercilessly, though a sweet smile was hiding on his lips, in plain sight. ‘‘Maybe get a whistle or tie them to your pinky. Now that’s responsible mentor material. Take it from a guy who knows.’‘ Also a guy who’s been taking his time to meet his own tributes and had no idea who they were yet. 

Milo stared at the male for a moment. He could tell this man was all about teasing him. “Um, no, since the games havent started yet, I think that would be sorta impossible. And my big goal is for Nine to get out of the Cornucopia this year.” The past few years Nine hasnt done so hot so his goal is to change it around. “Those sound like pretty good ideas, I suppose.. but I’m not too sure that they would appreciate that too much.. Maybe they just dont like me.”

Amara immediately shot the man a stern look when he tried to stop her. It was the very same look she used to always give her daughter when she’d interrupt Amara doing some necessary chores, annoyed and looking as though she was about to scold. It wasn’t as if she could actually scold anyone anymore, but she’d always believed that a look was enough to get the point across. She pressed her lips together, unconvinced by any claim she was “safe” in any part of this country, but the man seemed genuine enough for her to soften her harsh look a little. While he spoke, she glanced toward the closed bedroom doors that were assigned to the tributes. She crossed her arms and looked back at the man, shaking her head slightly. A couple of her younger siblings used to do this, hide away so they wouldn’t have to learn about tracking and hunting and because they didn’t like to help with harder chores. She supposed it was similar, in some ways, to these awful Games where all these children apparently fought to the death. If they didn’t learn whatever the older generation - like the man in front of her - knew, they’d end up dead within hours of trying to be on their own. Once he was done voicing his concerns, Amara motioned for him to watch her and walked over to the bedroom doors, banging her fists loudly against each one. Her life was ruined enough, she didn’t feel like cleaning the bedrooms of dead children in a week.

“Whoa..” Milo quickly put his hands up defensively. If looks could kill, Milo would be laying on the floor lifeless for sure. The way she reacted was definitely not the way he expected her to react. But, if he knew just how everyone would react to things, life sure would be boring and dull. He chuckled and still held his hands up. “Sorry, I wont do that again. I was just trying to help. And let you know that I dont see you as a servant..” The male trailed off, speaking softly. As the girl walked over to the two doors that belong to his tributes, he walked a little closer with her before stuffing his hands in his pockets. When she began banging on the doors, he jumped slightly, definitely not expecting for her to do that. He let out a small chuckle and her sternness but grew slightly irritated as neither of his tributes opened their doors. Letting out another sigh, he just shrugged his shoulders. “I’m giving up for now, I guess. Maybe they just need to get some rest or something, I might just be too eager.. Thanks for doing, uh.. that..” He motioned to her, meaning her banging on the doors.

Cruz popped up from the book he was reading, the air of the world being built around him collapsing silently. He was unsure if it was because rehab sessions required so much of focus that idle time had often become drifting daydreams, but he had already been snapped out a daze more than once since arriving.

“I’m afraid I haven’t seen them, or at least I don’t think I have,” he answered apologetically. “They can’t have gone far. Unless they were both brave enough to break the rules about leaving.”

Milo recognized this man as Harper’s husband. He let out a sigh and shrugged. “Who knows, man. These kids are bold and are so different from when I was mentoring before. How is it possible for them to have changed so much? It was like I could never get away from the tributes last time and now they are avoiding me. Oh well, thanks for your help. I’m sure they’ll come out.. or be found.. eventually.”

Amara arrived back on the floor she was assigned to, which was apparently the same as six months ago though she’d barely spent a few hours actually doing any work there. Rather anxious, though she wasn’t sure why, she began to clean the kitchen area that was already perfectly clean. It seemed very odd to have nothing to do, which was probably why she felt as though she had to be doing something she’d likely be asked to do later anyway. This was just an unusual bit of downtime she doubted would last long, and would probably end with her getting a dozen or more tasks assigned to her. When someone approached, she assumed they were going to be ready with some requests for food or instructions to clean or fix something. The question about the tributes took her off guard, and it took her a few seconds to remember exactly what “tributes” were since all the ones she’d seen so far were just children in her eyes. Amara simply shook her head, unaware of what the tributes for the floor’s district looked like. She motioned toward her face and hair and raised her eyebrows, trying to ask for descriptors so she could try to recall which children she’d seen that might match it.

Milo realized what the girl in front of her was doing and grabbed on to her wrist softly, taking the sponge out of her hand. “Hey, the kitchen is fine. You dont need to clean it. Just relax for a few minutes while you have the chance, okay? You’re safe on this floor.” He informed her, looking into her eyes as he spoke to show he was sincere. “That’s the thing. I’m drawing a complete blank and I cant even remember what their hair or eye colors are! Bad start to this year, huh?” He said with a sigh, leaning against the counter and crossed his arms. “I guess they will come out when they want to, right? If I come on too strong, they may not want to talk to me..” He paused and looked at the girl. “Right? Or do I need to come on strong?” It had been a few years since he mentored and these kids already seem so different than the last time he mentored. “My god, what is wrong with me?”

Amara looked up quickly when she saw a motion to the side of her and then heard the loud thud of the man hitting the floor. She didn’t even bother to look away as she grinned and laughed, the noise mostly coming out as harsh breathing through her nose because she was still unused to laughing without a tongue. She set down the pitcher she still had in her free hand and picked up a few more of the napkins on the cart nearby to clean up more of the mess. She held up a hand to signal for him to wait before approaching the fridge, opening that first before she realized the colder part of it was where the ice packs were kept. The concept of ice as an aid to healing wasn’t new to her, but ice packs were new and she was honestly eager to see if they worked as well as hard-packed snow and ice used back home to help with swelling. There was a very brightly colored blue ice pack in the freezer and she held it out to the man with raised eyebrows, waiting for him to take it. She’d been told part of her job was to take care of the people in the Tower however possible, but part of it was also the mother in her that felt compelled to help an injured person. Despite it all, she was still giggling to herself as his fall replayed in her head, completely forgetting that she was told to keep a neutral expression at all times.

“Oh? You think that’s funny, huh?” Milo asked with a grin on his face, letting out a small chuckle. “I suppose it was a little funny. It was like slow motion.” He shook his head but winced a bit as the pain of his head hit him. When she motioned for him to stay put, he just nodded his head and watched as the female walked off. She was very obviously an avox, the avox from his floor that had just recently gotten here. But Milo didnt see her, or any avox, as a slave. Only a prisoner of the Capitol. Much like everyone else in the Tower. When she came back with the blue ice pack, the male gave her a small friendly smile and thanked her. “You know, I’m pretty clumsy. Pretty sure that even if there was no water on the floor, I’d be sitting here right now.” He told her, giving a small smile as he saw her starting to laugh about him falling again. “I’m glad that you find this funny and arent feeling bad about it. And I know I sound sarcastic but I mean it. It was obviously an accident and it made a funny event happen.” He said to her before standing up, keeping the ice pack to his head. “I’m Milo, by the way.”