Chapter Twenty
A cheer arose from the crowd as Clark and his mentors exited the train. Several reporters from the Capitol stood on the platform with their cameras trained on them. Clark smiled, somewhat more genuinely this time, and turned to look at the crowd.
The cheering of the District 9 crowd didn’t bother him nearly as much as the cheers of the Capitolites. Clark sensed that the people cheering for him now were happy to have him home, rather than being thrilled at seeing the winner of a violent game like the Capitolites had been. It had been a long time since District 9 had had a victor, and the residents of the district were glad to have someone come home alive, rather than in one of the plain wooden caskets provided by the Capitol for deceased Hunger Games tributes.
Clark looked past the Peacekeepers standing between the crowd and the platform. His parents stood near the steps, the joy on their faces unmistakable. Pete, Lana, and Rachel stood near them. Pete and Lana were holding hands and cheering for him, but Rachel stood back, looking at him with uncertainty and a touch of sadness.
Most of the people from the town and the nearby farms had come to see him arrive home. Clark looked around, but saw no sign of the Rasens. He didn’t blame them — if it had been Becky who had come home, his parents would almost certainly have found it too painful to come to greet her, knowing that her life meant the death of their son.
Clark knew almost everyone in the crowd, at least in passing, and as he looked at families grouped together, he felt a wave of sorrow, knowing that next year, and every year after that, he would be escorting two of their children away. At least one family every year would be left mourning the loss of a child.
He was suddenly grateful that he was finished with school — at least he wouldn’t have to walk amongst the potential tributes every day, wondering which two he would be taking to their deaths the following summer. He knew that Haver had won at age sixteen and had dropped out of school soon afterwards — possibly because he couldn’t bear seeing, and perhaps becoming friends with, the kids he would have to watch die.
The Peacekeepers standing between the crowd and the platform stepped aside when Clark came down the steps. Jonathan and Martha rushed forward, embracing their son as he stepped onto the ground.
“Clark, you’re home!” Martha wept with joy as she hugged him tightly.
“We weren’t sure we’d see you again,” Jonathan added.
“I’m glad to be home.” Clark’s voice was subdued, but he hugged his parents back, taking care not to embrace them too hard.
The Kents stood that way for a few minutes before Clark approached his friends. They hung back, waiting for him to approach them, and he wondered if he appeared as different to them as he felt. He knew that he’d changed in the weeks he’d been away, that he’d done and survived things that had once been unthinkable. In addition, with President Snow’s threats hanging over his head, Clark couldn’t help thinking about what might happen to them. In his mind’s eye, he saw his friends and parents dead, tortured, made into Avoxes … and he feared that what he imagined was nothing in comparison to the reality.
Clark knew that whatever he did, he had to protect those he cared about — and those strangers whose lives were also in danger. He didn’t know what Snow expected, or how he would go about keeping people safe, but he had to try. For the moment, it seemed like the best course of action was to pretend that everything was normal.
“Pete!” Clark walked up to his friend and leaned close. “Did you ask her?” Clark whispered, glancing at Lana.
“She asked me,” Pete confessed. “When the Peacekeepers took you and Becky away, she told me that life was too short to hesitate and proposed to me.”
“And?”
“And I said yes. What did you think I said?” Pete put an arm around Lana. “We aren’t married yet, though. We decided to wait until …”
“… until the Games were over?” Clark asked.
“Yeah … after all, you did say you expected to be invited to the wedding.”
Pete didn’t mention that none of them had really believed that Clark would come home. In spite of their words before Clark had left, they had all known that the odds were seldom in District 9’s favor. When Clark had come so close to being killed in the bloodbath, they had tried to prepare themselves for the inevitable. Their friend would die, and as soon as the Games were over his body would be returned to District 9. There would be a short, unceremonious funeral, as there had been for Becky and for a hundred and twenty-nine other tributes over the years since the Hunger Games had begun, and they would try to move on without him.
Pete, Lana, and Rachel had discussed what they could do to help the Kents after the Games. The Rasens had other children to comfort them after they lost Becky, but Clark was the Kents’ only child. In addition, the future would be grim for Jonathan and Martha if they lost their son. There were no pensions for the elderly or disabled, and the poverty that most people lived in made it impossible to save for the future — all of a family’s resources were needed to keep them alive in the present. When a person no longer had the strength to work, they had to rely upon other family members to take care of them. If a person had no children, or their children couldn’t or wouldn’t provide for them, they were often left to starve.
It wouldn’t have been an immediate problem for the Kents — they were still fairly young and healthy — but eventually, if they had lived long enough to no longer be able to work their farm, they would have been left in the same position as many another childless couple before them. Starvation was seldom formally acknowledged as a cause of death, with the death certificate stating that the person had died from disease or exposure, but people generally knew the real reason.
Clark’s three young friends had resolved amongst themselves to help the Kents in their old age if they were able, since the odds of Clark coming back alive were so poor. All of them had spent time at the Kent home, where Jonathan and Martha had proven kind and generous even in the face of sometimes crushing poverty. Clark’s friends would not leave them to starve if they could help it.
All of them had watched the bloodbath with grim fascination, seeing how sick Clark was — a subject his parents had danced around when asked about it. When Platinum had attacked him in spite of his efforts to escape, it had been widely assumed that he would be killed. Then Lois had intervened and Clark had been able to escape into the brush. Later, they had watched as Lois and Clark fought, then decided to become allies — even if they didn’t call it an alliance.
Rachel had watched with dismay as Lois and Clark grew closer. She wasn’t sure that it was the tragic love story that many people had assumed it to be, but she also hadn’t been happy with how close the pair of tributes had become. There was definitely something between them, even if it wasn’t a doomed love.
When Lois had kissed Clark just before her death, Pete and Lana had turned from watching the Games to watching Rachel to see what her reaction would be. “They’re friends,” Rachel had told them. “Like that girl said, they’re friends. Clark always was kind to everyone …” After that, she had refused to say anything more on the subject.
Now, Clark approached Rachel slowly, not sure what she would think of him — or how he felt about her, for that matter. She watched him coming towards her, but made no move to close the distance.
“Rachel,” Clark said when he finally reached her. “I …”
“You … you made it home,” Rachel replied. “We hoped you would, but …”
“I didn’t think I’d make it home,” Clark answered.
“Yes … the odds weren’t in your favor.” Rachel started to say more, but stopped when Clark turned to look at the camera crew that was focusing on them.
Keeping his voice low, Clark said, “I think we need to talk … but not here. Later, when there’s more privacy …”
Rachel frowned, but nodded. “Sure … you wouldn’t want to destroy the tragic romance angle,” she whispered, a touch of sarcasm in her voice. Louder, she said, “I’m glad you’re back. I need to get home now, though. Mom needs my help.” She turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Clark watched her go, sighing inwardly. Rachel was upset about Lois, as he’d suspected she would be. He wanted to reassure her, but he wasn’t sure himself how he felt.
He turned back to Pete, Lana, and his parents. They were watching him expressionlessly.
Does everyone think Lois and I were in love? he wondered.
Do they really think I threw Rachel over for a girl I barely knew? I never promised Rachel anything.Rachel had made a promise to him, though, and he suddenly realized how much it must have hurt her to see him with Lois. He and Lois had been friends and allies, but to Rachel, it must have looked like much more. He’d killed another tribute to save Lois’s life, he’d shared his own meager food and clothing to keep her alive, and he’d kissed her good-bye just before her death. Had their roles been reversed — had he seen Rachel with a male tribute — he might have been upset, too.
Marcius interrupted his thoughts. “Your house in Victor’s Village should be ready for you — the Capitol sent people to fix it up as soon as you were declared victor. You’re home sooner than most victors, but it should still be ready.” Marcius signaled to the camera crew to follow them. “If you’ll follow me, Clark …”
“Wait.” Clark went back to his parents and friends. “Why don’t you come with us? I’d like for you to see it.”
Pete shook his head. “It’s getting kind of late, Clark, and I have to get home.”
Lana nodded, taking Pete’s hand. “So do I.” At Clark’s hurt look, she added, “We’ll come see you tomorrow, or maybe the next day — after the festivities are over.”
Clark sighed. “Sure. I’ll see you then.” He watched as they walked away, and then turned to his parents. “What about you? Don’t you want to see the new house?”
Jonathan patted his son’s shoulder. “Sure we do.”
Martha nodded her agreement. “Of course we want to see your new home.”
Marcius nodded approvingly. “It’s not as big as some homes in the Capitol, but there’s still plenty of space, and of course you can bring your family to live with you if you want.”
Clark nodded, and the Kents followed Marcius in the direction of Victor’s Village.
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