Rainier stayed locked up in her room for two days straight and ignored all the knocks and yelling from the outside. She didn’t know why they just didn’t ram the door down already. They could, but she’s assuming that they want her to come out on her own. The idea seemed very unlikely at this point.

No one tried to come in and talk to her. They just wanted her to come out. On Rainier’s third day locked in her room she had a visitor. Rainier didn’t even look at Katniss.

“Are you going to tell me to get out of this room too?” Rainier asked icily.

“No, not exactly,” Katniss said.

“Then what is it then? Why are you here? Are you here to sympathize for me, to tell me to move forward and act like my two best friends weren’t tortured on live television?”

“I’m not going to make you get out of this room, but you need to. Staying in here isn’t going to change anything.”

Rainier turned to face Katniss. “How do you know? What do you know?”

“I went through the same thing you went through.”

Rainier looked down and busied herself with her nails. She forgot about Peeta. She remembered how depressed Katniss was after he was hijacked.

“Right, I forgot about Peeta, sorry,” Rainier mumbled.

“Forget it. C’mon, let’s get you some fresh air.”

Katniss dragged Rainier out the room and through many hallways. Before she knew it, a current of cool air blew in her face. She smelled dirt and trees. She was incredulous. She was outside. Rainier hasn’t been outside in forever! For the past year or so she’s been locked in that underground torture chamber a.k.a. District 13.

She felt free. Her enormous sense of freedom was just at her fingertips, and it scared her. She wanted to run, but Rainier couldn’t bring herself to take the first step.

“I know right?” Katniss breathed.

“Wow.” That was all she could say.

“Feel better?”

“More than I ever thought I could. Thank you, Katniss. I needed this.”

“No problem. I would’ve never guessed that a Capitol citizen would appreciate the good fresh air.”

Rainier rolled her eyes. “Really, still going on about that?”

“I just couldn’t believe you could be a Capitol kid. Sure, you sometimes show the tiniest hint of an accent, but you do not act like one.”

“I get that a lot,” Rainier admitted.

“I bet you do.”

Rainier laughed. Then she ran; she ran deep into the trees. She couldn’t hear Katniss following her, and she didn’t mind. She was officially alone and free, but the feeling would soon leave her grasp.