385
see, this is what happens when i plan for the one key event to happen in the middle of the chapter instead of at the end: i wind up having no idea how to actually finish the chapter. add to that the fact that i'm writing from gale's PoV (still can't get it right) and the fact that i'm ridiculously fond of the hawthorne family, and i end up digressing for eleven pages. no wonder this chapter took forever. and even then it sucks. well, at least the second half of it.
and now, because i'm pissed at myself for being a lousy writer, this excerpt will end with an evil cliffhanger. y'all can thank me later.
----------
When the man started speaking, Gale felt the disgust come back to him, full-force. He was sure he wasn't the only one feeling this way this time, if the grimace on both Vick and his mother's face was any indication. The moment the President moved on to saluting the tributes for "their courage and their sacrifice," Rory had had enough. "I can't take this anymore," he rasped out and, lightly pushing out of his mother's embrace, he made to leave.
"Rory, don't--" his mother tried to stop him from going outside, but he was already halfway to the door.
"What is he doing? The Peacekeepers will see him!" Posy exclaimed, now obviously scared, as he disappeared from sight.
Gale sighed, feeling both worried and annoyed at the same time. "I'll get him," he stated. He picked up his almost empty plate and handed it to Posy so she could wash it while he was out looking for Rory. Then he got off the couch with a groan and walked around it, determined to bring his brother back before he made an even bigger mess out of this whole thing.
Just as he was crossing the threshold, though, Vick spoke up, effectively stopping him. "Guys, I think something's happening."
They all turned to the TV set, the issue with Rory not forgotten but momentarily paused because of the urgency in Vick's voice. As Snow had continued speaking, scratches, jumps and interference started showing up on screen, cutting off his words every few seconds, like it sometimes happened when the signal was about to crash. "What's going on? Is the electricity going out?" Posy questioned, curious. By then they could barely make sense of whatever the President was saying, the signal was so choppy.
"That never happens during the Games," Vick replied, practically taking the words out of Gale's mouth. It wasn't strange for electricity to go out in Twelve, especially in the Seam, and the TV signal was usually weak at best. Not during the Games, though. That's the one time when the Capitol made sure everything was working properly, because everybody had to watch, no excuses. In twenty-three years of this, Gale could not remember even one instance when the signal for the Games was not perfect.
"Maybe it's our television," he suggested. Quite frankly he wouldn't mind if their TV finally bit the dust; he'd had enough of the Capitol shoving their propaganda down their throats to last a lifetime. Not that they wouldn't immediately issue them a new one, but still. And without a TV they wouldn't know what was going on with Prim, so he had to at least tinker with the dials to see if he could fix it.
The transmission never changed, of course, because the Games aired in every channel, but the interference grew steadily worse, the images becoming more shaky and distorted by the second, until finally the signal went out, leaving the screen completely dark. "Did the TV break down?" his mother questioned, cautious. Gale was about to reply that he thought so, when a phrase, in bold, white block letters, slowly appeared on the screen.
THIS IS WHAT THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE.
"What the...?" he started, not quite sure what was going on. Was the Capitol playing some sort of trick on them, or was this something else altogether? Before he even knew what he was going to ask, the screen changed to a familiar scene. A very familiar scene.
----------
meanwhile, i refuse to even look at this chapter any longer. rest assured, i will post chapter 10 to ff.net tomorrow morning. that one i actually like. *rolls eyes*