Life With Annie, chapter 12

The next morning, I wake up laying next to Felicia, the baby is asleep between us.
He's so beautiful, and so peaceful looking. I Pick him up, and hold him in my arms.
He squirms slightly, yawns, and then falls back asleep. I rock him slowly, looking down into his little face.
"Hello little guy, I'm your uncle Bruce. I tell you, you got your mothers looks. You are one handsome young man."
He opens his eyes slowly, and smiles at me.
"That is one of the cutest things I've ever seen."
I look up at Felicia. She's laying on her side, watching me and the baby.
"How are you feeling?"
She rolls onto her back, and lets out a sigh.
"Tired. How's the baby doing?"
I look down at the small sleeping human in my arms.
"He's doing just fine. He is a very hardy little guy."
She rolls closer to me, and sits up on one elbow. She brushes her fingers over the baby's hair.
"He's so strong. Aren't you baby?"
At the sound of his mother's voice, the baby turns his head towards her, and reaches for her.
I hand him over to her, and sit up.
"You never told me if you had picked out a name. We can't just keep calling him 'baby"
She smiles, and kisses him on the forehead.
"Why not? I think it's cute to call him baby."
I stretch.
"Yeah, but it's not a name. He has to have a proper one, a good strong name."
She just shrugs.
"Don't you think he should have a name?"
She smiles.
"He has a name."
I look surprised.
"Oh yeah? And what would that be?"
She whispers.
"It's a secret."
Just then Jewel walks in, and sits down next to Felicia.
"How's the baby?"
Felicia holds him up.
"Oh he's doing just great. He wants to thank you for helping him. Don't you?"
The baby gurgles, and waves a tiny hand. Jewel squeals, and reaches out her hands.
"Ooh! He's so adorable. Can I hold him?"
Felicia smiles, and hands him to Jewel.
She cuddles him in her arms, and makes little cooing noises.
I stand up and stretch, then walk out into the growing sunlight.
Flash and Titon are still asleep, around the ashes of last night's fire. But Sheira is up and about, preparing breakfast.
I walk over to her.
"Anything I can do to help?"
She hands me a box of matches.
"Go and start the fire up again. And wake up those two lazy bums."
I grin, and walk over to the wood pile. Grabbing some kindling, I start up a nice fire. Then I walk over to Flash, and sprinkle dirt in his face. He sits up spitting, and rubbing dirt out of his eyes.
"Rise and shine! It's a beautiful day!"
Flash curses me, as he stands up. I give him a cheerful grin.
"Well good morning!"
He roars, and starts chasing me around the fire. As I pass Titon, I kick his foot. He sits up with a yell, just as Flash runs past.
"What the heck was that?"
Titon yells. I laugh, and keep running around the fire, Flash still hot on my heels.
Jewel runs out of the cornucopia, waving her arms.
"Be quiet you guys! The baby is trying to sleep!"
We all stop, and look at her.
"That's better. Now keep quiet. You don't want to hear a screaming baby all day do you?"
We shake our heads.
"Well then, don't make so much noise."
We all make a big show of creeping around the campsite on tip toe. Which makes the two girls smile.
I find some thin rope in the supply pile, and begin weaving a sling for Felicia to carry the baby around in.
Shiera finishes making breakfast, and calls us all over to the fire.
"Breakfast is ready!"
Felicia joins us, carrying the baby.
"Should you be walking?"
Jewel asks.
Felicia smiles as she sits down next to me.
"I don't know if I should be, but I am."
I grin.
"That's good enough for me."
We laugh and joke all through breakfast.
I realise with shock that I am getting too attached to the others. I can't become friends with these people, I'm going to have to kill them. And what about Felicia? She is a marked target, there is no way that the game makers are letting her come out alive. What will happen to her son when she dies?
I glance over at the beautiful little baby sleeping in her arms, and I know what I must do.
From now on, I will do everything in my power to protect him. Even if his mother doesn't make it out of the games, I will make sure he does.
The game makers wouldn't be cruel enough to kill a newborn child...would they?
"You're awfully quiet Bruce. Something on your mind?"
Felicia asks quietly.
I look up quickly.
"Oh, nothing much. Can I hold the baby?"
She smiles, and hands him to me.
"I'll need to feed him in a minute."
I nod, and rest him in my arm.
"Has he cried at all?"
She shakes her head.
"Nope, just a little when he was born. He is a very good baby, it's almost like he's aware that we are in a dangerous enviroment."
I hold his hand on my palm. How could anything be so tiny?
He opens his eyes, and starts kicking his legs. I laugh.
"Woah there little guy. You trying to swim already?"
He growls in response, and we all laugh.
This is not good, we are all too attached to each other and the baby now. I know I could never kill any of them, and I doubt that they would kill each other.
This is a major issue. We can't be friends. Careers are supposed to be brutal and vicious. You're supposed to hate careers, and want to kill them. What are we going to do?
Sheira stands up, and brushes the dirt off her clothes.
"Well, we can't just sit around here all day. The audience had a show yesterday, what with the first day and Felicia giving birth and all that. But they are going to be bored today, just sitting around watching us eat breakfast. So why don't we go hunt down some tributes? Give them something to keep them from sending in some mutt, or trick."
The others agree, and I volunteer to stay and keep watch with Felicia. The others agree, and after packing some supplies, they set off with their weapons in hand.
Felicia and I prepare a baby space in the cornucopia, and set the baby down to sleep.
Then I settle down and continue working on Felicia's baby sling.
She comes and sits next to me.
"What are you working on?"
"A baby sling for you."
She gives me a hug.
"Aw! Thanks."
I shrug.
"No problem. It gives me something to do."
we sit silent for a while, then Felicia starts playing with a loose end of rope.
"Bruce."
"Yeah."
"What's going to happen to the baby?"
I slowly weave the rope together. Thinking for a minute before I answer.
"I won't let anything happen to him."
She leans up against me, and whispers in my ear.
"Only one person can leave the arena alive."
I twist a strand of rope tightly. Answering through gritted teeth.
"Then when I'm the last person standing, I'll kill myself."
She straightens up.
"No! You can't do that..."
"Felicia! What choice do I have? I won't let your baby die! Do you think I could live with that?"
She looks desperate.
"Bruce...I...but..."
She starts crying.
"I wish none of this had ever happened...I wish I had never been born!"
The baby starts crying from inside the cornucopia, and I jump up.
"I'll get him."
I run in and pick him up, rocking him and talking calmly.
Felicia walks in, and takes him from me, He stops crying once she takes him.
"Felicia, He is your child. He is your reason to keep on trying, to not stop fighting. I know I won't stop fighting, I will keep that baby safe, or die trying."

Life With Annie, chapter 11

It's after noon when we finish setting up camp.
Us boys collected lots of firewood, while the girls sorted the supplies.
I'm surprised that the careers are taking survival precautions, most of the time careers don't know the first thing about survival.
The more I talk to Flash and Titon, the more I like them. Which is very bad.
I can't be getting close to them, I'm going to have to kill them...or do I?
After all, isn't this what I wanted? To die in the games? But do I really want that?
The games killed Quin, do I want to just through my life away. Or do I want to make a statement?
Do something to say "you are responsible for the murder of children, everyone in the capitol is to blame."
Do I want to do something to defy the capitol? Rebel?
Rebellion is punishable by death, as my father found out.
But if that's what I am killed for, at least I died making a statement.
"Bruce!"
I come back to reality. Flash is standing in front of me with an expectant look on his face.
"Sorry. What did you say?"
He lets out a sigh.
"I asked if you think we have enough firewood."
I glance at the large pile we have stacked up.
"Uh, yeah. That should be plenty."
Flash whistles.
"Titon! Let's go! We're heading back to camp!"
Titon seems to materialize out of the trees. We pile the wood onto a large canvas tarp, and begin dragging it up the mountain side.
We are almost at the foot of the mountain, and the entire base of the mountain is covered in a thick forest. There are so many trees, that we can't get a good look at the rest of the arena.
It takes us almost an hour to drag the wood back to the campsite.
We leave the pile to the side of the cornucopia, and go see what the girls are doing.
Jewel and Felicia are looking through the food for something to make for dinner. I don't see Sheira anywhere.
"Hey you two. Where's Sheira?"
Felicia smiles when she sees me.
"Hey Bruce. I don't know where Sheira is, do you Jewel?"
She nods, and continues sorting the food.
"She went off to look for a tribute from ten."
Flash strides up, and watches her for a minute.
"What are you doing?"
She gives him a look,
"I'm sorting the food, we'll eat the stuff that will spoil faster first. That way we won't waste any."
He seems satisfied with this answer, and walks off to stack the firewood.
Felicia straightens up slowly, both hands on her lower back.
"Ooh! My back hurts."
I walk over and hold her arm.
"I'm sorry. Where does it hurt?"
She rubs her back, as she answers.
"Low down. But it's kind of sore everywhere."
I start to lead her to the cornucopia.
"Why don't you lie down for a while? It's cool in the cornucopia."
She stops suddenly, and grabs her stomach.
"What is it?"
She cries in pain, and doubles over. Holding her tummy tightly.
"Felicia what's wrong?"
I put my arm around her waist to support her.
She takes a deep breath, and straightens up.
"I'm fine."
I stand in front of her, and tilt her chin so that she looks me in the eye.
"Felicia. What was that?"
She shrugs.
"I don't know. It was just a really sharp pain all of a sudden. Then it was gone. I feel fine now really, except my back is still sore."
I jump as Titon speaks right behind me.
"Did it feel like all your muscles tightened at the same time?"
Felicia looks up surprised.
"Yeah. How did you know?"
He shrugs.
"That's how my mum described contractions."
I stare at him.
"You mean she's in labor?"
He nods. I feel Felicia grab my arm tightly.
"Bruce..."
I put my arm around her.
"It's okay, you're going to be fine. Titon, would you get Jewel, and ask her to come to the cornucopia? Then can you and Flash go look for Sheira?"
He nods, and rushes off. Felicia starts gasping, and I hold her arm tightly as I take her to the cornucopia.
"Felicia calm down. It's alright. Let's get you in the cornucopia."
Jewel runs in.
"What can I do?"
I look around.
"Um...Can you get a sort of bed set up?"
She nods, and quickly grabs several sleeping bags and blankets. She sets them up near the back of the cornucopia.
We ease Felicia down onto the makeshift mattress. We step back to the mouth of the cornucopia.
"What do we do know?"
Jewel asks quietly. I sigh.
"We do what we can and wait for the others to get back."
Two long hours drag by, with still no sign of Titon, Flash, or Sheira.
Felicia's contractions have gotten closer together, and I'm afraid is no one else shows up soon, Jewel and I are going to have to deliver the baby ourselves.
We have been taking turns keeping watch, and staying with Felicia.
I hear her cry out in pain again, and Jewel walks up to me.
"She's having contractions every twenty minutes, the baby's coming soon Bruce."
I sigh, and pat her shoulder.
"I'll take a turn with her now. You keep watch."
She nods, and I walk into the cornucopia.
I sit down next to Felicia, and hold her hand.
"Hey, how are you doing?"
She sighs, and leans against me.
"I'm scared. But I guess I'm doing well under the circumstances."
I put my arm around her, and rest my cheek on the top of her head.
"Do you think it's a boy, or a girl?"
She holds her hand to her stomach.
"It's a boy."
"Really? How do you know?"
She smiles.
"I just know."
I smile, and put my hand on top of hers.
"Have you thought of a name yet?"
She almost crushes my hand, as she squeezes it tightly, and screams. It's only been around ten minutes.
She gasps, and releases my hand.
"Wow, he is not being very patient."
Jewel appears at the mouth of the cornucopia.
"That sounded worse than the others."
Felicia nods.
"Oh yeah, it was."
I slide my hand back into hers.
"Any sign of the others?"
Jewel shakes her head.
"Do you want me to take a turn watching now?"
Jewel shakes her head again.
"She needs you right now, I don't mind watching."
Felicia screams again, and clutches her tummy tightly.
"That's five minutes. I don't think it's supposed to happen this fast."
Jewel says sounding almost scared.
"Well I don't think the baby cares how it's supposed to go!"
Felicia yells.
"Jewel, go get some water. Do we have anything like a towel?"
She runs to the supply piles, and comes back with a thick blanket.
"Will this work?"
I run over to the wood pile, calling back over my shoulder.
"Yeah. Get the water and the blanket into the cornucopia, I'll be right there!"
I grab as much wood as I can carry, and run back inside the cornucopia.
Felicia is half laying, half sitting. Holding her stomach tightly.
Jewel has several canteens of water, and the think blanket.
I throw the wood in a pile, and start making a fire. Calling instructions to Jewel as I do.
"See if you can find something that is like a basin, or a bowl. Then rip that blanket into thick strips."
She searches around the supply pile for a while, finally returning with a helmet.
"I didn't know we had armor."
She hands it to me, and shrugs.
"A little, but it doesn't really fit any of us, and there's no point wearing something that will only get in the way."
I shrug, and empty the canteens into the helmet.
"At least it's come in handy. Will you get to work on the blanket?"
She starts cutting the blanket into hand towel sized strips.
I hear a sound behind me, and whirl around. We didn't leave anyone on guard.
I sigh in relief as I see Flash and Sheira.
"Where have you been? Never mind. Did you find district ten?"
Sheira shakes her head.
"I was tracking someone, turns out it wasn't ten. I didn't bother exterminating them, it would just waste time. I was on the trail of another tribute when Flash and Titon found me."
I look around.
"Speaking of which, where is Titon?"
Flash glances at Felicia.
"He's still following the trail. How is she doing?"
I look over at Felicia, just as she bends over and screams again.
I turn back to Flash, almost laughing at his terrified look.
"She's doing as well as can be expected. Why don't you wait outside?"
He nods, and walks out.
"Sheira, do you know anything about delivering a baby?"
She shakes her head.
"Alright, why don't you wait out with Flash, and keep an eye out for Titon?"
She takes one last look at Felicia, and walks out to join Flash.
Jewel stands up, and hands me the blanket pieces.
"Here. What do you want me to do know?"
I test the water that is heating over the fire, then soaking one of the blanket pieces. I sit next to Felicia, and place the towel on her forehead.
"I'm going to need you to deliver the baby."
She looks at me shocked.
"What? I can't do..."
I cut her off.
"None of us know how to! But I need you to suck it up, and just do it. Be ready to grab the baby and clean him off okay?"
She glances nervously at Felicia, and sighs.
"Alright I'll do it."
I hold Felicia's hand as she screams.
"Thank you Jewel. Felicia, can you feel the baby?"
I wipe the sweat from her forehead as she answers.
"I can't tell, the pressure is everywhere."
The next hour or so drag by long and loud. After what seems like forever, Felicia lets out one final long scream, there's a silence. Then the quiet cry of a newborn child.
Jewel is beaming, and cradling in her arms a small bundle wrapped in a blanket.
"Oh! He's beautiful!"
She whispers in awe.
I'm still holding Felicia's hand, and I rest my forehead on hers.
"Do you hear that? It's a boy."
She is panting, but she smiles.
"Told you."
Jewel walks over, and sits next to us. She hands Felicia the baby.
"Say hello to your new son."
Felicia holds her tiny son in her arms, and the look on her face is worth a million dollars.
"Well hello. Hi baby. I'm your mommy, yes I am."
She talks quietly to her son, and he opens his eyes slowly.
He is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.
He is tall for a newborn, and every feature is perfect. He has a head full of hair the color of his mothers, and his newborn eyes, have a hint of green in them.
He looks so cheerful, and waves his arm in the air.
I rub my finger against his tiny hand, and he grips it tightly.
"Woah, don't you have a strong grip. You're going to be a tough one."
To confirm my prediction, he makes a little growl.
After everything we just went through, we all start laughing.
I look up, and see Flash, Titon and Sheira standing tentatively in the mouth of the cornucopia. I wave them over.
"Come see our little miracle. Tribute number twenty-five from district four."

There's Nothing More Important than Family, chapter 16

I don’t really know what time it was when I heard the screams.

We all sat around the fire until the anthem appeared in the sky. I saw that no one had died and that’s all I needed to know. I went to bed, and Addalie took her first night time watch shift of the Games. Nathan shared his sleeping bag with me, so I was nice and cozy with his arm wrapped around me. I had more nightmares and was awake every half-hour or so, but I tried to remember what Jason said about being strong mentally. Thank goodness I wasn’t thrashing around in my sleep again; I didn’t want to hurt Nathan. He slept with his sword and I didn’t feel like being on the receiving end of that. After three or four hours of tossing and turning, I finally fell asleep for good. I didn’t know I wouldn’t be sleeping for long.

When I wake up next, Addalie is screaming and someone else, who has an unfamiliar voice, is cackling madly. Jason and Breah sit up quickly, as does Nathan.

“Zania, stay here!” Nathan orders. “Don’t come out unless I tell you its safe!”

“Addalie, we’re right here!” cries Breah, and the three tributes sprint out to her aid. I hear Addalie’s bloodcurdling scream and then a muffled ‘thump’. The cannon fires ominously. I peek my head out of the tent door and nearly scream myself. Addalie’s skin is ravaged and bloody and there is a spear buried halfway up the shaft in her chest. That cannon was for her. Addalie is dead.

Payla is standing, with the other three surrounding her. She has no more weapons and she’s covered in blood; her own and Addalie’s. She has smeared some under her eyes, like war paint. She spits out even more blood, and smiles. Her teeth are stained red.

“It was suicide coming here.” Growls Nathan.

“I’m not dead yet.” Payla smirks. “I can still finish you three off. Then I’ll find the little girl.”

“Like hell you will!” yells Nathan. He swings at Payla with his sword, but she stupidly grabs the blade and pulls the sword from Nathan’s hands. Her fingers are bleeding now, but I think they must’ve been bleeding already. She slashes at Nathan. He jumps backwards to avoid it. It almost misses him, but his chest gets cut.

“See?” Payla taunts. “I’m still in this! When I kill you all, I can just help myself to your first aid supplies! And I can kill her with her brother’s sword. I’m still competing.”

“Not for long.” Breah says sinisterly. She smiles, like she knows something Payla doesn’t. She winks, just as Jason sneaks up behind Payla and slices her in half. I hear the boom of the cannon, but I can’t tear my eyes away from her chopped up body.

“Zania, it’s safe.” Nathan huffs. “You can come out.” I creep outside cautiously and see that there is a hole in Nathan’s hoodie. The edges of the hole are saturated in blood. He wipes some of it away absent mindedly as he takes back his sword from Payla’s disgusting hand.

“How do you think this happened?” I ask.

“She got tires and was drifting off, I suppose.” Breah whispers. “She didn’t see Payla coming. It looks like Payla likes to play with her prey before she kills it.” Nathan takes off his sweater and shirt, and ZI help him patch his wound up. When I’m done I look around, and see Addalie’s limp figure on the grass, surrounded in some liquid, some congealed, blood. I burst into tears and run into the tent. Addalie was my first friend here at the Games. She was nice to me from the very start. Seeing her lifeless body on the ground makes my heart break.

I hear Jason and Nathan talk through the tent walls. “We should move their bodies over that way.” Jason suggests. “They’ll want to come get the bodies and they won’t even try with us so close. It’s easier to move the two of them than it is to move the whole campsite.”

“Agreed.” Says Nathan. “I’ll take her body. You carry Addalie.” I hear them grunt and groan in disgust as they pick up the bodies (or, in Payla’s case, pieces of the bodies) and walk away. Breah enters the tent and takes one of my hands softly.

“You look pale. Sit down.” She orders me quietly. “Did you see it all happen?”

“Not Addalie. I saw Payla die though.”

“And how are you holding up?”

I feel my expression harden. “Payla deserved to die.”

“Zania, that’s a horrible thing to say. No one deserves to die.”

The angry tears erupting from my eyes burn my face. “She did!” I argue. “She tortures Addalie before she killed her! She killed Addalie for fun! She volunteered; she wanted to be here! She likes killing, and seeing people die. She had it coming to her.”

“I know, I know. But you still shouldn’t say things like that. Do you think she’d be like that if the Unger Games didn’t exist?”

“They do exist, and not everyone is like that! She wants to be like that.”

Breah sighs, seeing that I will not change my mind. “The hovercraft will probably pick them up soon. The Careers might be walking around. I bet they think those cannons were both one of us. They’ll think there are only three of us left, and they might come.”

I shrug slightly and she stalks out. I know she’s annoyed with how stubborn I am, but I don’t care anymore. I feel like screaming, crying and sleeping all at once. I can cry all I want, but if I scream, I’d be broadcasting our position to every tribute in the arena. We’re near the top of the mountain, so my screams would echo. I don’t want them to find us. If I go back to sleep, I’m afraid the nightmares will come back, worse than before.

I know this death isn’t my fault, but for some reason I still feel guilty. What a horrible thing to have happen on her first night-time watch. Now Nathan will never let me take watch.

I look through the tent door once again, just in time to see the hovercraft fly away. Nathan and Jason both have their sleeves rolled up and there is blood all over their arms and clothes. I grab a water bottle and run over to help them clean up. Their sweaters and undershirts are soaked, so they take them off and we hang them off the side of the tent. It’s almost noon and the sun is warming up, so they will be dry in no time. I build another fire and we cook one of the birds. It’s dry and tasteless, but it’s food. We hear a cannon fire, and look around at each other anxiously.

“Who was that?” I wonder aloud.

“Who’s even left?” asks Jason.

Breah automatically begins counting the tributes off her fingers. “Both from 1, 2, 3, 9 and 11, and the boy from 8.”

“Hopefully it was one of the Careers.” Says Nathan.

“Wait, the boy from 8 is still alive?” exclaims Jason.

“Yeah, as far as I know.” Replies Breah.

“That might’ve been him. The Careers have no use for him anymore. If you ask me, they only kept him along as source of entertainment.” Laughs Jason.

“I’d rather one of the Careers be dead.” Says Nathan solemnly. “The boy from 8 would be easier to finish off.” I nod my head in agreement.

“It’s a lot to hope for, but I hope you’re right.” Mutters Breah. An ember falls on my leg and I brush it off hastily.

I think back to Payla and how her body had been cut in half. When they retrieve the bodies from the arena, they try to restore the body the best they can before they ship it to the deceased’s family. They are usually then buried at home. They’d need to do a lot to restore Payla’s body. How can they re-attach her torso to her bottom half? It seems impossible.

It’s getting progressively darker and colder outside. Jason and Nathan’s clothes are still damp, but they put them on anyway. Nathan shivers; there’s a giant hole in the front of his sweater, where the cold air can creep in. He grabs the wool blanket from the tent, and I snicker as he stuffs it under his hoodie.

“There.” He tells me. “Much better!”

Breah chuckles and snatches the bird leg from his hand. “I should probably take this; you look stiffed!” Nathan protests, but Breah takes a bite, and consumes the meat in a matter of seconds.

“Well then!” Nathan says in mock anger. “I think I’ll just go to sleep! Goodnight!” he grins cockily and kisses me on the cheek before returning to the tent.

“I’ll take watch.” Jason says. “You two can go to bed.” Breah burps her thanks and follows Nathan to bed, but I don’t move. I stare into the fire, even though it hurts my eyes. “Zania, you should sleep.” Jason nags.

“I don’t want to.”I say stubbornly.

“You’re afraid of having more nightmares?” he guesses.

“Yeah.”

“If I see that you’re having a nightmare, I’ll wake you up, okay? You really need to get some sleep.”

“Do I have to?” I whine, like a small child.

“Tell you what. You can stay up until we see who died,” he instructs assertively, “And then you can go to bed. Deal?”

“Deal. You’ll really wake me up if I have a nightmare? You promise?”

“Definitely.” He promises. He tosses a bag of peanuts at me. “I don’t like those; you can finish them if you want.”

I nod, and I hear the Capitol anthem play. I look up into the sky. They show Payla, the Addalie. Finally, they show Harvey, the boy from District 11. “Wow.” I say to Jason. “I didn’t even know he was still alive!”

“Neither did I!” he exclaims, and then he pauses. “I’ll tell the others when they wake up. You go to bed.” I groan and obey, slipping through the tent door. Now that Addalie’s gone, there’s an extra sleeping bag, but I don’t take it. I know I sound childish, but I half wish that Addalie will be sleeping there again. The more innocent part of my mind believes that she’s just out hunting in the woods, or maybe on vacation. I climb into Nathan’s sleeping bag and curl up beside him. He snorts, but stays asleep. In no time, I’m asleep too.

There's Nothing More Important than Family, chapter 15

I don’t eat. I see them roasting the rabbits on the fire I built. It angers me. When they’re cooked, I take them both from Nathan’s hands and throw them as far as I can down the mountain.

“What the heck, Zania!” Nathan cries. “Those were perfectly good rabbits!”

“You have the nerve to actually eat them?” I sputter furiously. “They just cost Maria her life!”

It’s dark, but I can just see him roll his eyes at me in the firelight. “You’re seriously still angry about that?”

Breah intervenes. “Nathan, we have enough food to last us all at least two weeks. It doesn’t really matter.”

“It was still food! What if we lose our packs?”

“Then the rabbits would be in the packs, and we’d have lost them too.” Breah says.

Addalie explains to Nathan, “She’s just traumatized. She’ll get over it soon enough.”

“Tomorrow, we can hunt and gather some more.” Jason suggests. “I’m tired of dried food anyway.”

Nathan sighs. “Zan, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t realise that all she wanted was her rabbits back.”

“It’s nice to know that you’re sorry,” I say, “But isn’t it a bit too late now?” I look at the four of them solemnly, then retreat to the tent and hide in a sleeping bag. I’m out like a light.

Maria visits me in my dreams. Over and over again, like a broken record, I see the sword pierce her body and I feel the warm, sticky spray of blood on my face. Her eyes become vacant and Nathan throws her to the side. Again and again and again. I hate it, it’s making me insane, and I know it. Just when I’m sure I’m going to break, the image changes. Now I watch Vella stab Georgie over and over. Its horrible how Vella makes sure her hand fully enters Georgie’s body before she pulls the knife back out again. Vella’s hand is soaked. The blood splatters unpleasantly from Georgie’s wound. When that image stops replaying, I see myself standing in my room, with the victor’s crown on my head. I see the charred remains of my token on the ground, and I know I’m dreaming about me, after winning the games. The ghostly figures of Georgie and Maria stand before me. They look much prettier than they did in real life, but they also look dangerous and powerful.

“All I wanted was my food.” Hisses Maria.

“I didn’t kill you!” I exclaim.

“You should’ve stopped him!” she argues. “He would have listened!”

“It’s not my fault!”

Georgie sneers, “What about me, then? If you would’ve run like the rest of us, like any normal human would’ve, I might still be alive! I had to save you and look what happened! I died for you!”

“I didn’t mean to, I swear!” I cry.

“Oh, yes.” Maria mocks me. “That helps me so much now that I’m DEAD! Yeah, you’re apology did so much to help me beyond the grave.”

“What do you want from me?” I bawl. I’m terrified. I know it’s a dream, but I can’t handle it. It is my fault that both of them are dead.

Suddenly, they both grow fangs and attack me. I wake up in a cold sweat. My face is stained with tears. Nathan, Addalie and Jason are staring at me warily. I’m in the middle of the tent and they’re pressed against the walls, giving me plenty of room. I wipe my eyes on my sleeve and bring my knees up to my chest. “You staring at me like that doesn’t help me at all.” I whisper.

“You were thrashing around. Every time we tried to lie down and sleep, you’re arm would come out of nowhere and hit us in the face.” Nathan replies.

I groan and ask, “How long did I keep you up?”

“Only an hour or two.” Responds Addalie. “Don’t worry, we’re not tired.”

Jason puts his hand on my shoulder slowly. “Are you okay?” he asks me quietly. At least he’s not pretending everything’s okay, like the other two.

I nod. “I’m fine. Just a nightmare, that’s all.”

“Understandable.” He tells me. “Do you want to tell me what it was about?”

“Georgie.” I mutter. “And Maria. It’s my fault.”

“No, it’s not.” Jason assures me. He looks at me with bright green eyes. “We’re in the Hunger Games now. People are going to die. You need to stay strong mentally to make it to the end. Can you do that for me?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Zania, do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I’d lie to you?”

“No.”

“Then listen closely. It wasn’t your fault. None of it, okay? I know it’s hard seeing someone die right in front of you, but you’re tough. You can get over this, I know you can.”

“I’ll try.”

“That’s what I like to hear! Now let’s go get something to eat.”

“What time is it?” I ask quietly.

“I have no idea, but the sun is rising, so fairly early I guess.”

I sigh, and the four of us climb through the tent door. Nathan is avoiding my eyes guiltily. Breah is sitting by the door, and her eyes have dark circles beneath them.

Jason puts his hand on my shoulder again and mumbles, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Aren’t we talking now?” I mutter back.

“You know what I mean!” he cries, and I laugh. “You’re being hard on Nathan.” He tells me.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, this isn’t his fault either. He’s just trying to keep you alive. This is really difficult for him.”

“How is this hard for him? That makes no sense.”

“Duh.” Addalie giggles. “Open up your eyes! You are the most important person in the world for him. I mean, he’s willing to die for you!”

I look into Jason’s sincere eyes. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

“I’ve been kind of a jerk to him then, I guess.” I whisper.

“Yeah, a little bit.” Jason says honestly.

“I feel really bad about all that.”

“Then apologize!” Addalie instructs me softly. “He means well, you know.” I smile and nod, but she rolls her eyes and pushes me towards Nathan.

I stumble on the uneven ground and march up to my brother. “Hey.” I say awkwardly.

“Hey.” He’s still not meeting my gaze.

“I talked with Jason and Addalie.” I say. “I’m really sorry I’ve been on you. I’ve been a jerk.”

“No, you’re right. I shouldn’t have killed her.”

“Nathan, I was just scared! Otherwise I wouldn’t have said that to you. Jason told me you just wanted to protect me.”

“That’s all I’ve wanted to do. Since we were little. Ever since you fell out of that tree and broke your leg.”

“That was so many years ago!” I cry. “I was four years old!”

“I was supposed to be watching you, and I didn’t pay attention. You could’ve broken your neck. I felt so bad after it happened.  I promised myself I’d make sure you never got hurt again. You were crying so hard.”

“Never get hurt again? Never is a long, long time, Nate. I’m going to get hurt eventually.”

“Now you see the flaw in an otherwise perfect plan.” He chuckles grimly. “You’ve already been hurt at least twice in this arena alone, and that’s just the physical. I’ve hurt you mentally already too.”

“It’s alright; it’s not your fault.” I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately. I slide under Nathan’s arm and let him hug me. He holds me close and pats my head reassuringly. I see Addalie wink at me from across the campfire, and Jason gives me a thumbs up.

“Let’s try not to get you any more battered than you are already.”

“Well, we can try to keep me safe, but that will take some serious work.” I joke. He pushes my arm playfully.

We spend the rest of the day hunting and gathering in the forest around our site. I feel so much more carefree now that Nathan and I are on good terms. I gather berries of the bushes. I don’t recognize them, but Breah assures me that they’re safe. I stay close by Nathan, who fills the water bottles back up again. I don’t know where the other three are, but I assume they’re hunting for food elsewhere.

When we’re done, we have a couple birds, a rat and an abundance of water. True, it’s not a giant haul, but we still have tons of food from the Cornucopia.

Today was uneventful. There were no deaths, and no fight, as far as I’m aware. The Capitol audience will be getting bored. I wonder what the gamemakers have in store to spice things up. Whatever it is, it isn’t good.

Life With Annie, chapter 10

I don't remember much about the week before the games, except that Felicia spent almost every second with me, and I got a nine in training.
What I do remember, is the games. I remember every detail.
We boarded the hovercraft, and a woman in a white coat injected a small tracker in my arm.
"Just so we can keep track of you."
The hovercraft ride seemed to last forever, and when we finally landed, we each were placed in a separate room. This room was built especially for me, and no one would ever use it again.
My stylist waits with me, and gets me dressed in the arena uniform. A pair of hiking shoes, tough canvas pants, a white T-shirt, and a black wind breaker.
Then the long agonizing minutes before we enter the arena. We spend it in silence, and when the buzzer sounds, my stylist gives me a hug, and I step into the glass tube. A panel slides over the opening, locking me in.
Suddenly the floor starts to rise, pushing me up into blinding sunlight. I hear the countdown begin.
As my eyes adjust to the light, I see the arena.
We are on the slope of a mountain, the cornucopia rests on the very top of the mountain, and the only way to get to it, is to climb up the side of the mountain. Great, they already are challenging us, and the games haven't even officially started yet.
I can only see half of the tributes, the other half are on the other side of mountain.
I see the districts from one and two, my allies. A few other insignificant tributes, I catch sight of Felicia, looking nervously down, and then up the mountain. Her due date was a few days ago, and I can't believe that she is still able to walk, let alone run around. She is still incredibly active for someone who is due to give birth any day. But while she may still be active, she told me that she is terrified.
"Bruce, I don't know what I'm going to do! I know they want me dead, there is no way they are letting me out alive. They can't kill the baby...I don't know what I would do...I love being pregnant, and I love the baby so much!"
She catches my eye, and I see all the terror and pleading of a friend. But what can I do?
"Twenty...nineteen...eighteen...seventeen."
I take a deep breath, and turn back to the cornucopia. I told the careers that the only way I would join them, was if they would ally with Felicia as well.
Flash the eighteen year old from district one, and Titon from district two, both agreed without to much grumbling.
But Jewel, and Shiera, the girls from one and two. Both complained that she wont be any use. The boys said that I would be worth both of us, so it doesn't matter anyway.
"Ten...nine...eight...seven..."
Here we go.
I look back over at Felicia, and she gives me a terrified glance. I give her a reassuring smile, but it fades quickly.
"Six...five...four..."
I take a deep breath, and prepare to climb.
"Three...two...one."
A gong sounds, and I vault off of my pedestal.
I grab onto a rock shelf, and pull myself up, then I get a foothold, and leap to the next ledge.
In a few moments, I reach the cornucopia, immediately grabbing a sword, I turn around to face any tribute that reaches the top.
The first to come over is Titon, he grins, and runs over to look at the weapons.
Next is Shiera, who runs over and kicks a tribute that was almost at the top.
She laughs, as the tribute falls back with a scream. I hear a loud snap, and cringe.
Jewel and Flash reach the top around the same time, and go to pick out their favorite weapons.
I want to avoid the overall bloodbath, so I run to the slope, and slide down to where Felicia is.
"Bruce! Look out!"
I spin around, just in time. A tall boy is about to throw a huge rock at me. I run forward, and run him through with my sword. He drops the rock, and falls to the ground drooling blood.
I grind my teeth together, and pull the sword out of his gut. I take a deep breath.
Don't be weak, not now.
I turn back around, and run over to Felicia.
"Are you alright? Is the baby alright?"
She is holding her stomach with one hand, looking past me at the dead body.
"He's dead! You killed him!"
She starts trembling, and starts throwing up.
"Felicia! He was going to kill us, you and the baby! Come on we need to get to the top of the mountain."
She coughs, and wipes her mouth, then she grabs my arm, and I help her up the slope.
When we reach the top, I tell her not to look at the bodies littering the ground.
"Don't look at them Felicia. Just concentrate on the baby. Can you feel the baby moving?"
She holds her tummy, and closes her eyes, taking deep breaths.
"Yes, I can feel the baby. It is going to be a swimmer."
I lead her to the cornucopia, and take her inside the large metal cone.
"Really? How can you tell?"
She smiles, forgetting everything else except her child.
"Well, instead of just squirming around, they seem to gracefully move around, like they're swimming."
I smile.
"Well, maybe they will be a swimmer. You just stay in here okay?"
She nods, and I walk back out of the cornucopia.
Flash and Titon are collecting the dead tributes and throwing them down the slope. While Jewel and Sheira are collecting the supplies scattered around the mountain top.
I stride over to Flash.
He's the same age as I am, and we are roughly the same height. But that is where the resemblance ends.
His shoulders are much wider than mine, and he has light blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
He is surprisingly good-tempered for someone from district one, and he doesn't have the usual arrogant brute attitude that usually comes with a career.
I don't know much about Titon.
He's kind of quiet, but I would never call him shy. How he's quiet, it seems like he is trying to figure something out about you.
He looks the part of the quiet brooding type too. With his black hair and dark brown eyes.
He looks slightly older than a sixteen year old.
They throw the last of the tributes over the side.
"Well, that's done. Have the girls finished collecting the supplies?"
Flash asks in his rumbling voice.
I look over my shoulder.
"Yeah I think so. Felicia's in the cornucopia, got kind of freaked by all the dead bodies."
Titon narrows his eyes, and looks hard at me. But he doesn't say anything.
"So, is she like your girlfriend?"
We walk over to the cornucopia as I answer Flash.
"No, well she's my friend and she's a girl. So I guess you could say that."
Flash grins.
"Oh I get it. The baby is yours right?"
I shake my head.
"Nope. Our relationship has always been completely platonic."
He looks confused.
"So why look out for her? If she's not your girlfriend, and the baby isn't yours why take care of her?"
"She's my friend. And just because the baby isn't mine, doesn't mean that I am going to abandon a pregnant girl."
Flash shrugs.
"Whatever."
We reach the cornucopia, and walk up to the two girls piling up the supplies.
Jewel has the typical district one look.
She is gorgeous, with golden blonde hair, and light green eyes. She is seventeen.
Sheira is petite, and her dark orange hair is streaked with black, and her light golden brown eyes almost look feral. GIving her the appearance of a cat. She is the youngest of the careers, being only fifteen.
Jewel tosses her golden waves over her shoulder, and rolls her eyes.
"Sure took you guys long enough, if you took any longer Sheira and I would have had to clean up ourselves."
Flash grins.
"You two wouldn't want to get your hands dirty, now would you?"
Sheira narrows her eyes, and smiles. Exposing her pointed canines.
"Who do you think made the mess in the first place?"
She's awful bloodthirsty for someone so young. But I guess if you're raised to kill, you don't have a problem with it.
"Bruce."
I hear Felicia calling from the cornucopia.
"It's okay Felicia, you can come out now."
She walks tentatively out of the metal horn, rubbing her stomach, she walks more confidently when she sees me.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
She glances nervously around at the bloodstained ground, and the careers. Then she stands close to me, and holds onto my arm.
"I'm doing okay."
Jewel rolls her eyes.
"Remind me why she's here?"
I glare at her, as Flash answers.
"Because, Bruce wouldn't come without her."
Jewel shrugs.
"And why do we need him?"
Titon looks up slowly.
"Why do we need you? He's more useful than you, even with Felicia."
Jewel snorts, and stalks off toward the cornucopia. I'm surprised that Flash and Titon are sticking up for me. I guess they think I'm pretty valuable. Sheira looks at Felicia's swollen tummy.
"When are you due?"
Felicia, cradles her stomach as she answers quietly.
"Three days ago."
Sheira raises her eyebrows in surprise. Flash and Titon look blankly from Felicia to me.
"What does that mean?"
Sheira shrugs.
"it means a baby is going to be born in the arena."
Flash and Titon's faces are shocked.
"What?"
"A baby?"
I smile, and reply patronizing them.
"Yes, a baby. It's a tiny human."
Flash glares at me.
"I know what a baby is! But what are we supposed to do? We aren't doctors."
Sheira shrugs.
"Who in the arena would know the most about delivering a baby?"
We all think for a minute.
"Do we know any tributes that have a medical background?"
They shake their heads. Sheira sighs.
"We need one or both tributes from district ten. I'm sure they've delivered a baby at least once in their life."
Flash frowns.
"Yeah, delivered animal babies, not human babies!"
Titon shrugs, and walks over to the supply pile.
"How much different can it be?"
Felicia is hugging my arm tightly.
"Bruce. I don't know anything about having a baby."
She whispers. I pat her hand.
"Don't worry. When the time comes, you'll know what to do."
We walk over and join the others at the cornucopia.
"Well, why don't we set up camp?"

There's Nothing More Important than Family, chapter 14

When I wake, I am in a sleeping bag with Nathan and the blanket is over top of the two of us. He’s still asleep, snoring peacefully. I vaguely remember him moving me because I was freezing, lying on the cold ground. Careful not to wake him, I crawl out of the bag and out into the woods.

Jason is on watch. He looks tired and bores, like he’s been sitting there for a while. “I can take watch; you go ahead and get some sleep.” I tell him.

He smirks at me. “No, no. I’ve got it, Zania. I’m just a little hungry, that’s all. Could you pass me more of that beef jerky?”

I roll my eyes and hand him the nearly empty package. “How long have you been up?”

“Four hours, I’d say. I relieved Breah. She said she thought she heard footsteps, but she didn’t see anyone. Probably an animal, I suppose.” He yawns and stuffs his face full of meat.

“What are we gonna do today?” I ask him. He may not be the ‘team leader’ or anything, but he seems to know what he’s doing, and I don’t question that.

“We’ll let the others have another hour or so of shut-eye, we’ll pack up and then we’ll start hiking higher; farther away from the Careers. We can follow the stream uphill.”

“You should get some sleep then!” I urge.

“No, I’m not going to leave you here alone. I’ll wait until one of the others are up, then I’ll go have a quick nap.” I scowl at him; he’s babying me. I got a six! I’m smart enough to be a lookout. Jason notices me glaring at him, and says hastily, “Hey, it’s not my fault! Nathan made us all promise that we wouldn’t leave you alone!”

“Since when was Nathan the leader?” I yell

“Since he’s the smartest and he’s right! I’m not saying you’re not good enough for guard duty. I’m just saying you might not be able to kill when the time comes.”

I raise my eyebrow. “I guess you have a point. But you should still sleep. I’ve got enough sense to call for the rest of you if someone comes.”

Breah crawls out of the tent. “Zania, there’s a chance that if you did that, we’d be too late.” She says, and she turns to Jason. “I’ll take watch. And since when was Nathan the smartest?”

Jason smiles slyly. “Goodnight!” he says evasively. Breah sits on the tree stump beside the tent, and plays with her chakrams. I eat some of the dried food and tend to the fire, which is still weakly blazing.

“Don’t make it too big.” Breah warns me. “We’ll be leaving soon, so we’ll have to put it out anyway.” I nod comprehendingly as I chew the processed Capitol cheese. It tastes like plastic.

“I wonder if anyone else died last night!”I say curiously.

“I doubt it.” Replies Breah. “We would’ve heard the cannon.”

“What if we were sleeping too deeply?”

“There was always someone on watch. They would’ve heard it.” I roll my eyes and toss her an apple. She slices into quarters with the edge of a chakram and eats it, core and all.

When Addalie stumbles out of the tent, she trips on a tree root and falls to the ground. She swears audibly and the boys wake up with a start.

“What happened?” calls Nathan.

“Damn, that hurt!” curses Addalie. “I’m going to get a bruise on my knee now!”

“Yeah, because that’s the worst thing that could happen to you in this arena.” Smirks Jason.

Addalie sulks. Obviously, she doesn’t like getting teased. “Whatever! I’m going to get a bruise!”

“Join the club!” I giggle. “You, Nathan and I can have matching bruises!” Addalie turns bright red and I laugh even harder.

“Alright, alright guys.” Chuckles Nathan. “Focus. We should probably pack up now.”

I whisper “party pooper.” and we get to work. Breah organised the site so well, we’re done packing in about fifteen minutes. Addalie and Breah carry the backpacks. Jason carries the tent bag. Nathan carries me. Everyone holds their weapons tensely in their hands; even I wield a knife. Jason’s right, I probably couldn’t kill anyone, but I have to be ready. Maybe I could hold my attacker off until one of the others killed them.

Jason and Nathan lead us to where they found the small stream, and we start to climb higher up the mountain. It’s steeper, but there are flat patches here and there. I think the gamemakers probably put those there on purpose. Whenever we come across one of those areas, Jason studies them and then tells us to keep climbing.

“What are you doing?” I ask him when we’ve stopped for the fifth time.

“Trying to find a place to set up, where the Careers won’t see us.” He answers me. We keep walking, and I fall asleep on one of Nathan’s shoulders.

I open my eyes suddenly when Nathan lowers me to the ground. “Jason found a site he likes.” He whispers to me. “It looks recently used. Whoever was staying here before has moved, but I found a couple of dead rabbits stashed in a bush.” I nod drowsily and stretch as Nathan goes over to give the others a hand. I realize I’m still holding my knife, so I drop it to the side and curl up with my eyes closed.

I hear leaves rustle, but I think nothing of it. It’s probably an animal or just the wind. I twitch a little, just to get comfortable. The air is warm and fresh, and I can feel the sun on my back. It seems like a great place to have a catnap.

All of the sudden, I hear a twig break. I sit up and flash my eyes open warily. The girl from 3 is standing over me, holding my knife. There are leaves and branches in her snow-white hair and her grey eyes survey me angrily. This flat area is quite large and there are trees in the middle of the clearing, so I can see my friends, but the don’t notice the intruder.

“What are you doing here?” she hisses savagely. “This is my campsite! Why are you here?”

“I-I don’t know!” I gasp.

“Where’d you take my rabbits, huh?” She spats at me. “That’s my food. Do you know how long it took me to trap those rabbits?”

“I didn’t steal it!” I sputter anxiously.

“Where’s my food?” she yells, and I see my team jump and look around. “Tell me, NOW!”

“I swear I didn’t take it!” I cry.

She scowls at me violently. “You ate them didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU?”

“No!” I scream. She growls and leaps at me, and I call, “Nathan! Jason! Breah, help!”

The girl from 3 flips her hair back and looks around hastily. “You’re lying. There’s no one here. Just you. It doesn’t matter. You have my rabbits, give them to me now, and I’ll leave.”

“No, my brother has them!” I say weakly. “I can get them back for you if you want!”

Her gaze softens. I can see she’s about to get off me, but before she can, the tip of a sword rams through her chest, splattering me with blood. Nathan pulls his sword out from her body and pushes her to the side. The cannon fires.

“I guess the site wasn’t as vacant as we thought.” Addalie murmurs.

Breah rolls the girl over and examines her face. “Her name was Maria, from 3.”

I wipe the blood off my face and look at Nathan angrily. “All she wanted was her rabbits! Why’d you kill her?”

“In case you didn’t notice, she was going to kill you!” roars Nathan.

“No she wasn’t! I could tell!” I stand up and look into my brother’s eyes. He’s much taller than I am, but I don’t care. “She was about to get off me, but you killed her! This was her campsite!”

“Zania, it doesn’t matter. This is a good thing! We’re one step closer to getting home! She has to die for you to live!”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“Zania! Seriously...” Nathan shakes his head. “You’re being silly.”

“No, I’m being myself. I’m not going to let this stupid arena change who I am. I don’t care about the Careers, and if she was about to kill me, that’d be different. She was as scared as I was! All she wanted was her food back. You’d have done the same thing.” I pick up the knife off the ground. “I’m going to the tent so they can retrieve her body. I hope those rabbits were worth it.”

Nathan rubs his forehead in exasperation. “Zania, I’m just trying to get you home.”

“Did you not realize she could have helped us? She could have been another ally!”

To my surprise, Nathan pulls me close, so the others won’t hear what he has to say. “The more allies we have, the more dangerous it is for us, Zan.” I flinch at my pet name. That’s what my dad used to call me when I was a toddler. It’s kind of patronizing to be called that. Nathan continues in a hushed voice, “Any of them could kill us while we sleep.”

“They won’t.” I mutter firmly.

“So, say they won’t! What if it comes down to the five of us? Are you prepared to kill them?”

“No! Why would you even say that?”

“Zan, it’s a possibility! The only people we can trust for certain are each other.” He pulls me into a hug, and I reluctantly return it.

“Glad that’s over.” Addalie says awkwardly. I smile sheepishly at her.

“Guys, we should probably move away from Maria’s body.” Says Breah.

“Yeah, the hovercraft need to come get her.” Jason agrees.

“Come on.” Nathan says to me, holding out his hand for mine. I ignore him and storm ahead on my own. Oh, how Nathan’s changed since the start of the Games.

I remember once when we were back in District 9. I was about five, and Nathan was eleven. We were out playing in the fields with David, tossing a rock around and playing catch. More like fetch, actually. None of us were all that good. David threw the rock at me, and it somehow hit a bird flying by. It dropped straight to the ground; I knew it was dead. But Nathan wrapped it up in his shirt and brought it home. Mom did all she could to save it, but in the end, the sparrow died. Nathan cried for days. I don’t think we ever played catch out in the fields again. David and I went to play occasionally, but never with Nathan. I compare that boy to the one walking behind me now. Nathan just killed a girl without thinking twice. And he tried to justify his actions, too. He tried to reason with me. I feel like I don’t even know him anymore.

I look up just in time to see the hovercraft lower a claw to pick up Maria. There is still forest debris in her hair. She probably had family back in District 3. Maybe she had a little brother and sister watching at this very moment. How gruesome.

As she’s lifted away, I silently apologize to Maria and wonder where Nathan, my brother, has gone.