Ripples in War (Hunger Games Fanfic)

1

Francis and Lilac sat on the beach, about a mile outside of 4's boundary fence, having a special picnic. Technically, today was a holiday. "This is nice." Francis said. "Yeah," she replied. Lilac stared at the horizon, looking slightly overwhelmed. It was the day of the Reaping, everybody was nervous. But she seemed genuinely scared. He knew it was because her brother was old enough to be entered. "You know, if our families were out of the picture, we could make it." she said suddenly, drawing flowers in the damp sand. "What?" Francis inquired. "Escape. Panem. We hear about other landforms in school, maybe we could go to one." She told him how some days, she would come out here and get an old rowboat to paddle out there.

"That's crazy," he said. "But I guess you're right. We can catch our own food, gather, and make fires." It was far off, even mad. But they could survive. Only, the thought of leaving behind his mother and sister and grandmama seemed impossible to him. The Nightell family wasn't poor, but they weren't exactly rich either. If they didn't have Francis working the second job, they could go broke and be forced to live in some shelter. She took a spoonful of stew.

"I know how to farm, and you know how to build stuff," she added. "But then there's the Dependants," he said, taking a bite of his sandwich. That was their nickname for both their families. "If we do it, we have to bring them. Our siblings are old enough to be in the Hunger Games, and my grandma and mom would die, as well as probably your mother and brothers." The Hunger Games was an event where every year, each of the districts would send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to fight to the death in an arena. 

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"That was just a 'what if', right? You weren't actually considering-" he started, but she cut him with, "No. Let's just get to the square!" she snapped. Without another word, they began cleaning up; she folded the quilt while he loaded up the leftovers into the basket. He took one last look at the sea, because he might never see it again.