The 200th Annual Hunger Games - The Ultimate Games

District 12 Reaping

Camille Garza POV

"Hurry up, Rudy!" I hissed, ducking down under an overhanging branch. Rudy skidded to a halt beside me and crouched down immediately, looking through the leaves of the bush. A group of peacekeepers rushed by, guns in their hands. Rudy's hand found mine and I held on tightly, fear racing through my heart.

"We'll be okay." Rudy murmured softly. He glanced up at the trees, squinting, "We aren't too far from where we got last time."

"Are we gonna make a break for it?" I muttered. My thoughts travelled back to Millie, Rudy's younger sister who was sitting in the bunker further back in the forest, "If we're gonna try get out, we have to go back for Millie."

Rudy hissed between his teeth, a frustrated and afraid look on his face. "We should go."

I nodded. "Should we go back for Millie now?"

Rudy sighed and nodded his assent, then slowly rose to his feet. He turned back to me and loaded his bow with an arrow from his quiver, glancing around again to make sure there were no peacekeepers.

"Stay here, I'll grab Millie. Should be 10 minutes, tops." I gave him a quick thumbs up and then Rudy darted back the way we'd come. I quickly darted into another bush with more foliage and hid amongst the leaves, heart racing. I held onto my dagger and crouched down as far as I could, trying to make myself look as invisible as possible. Several minutes passed, and I stayed in wait.

Suddenly, I heard a long, drawn out scream erupt from the forest, further back where Rudy and Millie were. My heart leapt into my throat and I jumped to my feet, running back towards the sound. Something had gone wrong, something bad.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH, I'LL KILL YOU!" Rudy's scream of anger and hatred spiraled throughout the air and I ran faster, fear racing through me. What had happened to Millie? Minutes later I burst onto the scene, and my stomach dropped at the sight in front of me.

Millie was laid out on the grass, a bullet wound in her forehead and her eyes glassy. Blood surrounded her head like a halo, and Rudy was standing several metres away, his hands bloody and a dead peacekeeper at his feet. His bow was discarded to the side. My jaw dropped as I stared at Millie's corpse, nausea filling my senses. She was 9 years old. And she was dead.

"He killed her." Rudy's voice trembled and he shook his head, refusing to look at the dead peacekeeper at his feet. "He killed her, Camille."

"Shit, I'm sorry." I murmured. I walked over to Rudy and grabbed him arm gently, tugging him away from the scene. "There's nothing we can do, Rudy."

"She was all I had left," Rudy whispered, so quietly I barely heard it, "My only family. And she's dead."

"Come on," I muttered. I picked up Rudy's bow and gently pushed it into his hands, then we turned away from the scene.

And came face to face with a group of peacekeepers.

~

"Welcome, District 12!" Jacinta Jollyman, our district escort, called out merrily. She looked nothing like her brother Jakub, the host of the games, however it was no secret that the two despised each other. Or, more accurately, Jakub despised Jacinta. Jacinta was a try hard and was always trying to be better than the other escorts in hopes of being bumped up to a better district.

I was knocked off my train of thought as Rudy and I were shoved roughly towards the stage, and I stumbled for a few moments as a Peacekeeper pulled us both up on stage. No one wept or cried or feared for us. Both of us were parentless, raised in an orphanage and declared dead just a year ago when we fled with Millie into the forest. And now that Millie was gone, neither of us had anyone to call family.