Dependence - Book Two (Wattys 2013 Finalist)

Reapings: District Twelve

Alistair Balentine’s POV:

‘’ Do you hear that?’’ Questions Arianna as we sit in a small clearing in the huge forest outside District Twelve.

We are about five miles away from the District border and we have taken a small break to take a drink of water before we continue moving.

‘’ Hear what?’’ I ask and then I freeze.

The noise of a Capitol jet engine begins to sound from somewhere in the distance. It sounds a mile or two off, but those planes can travel a lot faster than we can on foot. I glance at Arianna, she looks petrified.

‘’ Pack up your stuff. We’re leaving.’’ I order and Arianna gets to her feet, her curly brown hair blowing in the gentle breeze.

It takes a few seconds to shove our gear back into our packs and then we make a break for it – moving deeper and deeper into the trees to give us some cover from the Capitol aircraft that is quickly approaching.

‘’ How do they know we’re gone?’’ Questions Arianna, sounding frightened.

‘’ They must be registering for the Reaping, they’ve noticed we’re not there.’’ I suggest as we continue through the forest.

We dodge between and around huge tree trunks and leap over the large roots of trees that lie across the forest floor. The birds and other woodland creatures flee from us as we crash through their home in a futile attempt to escape District Twelve. The noise of the aircraft stalking us begins to get much louder; it’s not far away now.

‘’ Alistair where do we go? We can’t hide because they have the heat detection sensors, and we can’t outrun them.’’ Asks Arianna, and for the first time in my life, I don’t have an answer for her to make her feel better.

I remain silent for a moment as I run. The noise of the aircraft is no more than two hundred meters away. We don’t have much time left before they reach us.

‘’ I don’t know Arianna. I just don’t know.’’ I admit sadly. ‘’ But we can’t go down without a fight. Drop everything but your knives.’’

I toss away my bag full of food and water and also my spare clothes – as does Arianna. The only thing I keep on me is my quiver of arrows and my bow. Arianna is left with just her throwing knives.

The noise of the aircraft is now deafening, and the trees begin to separate at the tops due to the power of the wind caused by the engines – bringing us into clear view. I watch as about fifteen tennis-ball sized objects fall from the engine and my jaw drops in horror.

Are they bombs? I think to myself and silently hope I am wrong.

Then, the balls stops falling and begin to fly like the aircraft they have just been launched from – they too are some sort of aircraft.

‘’ What are they?’’ I ask, thinking aloud.

‘’ Cameras.’’ Answers Arianna. ‘’ Can’t you see the red recording lights on them?’’

I slow down slightly so I can look at the objects in more detail. I see the lights that would suggests they are recording our every move. ‘’ Keep running.’’

The larger aircraft slows down so it is just hovering above us; however the smaller ones fall beneath the tree line and start chasing after us at our level.

‘’ We need to take them out.’’ I explain and turn around to face them.

I quickly load an arrow into my bow, take aim and release. The arrow whips through the air and hits one of the aircraft in the centre, causing it to explode into a burst of flames which shower the forest floor.