Safe and Sound (The Hunger Games)

Chapter 26 - Revenge

Kaya's POV

Top three. Those words echo in my head. It's me, the boy from twelve, and Toby. At least it's the boy from twelve and not Brandi. I do have a chance to go home. My chance started from one in twenty-four down to one in three.

I'm going to win this for Elliot and Crystal. I can't imagine what their families are doing right now. Crystal's family sounds distant, but they will obviously miss her. She was funny, and kind, and my friend for these past few weeks. Elliot... I see his family in mourning right now. Jasmine is probably crying right now, or maybe she doesn't know yet. I can't decide which one is worse, knowing or not knowing. I stopped crying because I know that if he was here with me now, he would tell me to be brave and kick ass. I laugh at that now, but I'm also fighting back tears. I miss him.

I keep walking until I see something laying on the ground. No, that's not a thing, that's a person, a tribute. I grab my knife and hold it steady. I can't tell if it's Toby or the boy from twelve. I'm insane, it's probably Toby and I'm going to be killed in two second.

"Quiet down will you?" The boy says.

"Excuse me?" I ask.

"Never mind..." He says.

"Who are you? Put your hands up and I won't kill you." I say, my voice is shaken.

"Okay, okay!" He turns around and faces me with his hands in the air. "Just don't step any closer."

"What? Why-"

"I put land mines around me. I figured if I'm out in the open, you or Toby would find me and blow yourselves up trying to kill me." He says.

"Oh okay." I say.

"Allies?" He says.

"Woah, we just met." I tell him.

"So? It's not like I asked you out on a date. I asked you if you wanted me to be your ally. If not, you could just walk away and face Toby alone."

He tells the truth, I admire that. "Sure. Allies it is."

"Great. I'll tell you how to go around the mines." He tells me to go right two times, forward, left, and then forward again. "Great, you didn't die." He says.

"A child dying in the Hunger Games? Gasp!" I say sarcastically.

"Dylan." He says.

"Kaya."

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Brent's POV

I grab a spare bucket from the docks and sit on the white wooden fence. My goal is to get as much money as I possibly can for Kaya, so that she can win.

A group of men pass me when I bravely stand up and open my mouth to talk to them. "Um, hi. Excuse me?" I say. They all stop and look at me. Their eyes widen when they recognize me from the reaping. "My sister, Kaya Walson, is in the Hunger Games right now. She's in the top three and she needs as much help as she can get right now. Can you kindly give a donation? Every penny counts right now." I say. My heart is beating so fast and sweat collects in my hands. "If she wins, our district would be rich for another year. Annie won last year and she basically saved all of us." I add.

Before last year's Hunger Games, I remember faintly that we only had one meal a day and there were storms almost every month. There was no fishing activity, which didn't provide food in the markets. The only food we received were from the agriculture districts. Then the storms stopped, but everyone was poor and couldn't buy the overpriced fish in the markets. Once Annie was in the games and won, District Four regained its health and now we are back to normal. Another win in the Hunger Games would really help us. That, and I want my sister back.

They reach into their pockets and place dollars and coins into my bucket. "Thank you so much. It really means a lot." I kindly say. They walk away and continue talking. I look in the bucket and count the money. From the seven men, I have... fifteen dollars and thirty cents!

I hear more footsteps coming my way, so I walk confidently up to them and give them my little speech. One man said sorry and that he needed his money for his family. I said that it was okay, and he wished me good luck. The other man reaches into his pocket and pulls out a fifty dollar bill. A fifty dollar bill. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want this to cause you any trouble-" I start saying.

"Take it." He says as he puts it in my bucket.

"Why would you give me this much? Don't you need it for-"

"My sister died in the games years ago." He says with empathy. "I don't want you to lose yours."

"Oh, well thank you so much. My family and I really appreciate it." I say. He smiles and continues to walk with the other man. I have more than sixty dollars.

The sun starts to set, and in total there were many successes and fails. At the end, I raised close to one hundred dollars for Kaya. I run home as fast as I could to tell my parents about the success I had, and I'm already picturing how happy they will be.

I walk in the front door to see my parents sitting on the couch, watching the wall. The district twelve boy and Kaya are shown on the screen.

"I obviously missed something here." I say as they both turn around to face me.

"They're allies now." My father says.

"This far in the game?" I ask.

"Yeah, they are both pretty miserable, so they are helping each other." My mother says.

"And Toby?" I ask.

"Still alive... somewhere." My father says. "How did you do with the money?"

"Very close to one hundred dollars. I have some money upstairs which will bring it to one hundred." I say cheerfully.

"Amazing! I'll call Annie right now." My mother says as she runs to the telephone. I hear her start talking in the next room over when I start to focus on my dad.

"You did good today." He says.

"Thanks," I quietly say. "Did you talk to Elliot's family yet?" I ask. His name sounds sad now, something that doesn't exist anymore.

"No," he says as he rubs his hands through his hair. "No I didn't. They need time. We all do." He says and directs his attention back at the screen. "By the way, this is coming out of your allowance." He says as he points to the hole in the wall.

"Don't worry," I tell him. "Once Kaya wins, we won't have to fix that hole. We'll be living in the victor's village in a brand new house."