The Demigod Games (PJO/THG)

12 - Just Out For A Walk

-Jason

Oh, everything's going absolutely for the best.

Piper and I were left shell-shocked and desperate by that boy's revelation - it was as if someone had given us hope, dropping us near a village where people apparently spoke our language and had suddenly removed all of it without warning, making us realize that we were in the future, half a century after our era.

 "What the hell even is Panem?" I said, trying to deflect the terrible silence hanging on Piper and me.

"I have no idea. Don't remember it from textbooks in school... Panem..." she replied, exhaling slowly as if to stop her from crying.

"I recall something from Latin class... I think Panem's a Latin word, right?"

Piper's expression shifted. "Oh, yeah... I remember. It means bread... but why on earth would a country be named bread?

I shrugged, defeated. If at least we had some sort of clue, something, anything to put us on track, I'd jump on it, but we had nothing. Absolutely nothing. We had no idea where we were.

"I'm gonna ask the civilians here for some more indications... but I guarantee nothing," I concluded.

Walking towards the compound of small, red-bricked houses that looked like they were going to fall in ruins any second, I realized that this neighborhood was even poorer than what I was used to in LA. The streets were narrow and seemingly unlit, and the residences bordering them were more like shacks: incredibly tiny, probably only large enough to hold a kitchen and a small bedroom. Even the people here looked ruined, their clothes in rags, their shoes - which most of them didn't have - with holed soles, their faces wearing an exhausted and defeated expression, as if they were living in the depths of hell and were used to it.

A pang of pity shot me in the heart. Even though these people were complete strangers, I felt compassion for them and their condition. But there was more to it.

At first, I had trouble finding what was nagging me, but quickly I realized what seemed off. It was in their eyes - they harbored intense sadness and demotivation, but not only that. It was very hard to see but still evident: a hint, just a tiny glimmer of rage. These people were fed up with their lives, and resented someone - I didn't know who. I felt this population was starting to agitate, and I could smell it in the tense atmosphere. It was the scent of rebellion.

I walked up to the closest person, a young woman in a ripped brown dress, her arms caked with mud - she was probably in her thirties, but her tired expression and wrinkles outlining her eyes made her look at least forty-five. 

"Excuse me, I asked, unsure of what to say, could you please help us? We went for a walk in the woods and got lost - now we have no idea where we are. "

The woman's expression shifted from disinterest to shock. "What do you mean, you went in the woods? The woods are off-limits, and peacekeepers patrol the forest border night and day. We can't just go for a walk."

I didn't understand. Why would it be forbidden to go in the woods? And we hadn't seen any peacekeepers - whoever they were - when we were in the forest. 

"You managed to escape? How?" She urged, keeping her voice low - as if she was worried someone would overhear us.

"Uh, we didn't escape," I replied, trying to stay calm. "We just walked out around noon-"

"What?" She shrieked, then cursed under her breath when passers turned around, curious. "You went in the woods during work hours?  How did you even-"