The 25th Hunger Games

Day 7 and 8

Although the sun was only just beginning to rise, it felt like it should've been dark already. I had handled all the excitement I could for my seventh day in the arena.

The weirdest thing might've been being here with Emmit. Chunks of ice that decided they weren't quite ready to melt still floated beneath the pillar we sat on, but it was mostly water now. The air was still chilly but much more tolerable, despite the fact that I didn't get a jacket.

Apparently they had been at the feast, though, because Emmit wore one with the number One on it. It must've been intended for someone else, but he didn't seem to care. He wore it without a care. Maybe he had the right idea.

Emmit had been all around quiet the last hour. I didn't mind this fact, but what kind of an alliance (was that what we were calling it?) would we be if we just sat here in silence? When you had a guy like Emmit on you side, you had better use him, if for nothing else than to get the cameras focused on us.

"There a lot of ice in District Four?" I said, but it came out forced and awkward. What was I doing?

"If there is, we aren't allowed to see it," Emmit grumbled unhappily. "No water, no exports." It fit the textbook description of Four. All fish and seafood all the time. Only the Capitol saw any of it. "What about District Two?" He sounded like he was just being polite, but I responded anyway.

"No, not really," I shrugged. "A little here and there, but it never really got cold enough for it. "Living in one district your whole life, you don't even realize that there are other people out there, dealing with different things, like cold weather. You sort of just assume it's only you out there."

When did I suddenly get so deep? I must've really been lacking human communication if my deepest thoughts were escaping me. It sounded like more of something that would come out if this were Sariel...

Maybe that was what I was lacking. "Life in District Two was okay then?"

Define okay, I wanted to say, but the comment wasn't really a fair one. The list of things that was really wrong in Two was a short one, and consisted mostly of the people living there. There was always food on my plate, something I learned doesn't happen with everyone. I was always loved, was allowed an education and training. "Yeah, I'd say so. Looking back, I can't really complain. Seeing some of the people here makes me think my life was actually better than I thought." What had I been taking for granted?

"Did you train at all?" Emmit wondered. Was he really this curious? "You're a Career, right?" Ah, he was just trying to stay alive. Typical. And respectable.

"Yeah, I definitely had a lot of training. It was basically built into our curriculum. So you could call me a Career." Hopefully I didn't sound too conceited, but I needed to look tough. If Emmit was a little afraid of me, that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

I could hear the smile in Emmit's voice. "Good. I wouldn't want to work with any less. I supposedd I'm considered a Career myself, but uh, I think I'm more of rogue."

I think I would've hit him if it hadn't been totally obvious he was kidding. Instead, I laughed and counted my blessings that I was with a guy with a sense of humor. "Or maybe more of a wanna-be."

Emmit shook his head. "You wish I was a wanna-be. I swear, if I hadn't screwed up my ankle, I'd prove it to you." I was tempted to make some sort of comment that maybe he could catch more fish than me, but I held back.

Emmit motioned toward his ankle again. "This is your fault, I hope you're aware."

I rolled my eyes by natural reflex. "Your ankle would be just fine if you knew how to stand on two feet. You can't blame your clumsiness on me." Allies, Noah, I reminded myself. Lighten up. "Is this your first time getting seriously hurt?"