The Arena

Chapter 3

After about half an hour of walking we both decide we need a rest and we sit down on the bank of the river we found some time ago.The sun is brutal as it beats down on us so we both take our jackets off, lay them neatly on the ground and sit on them. I begin to take the berries we gathered today out of my backpack and divide them between the two of us.

"What is District Five like?" I ask Finch.
She takes the hand full of blueberries from the small bag I made by weaving long strands of grass together; a skill that I mastered quickly in training.

"There isn't much to do back in Five. The land is flat and all there is to see are the power lines. Life is hard, but most of us can afford to eat so we get by," she pops a couple berries in her mouth and the juice leaves red a blue stains on her lips. She smiles as she talks about where she's from.

"Every once and a while we get a bad storm and some of the power lines fall down. Then things gets really bad." I can see the happiness leave her face when she brings up the falling power lines. There aren't many power lines in Twelve and most of our houses only have electricity during the games or when the Capitol is broadcasting an important announcement.

"What happens when the power lines fall down?" I ask, wanting to know more.

"The Capitol sends in peacekeepers and all the men over sixteen have to help repair the broken power lines. It's not uncommon for people to be electrocuted. That's how my brother died. Electrocution." I can see the tears build up in her eyes. One escapes but she tries to wipe it away quickly, but more soon follow.

"I'm really sorry. I could never imagine having to loose someone that way." This makes me think about my father and the day he was killed in a mining explosions. Katniss had picked me up from my class and we ran together to the mine entrance. Mother was already there and clinging tight to the ropes that held us back. Mothers, wives, sisters, brothers and children ran out from under the rope to meet their loved ones. We waited all night for my dad to come back to us. But he never did. Eventually we realized that we were going to have to get on with life, but my mother didn't fare well. She left us, not literally, but mentally. Katniss and I were afraid she was just as gone as my father. That's when Katniss learned to hunt. Eventually my mother came back to us and the joy somewhat returned to our household. Even though I was only 7 at the time it's something I'll never forget.

"Well look where we are now. We are in the Hunger Games and the odds are most likely not in our favor." We both laugh at her comment even though we both know she's right.

"So what about District Twelve?" She asks me. I sigh.

"Everything is covered in coal dust. It's in our homes, in our lungs. We can clean all we want but you can't get rid of it. At eighteen all the men are sent to work in the mines. My sisters friend, Gale, works there now. I can't imagine being that far underground. It scares me," I say.

"Me either. Is District Twelve as bad as people say it is? There are rumors that the capital doesn't care about the outlying districts and it leaves them to fend on their own. Like Thirteen." District Thirteen was destroyed during the Dark Days long ago. No one has been able to live there, because of the toxic gases that still linger on the surface , so I don't know what she means by "left it to fend for itself", but I decide to let the comment go.

"Bad is an understatement. The kids have hollow cheeks and dark eyes, and their parents are doing all they can to feed them, but sometimes it's not enough. Most kids from the Seam, the part of town where I live, have to sign up for tesserae just to survive."

"Did you have to do that?" She asks "Put your name in more times?"

"No but my sister, Katniss, did." I recall Katniss bringing home big bags and cans of grain in oil in my red you wagon. My mother yelled at her for it; for putting herself at risk for us, but I knew Katniss did it to save us and I admired her for that.

We sit quietly for almost a minute before deciding we should continue downstream to find shelter. As we walk we both begin to hear someone talking above the sound of the running water.

"Run. Run!" I whisper frantically to Finch as I realize that these voices belong to the careers. They don't sound close so they don't notice us as we run away. We run up river and splash through a shallow part of the stream into the woods on the other side. We keep running until we can't hear their voices anymore. By this time we are both gasping for air and we fall to the damp ground to catch our breath.

"Do you know who that was?" Finch asks while still gasping for air.
"Ca..careers I think." I choke out