There's only one option available to me.
I know it's a risky one, but I can't let Holly die. She's been my lifelong friend. I tug the knife out of my pocket, and, knowing that this has to be an accurate shot, wind back my arm and throw the knife.
Like always, it's dead accurate. It pierces the rope, sticking in the walls of the Justice Building behind it. Immediately, the Peacekeepers are on me.
I can only hope that Holly heard us talking yesterday, about the Underground. She's fast, like me, and she must have the sense to run immediately, disguise herself, and come to the mayor's house.
I turn, grab Amy's hand, and pull her towards Chime and Maybelle. I have no knife, but then there's a tug at my shoulder and I turn to see Sage. His eyes are now flicking more dangerously than ever. He hands me a knife.
"Thank you," I whisper. "Come."
"My siblings," he says. I hesitate for a minute. Mint and Pine can't survive on their own, that's for sure. Well, they'd better come along.
"Get them," I say hurriedly. "We'll meet again at the Garden."
He frowns. It's a risky plan. The Garden is literally right next to the mayor's house, the only beautiful place in District Eleven. It's a maze of tiny flowers, where butterflies and songbirds actually come and make the place feel like home.
"At the Willow?" he asks. The Willow is the tallest of the trees that grow in the Garden. Its branches and leaves tower so much and are so dense no one will be noticed if they climb up.
"Got it," I say. "Sage..."
"What?" he asks.
"Get Holly out of there. And... if you pass any likely recruits, bring them to the Willow too. But go separately; big groups will surely attract Peacekeepers."
I notice the wall of pristine silver uniforms heading towards me, trying to push through the crowd. They're screaming. We can incite a rebellion right now, but one look from Maybelle tells me it's not enough. Peacekeepers have shot warning shots with their gun, and any moment those bullets may land on the citizens. We need more weapons and a plan, an organized one, to do this.
"Go, now," says Sage. As if I needed to me reminded. Sprinting through the crowds, which seems to be making way for me, I dash as fast as I can. Behind me, I can hear the Peacekeepers coming after me. I've literally ditched my friends, but they might be killed if they follow. Chime and Maybelle aren't as fast as Amy and I.
Now don't you wish you've told them your mastermind plan? I think to myself, hating my stupidity, my cockiness. I'm going to die, and no one knows about it! We'll be stuck like this forever!
Still cursing myself, I dash around a corner and into a dark alleyway. The Peacekeepers weren't looking for me this morning, but now they are.
Ahead of me, I see a batch of crates as tall as the buildings and don't hesitate before vaulting myself on. Years of jumping trees has taught me how to do that. I somersault neatly onto the top crate and lift myself onto the roof. I can see a chimney and dive inside without further thoughts.
Tumbling through the brick chimney, I claw at the walls, looking for anything to grab onto, anything. Seams in the brick walls pass by, but I can't hold on to them. After what seems like forever, my feet hit the ground.
It sends blinding pain up my right ankle. You'd think after jumping trees, and yes, falling from trees, for years has taught me how to land properly, but there's not a lot of space to manueuver my arms and it's dark. My feet had hit the ground too hard and most likely on the wrong angle. I stagger around, trying to find my way out of the blasted chimney, hobbling around on one foot. My fingernails aren't too pretty either; they're caked in blood from my desperate scrabble. My back aches because it had smashed into the wall of the chimney as I landed, and there's a headache pulsing in my head. When I finally locate myself and shove out of the chimney, I can see that I'll be black and blue for a few days.
The only other thing apart from the bruises and my ankle is the long scrape mark up my left arm, which is slowly turning red. I need to get to Chime, and fast. She's the medical one here. Now I'm so glad that we decided to include her in our tiny rebellion. Who else can heal us if we get hurt?
Outside, I can hear the Peacekeepers yelling, asking which way I went. I decide to stay put... for now.
I now wonder why they weren't shooting. Maybe they wanted me alive so I can die a torturous death. Well, no can do. I'm not backing down, and even if they do torture me I'm not letting a single squeak past my lips. No, it's not time for cowering and tears. It's time for bravery, time to stand up strong.
I bear my surroundings. I'm in a rusty living room, where there's a torn cough in front of me. Beside me is the dining room, I guess. A crooked little table with crooked little chairs. The room has a sense of finality inside it from the bare walls, the dust on the tables. Not a single drawing or photo is on the walls, which means this belonged to a poor family. Taking photos cost money. Lots of it. Maybe people might've lived here, but the thick layer of dust tells me that no one has lived here for ages.
And then I notice a sheet of paper, the only thing so out of place in this dark room. Of course, it's covered in dust, too, but I brush it off with my sleeve and turn it over.
The paper's yellow and withered, I can see that. It's also crackled, which means it's gotten wet once. But I'm not caring for those little details. What I'm caring for is what's written on the paper.
Welcome to the Rosalina house.
Rosalina. My father's surname, before he got killed. I look around again, at the tables, the chairs, the places my father would've sat, worked, talked, laughed, cried. I bury my head in my hands, facing the impossible.
This was my father's house.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The Dark Days - Chapter Six
Chapter Six
At the sight of the grey little bird, my heart freezes.
Jabberjays. Muttations created by the Capitol. We've learned about these in school, and the jabberjay is one of the more famous creations of the Capitol, out of thousands of mutts. Out of all those evolved wasps, cats, wolves, fish, and more, the bird muttation isn't the attack type; it eavesdrops on enemies' conversations. They record them, and fly back to be listened to by the Capitol. Treachery. Having a bird do all their spywork.
But there's also some relief in there. The birds only listen for voice. Remember how I said that Amy and Holly should be twins? Well, they sound so much alike it's possible that the jabberjay misinterpreted Amy's voice for Holly's, which is why the Peacekeepers weren't crawling the streets looking for us. Yesterday, I was so tired and foggy I didn't realize that any talk of rebellion will mean instant death. I've been so stupid.
"I'm an idiot," says Amy softly, which is exactly what I was thinking. "Of course! Rebellion is a death sentence. How can the Peacekeepers sleep in? I..."
"They thought we were Holly," I tell her quietly. Maybelle gives me what seems to be an approving nod. I continue. "When she stormed out, the Peacekeepers must thought she was going to gather more people." I turn to Maybelle. Although the jabberjay had left, who knows if there's more lurking around? So I speak quietly but not quiet enough to aruse suspicion, and I keep off the real subject. "Did Chime tell you?"
She must know that I'm talking about the Underground. Her eyes sparkle. "Yes," she says. I've been expecting a snob, what with a mayor's niece and all, but she doesn't act all snobby and... spoiled. She seems like one of us, only with a full stomach and better dressed. More, smart, too.
"The Peacekeepers," says Chime hurriedly. She glances behind her shoulder, but no one's coming. Just the weave of the farmers heading out to work early. No crisp, silver uniforms among the ragged yellow cloth of the villagers, worn with age.
"I've told you already," says Maybelle. "The Peacekeepers aren't after Amy and Aryn. They're after Holly's family."
"Why didn't they just kill them yesterday?" I ask. It's puzzling. Last night would be the perfect opportunity.
"The Peacekeeper who found Holly shot her in the arm to stop her, and went for reinforcements. They want a public hanging."
Public hanging. My heart lurches at the thought. My best friend. I can't do it. Briefly, I remember the Peacekeeper gun Sage had last night... what happened to it?
"We have to save her," I say.
"I know," says Maybelle. Beside her, Chime is bouncing, trying to get her attention, but the smart girl doesn't notice.
"May. Maybelle," she says. "We have to go!"
"If the Peacekeepers wanted them, they would've been here last night," says Maybelle calmly. Chime seems to realize that it's useless, and sighs in defeatance. Maybelle continues talking.
"Yes, we do have to save your friend Holly Millson," she says. "Can you use a weapon?"
"Only a knife," I say grimly. "Unless if you count chucking rocks."
"Rocks are all but extinct in the village," Chime reminds me. "They only exist in the woods, and they're closed off today."
Right. Today's Sunday. Sunday!
"Sundays are hanging days!" I burst out, tears welling in my eyes. "I... what time is it?"
"Five fifty-nine," says Maybelle calmly. I gasp.
A clock tolls somewhere. Six strokes. "Six o'clock," says Maybelle unneccesarily. She puts her pocket watch back inside her pocket.
Six o'clock is the hanging hour. As if by cue, a horn blows. The note for all residents to come to the square, either for a whipping or for a hanging. I know who's the victim, and I have to hurry.
I dash back into the house and grab the bread Amy used to slice the bread yesterday. Just yesterday. It seems so long ago. I stare at the knife for what seems like ages, but Amy's snapping at me and I slip it in my pocket. On my way out I toss Amy her harvesting sickle. Arrogant Capitol; they even give District Eleven sickles to play around with. Shiny and pretty, sparkling dangerously in the Capitol's face.
The air's still damp from the rain yesterday; the pavement wet. Puddles of water are still everywhere, and the leaves from trees above splash water onto our heads. I don't care.
I join the fray of villagers heading to the square. There's so many of them, but even those who live too far away have to walk. I sprint towards the square, Amy hot on my heels. Chime is lagging somewhat behind but Maybelle's walking calmly. Does the girl ever run?
My house is one of the farthest away from the square. I run up, but eventually the crowd gets too thick and I don't want to push around. Me, a puny fourteen-year-old, will only get crushed in the queue.
Chime has caught up with me now, pulling an uncooperating Maybelle. In the din of the crowd, I hope that my words are masked.
"Do you know where the Underground door is?" I ask.
She nods. "I thought it just led to the cellar. When I asked my uncle he said he didn't know. I never thought it led to the Underground."
"How big is it?" I ask, while on my mind thinking how we'll get masses of people through the mayor's house.
"It's like a maze down there," Maybelle says. "I've drawn a map, but from the little I've drawn it's still quite big."
"Big enough to host as headquarters?" I ask. "Jabberjays die without twelve hours of sunlight, right?"
"Yes," says Maybelle. "And yes, to the jabberjay question. I... I do not think that my uncle will agree, although my mother surely will. She ran for the spot of mayor, too. She lost because she was female, and her brother, my uncle, got it instead. She hates the Capitol."
Her last few words were breathed into my ear. Amy glares at me, but she must know that I'll fill her in later.
We try to break through the crowd as soon as possible; talking is just another gift. But soon we must get to the hanging.
They never start until everyone's here, and we're among the last ones. I rush into the square, and try to see above the citizen's heads. Not one of them give way. It's not that they don't want to give up their spot; they do. It's just that the people of District Eleven think that hanging will give nightmares to children.
But I'm not a child anymore, especially not if I'm inciting a rebellion.
"Here we act on an offense of Holly Millson, age fourteen, of District Eleven. Accused of talking about rebellion..." the mayor reads. I don't have to turn around to know that Maybelle can't go on. The sound of her uncle's voice...
At the word rebellion, the people of District Eleven stirs. But one glare of the mayor sends them away. I can't see it, but I know that it's happening.
Finally, I burst through the worst ones and look up at the stage right below the Justice Building. Holly's wrists are bound, she's gagged, and tears have obviously been streaming down her face. Beside her, her parents await.
The Peacekeepers must've taken her away from Dr. Perils, sometime this morning after Chime left. If Chime had known, surely she would tell me. The Peacekeepers she saw this morning were probably heading for Holly's house for the adults.
But I don't have time for thoughts like this. My feet have just started to run, not caring where I step, when the Head Peacekeeper slips the noose around my best friend's neck.
I just loooove cliffhangers...
At the sight of the grey little bird, my heart freezes.
Jabberjays. Muttations created by the Capitol. We've learned about these in school, and the jabberjay is one of the more famous creations of the Capitol, out of thousands of mutts. Out of all those evolved wasps, cats, wolves, fish, and more, the bird muttation isn't the attack type; it eavesdrops on enemies' conversations. They record them, and fly back to be listened to by the Capitol. Treachery. Having a bird do all their spywork.
But there's also some relief in there. The birds only listen for voice. Remember how I said that Amy and Holly should be twins? Well, they sound so much alike it's possible that the jabberjay misinterpreted Amy's voice for Holly's, which is why the Peacekeepers weren't crawling the streets looking for us. Yesterday, I was so tired and foggy I didn't realize that any talk of rebellion will mean instant death. I've been so stupid.
"I'm an idiot," says Amy softly, which is exactly what I was thinking. "Of course! Rebellion is a death sentence. How can the Peacekeepers sleep in? I..."
"They thought we were Holly," I tell her quietly. Maybelle gives me what seems to be an approving nod. I continue. "When she stormed out, the Peacekeepers must thought she was going to gather more people." I turn to Maybelle. Although the jabberjay had left, who knows if there's more lurking around? So I speak quietly but not quiet enough to aruse suspicion, and I keep off the real subject. "Did Chime tell you?"
She must know that I'm talking about the Underground. Her eyes sparkle. "Yes," she says. I've been expecting a snob, what with a mayor's niece and all, but she doesn't act all snobby and... spoiled. She seems like one of us, only with a full stomach and better dressed. More, smart, too.
"The Peacekeepers," says Chime hurriedly. She glances behind her shoulder, but no one's coming. Just the weave of the farmers heading out to work early. No crisp, silver uniforms among the ragged yellow cloth of the villagers, worn with age.
"I've told you already," says Maybelle. "The Peacekeepers aren't after Amy and Aryn. They're after Holly's family."
"Why didn't they just kill them yesterday?" I ask. It's puzzling. Last night would be the perfect opportunity.
"The Peacekeeper who found Holly shot her in the arm to stop her, and went for reinforcements. They want a public hanging."
Public hanging. My heart lurches at the thought. My best friend. I can't do it. Briefly, I remember the Peacekeeper gun Sage had last night... what happened to it?
"We have to save her," I say.
"I know," says Maybelle. Beside her, Chime is bouncing, trying to get her attention, but the smart girl doesn't notice.
"May. Maybelle," she says. "We have to go!"
"If the Peacekeepers wanted them, they would've been here last night," says Maybelle calmly. Chime seems to realize that it's useless, and sighs in defeatance. Maybelle continues talking.
"Yes, we do have to save your friend Holly Millson," she says. "Can you use a weapon?"
"Only a knife," I say grimly. "Unless if you count chucking rocks."
"Rocks are all but extinct in the village," Chime reminds me. "They only exist in the woods, and they're closed off today."
Right. Today's Sunday. Sunday!
"Sundays are hanging days!" I burst out, tears welling in my eyes. "I... what time is it?"
"Five fifty-nine," says Maybelle calmly. I gasp.
A clock tolls somewhere. Six strokes. "Six o'clock," says Maybelle unneccesarily. She puts her pocket watch back inside her pocket.
Six o'clock is the hanging hour. As if by cue, a horn blows. The note for all residents to come to the square, either for a whipping or for a hanging. I know who's the victim, and I have to hurry.
I dash back into the house and grab the bread Amy used to slice the bread yesterday. Just yesterday. It seems so long ago. I stare at the knife for what seems like ages, but Amy's snapping at me and I slip it in my pocket. On my way out I toss Amy her harvesting sickle. Arrogant Capitol; they even give District Eleven sickles to play around with. Shiny and pretty, sparkling dangerously in the Capitol's face.
The air's still damp from the rain yesterday; the pavement wet. Puddles of water are still everywhere, and the leaves from trees above splash water onto our heads. I don't care.
I join the fray of villagers heading to the square. There's so many of them, but even those who live too far away have to walk. I sprint towards the square, Amy hot on my heels. Chime is lagging somewhat behind but Maybelle's walking calmly. Does the girl ever run?
My house is one of the farthest away from the square. I run up, but eventually the crowd gets too thick and I don't want to push around. Me, a puny fourteen-year-old, will only get crushed in the queue.
Chime has caught up with me now, pulling an uncooperating Maybelle. In the din of the crowd, I hope that my words are masked.
"Do you know where the Underground door is?" I ask.
She nods. "I thought it just led to the cellar. When I asked my uncle he said he didn't know. I never thought it led to the Underground."
"How big is it?" I ask, while on my mind thinking how we'll get masses of people through the mayor's house.
"It's like a maze down there," Maybelle says. "I've drawn a map, but from the little I've drawn it's still quite big."
"Big enough to host as headquarters?" I ask. "Jabberjays die without twelve hours of sunlight, right?"
"Yes," says Maybelle. "And yes, to the jabberjay question. I... I do not think that my uncle will agree, although my mother surely will. She ran for the spot of mayor, too. She lost because she was female, and her brother, my uncle, got it instead. She hates the Capitol."
Her last few words were breathed into my ear. Amy glares at me, but she must know that I'll fill her in later.
We try to break through the crowd as soon as possible; talking is just another gift. But soon we must get to the hanging.
They never start until everyone's here, and we're among the last ones. I rush into the square, and try to see above the citizen's heads. Not one of them give way. It's not that they don't want to give up their spot; they do. It's just that the people of District Eleven think that hanging will give nightmares to children.
But I'm not a child anymore, especially not if I'm inciting a rebellion.
"Here we act on an offense of Holly Millson, age fourteen, of District Eleven. Accused of talking about rebellion..." the mayor reads. I don't have to turn around to know that Maybelle can't go on. The sound of her uncle's voice...
At the word rebellion, the people of District Eleven stirs. But one glare of the mayor sends them away. I can't see it, but I know that it's happening.
Finally, I burst through the worst ones and look up at the stage right below the Justice Building. Holly's wrists are bound, she's gagged, and tears have obviously been streaming down her face. Beside her, her parents await.
The Peacekeepers must've taken her away from Dr. Perils, sometime this morning after Chime left. If Chime had known, surely she would tell me. The Peacekeepers she saw this morning were probably heading for Holly's house for the adults.
But I don't have time for thoughts like this. My feet have just started to run, not caring where I step, when the Head Peacekeeper slips the noose around my best friend's neck.
I just loooove cliffhangers...
The Dark Days - Chapter Five
Chapter Five
"Nothing," says Sage hastily, straightening up. Without noticing, we'd been leaning closer to talk in muffled voices. But Chime must have superhuman ears or something, because she definitely heard about rebellion.
"I heard something," she says, crossing her arms, and, putting all her weight onto one leg, begins tapping her other foot. "What did you say?" She lowers her voice. "A... rebellion?"
"No," I say desperately. She can't know about this. I'm not ready to include someone who's not a fighter. "You heard... um... ringing bells!" The only thing I could think of that's even a tiny bit close to rebellion. "We were talking about the bells that ring everyday at midnight..." My voice trails off as the glare from Chime's chocolate eyes grow stronger.
I'm good at lying, but only if I can think of a lie beforehand. I was just winging it. Obviously, it's not good enough to convince Chime.
Heck, it's not good enough to convince anyone.
"I'll tell you, under one condition," says Sage, breaking the uncomfortable silence that seems to crush and suffocate me. But now, all that pressure lifts off me as I turn to him, unnerved. He pretends that he doesn't see me.
"What?" Chime asks, coming over to sit next to him. She doesn't care that he's sopping wet. Besides, the warmness in the house has dried us... somewhat.
"Please don't turn Amy and Aryn in," says Sage quietly. At the sound of Amy's name, I jerk my head to the right, where Amy is sitting. She hasn't uttered a word. I had forgotten that she was there.
She's there, eyes closed, an even breathing coming from her. Fast asleep. No wonder, especially after all that's happened.
All that's happened. Through the space of little over an hour, I've had a shouting match between my sister and best friend, met someone who's just the right choice for a rebellion, saw a gaping hole in Holly's arm, and came to Dr. Perils's place soaking wet. I turn back around, talking somewhat quieter. "She's asleep."
Chime nods, and turns her focus back onto Sage. "Why not turn them in? What have they done?”
"Talked about... you know." Sage doesn't want to say a lot. Our earlier conversation was dangerous, too, but right here, talking out loud; if soemone eavesdropped at my house, they can easily do it now. I wonder why the Peacekeepers aren't here yet. Not that I'm complaining.
"Alright," says Chime after a moment's hesitation, jerking me back to the real world. But she must know that her house might be bugged. She might not be the smartest, but she's smart enough to know that if someone shot Holly about talks of rebellion, they can shoot her, too. A finger pulled, a click heard, a dead girl.
"Chime!" calls Dr. Perils from inside the house. "What are you doing? I told you to get the bark!"
Chime sighs. "Sorry," she says. "One second."
Her mother mutters something about how she's putting a patient's life in danger, and my heart stops cold. Chime's about to climb the stairs to the upper floor when I stop her.
"What?" she asks, irritated.
"Can I go see Holly?" I ask.
"Better not. My mother will just shoo you out," she says, and leaps up the flight three steps at at time. "You'd better go home. Peacekeepers will be crawling the streets by tomorrow."
I don't, however, and wait for her to come down. There's something I need to tell her, but it's not safe to do it in the house.
"You're still here," she says, thirty seconds later, coming down the stairs.
I walk over to her and pretend to be examining the bark in her hands, while in reality murmuring under my breath.
"Amy and I will still be at our house tonight, but tomorrow we run. Early. Please get Maybelle Waters to help us, the mayor's niece. There's a door to the Underground in the mayor's house. She's smart; she should be able to find it."
Chime's eyes flicker with emotions as I tell her, but she understands. I back off, lifts my twin into my arms, and leaves out the door. Sage follows me. I call over my shoulder, "Thanks, Dr. Perils!"
She never charges until her work is finished. Hopefully by then, the rebellion's started, because there's no way we can pay a bill like that.
It's hard sleeping after that. It's easy for Amy, though, who's already asleep. I just tear off her wet clothes and tuck her in to bed. However, after I change into dry clothes and towel off, I toss and turn in sleep.
If Maybelle can be persuaded – which she should, because I know that she and Chime are friends – then we might have a shot at this. The rebellion.
Dawn brings a knock on the door. I bolt out of bed, only to find Amy already at the door. Peacekeepers, can be my only thought.
"No," I whisper, but Amy opens the door anyways.
"It's fine," she says. "It's Chime. And she's got Maybelle."
She must’ve been half-awake during our conversation with Chime yesterday. How else can she know?
Chime enters through the door, panting. A nervous and twitchy Maybelle follows her.
"They're after us," she says. "I think I lost them halfway but we've got to go. May's agreed to help us."
"How early were you up at?" I ask in amazement. Chime doesn't answer, but states something else instead.
"Maybelle reckons that she knows who’s been eavesdropping on you," she says. I lean forwards, intrigued.
"Who?" I ask.
In answer, Maybelle points a shaky finger at the windowsill, where a small, grey bird pirches, mute. It hops around and flutters out of sight.
"Jabberjays."
"Nothing," says Sage hastily, straightening up. Without noticing, we'd been leaning closer to talk in muffled voices. But Chime must have superhuman ears or something, because she definitely heard about rebellion.
"I heard something," she says, crossing her arms, and, putting all her weight onto one leg, begins tapping her other foot. "What did you say?" She lowers her voice. "A... rebellion?"
"No," I say desperately. She can't know about this. I'm not ready to include someone who's not a fighter. "You heard... um... ringing bells!" The only thing I could think of that's even a tiny bit close to rebellion. "We were talking about the bells that ring everyday at midnight..." My voice trails off as the glare from Chime's chocolate eyes grow stronger.
I'm good at lying, but only if I can think of a lie beforehand. I was just winging it. Obviously, it's not good enough to convince Chime.
Heck, it's not good enough to convince anyone.
"I'll tell you, under one condition," says Sage, breaking the uncomfortable silence that seems to crush and suffocate me. But now, all that pressure lifts off me as I turn to him, unnerved. He pretends that he doesn't see me.
"What?" Chime asks, coming over to sit next to him. She doesn't care that he's sopping wet. Besides, the warmness in the house has dried us... somewhat.
"Please don't turn Amy and Aryn in," says Sage quietly. At the sound of Amy's name, I jerk my head to the right, where Amy is sitting. She hasn't uttered a word. I had forgotten that she was there.
She's there, eyes closed, an even breathing coming from her. Fast asleep. No wonder, especially after all that's happened.
All that's happened. Through the space of little over an hour, I've had a shouting match between my sister and best friend, met someone who's just the right choice for a rebellion, saw a gaping hole in Holly's arm, and came to Dr. Perils's place soaking wet. I turn back around, talking somewhat quieter. "She's asleep."
Chime nods, and turns her focus back onto Sage. "Why not turn them in? What have they done?”
"Talked about... you know." Sage doesn't want to say a lot. Our earlier conversation was dangerous, too, but right here, talking out loud; if soemone eavesdropped at my house, they can easily do it now. I wonder why the Peacekeepers aren't here yet. Not that I'm complaining.
"Alright," says Chime after a moment's hesitation, jerking me back to the real world. But she must know that her house might be bugged. She might not be the smartest, but she's smart enough to know that if someone shot Holly about talks of rebellion, they can shoot her, too. A finger pulled, a click heard, a dead girl.
"Chime!" calls Dr. Perils from inside the house. "What are you doing? I told you to get the bark!"
Chime sighs. "Sorry," she says. "One second."
Her mother mutters something about how she's putting a patient's life in danger, and my heart stops cold. Chime's about to climb the stairs to the upper floor when I stop her.
"What?" she asks, irritated.
"Can I go see Holly?" I ask.
"Better not. My mother will just shoo you out," she says, and leaps up the flight three steps at at time. "You'd better go home. Peacekeepers will be crawling the streets by tomorrow."
I don't, however, and wait for her to come down. There's something I need to tell her, but it's not safe to do it in the house.
"You're still here," she says, thirty seconds later, coming down the stairs.
I walk over to her and pretend to be examining the bark in her hands, while in reality murmuring under my breath.
"Amy and I will still be at our house tonight, but tomorrow we run. Early. Please get Maybelle Waters to help us, the mayor's niece. There's a door to the Underground in the mayor's house. She's smart; she should be able to find it."
Chime's eyes flicker with emotions as I tell her, but she understands. I back off, lifts my twin into my arms, and leaves out the door. Sage follows me. I call over my shoulder, "Thanks, Dr. Perils!"
She never charges until her work is finished. Hopefully by then, the rebellion's started, because there's no way we can pay a bill like that.
It's hard sleeping after that. It's easy for Amy, though, who's already asleep. I just tear off her wet clothes and tuck her in to bed. However, after I change into dry clothes and towel off, I toss and turn in sleep.
If Maybelle can be persuaded – which she should, because I know that she and Chime are friends – then we might have a shot at this. The rebellion.
Dawn brings a knock on the door. I bolt out of bed, only to find Amy already at the door. Peacekeepers, can be my only thought.
"No," I whisper, but Amy opens the door anyways.
"It's fine," she says. "It's Chime. And she's got Maybelle."
She must’ve been half-awake during our conversation with Chime yesterday. How else can she know?
Chime enters through the door, panting. A nervous and twitchy Maybelle follows her.
"They're after us," she says. "I think I lost them halfway but we've got to go. May's agreed to help us."
"How early were you up at?" I ask in amazement. Chime doesn't answer, but states something else instead.
"Maybelle reckons that she knows who’s been eavesdropping on you," she says. I lean forwards, intrigued.
"Who?" I ask.
In answer, Maybelle points a shaky finger at the windowsill, where a small, grey bird pirches, mute. It hops around and flutters out of sight.
"Jabberjays."
The Dark Days - Chapter Five
Chapter Five
"Nothing," says Sage hastily, straightening up. Without noticing, we'd been leaning closer to talk in muffled voices. But Chime must have superhuman ears or something, because she definitely heard about rebellion.
"I heard something," she says, crossing her arms, and, putting all her weight onto one leg, begins tapping her other foot. "What did you say?" She lowers her voice. "A... rebellion?"
"No," I say desperately. She can't know about this. I'm not ready to include someone who's not a fighter. "You heard... um... ringing bells!" The only thing I could think of that's even a tiny bit close to rebellion. "We were talking about the bells that ring everyday at midnight..." My voice trails off as the glare from Chime's chocolate eyes grow stronger.
I'm good at lying, but only if I can think of a lie beforehand. I was just winging it. Obviously, it's not good enough to convince Chime.
Heck, it's not good enough to convince anyone.
"I'll tell you, under one condition," says Sage, breaking the uncomfortable silence that seems to crush and suffocate me. But now, all that pressure lifts off me as I turn to him, unnerved. He pretends that he doesn't see me.
"What?" Chime asks, coming over to sit next to him. She doesn't care that he's sopping wet. Besides, the warmness in the house has dried us... somewhat.
"Please don't turn Amy and Aryn in," says Sage quietly. At the sound of Amy's name, I jerk my head to the right, where Amy is sitting. She hasn't uttered a word. I had forgotten that she was there.
She's there, eyes closed, an even breathing coming from her. Fast asleep. No wonder, especially after all that's happened.
All that's happened. Through the space of little over an hour, I've had a shouting match between my sister and best friend, met someone who's just the right choice for a rebellion, saw a gaping hole in Holly's arm, and came to Dr. Perils's place soaking wet. I turn back around, talking somewhat quieter. "She's asleep."
Chime nods, and turns her focus back onto Sage. "Why not turn them in? What have they done?”
"Talked about... you know." Sage doesn't want to say a lot. Our earlier conversation was dangerous, too, but right here, talking out loud; if soemone eavesdropped at my house, they can easily do it now. I wonder why the Peacekeepers aren't here yet. Not that I'm complaining.
"Alright," says Chime after a moment's hesitation, jerking me back to the real world. But she must know that her house might be bugged. She might not be the smartest, but she's smart enough to know that if someone shot Holly about talks of rebellion, they can shoot her, too. A finger pulled, a click heard, a dead girl.
"Chime!" calls Dr. Perils from inside the house. "What are you doing? I told you to get the bark!"
Chime sighs. "Sorry," she says. "One second."
Her mother mutters something about how she's putting a patient's life in danger, and my heart stops cold. Chime's about to climb the stairs to the upper floor when I stop her.
"What?" she asks, irritated.
"Can I go see Holly?" I ask.
"Better not. My mother will just shoo you out," she says, and leaps up the flight three steps at at time. "You'd better go home. Peacekeepers will be crawling the streets by tomorrow."
I don't, however, and wait for her to come down. There's something I need to tell her, but it's not safe to do it in the house.
"You're still here," she says, thirty seconds later, coming down the stairs.
I walk over to her and pretend to be examining the bark in her hands, while in reality murmuring under my breath.
"Amy and I will still be at our house tonight, but tomorrow we run. Early. Please get Maybelle Waters to help us, the mayor's niece. There's a door to the Underground in the mayor's house. She's smart; she should be able to find it."
Chime's eyes flicker with emotions as I tell her, but she understands. I back off, lifts my twin into my arms, and leaves out the door. Sage follows me. I call over my shoulder, "Thanks, Dr. Perils!"
She never charges until her work is finished. Hopefully by then, the rebellion's started, because there's no way we can pay a bill like that.
It's hard sleeping after that. It's easy for Amy, though, who's already asleep. I just tear off her wet clothes and tuck her in to bed. However, after I change into dry clothes and towel off, I toss and turn in sleep.
If Maybelle can be persuaded – which she should, because I know that she and Chime are friends – then we might have a shot at this. The rebellion.
Dawn brings a knock on the door. I bolt out of bed, only to find Amy already at the door. Peacekeepers, can be my only thought.
"No," I whisper, but Amy opens the door anyways.
"It's fine," she says. "It's Chime. And she's got Maybelle."
She must’ve been half-awake during our conversation with Chime yesterday. How else can she know?
Chime enters through the door, panting. A nervous and twitchy Maybelle follows her.
"They're after us," she says. "I think I lost them halfway but we've got to go. May's agreed to help us."
"How early were you up at?" I ask in amazement. Chime doesn't answer, but states something else instead.
"Maybelle reckons that she knows who’s been eavesdropping on you," she says. I lean forwards, intrigued.
"Who?" I ask.
In answer, Maybelle points a shaky finger at the windowsill, where a small, grey bird pirches, mute. It hops around and flutters out of sight.
"Jabberjays."
"Nothing," says Sage hastily, straightening up. Without noticing, we'd been leaning closer to talk in muffled voices. But Chime must have superhuman ears or something, because she definitely heard about rebellion.
"I heard something," she says, crossing her arms, and, putting all her weight onto one leg, begins tapping her other foot. "What did you say?" She lowers her voice. "A... rebellion?"
"No," I say desperately. She can't know about this. I'm not ready to include someone who's not a fighter. "You heard... um... ringing bells!" The only thing I could think of that's even a tiny bit close to rebellion. "We were talking about the bells that ring everyday at midnight..." My voice trails off as the glare from Chime's chocolate eyes grow stronger.
I'm good at lying, but only if I can think of a lie beforehand. I was just winging it. Obviously, it's not good enough to convince Chime.
Heck, it's not good enough to convince anyone.
"I'll tell you, under one condition," says Sage, breaking the uncomfortable silence that seems to crush and suffocate me. But now, all that pressure lifts off me as I turn to him, unnerved. He pretends that he doesn't see me.
"What?" Chime asks, coming over to sit next to him. She doesn't care that he's sopping wet. Besides, the warmness in the house has dried us... somewhat.
"Please don't turn Amy and Aryn in," says Sage quietly. At the sound of Amy's name, I jerk my head to the right, where Amy is sitting. She hasn't uttered a word. I had forgotten that she was there.
She's there, eyes closed, an even breathing coming from her. Fast asleep. No wonder, especially after all that's happened.
All that's happened. Through the space of little over an hour, I've had a shouting match between my sister and best friend, met someone who's just the right choice for a rebellion, saw a gaping hole in Holly's arm, and came to Dr. Perils's place soaking wet. I turn back around, talking somewhat quieter. "She's asleep."
Chime nods, and turns her focus back onto Sage. "Why not turn them in? What have they done?”
"Talked about... you know." Sage doesn't want to say a lot. Our earlier conversation was dangerous, too, but right here, talking out loud; if soemone eavesdropped at my house, they can easily do it now. I wonder why the Peacekeepers aren't here yet. Not that I'm complaining.
"Alright," says Chime after a moment's hesitation, jerking me back to the real world. But she must know that her house might be bugged. She might not be the smartest, but she's smart enough to know that if someone shot Holly about talks of rebellion, they can shoot her, too. A finger pulled, a click heard, a dead girl.
"Chime!" calls Dr. Perils from inside the house. "What are you doing? I told you to get the bark!"
Chime sighs. "Sorry," she says. "One second."
Her mother mutters something about how she's putting a patient's life in danger, and my heart stops cold. Chime's about to climb the stairs to the upper floor when I stop her.
"What?" she asks, irritated.
"Can I go see Holly?" I ask.
"Better not. My mother will just shoo you out," she says, and leaps up the flight three steps at at time. "You'd better go home. Peacekeepers will be crawling the streets by tomorrow."
I don't, however, and wait for her to come down. There's something I need to tell her, but it's not safe to do it in the house.
"You're still here," she says, thirty seconds later, coming down the stairs.
I walk over to her and pretend to be examining the bark in her hands, while in reality murmuring under my breath.
"Amy and I will still be at our house tonight, but tomorrow we run. Early. Please get Maybelle Waters to help us, the mayor's niece. There's a door to the Underground in the mayor's house. She's smart; she should be able to find it."
Chime's eyes flicker with emotions as I tell her, but she understands. I back off, lifts my twin into my arms, and leaves out the door. Sage follows me. I call over my shoulder, "Thanks, Dr. Perils!"
She never charges until her work is finished. Hopefully by then, the rebellion's started, because there's no way we can pay a bill like that.
It's hard sleeping after that. It's easy for Amy, though, who's already asleep. I just tear off her wet clothes and tuck her in to bed. However, after I change into dry clothes and towel off, I toss and turn in sleep.
If Maybelle can be persuaded – which she should, because I know that she and Chime are friends – then we might have a shot at this. The rebellion.
Dawn brings a knock on the door. I bolt out of bed, only to find Amy already at the door. Peacekeepers, can be my only thought.
"No," I whisper, but Amy opens the door anyways.
"It's fine," she says. "It's Chime. And she's got Maybelle."
She must’ve been half-awake during our conversation with Chime yesterday. How else can she know?
Chime enters through the door, panting. A nervous and twitchy Maybelle follows her.
"They're after us," she says. "I think I lost them halfway but we've got to go. May's agreed to help us."
"How early were you up at?" I ask in amazement. Chime doesn't answer, but states something else instead.
"Maybelle reckons that she knows who’s been eavesdropping on you," she says. I lean forwards, intrigued.
"Who?" I ask.
In answer, Maybelle points a shaky finger at the windowsill, where a small, grey bird pirches, mute. It hops around and flutters out of sight.
"Jabberjays."
The Dark Days - Chapter Four
Oops... today's the 11th. How many chapters do I owe you? Three, I think...
Chapter Four
"We need to get her to a doctor," I say fiercely. "And if we avoided the Peacekeepers before, it's even more important that we escape their fingers now. It's their gun that made this wound."
"She can't go back to the foraging, that's for sure," says Sage grimly. He readjusts his grip on Holly and she moans. That’s a problem. They’ll ask where she got the wound from.
"Go to sleep," says Amy softly. She takes Holly by the legs again. I take care to avoid her arm, now.
Holly's eyelashes flutter, her chocolate brown eyes showing through even in the night. "Where... I..."
"Go to sleep," I say, quoting Amy. "When you wake up, all of this will be gone."
I suppose that it's a bit hard to believe that you've woken up in the middle of the night with your two friends and a stranger carrying you, and it’s real, too. Well, Holly seems to think so because she sighs into sleep, believing that this is nothing but a bad dream and that she’s still in her house, safe and sound…
We begin walking. There seems to be an unspoken agreement to go to Dr. Anne Perils's place, because she's the best doctor around. We try to go as fast as possible, but with the constant fear of Peacekeepers it's hard. So we stick to the shadows.
Luckily, the bullet didn't go straight through Holly's arm, so it's still lodged instead. Serious, yes. Fatal, with the right treatment, no. But what worries me is what we'll say to to bosses tomorrow. The ones who pay us, work us, feed us. They can't know why Holly was shot, because I've no doubt that someone was listening in on our talk, and the Peacekeepers must be hunting for me, too.
I freeze in my tracks. Sage, whose mind must be occupied, nearly bumps into me. Holly stirs in her sleep.
Amy looks back, irritated. "What?"
"Amy," I say, as calmly was I can. "There's only one reason why Holly was shot. Someone was listening in on us."
She shrugs. "Yeah, it's occured to me."
"If they've got Holly, then they'll be after us, too."
Unlike most people, when Amy gets surprised, she seems to get calmer. "Well, that's a bummer."
We look at Sage.
"What?" he asks, uncomfortable with people staring in his eye.
"They can't know you're in the plot, too," I say. "We talked to you outside. There's no way all of the houses are bugged... So in other words, you're the only... rebel," I say in a hushed tone, "they don't know about. Tomorrow, Amy and I will go into hiding. It's up to you to bring them to our hiding place."
"Well, we do have to hide," says Amy, biting her lower lip. "But where? Somewhere big enough to contain the residents of District Eleven? Unlikely."
"There's one place," Sage says carefully. "But..."
I catch his drift. "The Underground? That’s what I suggested to Amy!"
“No!” my sister cries, on cue.
"Well, District Thirteen uses their Underground, so why not us?" Sage says, the exact thing on my mind.
Amy studies his expression. Fierce eyes, lips set together in a line, slight frown. He's serious.
The Underground was built by the Capitol, one for each district. The districts use them to store things, like electronics, fabrics, fish, crops, berries. Each one is like a maze and not all of them are used. It'll be a perfect headquarters.
"There's only one entrance," I tell him. "And it's heavily guarded."
Amy stares at the two of us. "Maybe we should start walking."
Right. As much as the rebellion is important, so is Holly.
"There's another entrance," Sage says as we slosh through the rain. I stare at him in confusion, but this time I don't stop walking.
"Another entrance? But... I thought the only one was in the Peacekeeper's Headquarters!" I say, struggling to keep my voice down.
"The mayor's house," says Sage. As if on cue, Amy and I look at each other.
"Maybelle Waters," we say together.
"Maybelle?" Sage echoes. "The mayor's niece?"
We nod.
"She doesn't live at the mayor's house-" Sage begins, but Amy cuts in.
"She sometimes stays after school to look after her cousin," she says. "Maybe I can... I mean, maybe you can talk to her after school."
"I'll try," says Sage, a frown line appearing on his forehead. "Look... it's just that... are you sure that your plan's going to work? Aryn, you're the mastermind of this, right?"
I nod.
"What's your plan to rebel?"
"I have one," I say mysteriously. I do, actually. I'm just not ready to tell them yet. If I do, they'll abandon me utterly. If I have a full district under command, then it's too late to step down. Then they'll have to stick with it. Which is why I say, "I'm just not going to share it."
Sage sighs. "I figured you would say that. But Aryn, take note that this'll be hard. We mean next to nothing to the Peacekeepers; we're just here to fill in the gaps. They can kill all of us."
"Then they lose their supply of food," I say simply. "The Underground food can't last forever. If it works, we can use it."
"Perfect," says Amy sarcastically. She rolls her eyes and turns around to walk. We've already left the main road and onto the doctor’s street.
Sometimes, I think that Amy doesn't take me too seriously.
"So Maybelle can help us," says Sage.
"Yeah," I reply. Just then, a cold breeze comes by and I shiver. I've just noticed how cold I am.
"Amy?" I ask. "Are you cold suddenly?"
She turns around. "Now you tell me? Before I wasn't but now you asked me I am!"
"Keep your voice down," Sage urges her. We are almost at Dr. Perils's front door. I wonder what she'll say about three kids turning up in the dead of the night, but I can only hope that she agrees to help us.
We knock on the door. Everyone knows that Dr. Perils is a light sleeper. We continue knocking until a light flickers on in one of the windows.
The door opens and a warm, golden glow spills from inside. "Dr. Perils-" I begin to say, but I freeze.
It's not the doctor. It's her daughter, Chime Perils, who's in my class at school. We're not friends, but not enemies. Just classmates. She stares us down.
Fortunately, I know Chime as a kind one. Once a squirrel got hurt and she treated it herself. Being a daughter of a doctor helps, but I think that she's started showing more compassion because of what happened to her father. He died after a fatal injury when a tree fell on top of him. It's a long story.
"What are you doing here?" she hisses at us. "It's ten already!"
Only ten? It has felt like four hours since I argued with Holly!
"Someone's hurt," I say. At the word hurt, Chime's nasty expression melts off.
"Why're you wet?" she asks. We're all soaked to the skin.
"Rain," I reply. "Chime, please, can you help us? She's got a gunshot wound!"
She immediately turns serious. "Mother!" she yells to the upper landing. Another light flickers on, and Dr. Perils comes down in her nightgown.
"What?" she asks, clearly tired.
"Gunshot wound to the arm," says Chime. Her mother doesn't ask anything, simply nods and takes Holly in her powerful arms. My friend looks like a crippled and fragile doll in Dr. Perils's arms.
"You can sit down," says Chime hasily, pointing to a few wooden chairs to the side of the hallway. "Don't worry about being wet... Um, you can go home and change."
I shake my head. Why would we change? The new clothes would just get wet again. So the moment Chime leaves to help her mother, I collapse in one of the chairs.
"She has to be okay," I say, exhausted.
Sage sits down next to me. "She will."
We sit in silence for a few seconds, and finally I can't stand it. "Do you think Maybelle will help us?"
"She's arrogant, yes, but she's not a snob. Besides, we'll need her intelligence."
"Right," I say.
"She'll be valuable in a rebellion," Amy says. "It's helpful for someone smart when you're trying to overthrow the Capitol."
Sage sighs. "Aryn Rosalina," he says, "We don't even know for sure if we're going to go for it!"
"You said yourself that you're going to help!" I say, hushed but on the inside, my temper is flaring.
"I just want our chances to be as high as possible!" he retorts. "I want this rebellion to succeed on the first try!"
I'm about to yell out a comeback to that but suddenly, I take notice of something – someone – beside me.
Chime, her face drained of blood, ashen white, leaning against the doorway. She speaks in a hushed tone.
"What did you just say?" she whispers. "Something about… a rebellion?”
Chapter Four
"We need to get her to a doctor," I say fiercely. "And if we avoided the Peacekeepers before, it's even more important that we escape their fingers now. It's their gun that made this wound."
"She can't go back to the foraging, that's for sure," says Sage grimly. He readjusts his grip on Holly and she moans. That’s a problem. They’ll ask where she got the wound from.
"Go to sleep," says Amy softly. She takes Holly by the legs again. I take care to avoid her arm, now.
Holly's eyelashes flutter, her chocolate brown eyes showing through even in the night. "Where... I..."
"Go to sleep," I say, quoting Amy. "When you wake up, all of this will be gone."
I suppose that it's a bit hard to believe that you've woken up in the middle of the night with your two friends and a stranger carrying you, and it’s real, too. Well, Holly seems to think so because she sighs into sleep, believing that this is nothing but a bad dream and that she’s still in her house, safe and sound…
We begin walking. There seems to be an unspoken agreement to go to Dr. Anne Perils's place, because she's the best doctor around. We try to go as fast as possible, but with the constant fear of Peacekeepers it's hard. So we stick to the shadows.
Luckily, the bullet didn't go straight through Holly's arm, so it's still lodged instead. Serious, yes. Fatal, with the right treatment, no. But what worries me is what we'll say to to bosses tomorrow. The ones who pay us, work us, feed us. They can't know why Holly was shot, because I've no doubt that someone was listening in on our talk, and the Peacekeepers must be hunting for me, too.
I freeze in my tracks. Sage, whose mind must be occupied, nearly bumps into me. Holly stirs in her sleep.
Amy looks back, irritated. "What?"
"Amy," I say, as calmly was I can. "There's only one reason why Holly was shot. Someone was listening in on us."
She shrugs. "Yeah, it's occured to me."
"If they've got Holly, then they'll be after us, too."
Unlike most people, when Amy gets surprised, she seems to get calmer. "Well, that's a bummer."
We look at Sage.
"What?" he asks, uncomfortable with people staring in his eye.
"They can't know you're in the plot, too," I say. "We talked to you outside. There's no way all of the houses are bugged... So in other words, you're the only... rebel," I say in a hushed tone, "they don't know about. Tomorrow, Amy and I will go into hiding. It's up to you to bring them to our hiding place."
"Well, we do have to hide," says Amy, biting her lower lip. "But where? Somewhere big enough to contain the residents of District Eleven? Unlikely."
"There's one place," Sage says carefully. "But..."
I catch his drift. "The Underground? That’s what I suggested to Amy!"
“No!” my sister cries, on cue.
"Well, District Thirteen uses their Underground, so why not us?" Sage says, the exact thing on my mind.
Amy studies his expression. Fierce eyes, lips set together in a line, slight frown. He's serious.
The Underground was built by the Capitol, one for each district. The districts use them to store things, like electronics, fabrics, fish, crops, berries. Each one is like a maze and not all of them are used. It'll be a perfect headquarters.
"There's only one entrance," I tell him. "And it's heavily guarded."
Amy stares at the two of us. "Maybe we should start walking."
Right. As much as the rebellion is important, so is Holly.
"There's another entrance," Sage says as we slosh through the rain. I stare at him in confusion, but this time I don't stop walking.
"Another entrance? But... I thought the only one was in the Peacekeeper's Headquarters!" I say, struggling to keep my voice down.
"The mayor's house," says Sage. As if on cue, Amy and I look at each other.
"Maybelle Waters," we say together.
"Maybelle?" Sage echoes. "The mayor's niece?"
We nod.
"She doesn't live at the mayor's house-" Sage begins, but Amy cuts in.
"She sometimes stays after school to look after her cousin," she says. "Maybe I can... I mean, maybe you can talk to her after school."
"I'll try," says Sage, a frown line appearing on his forehead. "Look... it's just that... are you sure that your plan's going to work? Aryn, you're the mastermind of this, right?"
I nod.
"What's your plan to rebel?"
"I have one," I say mysteriously. I do, actually. I'm just not ready to tell them yet. If I do, they'll abandon me utterly. If I have a full district under command, then it's too late to step down. Then they'll have to stick with it. Which is why I say, "I'm just not going to share it."
Sage sighs. "I figured you would say that. But Aryn, take note that this'll be hard. We mean next to nothing to the Peacekeepers; we're just here to fill in the gaps. They can kill all of us."
"Then they lose their supply of food," I say simply. "The Underground food can't last forever. If it works, we can use it."
"Perfect," says Amy sarcastically. She rolls her eyes and turns around to walk. We've already left the main road and onto the doctor’s street.
Sometimes, I think that Amy doesn't take me too seriously.
"So Maybelle can help us," says Sage.
"Yeah," I reply. Just then, a cold breeze comes by and I shiver. I've just noticed how cold I am.
"Amy?" I ask. "Are you cold suddenly?"
She turns around. "Now you tell me? Before I wasn't but now you asked me I am!"
"Keep your voice down," Sage urges her. We are almost at Dr. Perils's front door. I wonder what she'll say about three kids turning up in the dead of the night, but I can only hope that she agrees to help us.
We knock on the door. Everyone knows that Dr. Perils is a light sleeper. We continue knocking until a light flickers on in one of the windows.
The door opens and a warm, golden glow spills from inside. "Dr. Perils-" I begin to say, but I freeze.
It's not the doctor. It's her daughter, Chime Perils, who's in my class at school. We're not friends, but not enemies. Just classmates. She stares us down.
Fortunately, I know Chime as a kind one. Once a squirrel got hurt and she treated it herself. Being a daughter of a doctor helps, but I think that she's started showing more compassion because of what happened to her father. He died after a fatal injury when a tree fell on top of him. It's a long story.
"What are you doing here?" she hisses at us. "It's ten already!"
Only ten? It has felt like four hours since I argued with Holly!
"Someone's hurt," I say. At the word hurt, Chime's nasty expression melts off.
"Why're you wet?" she asks. We're all soaked to the skin.
"Rain," I reply. "Chime, please, can you help us? She's got a gunshot wound!"
She immediately turns serious. "Mother!" she yells to the upper landing. Another light flickers on, and Dr. Perils comes down in her nightgown.
"What?" she asks, clearly tired.
"Gunshot wound to the arm," says Chime. Her mother doesn't ask anything, simply nods and takes Holly in her powerful arms. My friend looks like a crippled and fragile doll in Dr. Perils's arms.
"You can sit down," says Chime hasily, pointing to a few wooden chairs to the side of the hallway. "Don't worry about being wet... Um, you can go home and change."
I shake my head. Why would we change? The new clothes would just get wet again. So the moment Chime leaves to help her mother, I collapse in one of the chairs.
"She has to be okay," I say, exhausted.
Sage sits down next to me. "She will."
We sit in silence for a few seconds, and finally I can't stand it. "Do you think Maybelle will help us?"
"She's arrogant, yes, but she's not a snob. Besides, we'll need her intelligence."
"Right," I say.
"She'll be valuable in a rebellion," Amy says. "It's helpful for someone smart when you're trying to overthrow the Capitol."
Sage sighs. "Aryn Rosalina," he says, "We don't even know for sure if we're going to go for it!"
"You said yourself that you're going to help!" I say, hushed but on the inside, my temper is flaring.
"I just want our chances to be as high as possible!" he retorts. "I want this rebellion to succeed on the first try!"
I'm about to yell out a comeback to that but suddenly, I take notice of something – someone – beside me.
Chime, her face drained of blood, ashen white, leaning against the doorway. She speaks in a hushed tone.
"What did you just say?" she whispers. "Something about… a rebellion?”
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Dark Days - Chapter Three
Chapter Three
"Holly!" I scream, running out into the cold wind. The bitter blows to my head make it dizzy for me to stand upright. Through the pouring buckets of rain, all I can see is a black veil of hopelessness. Holly screams again, and I run faster.
Feet pounding on the streets, sloshing through more water than air, I finally locate Holly. She's flat out on her back, a Peacekeeper hovering over her, gun in hand. I slow down, not wanting the Peacekeeper to hear me.
Some Peacekeepers. They don't keep the peace. They keep the violence.
Amy's caught up with me now. I wasn't exactly hard to follow, even in the loud claps of thunder. Amy touches my shoulder, but I wave her off with a finger pressed to my mouth.
"On the count of three," I breathe in to her ear. I nod at the Peacekeeper. Amy nods back. She understands.
"One," I murmur. I can hear the Peacekeeper yelling at Holly, but I can't focus on that now.
"Two," Amy whispers. Her sodden hair is whipping freely across my face, but I don't care.
"Three," we say together, and charge at the Peacekeeper.
He doesn't hear us coming in the cold night wind, and he's not exactly big. We tackle him, piling onto the pavement, limb over limb. He screams, and I stop.
I know that voice, too.
"Sage Newheart?" I ask quietly, struggling to contain my shock. Sage Newheart, out in the rain. My chances are getting good. "I... but... I'm sorry, I thought you were a Peacekeeper!"
"Why would a Peacekeeper attack Holly Millson?" Sage asks angrily, rubbing a ferocious burn on his arm caused by the friction between gravel and skin. The cold water helps, but he's still wincing.
"I don't know," Amy says sarcastically. "Maybe she was shouting about a rebellion?"
Even here, in the dark, I can see Sage's bright green eyes flicker with excitement. "Rebellion?" he asks in a hushed tone. "I... I... why didn't I hear of this?" His face melts into an unreadable blank sheet of paper.
"Because the first idea only started tonight," I reply, pulling him to my feet. "Sage, will you join the rebellion?"
"I'd sacrifice myself for it," he replies. "Ever since they killed Mother..." His eyes flash off to the distant past, back when his mother was still alive and well. "You're Aryn Rosalina."
"Yes," I say, gratified that he actually pronounced my last name right. Hardly anyone does on the first try. But how does he know my name?
"I'm Amy," says my sister, holding out her hand. Sage doesn't take it, but nods at her. By the look on her face, I think Amy's convinced that we should actually try. Sage might be a kid, too, but he seems so strong and... superior. He makes us think that we actually have a chance.
Then I hear Holly whimpering, and I gasp. How could I forget about my best friend, even though she just left me a couple of minutes ago? I can't see any blood on the ground, but it's probably washed away by the thundering rain.
But it's starting to end. The rain falls in light, shimmery drops of water as the pale moon shows. Sparkles dance off water. If there is one time to get Holly out of here, it's now.
Sage takes her back without question. Amy takes her legs, I take her middle portion of the body. Whatever happened to her is unknown, and I'm desperate to find out.
"Sage," I say. "Why were you yelling at Holly?"
He looks down. "She was crying and cursing things I couldn't hear. Right outside my front door, she collapsed and began screaming. I headed out."
"What were you yelling to her about?" Amy asks softly. Holly gives a grunt as she hears Amy's voice.
"I wanted her to talk to me... I was afraid that she was going to... to die. I already saw my mother dead, and I don't want an innocent girl dying, either," he replies, voice full of sorrow.
"Oh," I say. I look down at Holly's torn and fragile body, her rain-sodden clothes, and wish that I hadn't.
Right across Holly's left arm is a very nasty cut, no, more of a hole, blood slowly pouring from it. I give a grunt of disgust and look away, hoping that Amy wouldn't look.
Of course, that's too much to hope for. She stares down at the gaping wound and gives out a cough of surprise.
"B...But..." she stammers. "But the only thing that can make that kind of wound is a gun!" she cries.
The three of us look at each other, and the realization dawns upon us.
There's only one kind of person in District Eleven who can use the gun freely.
Peacekeepers.
Dun dun dun.....
"Holly!" I scream, running out into the cold wind. The bitter blows to my head make it dizzy for me to stand upright. Through the pouring buckets of rain, all I can see is a black veil of hopelessness. Holly screams again, and I run faster.
Feet pounding on the streets, sloshing through more water than air, I finally locate Holly. She's flat out on her back, a Peacekeeper hovering over her, gun in hand. I slow down, not wanting the Peacekeeper to hear me.
Some Peacekeepers. They don't keep the peace. They keep the violence.
Amy's caught up with me now. I wasn't exactly hard to follow, even in the loud claps of thunder. Amy touches my shoulder, but I wave her off with a finger pressed to my mouth.
"On the count of three," I breathe in to her ear. I nod at the Peacekeeper. Amy nods back. She understands.
"One," I murmur. I can hear the Peacekeeper yelling at Holly, but I can't focus on that now.
"Two," Amy whispers. Her sodden hair is whipping freely across my face, but I don't care.
"Three," we say together, and charge at the Peacekeeper.
He doesn't hear us coming in the cold night wind, and he's not exactly big. We tackle him, piling onto the pavement, limb over limb. He screams, and I stop.
I know that voice, too.
"Sage Newheart?" I ask quietly, struggling to contain my shock. Sage Newheart, out in the rain. My chances are getting good. "I... but... I'm sorry, I thought you were a Peacekeeper!"
"Why would a Peacekeeper attack Holly Millson?" Sage asks angrily, rubbing a ferocious burn on his arm caused by the friction between gravel and skin. The cold water helps, but he's still wincing.
"I don't know," Amy says sarcastically. "Maybe she was shouting about a rebellion?"
Even here, in the dark, I can see Sage's bright green eyes flicker with excitement. "Rebellion?" he asks in a hushed tone. "I... I... why didn't I hear of this?" His face melts into an unreadable blank sheet of paper.
"Because the first idea only started tonight," I reply, pulling him to my feet. "Sage, will you join the rebellion?"
"I'd sacrifice myself for it," he replies. "Ever since they killed Mother..." His eyes flash off to the distant past, back when his mother was still alive and well. "You're Aryn Rosalina."
"Yes," I say, gratified that he actually pronounced my last name right. Hardly anyone does on the first try. But how does he know my name?
"I'm Amy," says my sister, holding out her hand. Sage doesn't take it, but nods at her. By the look on her face, I think Amy's convinced that we should actually try. Sage might be a kid, too, but he seems so strong and... superior. He makes us think that we actually have a chance.
Then I hear Holly whimpering, and I gasp. How could I forget about my best friend, even though she just left me a couple of minutes ago? I can't see any blood on the ground, but it's probably washed away by the thundering rain.
But it's starting to end. The rain falls in light, shimmery drops of water as the pale moon shows. Sparkles dance off water. If there is one time to get Holly out of here, it's now.
Sage takes her back without question. Amy takes her legs, I take her middle portion of the body. Whatever happened to her is unknown, and I'm desperate to find out.
"Sage," I say. "Why were you yelling at Holly?"
He looks down. "She was crying and cursing things I couldn't hear. Right outside my front door, she collapsed and began screaming. I headed out."
"What were you yelling to her about?" Amy asks softly. Holly gives a grunt as she hears Amy's voice.
"I wanted her to talk to me... I was afraid that she was going to... to die. I already saw my mother dead, and I don't want an innocent girl dying, either," he replies, voice full of sorrow.
"Oh," I say. I look down at Holly's torn and fragile body, her rain-sodden clothes, and wish that I hadn't.
Right across Holly's left arm is a very nasty cut, no, more of a hole, blood slowly pouring from it. I give a grunt of disgust and look away, hoping that Amy wouldn't look.
Of course, that's too much to hope for. She stares down at the gaping wound and gives out a cough of surprise.
"B...But..." she stammers. "But the only thing that can make that kind of wound is a gun!" she cries.
The three of us look at each other, and the realization dawns upon us.
There's only one kind of person in District Eleven who can use the gun freely.
Peacekeepers.
Dun dun dun.....
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The Dark Days - Chapter Two
I'm back, twelve hours ahead of schedule!
Chapter Two
"Rebellion, you say," says Holly.
"Yes," I tell her. "I've been suggesting that ever since you got here!"
She stares off into the distance, as if trying to pull our conversation from the past.
"Aryn," says Amy quietly. She repeats my name again, only louder.
"What?" I finally ask, irritated. Is anyone going to side with me? These two are so stubborn!
"Well, how exactly are we going to incite a rebellion? How do we overthrow the Capitol? You've got to think this over, Sis!"
I take a deep breath. "Well... we'll talk about that later, okay? I mean, like, you know..."
"No, I don't know," says Holly and Amy simultaneously. Sometimes I think that they should be twins, not me and Amy. They're so alike - both shy and quiet, willing to think before acting.
I'm getting annoyed. "Once we've got this thing planned out, I promise that I'll tell you, okay? The moment I deem our district having a chance against the Peacekeepers, I'll call a meeting and reveal my plan."
"How do we even gather people?" Amy asks. "The Peacekeepers watch our every move. Meetings will be impossible."
"Even Peacekeepers have to sleep," I tell her. "At midnight, when the guards shift stations, we gather in the Underground."
Amy doesn't say anything. Neither does Holly. But finally I do.
"If you two are such big cowards you're fearing the Underground, I'll get Sage to come with me. He hates the Capitol too, you know."
Sage. I've never spoken to him, only saw him on one occassion. About five months ago, a woman was publicly executed for stealing food. Her family was hungry; all she took were a couple of strawberries and died for it. She had three kids. Her husband had died from hunger recently, and she didn't want her kids going the same way. Now, her kids are orphans.
Like us.
Sage Newheart is her eldest child, sixteen now and from what I hear, almost seventeen. He has two younger siblings, I know. Pine and Mint. I think Pine is thirteen and Mint is nine. I'm sure that they'll side with me. Especially when…
What am I talking about? I'm about to side with someone I've never spoken to. Never made any gesture of each others' existence. We've never looked at each other in the eye. But I know that he'll be my first choice as a recruit.
"You must be kidding me, Aryn," says Holly. "If you dragged me all the way over here, only to talk about overthrowing the Capitol, forget it. I'm not doing it. It's hopeless, buddy. The Capitol's got strong firearms, we've got nothing. Only in terms of numbers, but the Capitol's weapons must outnumber that fifty to one. No, if we have any chance of success, it won't be to charge. We need someone smart for that!"
"Yeah, we do," I say simply. "I know just the perfect choice."
"Who?" Amy asks, a bit accusingly.
"Maybelle Waters. The mayor's niece. She aces every test in school, never gets in trouble, but I know personally that she's the one who grafittied the school walls with berry juice without getting caught. She's that smart."
"Maybelle Waters..." Amy murmurs. "Well, she's a good choice, I suppose, but who knows if she'll side with us? She's the mayor's niece. She never starves."
"But she watches other people starve," I counter. "They fall to the ground every day, Amy! Too tired to get up again! The Capitol ignores them. The Peacekeepers walk past them. It's only us who stare at them pitifully, but can't afford to give them food to keep going!" I pause to draw in a deep breath but Amy cuts me off.
"Maybelle Waters has food. Tons of it. Her uncle must get a steady supply of them. I've seen her pass the starving and the ill on the streets. She never glances twice at them."
I give my only answer available. "Because she's too smart to do it."
Amy and Holly stare at me in confusion. What do I mean by that? I don't really know, either, but suddenly, out of the blue, I do.
"What–" Holly starts off, but I cut her off.
"She knows that her parents, her uncle, her relatives, and the Peacekeepers won't approve of that. She'll only bring trouble down on her and her family," I explain.
"How do you know, then?" Holly asks snarkily. "She might just not care. She's going to bust you to the Peacekeepers and surely you're a goner. Aryn, please, don't do it!"
"Even if I die, at least I can say I tried!" I yell in her face. Amy takes a step back although it's Holly I'm yelling at. She's never seen me so enraged before.
"Then you do it yourself," Holly says angrily. She storms through the house and wrenches open the door. For a split second, the room echoes with the angry patters of rain against pavement, the thunder striking the sky. Then the door slams closed, and she's gone.
I stand in silence, and I see that Amy's shocked still, too. It seems like a long time before either of us move, but in truth it's probably only a few seconds.
"Aryn–" Amy tries to say, but she's cut off by a long, loud scream. The wailing continues for a few seconds but suddenly is cut short. Amy stares at me as the realization dawns on her.
I leap up, and run out the door, slippers bashing against the wet pavement, the rain soaking into my sweater, but I don't care. All I care about now is to reach her...
The bloodcurdling scream was Holly's.
I know how everything is jumbled together, but hey, it's copied from a Word document! The unedited version is the way you guys might want... but like I said, it's unedited. And I haven't even finished editing this one yet.
Chapter Two
"Rebellion, you say," says Holly.
"Yes," I tell her. "I've been suggesting that ever since you got here!"
She stares off into the distance, as if trying to pull our conversation from the past.
"Aryn," says Amy quietly. She repeats my name again, only louder.
"What?" I finally ask, irritated. Is anyone going to side with me? These two are so stubborn!
"Well, how exactly are we going to incite a rebellion? How do we overthrow the Capitol? You've got to think this over, Sis!"
I take a deep breath. "Well... we'll talk about that later, okay? I mean, like, you know..."
"No, I don't know," says Holly and Amy simultaneously. Sometimes I think that they should be twins, not me and Amy. They're so alike - both shy and quiet, willing to think before acting.
I'm getting annoyed. "Once we've got this thing planned out, I promise that I'll tell you, okay? The moment I deem our district having a chance against the Peacekeepers, I'll call a meeting and reveal my plan."
"How do we even gather people?" Amy asks. "The Peacekeepers watch our every move. Meetings will be impossible."
"Even Peacekeepers have to sleep," I tell her. "At midnight, when the guards shift stations, we gather in the Underground."
Amy doesn't say anything. Neither does Holly. But finally I do.
"If you two are such big cowards you're fearing the Underground, I'll get Sage to come with me. He hates the Capitol too, you know."
Sage. I've never spoken to him, only saw him on one occassion. About five months ago, a woman was publicly executed for stealing food. Her family was hungry; all she took were a couple of strawberries and died for it. She had three kids. Her husband had died from hunger recently, and she didn't want her kids going the same way. Now, her kids are orphans.
Like us.
Sage Newheart is her eldest child, sixteen now and from what I hear, almost seventeen. He has two younger siblings, I know. Pine and Mint. I think Pine is thirteen and Mint is nine. I'm sure that they'll side with me. Especially when…
What am I talking about? I'm about to side with someone I've never spoken to. Never made any gesture of each others' existence. We've never looked at each other in the eye. But I know that he'll be my first choice as a recruit.
"You must be kidding me, Aryn," says Holly. "If you dragged me all the way over here, only to talk about overthrowing the Capitol, forget it. I'm not doing it. It's hopeless, buddy. The Capitol's got strong firearms, we've got nothing. Only in terms of numbers, but the Capitol's weapons must outnumber that fifty to one. No, if we have any chance of success, it won't be to charge. We need someone smart for that!"
"Yeah, we do," I say simply. "I know just the perfect choice."
"Who?" Amy asks, a bit accusingly.
"Maybelle Waters. The mayor's niece. She aces every test in school, never gets in trouble, but I know personally that she's the one who grafittied the school walls with berry juice without getting caught. She's that smart."
"Maybelle Waters..." Amy murmurs. "Well, she's a good choice, I suppose, but who knows if she'll side with us? She's the mayor's niece. She never starves."
"But she watches other people starve," I counter. "They fall to the ground every day, Amy! Too tired to get up again! The Capitol ignores them. The Peacekeepers walk past them. It's only us who stare at them pitifully, but can't afford to give them food to keep going!" I pause to draw in a deep breath but Amy cuts me off.
"Maybelle Waters has food. Tons of it. Her uncle must get a steady supply of them. I've seen her pass the starving and the ill on the streets. She never glances twice at them."
I give my only answer available. "Because she's too smart to do it."
Amy and Holly stare at me in confusion. What do I mean by that? I don't really know, either, but suddenly, out of the blue, I do.
"What–" Holly starts off, but I cut her off.
"She knows that her parents, her uncle, her relatives, and the Peacekeepers won't approve of that. She'll only bring trouble down on her and her family," I explain.
"How do you know, then?" Holly asks snarkily. "She might just not care. She's going to bust you to the Peacekeepers and surely you're a goner. Aryn, please, don't do it!"
"Even if I die, at least I can say I tried!" I yell in her face. Amy takes a step back although it's Holly I'm yelling at. She's never seen me so enraged before.
"Then you do it yourself," Holly says angrily. She storms through the house and wrenches open the door. For a split second, the room echoes with the angry patters of rain against pavement, the thunder striking the sky. Then the door slams closed, and she's gone.
I stand in silence, and I see that Amy's shocked still, too. It seems like a long time before either of us move, but in truth it's probably only a few seconds.
"Aryn–" Amy tries to say, but she's cut off by a long, loud scream. The wailing continues for a few seconds but suddenly is cut short. Amy stares at me as the realization dawns on her.
I leap up, and run out the door, slippers bashing against the wet pavement, the rain soaking into my sweater, but I don't care. All I care about now is to reach her...
The bloodcurdling scream was Holly's.
I know how everything is jumbled together, but hey, it's copied from a Word document! The unedited version is the way you guys might want... but like I said, it's unedited. And I haven't even finished editing this one yet.
The Dark Days - Chapter One
Yeeees! Fanfic! Yep, the Dark Days, prologue to the Hunger Games!
Oh, by the way, some information in here is inaccurate. Sorry. I wrote this before I read Mockingjay. Stick it through.
(No spoilers whatsoever)
PART ONE – THE TEST
Chapter One
Life is unfair.
It's supposed to be fair, but it isn't.
Whoever created the world didn't have the foresight to see what will become of the world. Sure, there's been unfair situations before – when your parents buy your brother a video game but buys you a cracker, but this is completely different.
Forcing kids to work under the hot sun, to jump from tree to tree a hundred feet in the air, twelve hours a day and still starving us, there's nothing more unfair than that.
Well, that's when I had my brilliant idea.
"Go home!" shouts a Peacekeeper. I drop my basket, exhausted. We've been working six hours straight since one, and all of us are tired. We get exactly one hour for lunch, and then it's back to work. I didn't get to finish my bread and cheese fast enough, so I had to work on a half-full stomach.
Everyone harvests during the harvest seasons. The sun is broiling down on us, threatening to bake us as we troop back to the village. On the way out of the orchard, I poke my best friend Holly on the arm.
She turns to look at me, but not talking. I breathe in her ear, "Meet me at my house at eight thirty." She nods, scampering away. I have my brilliant idea ready.
When I get home, Amy's already there. Of course she would be – her work ends at six. There's a huge mountain to the west, so there's always an early sunset. They don't want people bumping into each other in the fields, or swinging a sickle the wrong way. All the nightvision goggles go towards the foragers, like me.
"Holly's coming after eight," I tell my sister. She nods but doesn’t say anything.
Alright, we're orphans, but I'm still the older child. Our parents were killed from that muttation attack years ago. Our aunt took care of us but eventually passed away from a serious fever. I hate the Capitol that way.
That war which made Panem rise happened forty-nine years ago. This year, in December, they'll celebrate the 50th anniversary of Panem. I don't want that to happen. My plan should be obvious now, shouldn't it?
I had managed to slip a few strawberries in my pocket, and no one noticed. If they did, I wouldn’t be standing here now, because I’d end up dead. Amy finds the bread they gave her today, and slices the loaf into thin slices. Enough breakfast and dinner to go for a week, when they'll give her another loaf. I aslo put out some basil leaves and mint leaves, and so we have our tiny dinner.
No wonder we're both as puny as a twelve-year-old instead of fourteen.
"So, did anything happen today?" Amy asks after ten minutes of silence.
"Ruth fell out of a tree. She gets a week off work," I grumble. "Lucky."
"But her family can afford a week without her share of pay," Amy points out. I nod unhappily.
"Unlike us," I say. It's true. We rely on each other. Amy brings the wheat and bread. I bring the leaves and berries, occasionally nuts. Never meat. We might be hungry sometimes but we've lived on each other.
"Yeah," says Amy gloomily.
We sit like that until we finish off our bread. It takes time to work our muscles, stretching our limbs, massaging each others' sore muscles. By the time we are finished, it's almost eight thirty.
Amy and I chat for a few moments, but there's nothing really to chat about. Eight thirty comes and goes. By the time it's nearing eight forty-five I'm beginning to get worried.
"Holly should be here by now!" I cry out.
"Why is she coming anyways?" Amy asks. I don't bother asking what's on her mind. I already know. Obviously, it's our parents, before they got killed. Killed in that stupid muttation attack.
"Because I don't want to work like slaves," I say fiercely. "Haven't you thought about it, Amy? They work us to death out there. We never get enough food. We never get a good night's sleep. We never even get to see the moon because of how tired we are! I'm sick of this, Amy! I want this to stop!"
Amy's silent for a few moments, and then she speaks.
"What can we do about it, Aryn?" she asks. "We're just kids."
Yes, we're just kids. Amy's always been the cautious type, whereas I'm the action type. We might be twins, but we're not alike.
"How can you not care?" I ask. "How? They killed our parents! They killed them!" I point to the only photograph in the house, a small black-and-white photo of my family. My mother, my father, Amy and I. We were only nine in the picture. Two months later, two of those people died. My parents.
"I do care," says Amy softly. A knock on the door disrupts the tension between us. It's Holly. Who else would it be?
I unlock the door for her. She shakes her sopping hair and steps into the threshold.
"It's pouring out there," she says unneccasarily. "This has better be good."
"It is," I say. Wasting no time, I ask her, "Holly, have you ever gotten tired of the foraging?"
"That's obvious," she says. "Yes a thousand times over."
"Do you want it to stop?"
"If we don't starve, yes."
"Maybe... we can do something about it," I say. “I'm sick and tired of it. I really want it to stop."
"But how?" Holly asks, quoting Amy. "Aryn, three kids can't exactly stop the force of the entire nation of Panem."
"Not the entire nation," I remind her. "I'm sure that the people of the districts will agree with us. It's just the Capitol."
"And we have the Peacekeepers to contend with," Amy interrupts. "I want to chip in, Aryn, but you must know what you're getting into!"
"Well, everything begins with one small step," I say. "Tomorrow, you guys ask around about if they want freedom. Don't let the Peacekeepers hear you. If we can outnumber them, because we're the largest district around, then maybe we can break out and warn the other districts. I want this to end."
There's silence. "You're asking for one hell of a miracle, and I don’t even know your plan," Holly finally says.
"And what are we going to do once we get the districts to ally with us?" Amy asks. "We're still kids."
"But we're kids who can lead the uprisings!" I shout. "The fiftieth anniversary is coming up. Now's the time to smash the Capitol's dreams. It's time for it all to end!"
A moment of silence, and then Amy speaks up.
"Please tell me I heard you wrong," she says.
"You didn't," I shoot back. "This calls for a rebellion."
One chapter per day. That's it. I have all 27 finished but I'm not posting. OR, if your Google skills are good enough, you can find the finished version (the unedited version) online somewhere...
Oh, by the way, some information in here is inaccurate. Sorry. I wrote this before I read Mockingjay. Stick it through.
(No spoilers whatsoever)
PART ONE – THE TEST
Chapter One
Life is unfair.
It's supposed to be fair, but it isn't.
Whoever created the world didn't have the foresight to see what will become of the world. Sure, there's been unfair situations before – when your parents buy your brother a video game but buys you a cracker, but this is completely different.
Forcing kids to work under the hot sun, to jump from tree to tree a hundred feet in the air, twelve hours a day and still starving us, there's nothing more unfair than that.
Well, that's when I had my brilliant idea.
"Go home!" shouts a Peacekeeper. I drop my basket, exhausted. We've been working six hours straight since one, and all of us are tired. We get exactly one hour for lunch, and then it's back to work. I didn't get to finish my bread and cheese fast enough, so I had to work on a half-full stomach.
Everyone harvests during the harvest seasons. The sun is broiling down on us, threatening to bake us as we troop back to the village. On the way out of the orchard, I poke my best friend Holly on the arm.
She turns to look at me, but not talking. I breathe in her ear, "Meet me at my house at eight thirty." She nods, scampering away. I have my brilliant idea ready.
When I get home, Amy's already there. Of course she would be – her work ends at six. There's a huge mountain to the west, so there's always an early sunset. They don't want people bumping into each other in the fields, or swinging a sickle the wrong way. All the nightvision goggles go towards the foragers, like me.
"Holly's coming after eight," I tell my sister. She nods but doesn’t say anything.
Alright, we're orphans, but I'm still the older child. Our parents were killed from that muttation attack years ago. Our aunt took care of us but eventually passed away from a serious fever. I hate the Capitol that way.
That war which made Panem rise happened forty-nine years ago. This year, in December, they'll celebrate the 50th anniversary of Panem. I don't want that to happen. My plan should be obvious now, shouldn't it?
I had managed to slip a few strawberries in my pocket, and no one noticed. If they did, I wouldn’t be standing here now, because I’d end up dead. Amy finds the bread they gave her today, and slices the loaf into thin slices. Enough breakfast and dinner to go for a week, when they'll give her another loaf. I aslo put out some basil leaves and mint leaves, and so we have our tiny dinner.
No wonder we're both as puny as a twelve-year-old instead of fourteen.
"So, did anything happen today?" Amy asks after ten minutes of silence.
"Ruth fell out of a tree. She gets a week off work," I grumble. "Lucky."
"But her family can afford a week without her share of pay," Amy points out. I nod unhappily.
"Unlike us," I say. It's true. We rely on each other. Amy brings the wheat and bread. I bring the leaves and berries, occasionally nuts. Never meat. We might be hungry sometimes but we've lived on each other.
"Yeah," says Amy gloomily.
We sit like that until we finish off our bread. It takes time to work our muscles, stretching our limbs, massaging each others' sore muscles. By the time we are finished, it's almost eight thirty.
Amy and I chat for a few moments, but there's nothing really to chat about. Eight thirty comes and goes. By the time it's nearing eight forty-five I'm beginning to get worried.
"Holly should be here by now!" I cry out.
"Why is she coming anyways?" Amy asks. I don't bother asking what's on her mind. I already know. Obviously, it's our parents, before they got killed. Killed in that stupid muttation attack.
"Because I don't want to work like slaves," I say fiercely. "Haven't you thought about it, Amy? They work us to death out there. We never get enough food. We never get a good night's sleep. We never even get to see the moon because of how tired we are! I'm sick of this, Amy! I want this to stop!"
Amy's silent for a few moments, and then she speaks.
"What can we do about it, Aryn?" she asks. "We're just kids."
Yes, we're just kids. Amy's always been the cautious type, whereas I'm the action type. We might be twins, but we're not alike.
"How can you not care?" I ask. "How? They killed our parents! They killed them!" I point to the only photograph in the house, a small black-and-white photo of my family. My mother, my father, Amy and I. We were only nine in the picture. Two months later, two of those people died. My parents.
"I do care," says Amy softly. A knock on the door disrupts the tension between us. It's Holly. Who else would it be?
I unlock the door for her. She shakes her sopping hair and steps into the threshold.
"It's pouring out there," she says unneccasarily. "This has better be good."
"It is," I say. Wasting no time, I ask her, "Holly, have you ever gotten tired of the foraging?"
"That's obvious," she says. "Yes a thousand times over."
"Do you want it to stop?"
"If we don't starve, yes."
"Maybe... we can do something about it," I say. “I'm sick and tired of it. I really want it to stop."
"But how?" Holly asks, quoting Amy. "Aryn, three kids can't exactly stop the force of the entire nation of Panem."
"Not the entire nation," I remind her. "I'm sure that the people of the districts will agree with us. It's just the Capitol."
"And we have the Peacekeepers to contend with," Amy interrupts. "I want to chip in, Aryn, but you must know what you're getting into!"
"Well, everything begins with one small step," I say. "Tomorrow, you guys ask around about if they want freedom. Don't let the Peacekeepers hear you. If we can outnumber them, because we're the largest district around, then maybe we can break out and warn the other districts. I want this to end."
There's silence. "You're asking for one hell of a miracle, and I don’t even know your plan," Holly finally says.
"And what are we going to do once we get the districts to ally with us?" Amy asks. "We're still kids."
"But we're kids who can lead the uprisings!" I shout. "The fiftieth anniversary is coming up. Now's the time to smash the Capitol's dreams. It's time for it all to end!"
A moment of silence, and then Amy speaks up.
"Please tell me I heard you wrong," she says.
"You didn't," I shoot back. "This calls for a rebellion."
One chapter per day. That's it. I have all 27 finished but I'm not posting. OR, if your Google skills are good enough, you can find the finished version (the unedited version) online somewhere...
HOME PAGE!
YO, HI! It's me! Yes, the SSBB-obsessed, Kirby-obsessed, crazy person is back!
Dun dun dun...
See, I have another obsession: THE HUNGER GAMES. I've FINALLY found a proxy that supports BlogSpot so here I am! This blog gets updated when I feel like it. I'll post all my fanfiction on it, along with debate posts. Let's just hope that people will actually SEE it...
Well, I've been told that I'm a quality writer, so this is what I'll do: Post all my fanfiction. I have 27 chapters of The Dark Days, which, by the way, you should all know about.
OH, and if you're on the Scholastics Message Boards, which I really hope you are, I'm fighterkirby1998 from there! So I don't care who you are, lyta_hopeflame, catchingfire, catching_fire, Kethsan, lorethevac, I don't care if you're Jack! REPLY! And if you're not part of the community, JOIN!
PS, one more thing, SPOILERS GALORE! You have been warned. There may be spoilers for Mockingjay in here!
Let da rebellion BEGIN!
Dun dun dun...
See, I have another obsession: THE HUNGER GAMES. I've FINALLY found a proxy that supports BlogSpot so here I am! This blog gets updated when I feel like it. I'll post all my fanfiction on it, along with debate posts. Let's just hope that people will actually SEE it...
Well, I've been told that I'm a quality writer, so this is what I'll do: Post all my fanfiction. I have 27 chapters of The Dark Days, which, by the way, you should all know about.
OH, and if you're on the Scholastics Message Boards, which I really hope you are, I'm fighterkirby1998 from there! So I don't care who you are, lyta_hopeflame, catchingfire, catching_fire, Kethsan, lorethevac, I don't care if you're Jack! REPLY! And if you're not part of the community, JOIN!
PS, one more thing, SPOILERS GALORE! You have been warned. There may be spoilers for Mockingjay in here!
Let da rebellion BEGIN!
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