I'm determined to finish this. I might forget so jut remind me. We are at war with each other. Just like the Dark Days. Even after we finished rebuilding out town, they burned it down again. They have started coming here, killing and taking. The only safe place is the forest. Jut like so many years ago. My grandmother used to tell me what it was like before all of this. It was worse. She said that there wasn't any fighting like this; only a little. But there was a nightmare so terrifying the she couldn't describe it. She also told me it was better to live a bad life than to have someone pick when you die. That's what happened to her and my grandfather. They survived, of course, but at a cost. They started a revolution. It ended quickly and they won. But there is still conflict among us. "Keep going!" My best friend, Erik, called. I clutched my baby brother tighter and ran faster. My black hair streaming out behind me like a cloud o smoke. Like the one coming from our homes. I ran trough the dark forest. My heart was pounding and I was taking short shallow breaths. It won't be Lon until they catch us. Erik ran up next to me. I could see that he was tiring too. His mouth was set into a firm line and his eyes were narrowed. There was the sound of gun fire and people running after us shouting. I started to panic. They were right behind us now.
"Over here!" Erik pointed. There was an outcropping of rocks forming a small cave. It was covered in black berry bushes. Erik ran into the cave. I followed him inside. We pressed against the side of the cave holding our breaths. Someone looked inside but couldn't se us. They went away. We stayed like that for a few more minutes. Erik looked at me then relaxed. He sat down. I set my brother down but he clung tightly to my leg. "Scared," he said. He's only three so I didn't expect him to know wry much. "I am too," I whispered. I sat down next to Erik and looked at him. I tried to keep my tears at bay. Erik put his arm around me. "We'll get out of this Rue. We're survivors." I smiled at him. My brother then climbed into his lap. Erik picked him up. "Right Cinna?" Erik asked him. Cinna laughed. I always thought my brother had a weird name. My grandmother told me that our name's are traditions. I didn't get it at first. So she said that my name was an old friend of hers. Same as my brother's. My mom was named after her sister. I know it's kind of short. Don't get mad at me. Technically I didn't steel the idea. I'm just adding on.