Hunger Games - Primrose

Daang, you leave for a day and you get spammed with bumps I like it

ʗɧɑǷƮɛƦ 12 - ɛ×ǷƖɑɴɑтɪօɴʂ

B efore Caesar could find any words to really reply, the buzzer sounded, indicated it was the end of his interview. I couldn't believe what Peeta had said in his interview. The words were swirling around my brain hopelessly. I had no idea what he meant by it, if he really meant anything at all. Did he mean he would rather protect me in the Games so I could go home instead of him? Or was he just admitting his love for Katniss, letting her know of it before he died? I looked at Haymich, he didn't looked shocked at all. They must have been planning this in their interview preparation that was earlier this morning. What a way to get sponsors – the boy who could never be with the girl he was madly in love with because his sister was in the way. Aside from all of that, I was shocked he had admitted that when he knew my sister would be watching and listening. I wonder how she reacted at that point. I wonder what Gale thought of the baker's son revealing his love. I wonder what his mother would think of him being in love with a Seam girl.

Peeta walked slowly off the stage and towards Haymich, Effie and I. He was looking down at his shuffling feet and his hands were in his suit pockets. He seemed almost ashamed he had admitted that he was basically in love with my sister but couldn't have her because of me. I looked at the three people who were around me, and wondered if they knew he was going to say that in his interview. Haymich met my desperate gaze. "Save your private talks for later. There are cameras swarming all over the place here." Haymich said.

I hated to admit it because I wanted to talk to Peeta so much to find out what he was thinking saying that sort of thing in the interview. It could be considered as rebellious towards the Capitol in President Snows eyes, showing up their stupid Games by protecting someone else and being willing to die for them. Did he even realise that?

A million questions twisted pointlessly inside my brain trying to make their way out of my mouth as we drove back to the penthouse. When we finally got there after what felt like a million years, I gave Peeta a look which told him to follow me. I made my way to the roof where Haymich and I had practised interview techniques just earlier that day and ignored Effie as she tried to beckon me down telling me that it was time for dinner. I didn't want to eat right now, I just wanted to talk to Peeta.

The cool Capitol air hit me and I began to shiver. I sat on the very edge of the building and saw that there were parties going on in the streets below. People were cheering and chanting. This must be what happens when the Games are coming soon. People in the Capitol get so excited for the Games. It was bewildering how anybody could ever be so excited to see children turn into murderous monsters. Peeta joined me within a few seconds and sat next to me on the edge. He noticed I was shivering and placed his jacket over my shoulders. I slipped into it without hesitation. It only warmed me up slightly, but it was better than nothing. I turned to face him. He was looking at me with his big blue orbs. The moonlight was shining on his face, showing off his cheekbones and jawline thoroughly. I took a deep breath before asking him, "Peeta. What the hell was that?"

He began to laugh slightly. "What do you mean?"

"In the interview, what do you think I mean?" I said feeling exasperated.

He sighed and ran his hair through his fingers. "What do you think I meant? I thought it was pretty straightforward." I shook my head. It wasn't straightforward to me. I was a real full of thoughts and ideas sort of person, so this sort of thing had provoked several explanations any of which could be true. He sighed again before starting to talk. "I meant that I was going to protect you when we were in the Games."

"As in, sacrifice your life for mine?" I said. He nodded. "But why? I know you're in love with Katniss, Peeta, but this is too much. You can't keep me alive just because you want her to think good of you. It's too much."

"I know." He said. "But, it's more than that. Of course I want to keep you alive because I'm in love with her. That would make her happy. Having you return home would make her a million times happier than having me home. But it's not just her who would be happy having you back instead of me. The whole of District 12 would prefer to have you back, Prim."

"Don't be stupid, Peeta. For one, I'm not even special in District 12. I don't contribute anything. Not compared to Katniss. Or you. You bake bread. Everybody needs bread." I said. "And for two, your family would much rather have you back than me."

"Psht!" he snorted. "My mother sees me about as good as dead now. My dad… well, he might miss me a little, but he adores you. He wouldn't mind which of us come home. My brothers wouldn't care either. We've never had much of a connection. And Rory… he definitely wouldn't mind. He's had a crush on you for years. I wouldn't be surprised if he would want you to win over me. And everybody else in District 12 barely knows who I am, but everybody knows the Everdeens. Everybody likes the Everdeens."

I looked down at the streets below, trying to take in all of the new information. I didn't even realise Peeta felt so worthless about his life. It made my heart break just hearing him say that his own family wouldn't care and would rather have me home in a heartbeat. How could anybody's family do that? I could never imagine how that would feel. My family had always given me enough love for two people. I wished Peeta could share some of that love.

"Peeta…" I began, but he cut me off.

"No, Prim. I want to protect you in the Games. You're one of the loveliest people I've ever met. You need to win. You need to go home. There's nothing you can that can change my mind." He said.

"I… I don't know what to say." I said.

"Could say thanks. I'm giving you my life here," he said with a cheeky smile on his face. I laughed lightly. He was such a nice funny guy. Why couldn't his family see that? It angered me how absent minded they were to him and his amazing personality. He was prepared to give up his life for a girl he had only spoken to for three days, really, for another person's happiness. How selfless.

"Thanks," I said smiling back at him.

We sat in silence until the parties began to die down. The stars were twinkling above us and streetlights and houselights were beginning to die out. I watched with Peeta at my side as the city began to fall asleep. I had no idea what time it was when Haymich arrived on the roof. "Effie sent me up. She said you two need to go to sleep." He said, sitting down with us both at the edge. "I'm not one to agree with her, but it's late and you're going to sleep all the sleep you can get now."

I nodded in agreement, but I didn't move. I didn't feel like moving. This city was beautiful to look at. If it wasn't so cold, I would of just slept here. I wish I could freeze this moment and stay in it forever. I felt my eyelids get heavier and my body relaxing. I suddenly realised that I was exhausted.

The next thing I knew, I was lying in the huge comfy bed in my room, being woken up by a sharp knock on the door. I looked over at the clock that was sitting next to my bed and saw that it was 7 in the morning. I lifted myself up into a sitting position. I rubbed my eyes roughly. It took me a minute of just sitting in bed tiredly before realising that today was the first day of The Hunger Games.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eh. That was a short update. I'll give you another

ʗɧɑǷƮɛƦ 13 - Ʈɧɛ ßƖօօɖßɑʈɧ

"Give me your arm."

A woman in a white peacekeepers uniform pulled my arm towards her and injected a needle in it. "What is that?" I asked.

"Your tracker." She said flatly. The injection stung and burnt my arm and there was a slight red glow underneath my skin. As soon as her needle left my arm, Cinna ushered me away and led me through a bunch of corridors into a plain white room. In the room was a white sofa and white coffee table. On the coffee table was a small amount of food and a jug of water with an empty glass. Across the other side of the room was an outfit on a hanger. The trousers were made of a thin material and so was the shirt. They were both camouflaged colour. There was also a thick, black jacket and thick black boots. Cinna walked over to the outfit and handed it to me. He turned away as I got changed quickly into the outfit. I knew that once I was in the arena, I would be thankful for this thick jacket. The boots were very sturdy, but the trousers were so thin that I knew they'd get ripped easily. I sat on the pearl white sofa with Cinna once I was changed. The nerves were getting worse every second. I felt my body trembling.

"You need to eat." Cinna said. I refused. I knew it was stupid to reject food, considering that I probably wouldn't be eating in the arena much, but I couldn't keep anything down right now. "At least have a drink." He said as he poured a large glass of water. I accepted reluctantly, not believing I'd even be able to keep this down, but knowing that I needed all the water I could get because that was even harder to get in the arena than food. Cinna wouldn't stop watching me until I'd drank the whole glass of water. I didn't really feel thirsty right now but I knew I'd be thanking him for this later. "Here." He said. His hand was closed and in front of me, offering me something. He opened it slowly to reveal the silver bracelet that Hazelle had given me as a token. I'd completely forgot about it after everything that had happened with Peeta.

"Thank you… so much." I said breathily, clasping it tightly onto my wrist. As soon as it was firmly on, the tube that was behind me waiting for me to be taken into the arena opened. A voice from a tanoy in the room called out, saying it was 60 seconds until the Games would start.

I stood up, my knees almost hitting each other from my body shaking so much. I was so sure I was going to throw up all of the water and this morning's breakfast, but I gulped and told myself I was fine. I walked over to the tube that was still open, waiting for my arrival in it. Waiting to send me to my death. Cinna put a hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him. "I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could, I'd on you." He said softly. My heart warmed. He touched my hair that this morning I had put into a Katniss style braid. He leaned in to my ear and whispered, "Make her proud." I knew who he meant. My sister. Make my sister proud.

I made my way into the tube. I still felt terribly nervous as I stood in the tube waiting it to close shut, but I knew I couldn't be nervous. This was going to happen no matter what. I may as well die making my sister proud. The tanoy went off again telling us that it was 30 seconds until the Games. The tube shut and all other noise cut off. I began to bang onto the class with my fists but Cinna just looked at me. His eyes were firm, but loving, telling me the message I needed to hear again. Calm down, calm down, calm down. I thought. The tube began to move slowly upwards. I stood firmly and tried to make my face appear emotionless as the tube made it way up towards the arena.

The tube dropped around me, releasing me into the arena. I was on a pedestal in a circle, surround the Cornucopia. The other twenty three tributes were standing on their pedestals. Some were getting ready to run towards the mouth of the Cornucopia, where all the weapons were. That wasn't my Game. I was getting ready to run towards the forest, to the closet part of safety you could get in these Games. I looked at the forest, seeing that it was quiet dense and thick which would make it harder to run through but easier to hide yourself. The tanoy voice went off again, and this time didn't stop counting the seconds. It seemed to echo around the arena. 20 seconds.

I looked around at the pedestals with all the tributes on. Peeta was only about five tributes away from me, and he was watching me carefully, ready to run after me. I began to search for Rue. She was over the other side of the circle from me. She seemed so small and so far. I remembered about our plan. She was going to run for one of the backpacks that surrounded the Cornucopia and run towards the forest after me. I looked at the backpacks dotted around. There were only about five of them, and one was very close to the Cornucopia. I looked back at Rue and noticed she was so far away from a backpack. I looked around myself and saw that there was a backpack only fifteen feet away from me. I knew that because it was so close, it would contain less valuable items, but it was so close to me. It would contain something. Something that might help. 10 seconds.

I suddenly felt an overwhelming sensation of temptation to run for the backpack. It was so risky. But Rue running for a backpack that was so far away was risky too. She could get slaughtered. She must realise that. I felt myself twitching in anticipation to get the backpack. 5 seconds.

I knew that if the roles were reversed, Rue would go for the backpack. I knew I had to do this. 3 seconds.

This would be the craziest thing I've ever done in my entire life.

2 seconds.

This was going to be it.

1 second.

Everybody was running. It was all so fast. It was all happening so fast. My legs were moving and I didn't even realise. It felt like I wasn't even controlling my own body movements. I was running faster than I had ever run before. I wanted to stop and look for Rue, but I knew I couldn't stop or someone would catch me. Before I knew it, I had grabbed the backpack and was running towards the forest. The forest seemed so far away from me right now and I could barely see because the wind was getting into my eyes. I heard screams behind me as I kept on running. My legs were feeling like jelly and I could barely breath. I had never ran this much before or this fast. I clung to the backpack tightly against my chest and tried not to concentrate on the fact I could heard people pleading for people not to kill them. This part of the Hunger Games was perhaps the worst. The Bloodbath. Almost half the tributes died in the bloodbath.

I was only a hundred and fifty feet or so away from reaching the forest edge when I heard a voice scream my name. "PRIMROSE!" It kept on screaming and screaming. "PRIMROSE!" It was getting closer and I knew I couldn't stop, but the scream was getting closer. "PRIMROSE! PRIMROSE!" I almost at the forest, but the voice was still after me.

"PRIM!" it screamed. Prim? Only two tributes called me Prim. None of the rest knew that was a nickname. I twisted my head around swiftly and saw Peeta. He was running at full speed with Rue in his arms. He was getting closer and closer to me and I saw that Rue had her eyes shut. Was she dead? No. No, she couldn't be. Not Rue. Not now. "KEEP GOING!" He screamed. It was only then I realised that I wasn't moving at all. My eyes grew wide as I saw one of the District 2 tributes running towards Peeta, Rue and I.

I began to run again, faster than before. Adrenaline was taking over and causing me to get faster and faster. The girl from 2 was following us and I knew I couldn't stop. I saw Peeta was very close to me now and it was obvious that his adrenaline was taking over in him as well. We hit the forest and I kept running. I couldn't stop until I knew it was completely safe.

I kept on running and clutching the backpack until Peeta told me to stop. We were thinner part of the forest which told us that we were now at least two or three miles away from the Cornucopia. I found a thick bus near a tree that we could all sit under and be camouflaged slightly, even though I was sure no other tribute had come this way.

I sat down and Peeta followed my lead and then laid Rue on the forest floor. Her face was still full of colour and I was so relieved when she lifted her eye lids and showed me her blinking brown eyes. "Rue." I said breathily. "What happened with you?"

She tried to sit up, but she winced in pain. I looked at her body and saw there was a cut on her leg. It didn't look deep, but it didn't look small either. It lead from halfway down her calf to her ankle bone. I pushed her down gently so she could lie down and not to strain her cut. "I was running to get the backpack. I was reaching down to pick it up and a girl grabbed my ankle and made me trip… I was quickly getting up from the fall, but she had a knife and cut my leg in my attempt to escape." She said. Her face then erupted into a big smile. "But I got the pack."

I looked up at Peeta who had the pack on the back. He was smiling too. "So how is Peeta involved?" I asked.

"I saw she was struggling to run after she got cut and I wasn't too far, so I ran to get her." Peeta told me. "We are all a team now, you know."

I matched the grinning pair when I remembered about Rue's cut. I grabbed the pack of Peeta's back in hope to find some sort of medicine to clean it up. I guess this is where the inner healer in me would really help. I found a large reel of bandages which in Rue's backpack, which was just as good. I also found a metal water bottle full of water. I trickled a little bit out and placed it into her cut to clean it and then wrapped it up in bandages. "We should stay here for an hour or two. You need to leave your leg and try not to walk on it so it can scab over and the new skin can form quickly." I told Rue as I finished up.

"Okay." She said. "Can we see what else is in my pack now, while we wait before we can move again?"

I nodded and suddenly remembered my backpack which I had placed inside the bush we were in. "I forgot. I got a pack too." I said. Rue and Peeta burst into massive disbelief smiles. "It was the one nearest the Cornucopia, so it probably hasn't got a lot in."

"It doesn't matter. Something is better nothing." Peeta said, still smiling. I passed him my backpack out of the bush. He unzipped it and began to empty its contents. Inside my pack was a water bottle the same as Rues, but it had no water in. There were 5 packs of dried fruit and one pack of dried beef. There were bandages also and painkiller pills. I was smiling. This bag really did contain great stuff. Peeta and Rue congratulated me on being brave and getting the pack.

"We're going to have to make sure we camouflage that with mud or something." Rue said. "That orange on the front will get you seen easily."

I looked at the pack and saw the bright orange. I hadn't seen it before. Rue was so clever like that. I was so happy to have her as an ally. I dug my hands into the dry mud that was around us and tried to rub it into the orange, but it didn't work. "It's okay, we'll do it a little later when we find some damper mud." Peeta said.

We then opened Rue's backpack, which was coloured brown and had no need for camouflage. Inside we found a small insulated sleeping bag, the water bottle we had used before, the bandages, pain killers, fever tablets, three packets of dried beef and a bread roll in an airtight packet. This was certainly generous, but this pack had been near the Cornucopia. "Well done, Rue. This is fantastic." I told her.

"It really is." Peeta said placing his hand on her shoulder and giving her a firm squeeze. She smiled and sat herself up being careful not to move her legs.

We were quiet sitting under the bush trying to wander out what our next move should be. None of us were monsters, we didn't want to kill anybody in these Games, so going tribute hunting wasn't really an option. My thoughts quickly turned to Katniss who was probably watching this intently right now waiting for my face to flicker on the screen. She must know I wasn't dead by now. She would have been watching me at the bloodbath and she would have been cursing at the screen when she saw me running for a backpack – but it had all paid off now.

My thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of the canon going off. I counted each boom.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve.

Twelve. That was twelve lives that were no longer living. Twelve heartbeats that stopped pumping. Twelve lungs that has stopped breathing. Twelve families that life has just crumbled and ended.

Twelve people.

Twelve lives.

Gone.

 

The hunger games have begun

ʗɧɑǷƮɛƦ 14 - Ʈɧɛ ƑɪƦʂƮ ƝɪɠɧƮ

I hadn't known these twelve people. I hadn't even spoken to them or smiled at them but their deaths hit me hard. I wouldn't even know which twelve had died until later tonight when it was dark enough for the Capitol to display the projections of today's death. I wanted to mourn for these people, cry for their tragic deaths, but I knew I couldn't. This wasn't the place or the time, but that didn't stop the emotions pouring out to be displayed on my face to my allies. Peeta gave me a sympathetic pat on the back, smacking me back into reality. If the camera's caught me with this amount of vulnerability on me, it wouldn't look good to the audience. It wouldn't make Katniss any less worried either.

"We need to keep moving and get rid of our tracks here." Rue told us both, slowly getting up and pulling her trousers over her bandaged cut.

"You're right." Peeta agreed, helping pull her up and then pulling me up.

We began to walk after trying to conceal our stoppings at the bush and our tracks as we walked. None of us really had a clue where we should go or what to do. We just kept walking upwards and further away from the Cornucopia where I was pretty sure those crazy strong District 1 and 2 tributes would be camping out. We kept on walking until it was dark and we were all very warm, we had all taken off our jackets. I occasionally stopped to pick up the edible berries where I found them and picking plants that I knew may help with medicines if we got hurt slightly. It wasn't until the light got very dim until Rue spoke up. "It's probably best if we got some rest now. We will all take shifts in the night." She said.

"Yeah. It's best if we're really rested up – there's no doubt the Careers will be out hunting tomorrow." Peeta chipped in. It bugged me the he said hunting. It reminded me of how Katniss would hunt. But that was different. This was humans killed for no reason, not animals that we needed to kill to survive.

"Who are the Careers?" I asked, puzzled.

"They're the Districts from 1 and 2." Peeta told me. "They're called Careers because they're trained for these Games since twelve years old. By the time they're eighteen, they volunteer. That's why they seem so lethal."

"But isn't training before the Games against the rules?" I asked.

"Yeah." Rue chipped in. "But the Capitol overlook it. District 1 and 2 are like the Capitol's babies."

It all made a little bit more sense now on why they were so much more prepared to kill and so much stronger than literally every other tribute in the Games. I nodded towards the two of them to show I understood about the Careers. What a name to call themselves. The Careers. It made it sound like The Hunger Games was their workplace and killing was their main job entitlement. How sick and twisted. "So, where are we going to rest up tonight?" I asked.

"Up a tree. It's the safest place." Rue said. She smiled. She was good at climbing trees. We began to follow her as she walked, checking out the size of trees and how flexible their branches were and other tree stuff. After a couple of minutes, she found what she considered a good sturdy tree. She began to climb it slowly. "Follow my moves you too. Don't put a foot out of place, or you'll fall." She called down. I began to follow her lead, Peeta closely behind. His feet slipped off a few times, but he managed to get up after a few trips. I found it easier than I expected to climb the tree. I settled on a branch across the trees trunk from Rue, while Peeta settled on the one underneath me. By the time we were all in the tree and comfortable that we weren't going to fall from the sky was a deep blue. The temperature was getting quiet cold and I had to put my jacket on. I looked over and I saw Rue had too.

"Go to sleep, Prim." Peeta said. "You too, Rue. You're both getting cold – sleep will take off the egg of being cold."

I mumbled a thanks and tried to close my eyes. It took a long while to get to sleep, but from all the adrenaline and walking today had made me exhausted and I did eventually sleep. I was quickly awoken from uncomfortable slumber in the tree by a scream. A high pitch scream nearby. I looked over and saw that Rue had awoken from the screen also and Peeta was looking over in the general direction of where the scream was coming from. I saw a trail of smoke rising in the air around forty yards away. I knew what happened immediately. Someone had lit a fire and they'd been found and killed. I didn't have to wonder who would of done that. The Careers.

A canon boomed and the forest silenced. The Careers must of gone in another direction away from us because I would of heard them by now walking past us. I was suddenly glad that Rue had made us conceal our tracks constantly on the way here.

After a few minutes of dreadful silence between us as we took in the death that just happened so near us, the Capitol seal appeared in the sky. The anthem played out and began to show us the faces of the tributes who had died today.

The girl from three. She was young looking. Only 13, maybe 14. Too young.

The boy from four. His hair was very curly. He looked around 15.

The boy from five. He looked around 16 or 17. He had dark brown hair.

Both from six. They looked 16/17ish. Both good looking. I wonder if they had loved ones back home like Katniss had Gale.

Both from seven. They both looked clever. 16 or 17, maybe.

Both from eight. He was Chinese. Looked only about 15. Was cute. Girl only looked 12.

Both from nine. Girl looked around 18 and had curly hair. The boy only 16 and was also Chinese.

Both from ten. Girl looked 14. Boy looked older, didn't know how old. Both looked so weak.

The Capitol then showed its seal and the projection cut to a halt. That was thirteen children dead in one day. I dread to think what tomorrow might be.