𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ✔️

Chapter 11 - Soren

^A picture of Robin. Not sure if his name has been mentioned yet, but he's the District 3 boy who joined Soren's alliance, when Soren got to him before the Careers could.

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Chapter 11

POV: Soren (District 4)

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I'm sitting in my room on my bed. Lacie's sitting at a desk on the other side of the room.

For some reason, Lacie has a problem with my inclusion of Robin, the boy from District 3, in our group. To be honest, I don't have much patience with her arguments; it's basically the only thing I've done so far without her approval or suggestion.

"We need to just stick to the plan," Lacie lectures me. "Dalia and Nia are good enough. More allies mean more traitors later, Soren. You know that."

I roll my eyes a bit. "Lacie, you saw him train. He's really good; even the Careers wanted him. He's smart, good at shooting, and I can tell he's loyal. Please."

I've found that I'm actually quite effective at convincing Lacie to go with my plans. She reluctantly shakes her head. "I'll look into his stats," she concedes. "If he does well in the Assessments we can go for it. Just remember our lives are on the line with every decision we make."

~

After coming to a compromise, Lacie and I slowly climb the stairs to the roof of the Tribute Suites. Being the person she is, Lacie has been itching to explore the building and see what the roof has to offer.

We walk through the large doors to the roof, but Lacie pauses when she sees three tributes already seated on the roof. One of the girls is resting her head on the boy's shoulder, while another girl sits close by.

"Who is it?" I whisper to Lacie.

"Carlo and Persephone from District 5," she says, "and Maisy from District 9."

I somewhat recognize them now from behind. They're not too bad.

Maisy turns around at the sound of our whisperings, offering a shy smile and a wave.

"Sorry, we'll come back," I say to her with a warm smile.

Carlo and Persephone turn around, spotting us.

"No, stay!" Persephone calls. "We don't own the roof. What's your name?"

"Soren," I tell them.

"And I'm Lacie," Lacie says soon after.

"I'm Persephone, this is Carlo," Persephone says sweetly. "We were just talking about how amazing the city is."

"The cost of one of these buildings is probably more than every building in District 5 combined," Carlo says with a disbelieving laugh.

"It's certainly beautiful," I say, sitting next to Maisy.

"Isn't it?" she says. "Three years ago a granary exploded in 9 and the city went up in flames. Imagine if the Districts looked like this - most of District 9 is still homeless."

"Well, we'd better enjoy it while we can," Lacie speaks up for the first time. "And if we win the Games, we'll get the luxury for the rest of our lives."

I nod, looking up at the stars. The five of us sit in peaceful silence. The stars are fainter than they are in District 4, but they're still beautiful.

~