Hunger Games (DNF)

Part 2, Chapter 26: District by the ocean

Sounds like the Hunger Games version of cake by the ocean.

A great song that I loved as a kid, then I found out it was about sex and loved it even more.
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George POV.

2 weeks… I had been walking for 2 weeks. Could barely stop at all, since there were creatures in the sky that seemed to be on the prowl for me. I’ve seen some peacekeepers come by but none of them ever came close to my hiding spots.

The only time I could get food was at dawn and dusk, before those gray and blue flying things appeared and the peacekeepers had all gone. After having watched Clay for a few days I knew how to fish without a rod, and managed to catch a few, but not as many and not as gracefully as the blond.

And I had to eat them raw too, starting a fire would cause too much smoke. Raw fish wasn't that bad, although I still tried to avoid thinking about the taste. When I ate half of the fish I threw the remainder into some bushes, figuring that some animal would eat it if they came across it.

Since it was still light out and relatively warm, I decided to continue walking. I was quite close to the ocean and tried to figure out where I was. I am assuming I was still somewhere in Panem, but honestly any landmass could host a game, whether it once had people living on it or not.

I've heard that there was a game in a place that was once called Erope, or something like that, from before I was born. It happened after President Snow visited the ruins of some civilisation around the area, Grease I think it was called.

All of my guesses of where I was ran out of my head when I saw something ahead of me. It could have been a good thing or a bad thing, but I saw a fence. The ones that surrounded the edges of the districts.

Immediately I broke into a sprint, District 3 wasn't by the water so I knew it wasn't that. I just hoped they weren't too loyal to the Capitol and maybe they'd let me hide with them. When I reached the fence I slowed to a stop, taking note of the quiet hum of electricity.

After a few long minutes of me pacing up and down along the edge of the fence trying to look for an opening, I found a tree. It looked sturdy enough and so being careful to keep low I climbed up and onto one of the branches that grew over the fence.

When I was over far enough I dropped onto the grass on the other side of the fence. That was a dumb move, I realised. Now I was trapped in a strange district not knowing where the hell I was and the second someone sees me they might turn me over to the Capitol.

I continued walking along the fence and was hoping to find some clue as to what District I was in when it started to rain. Great… just great…
The entire district seemed to be on a slight slope heading towards the water, and so I began walking towards it while staying close to the fence.

When I reached the water I looked around, and saw a large dock with several ships around it. District 4, the fishing District… Clay's district. My heart wept at the thought of Clay but I managed to push the blond out of my head. If I was friends with Clay, maybe someone here would hide me…

But then I'd have to walk up to someone's door, and if they recognised me I'd be as good as dead. Thankfully the thick rain had made the grass into mud, and ignoring my common sense I scooped some off of the ground and covered my body in it.

5. 10. 15 minutes passed until I was satisfied, and the weather seemed satisfied too as the rain thinned out before going completely, clouds parting to reveal a darkening sky. My hands, neck, and face were covered. I also made sure to rip off the '4' stitched onto the shirt which had come from Clay.

I returned to the ocean again, examining my appearance. I’d ripped up and muddied the shirt, along with my pants and removed my shoes. You could tell that I was covered with mud and had messed my hair up on purpose, but hopefully none of the people from here would notice.

The streets were nearly empty, which was good. I tried to figure out what I should do, where I should go. My heart kept turning my thoughts back to Clay, maybe his family would take me in, or heck, maybe he had been returned by the Capitol and I could hide here with him.

Taking a deep breath I walked up to a door, before knocking on it tentatively. A woman with blond hair and blue eyes opened it, she looked about 40, with slightly sunken features. “What do you want, boy?” she asked, “it is raining and I want to go to bed. So what would you like?”

“Well ma’am…” I tried to cover up my District 3 accent, because yes all of the Districts have accents. “I am trying to find the Smith’s house…” I stated while hanging my head so she couldn’t see my face. “I was wondering if you could tell me where to go.”

“You want to go to that tribute’s house?” the woman asked, raising an eyebrow and I nodded. Not wanting to talk or look at her any more than necessary so she wouldn’t recognise me. “Well if you walk down this road you get to the centre square, there is a shop for boat repairs on the right side of the road if you turn left at the Hall of Justice. They live above that.”

I looked back up at her and gave a smile. “Thank you so much. I better go now before the rain starts again.”
The woman gave a nod. “I must warn you that the mother and daughter haven’t been the same since Clay Smith went into the arena.”

I followed her instructions and began heading towards District 4’s centre square. It was a lot different to District 3, it looked a lot nicer because this was one of the wealthier districts. Then I did what the lady said and turned left. Sure enough, there was a store with a sign in faded green paint, I think, it could have been yellow too.

After taking a few cautious steps I reached the door and knocked on it while peering through the window. There were tools lining one wall behind a counter, black and white photos were hanging on the wall as well as some planks of wood that showed the hand painted names of some ships.

A few moments later I knocked on the door again, hoping that someone was there. Clay’s mum, or his sister. Please someone be there…

I took a step back and began examining the other shops in the area, a couple of places to buy things like fishing rods or hooks. Some bait shops, bakery’s, butchers, and some more. Looking back at the boat repairs shop I saw some faded text painted on the blue door. ‘Smith Brothers repair shop. The best shop for boat repairs, cleaning, and painting.’

My eyes looked back into the shop and I knocked on the door a third time, feeling impatient. As I waited I saw a photo that I hadn’t noticed before. It was in black and white but I could never mistake one of the people in it. There were 2 men, both dressed in loose shirts, one had neater hair than the other but they were both the same colour.

The 3rd person in the middle was a lot younger, and I immediately recognised the person. With those freckles I could easily pinpoint on his face, that beautiful smile which I could almost hear his wheeze coming out of, and those eyes.

Someone finally came down the stairs, a woman with white hair and blue eyes. She opened the door and barely bothered to look down at me, “look. I’m sorry but the shop is closed… can you come back another time?” she asked.

“I’m sorry but are you Mrs Smith?” I asked, and she finally bothered to look down at me.
“Yes. My friends call me Puffy, now can you please come back later. The shop is closing early today but my brother in law will be here tomorrow to open it.”

Before she could shut the door in my face I put my foot in the way, causing her to look back at me. I wiped away the majority of the mud from my face in front of her, before spinning around and showing her the muddy (but still readable) patch with the number 4 on it.

When I looked back at her again her mouth was slightly agape. She didn’t say anything but stood to the side to let me in.
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1541 words.