Hunger Games (DNF)

Part 2, Chapter 44: chocolate and candy

George POV.

It had been several days and I had been staying with Beetee. Every day Wilbur came to visit, he’d tell me about everything that was happening in the District. We’d play some games together, or read, or just talk.

We had been sitting around for the past half hour while watching a movie that was on the Capitol TV, and since Beetee was a victor he got access to that channel. I heard that back before Panem was formed, this was a country called America and there were a lot of TV channels. Nowadays for most Districts there are 1 or 2.

The movie was from before Panem too, it was quite low quality and was about a group of superheroes who were fighting a god. This is the closest look that we can get at what the world used to be like before Panem, and it was quite interesting. I’d have much rather lived back then with the low quality movies then live here.

When the credits started rolling we turned the TV off and stood up. Beetee had been in his workshop all afternoon and only came out to ask us to help with something before going back into the workshop again.

It was just before 6pm and so with a sigh Wilbur said that he should probably go home. So after we hugged each other he left the house and disappeared out of the gates of the village. I sighed, knowing that Beetee would probably be in his workshop for another 2 hours, I decided not to bother him and just went to the kitchen.

After looking at what we had I decided on making a sandwich using bread that Beetee got from the bakers the other day. Then I went up to my room and looked out of the window while I ate the sandwich, not that there was much to see outside.

Eventually I gave up on trying to spot something interesting outside and grabbed a book to read instead. I sat eating and reading quietly for over an hour until I heard a knock on the front door downstairs. Immediately I ran over to the closet and hid inside of it, which Beetee told me to do whenever anyone came so they wouldn’t know I was here.

Wilbur POV

I walked out of the gates of Victor’s village, and began heading towards the main part of the District where I lived. It was quiet, and so whenever I had been walking to and from Beetee’s over the past few days I used this time to think.

My hand drifted to my pocket which was filled with some money that Beetee gave me, from his monthly income from the Capitol, which is something that all victors got. I figured maybe I could get a gift for Niki from a shop since she had been so patient with me while I was mourning George.

The streets were almost empty since it was around dinner time. Well that and the fact that the curfew was making people more nervous about going out around this time. There was the odd person running home from work, or grabbing a little bit of food from some of the open shops before they closed for the night.

I watched all of them, and made sure to ignore the peacekeepers that were around, all of whom were watching everyone walking around. They all had guns in their hands and what disgusted me more is they were doing this because my brother got his freedom.

But I decided to ignore that for now, just focusing on the fact that I needed to find a gift for Niki and get back home before dark. Immediately I thought of the small sweet shop near the town centre.

It couldn’t really be called a sweet store since it only sold some hard candies, lollipops, chewy candies, and some chocolate. This shop was really popular. The saddest thing was that the sweets were all quite expensive so Niki and I only ever got them after saving up for a while, so on birthdays usually or for gifts on weddings.

Niki and I always used to ask our parents if we could buy some sweets and candy when we were kids but barely ever actually got them. So I decided it would be nice to buy her something sweet to eat, and I could buy something to give George tomorrow too.

I made my way to the town square and saw the lights still on in the sweet shop. Along with that, in the window the owner was stacking some new sweets on the shelf for tomorrow. When I reached the door I saw the open sign and walked in.

The owner sent me a sympathetic smile as he continued to stack some sweets in paper wrapping. I had gotten used to the looks I got, all because I lost my brother but now they were starting to fade as the days passed since the games. Over the past few days I grew insensitive to them because I knew my brother was most definitely alive and safe.

“Evening,” he greeted, as I began looking at some of the shelves.
I simply nodded in response as I looked at the different packaged sweets. Eventually I decided on some honeycomb candies, and chocolate for Niki. Then I grabbed some chewy candies for George before heading over to the counter.

The shop owner moved away from where he was shelving items and came over to where I was from the other side of the counter. He checked all of the things I had grabbed and did some calculations in his head. “That will be 45 dollars,” he stated, which was a normal price for these things.

I pulled some silver coins out of my pocket and placed them on the bench, counting them up to make sure I had enough before sliding them towards him. He counted them up again before nodding and putting the cash in the register behind the counter.

With a nod of thanks I walked out of the shop and looked up at the clock on the front of the Justice building. It was 6:30, so I’d have plenty of time to get home before curfew. Still, I did run home out of self preservation, worrying that the peacekeepers might decide to start killing people off early or that the clock on the Justice building was wrong.

I ran through the door when I reached the house and saw Niki stirring the contents of a pot of soup over a fire. She looked over to me when the door opened and gave me a smile. “Hey Wilbur,” she greeted. “How was George today, you stayed quite late tonight.”

My blond friend knew that George was alive, and had me bring him a gift on her behalf several times, and always made sure to remind me to make sure my brother was okay. “George was good,” I responded. “We watched some old movies from before Panem. They were kinda low quality but they were funny.”

I walked over to where she was and held out my hand to take the spoon off of her, thinking that if she had been working all day I could at least make dinner when I got home. “I got something for you,” I told her, glancing over my shoulder and into her eyes. “It is sitting on the table.”

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion before she walked over to the table and picked up the candy in the paper bags. She let out a surprised gasp. “Wilbur you shouldn’t have,” she scolded, “these are so expensive how could you have afforded them?”

“Beetee gave me some money,” I responded with a shrug. “I brought the chocolates and the honeycomb candies for you but the chewy candies are for George.”
She nodded and smiled before giving me a ‘thank you’. She left the chewy candies on the table before taking a piece of the chocolate and eating it happily.

Niki walked over to me, and was about to offer me some of the chocolate before a knock on the door distracted her. I stayed stirring the food as she went to answer it, but when she opened the door she was pushed back and a group of armed peacekeepers burst into the room.

They looked in my direction before the group parted and the head peacekeeper of the District walked in. “Wilbur S. Davidson, and Niki Nihachu, you both are under arrest for harboring a criminal from the Capitol.” He stated as two of the peacekeepers grabbed us.
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1449 words

The first 3 chapters of vampire hunters will be up around now if you want to check them out.