kill for your love - the hunger games

(064) the sixty-seventh hunger games

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KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act three.

(chapter sixty-four, the sixty-seventh hunger games)

the justice building, 67 ADD.

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THE SOUND OF DEAFENING wind echoed around the makeshift house. The thunderous clouds rolled over the district. The pouring rain heaved down on anything it could. Lighting struck the sky painfully. 

"Do we have to go out in this?" Justice Hale asked quietly, submerged underneath the thin blanket of his bed. 

"I think so..." Juniper Hale, the oldest out of the twins, whispered back. 

The two twelve-year-olds stared outside of the boarded windows with fear set into their eyes. They could see the pouring rain coming down in sheets, mixing with the mud that infected the district. It looked horrendous and both of the twins became terrified. If they went out in that weather, they would be soaked right to the bone.

But they knew they couldn't avoid it. The Reaping was mandatory. You could only miss out on it if you were knocking on death's door. But the twins weren't. They were perfectly capable of going to the Justice Building and wait for two names to be called out. They wouldn't even cancel it because of the storm. 

At twelve-years-old, it would be Justice and Juniper's first Reaping. The first out of many until they turned nineteen. And the first one was always the worst. Twelve-year-olds seemed to have the worst luck out of any age group within District Ten. Last year, for the Sixty-Sixth, a twelve-year-old was picked and died straight away. And then the year before that as well. They were never lucky. 

The door to the bedroom creaked open and both of the twins lifted their heads up to see Orion Hale standing in the frame and with one study from Juniper, she noticed that his hands were fidgety. Tremors seemed to ripple through his body as he couldn't stop shaking. Fear had settled into his eyes. Sending their kids off to the Reaping wasn't something any parent looked forward to. 

"You're going to have to get ready soon..." Orion, their father, said sorrowfully. He seemed to dread what was about to happen. 

"You're not serious, are you?" Justice scoffed. "We really have to go out in that weather?" 

"I'm afraid so, Just." Orion nodded his head. He hadn't stopped twitching. "It'll only be for a bit then we can come back." 

Justice let out a groan as Juniper, slowly, swung her legs over onto the floor. She didn't want to go to the Reaping. She didn't want to go out into that weather. But she had to. Every child in District Ten had to. There was no point in complaining about it. 

"Go on, get out, Just," Juniper said. "I need to get dressed." 

Her younger brother narrowed his eyes slightly before obeying, exiting the room with his father and closing the door. Juniper let out a sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. The Reaping was today. Her first Reaping. What if she was chosen? Or worse, what if Justice was chosen?