CH 8
Maria picked up a small book from the book shelf and pointed to a picture on the second page. It was of a happy area, women were cuddling their babies and children were running and playing. The men were laughing and checking out the hot women in the area. The boys smiled at the image, knowing that was sort of like the life they had outside of this world.
“Many years ago, a hundred and fifty years, I think, all of the sixteen lands lived in peace and harmony. We were all considered equal. There was one head of the area, the Capitol. They controlled the whole area. The past president of the Capitol had come from this area itself. It was all fine until the president was assassinated. By who, no one knows. “She began to say.
She flipped the pages quickly and found a picture that made her look like as if she was about to cry and showed it to the boys. It was of a village that had many fire, woman looking in despair and men lying dead on the ground within their own pools of blood and little children with their hands or feet cut off. It was gruesome that the boys felt ill just looking at it.
“This new president is still alive today. He put a barrier around the islands, making sure none of us can get out. The Capitol told us it was for our protection from the Outsiders. We were so stupid to believe that, but everyone did, except for Area 16. Then we got treated horribly. Most Areas got new ‘members’ from the capitol to ‘protect’ us. They tortured so many people, killed so many people. But area sixteen retaliated, killing their ‘protectors’. It got to the point where all of the areas were fighting against the Capitol. It became war between the islands and the Capitol. Some people manage to escape and find comfort in the outside world. But no one could confirm whom it was that left the barrier, unfortunately.”
She flipped through the book again and pointed to a picture of a man in a trim white suit. His black hair was messy and his beard was up to his chest. His eyes were pure black and they were frightening. The image made Zayn and Liam shiver while the others looked vaguely in disgust.
“This is the president. He used the technology the Capitol had against us. Some inventions we had never heard of and were extremely deadly. But we had the true fighting gene in us and we were so close to winning…” she trailed off as if she was hoping it would happen even though it was in the past.
She flicked the book to another picture of two soldiers, grinning, side by side. They wore the traditional army outfits and had a machine gun in their hands.
“We were so close! But then Area one and two decided to jump ships and join forces with the Capitol.” She said bitterly. “And because of that, we lost. We were overwhelmed with the war and the Capitol would’ve wiped us all out. So the Capitol made us a deal. We will stop this war but in return for this ‘mercy’, they created the Deadly Games, which requires two girls and two boys from each area to compete in the Games. We, at first thought, it was just like a beauty pageant or something like that. But then we found out the truth”
She pointed to another page; it was a group of photos of Area 15’s kids fighting with other kids from different Areas but also some photos of them lying dead with a dribble of blood coming out of their mouths. The boys were shell shocked.
“The Deadly Games is a fighting competition to the death. We were outraged but then the Capitol reminded us of their ‘mercy’ and of the contract and also the fact they can exterminate us with a single flick of their fingers. We were so scared, except for Area 16. And then the torturous event happened.” She continued with a hollow voice.
She pointed to a photo of a very beautiful woman. She had wavy brown hair and pale skin. Her eyes were dark blue and had a few freckles on her cheeks. Her face glowed with happiness.
“Her name was Marie. She came from Area 16. When she won the Deadly games, the Capitol gave her a…. gift” Maria said with disgust. “They bombed her Area as a gift to her. She screamed when she heard. She was destroyed emotionally. She swore revenge and ended up exploding the Capitols inventions before she was killed. She had destroyed the blue prints as well so they could never be remade. It was a genius idea until she got killed.”
The boys were shell shocked and numb.
“They… want us to fight…. To the death?!” said Harry slowly rising off the couch with anger in his voice. Maria nodded. He collapsed onto the couch while the boys still were in shock.
“To make matters worse, they expect us to treat this event as a festival. I have seen these Games and its heart breaking to see best friends kill each other” she admitted to them.
“You say… one of us may die?” said Niall numbly. Maria’s eyes filled with tears.
“It’s possible” she admitted to them. The boys seemed so close to hyperventilating and breaking down emotionally.
“Then… then there is no hope” said Louise hopelessly. Maria stood up sharply.
“No! Never say that! Who knows, maybe you won’t be picked. And if you are, we will protect you. If you want I can train you to protect yourself” said Maria in dead serious voice. The boys looked at Maria as if she was their last hope. Maria’s heart broke looking at them. At least she and her sisters had grown up with this. She couldn’t bear it if she was in their shoes.
“We want to be trained” said Liam looking at her dead in the eyes. Maria turned and faced the garden.
“We shall begin immediately.” She said and led the boys into the garden.
