"Who ever thought a Capitol girl would fall for a District girl, huh?"
"Not me"
When Reef Murphy was reaped to represent her District in the 10th annual Hunger Games she expected to die protecting her young district partner.
She didn't expect to...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The cattle cart was weirdly peaceful, Mizzen had fallen asleep whilst resting his head on Reef's shoulder, soft snores came from the young boy as his fisherman cap flopped in front of his face causing a smile to appear on Reef's face.
Reef always knew the games were unfair but never thought she'd see someone as young as Mizzen take part in the games, everyone always knew it could happen but just hoped it wouldn't.
The train slowly came to a stop, Reef and Mizzen were slightly jerked forward in the process causing Mizzen to wake up, he rubbed his eyes and looked up at Reef. "Have we arrived already?"Mizzen asks his voice groggy from sleep.
Reef places her arm around the young boy, letting him rest his head on her shoulder once again. "Not yet Little Fish,"Reef tells him gently. "I think we're in another District, it takes more time to get to the Capitol"
Mizzen rested his head back onto Reef's shoulder and closed his eyes, the young teen quickly falling back to sleep.
The door to the District Four tribute's cart is pulled open suddenly, the light from the outside shining in briefly blinding Reef causing her to put her hand up in front of her face to block it out. Reef watches as a tall boy with a hat climbs into the cart he then turns back around to what Reef assumes is his District partner. "Lamina, take my hand I'll help you in"The boy tells this Lamina girl.
A red-haired girl is pulled into the cart and Reef can immediately tell she is terrified, the light from the outside allows Reef to see how her body shakes nervously. The pair make their way further into the cart as the door is slammed behind them engulfing them all back in darkness.
A small yelp is heard from the girl named Lamina, as she and her District partner sit down a few feet away from the pair from Four, as the train begins moving again the cart falls into a peaceful silence.
"Where are you and the little boy from?"The boy asks suddenly.
Reef looks over at the boy. "Four"Reef tells him a small smile appears on the boy's face. "What about you and your friend where are you from?"
The boy smiles at her. "Me and Lamina are form Seven, I'm Treech by the way,"Treech says introducing himself and Lamina who has been crying quietly.
"I'm Reef and the kid on my shoulder is Mizzen"Reef says being polite like her mother taught her to be even if she didn't want to talk.
Treech examines Mizzen closely. "He's quite young-looking, how old is he?"Treech asks.
Reef sighs. "Thirteen"Reef tells him.
A small look of horror comes across Treech's face. "Damn,"Treech says quietly to himself before looking at the pair from Four. "I guess they finally got a young one"
Reef looks down at Mizzen's sleeping form, she pulls him closer to her in a protective manner. "It had to happen eventually, just pissed it happened to him,"Reef tells Treech with anger in her voice as she thinks about how unfair this all truly is.
They didn't start the war, but they have to deal with the consequences of it. The Capitol justified it by saying it was so the Districts would never rebel again but Reef knew this was rubbish. The Districts would rebel again and this time they would win.
Reef is pulled out of her thoughts by a movement on her shoulder, she looks down to see Mizzen stirring once again, his brown doe-like eyes looking back up at her. His eyes were full of innocence and Reef vowed to herself she would keep him that way.
No matter what it takes
Mizzen groaned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his shirt sleeve, he looked up at Reef and then over at the pair from Seven. "Who are they?"Mizzen asks his voice quiet so the others won't hear.
Reef smiled at him. "They are Treech and Lamina, from Seven"Reef tells him as Mizzen shuffles even closer to her.
Treech noticed the way the boy moved away from them, a small glint of fear in the young boy's eyes, Treech held his hands up to show he was no threat. "It's okay kid, you have nothing to fear from us, we're all in the same boat at the end of the day,"Treech tells Mizzen a comforting smile on his face which reminded Reef of the way she'd looked at her siblings.
Reef watched as Mizzen studied Treech for a moment before deciding he was trustworthy, he still stayed close to Reef enjoying the safety he felt from being beside her. "Is your friend going to be okay?"Mizzen asks as he watches Lamina who's curled up in a ball and silently crying to herself.
Reef looked at Lamina and felt great sympathy for her, the Reaping affected everyone differently some put on brave faces like Reef and Mizzen had and some just couldn't hide their fear like Lamina. There is nothing wrong with that as they are all human at the end of the day.
Treech gently placed his arm around Lamina pulling the girl into a gentle side hug allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder like Mizzen had done with Reef. "She will be, won't you?"Treech asks his District Partner who tries to give them a reassuring smile but her eyes don't match it, they glisten with tears and fear.
A yawn escapes Reef's lips, she quickly tries to hide it but everyone notices. Mizzen looks up at her with a curious look. "Are you okay?"Mizzen asks gently.
Reef looks down at the young tribute. "I'm fine Little Fish,"Reef tells him reassuringly.
Treech, Mizzen, and Lamina all look over at her unconvinced. "If you need to rest, we can watch over Mizzen for you,"Treech tells her, Lamina nods in agreement.
Reef shakes her head. "I'm fine, trust me,"Reef tells them trying to reassure the members of the cattle-cart.
Mizzen looks up at her. "Get some sleep Reef, I'll be okay with them,"Mizzen tells his District mate a determined look on his face, If Reef is going to take care of him then he would do the same for her.
Reef sighs realizing she's not going to win. "Fine, but if anything happens you wake me up, promise,"Reef tells Mizzen.
Mizzen smiles at her. "I promise"Mizzen replies extending his pinky finger out to her and the two make a pinky promise.
Reef removes her jacket using it as a make-shift pillow, she stuffs Coral's bracelet back into her trouser pocket before resting her head on her jacket.
As Reef falls asleep she hears the quiet chatter between Mizzen and the pair from Seven and concludes he's in good hands with them.
