73 (Hunger Games fanfic)

The turkey in the Barren

"Sarka! We're feasting tonight!"

Sarka's slim face popped into view, her amber eyes widening as she took in the sight of the bread, eggs and turkey. Hurriedly she took the turkey from her sister's hands and they ushered inside. Leyra's green eyes flickered briefly over the building, taking in the familiar sights. The old and crumbling walls, made of hardened mud, stone blocks and other variables. Random bricks and wooden poles built in with the crude "stone" walls. Only one wall was made entirely of crumbling stone, the only wall left of the original house. The still solid-stone floors. The patch of sunlight that peeked through a hole in the roof, one big enough to fit a small person. The large pot that sat under it to catch the rain. It is their home; a pitiful home but home none the less. Still, this home was so much more than what others in District 5 had. Sarka set the turkey on a dirtied cloth on the ground and began plucking it. The elder sister sliced half the loaf on their table and set the other half aside with the eggs in their Cooling Bin.

The Cooling Bin was a pot with a large chunk of ice as thick as Leyra's calf and wide as her two feet. Every winter she would carve a few blocks that size from the lake and stack them on top of each other in the Bin. The ice, being so big and kept cold by the other pieces, melted slowly and could last several months, therefore perfect to keep their food fresh and usable for another day. Leyra started up a fire as Sarka finished preparing the turkey, and they cooked the whole thing, eating strips of the bird's meat with their bread. The meat was nice and juicy, filling their empty stomachs; it was one of the greatest meals they've had recently, for food was scarce. And meat even scarcer.

"Where did the turkey come from?" Sarka questioned. She did not question the eggs or bread, she knew the source of those. The eggs were taken from a nest, the bread stolen from the baker, Deat. It was a good thing Deat never noticed the small stolen goods, for he was a larger and heavyset man, he could easily crush Leyra.

"It wandered into the Barren, so I shot it."

"That's rare." Was her only reply. But it was true; it was quite rare. The Barren was a large expanse of barren land on the other side of the fence, different then the other fields and flatlands near District 5. Rumor was that the Barren is where they used to do the experiments, but something went wrong and killed all the life in it. Few plants grow there, most inedible, and even fewer animals wandered in; thats why its rare to see a turkey. Leyra did not know if the rumors were true, all she did know about the Barren was that it was the only thing between them and the forest, which was a whole day and a half walk away. It was far, which forced the two to do most of their hunting within the District. They found a few edibles in the fields, but most of the food came from the few birds nests and other people.

Leyra never stole much from a person, it was a golden rule she also taught to Sarka. To never take more than you absolutely need, or the one stolen from will notice. There were a few other rules of stealing she had taught Sarka, like never taking from the same person twice within a certain amount of days, but the golden rule was most important in her mind.

"We should hunt tomorrow."

Sarka simply nodded in agreement, she never did speak much.

The next morning they cooked the eggs and bread, eating it one on the other. They saved most of the bread, having only one slice each, and packing the rest in an old backpack. They also stored some of their plants, two canteens of water, some wire, a few rolled up bags and blankets, and some large chunks of ice in their only two plastic bag. They weren't caring if some melted; it would become good drinking water. After dislodging one of the stones from the floor, which revealed a large hole in the dirt, Leyra grabbed five throwing knives, two daggers and a bow and quiver with only four arrows. The bow and quiver of arrows were the only stolen goods in the whole hole, for the knives had been their father's before he passed.

"Ready?"

Sarka nodded once more, and the two head out.

The Barren was a long, monotonous place to walk. Everything was the same. Just unnaturally black dirt with a few scraggly plants here and there. It was a good thing that District 5 was also surrounded by other things, or it would e very depressing. There were the fields, potential food for the sisters if it weren't for the fact that District 5 did a bit of harvesting. They didn't do much, just things that wouldn't grow in District 11 or were short supplied, but the food was guarded and if try took from the fields they would be killed. And the flatlands, as Leyra called them, were terrains like those in the fields but wild. They were pass the forest, so usually it was not worth getting food there. There were also mountains, in which was rumored to be flat valleys of a sort that could easily be habitable. Those were even farther away than the flatlands, and few have ever been; Leyra and Sarka certainly haven't. When the sun set, they made a fire and set some spare woo to the side to throw in later. They laid one of the blankets on the ground, cuddled together, and laid the other blankets on top of themselves, quickly falling asleep. Morning came, the pit glowing with embers from the fire still, for Leyra and Sarka had risen several times to keep the fire going. They packed and ate some berries and bread before continuing their walk. By midday the tall trees of the forest loomed over them.

Sarka loaded the bow, ready to shoot, as Leyra took out a throwing knife. Although both were better with knives, arrows made a cleaner kill. As they strode silently deeper into the forest, Leyra set down the dagger and took out wire, beginning to set traps for wire made good snares. The sharpness of the metal string could easily cut the rabbit’s throat if set right. She set them near enough to each other so she wouldn’t lose them; plus, this was a popular spot for rabbits, as she noticed in her years of hunting in this forest. Once set, the two walked away again, hunting silently. A snap of a twig, and both girls froze, Sarka carefully got on her knees and raised the bow as Leyra removed a second knife. A deer came crashing throught the bushes in front of them, but Leyra stopped Sarka from shooting it. It was frightened, and fleeing. From what, they did not know, but it could be a threat. Leyra pointed at Sarka to stay and pointed at herself and her eyes, then in the direction where the deer came from; she was showing that she was going to take a look, but was too afraid to voice it. Sarka nodded reluctantly, she couldn’t exactly argue at a time like this. So Leyra, her daggers ready, approached the broken bushes, hiding in their meagre cover, looking for the outfit of a Peacekeeper. When she saw the person, it was not what she expected. For there, bow aimed straight at her, was a boy.

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Hello my dear fans! Yep, you read it, another fan fic from yours trully. A special thanks to everyone who created a character. (I'll name them and put their character in ()s ) matilda27593 (Lydie), insertwittynamehere (Cora), skullheart656 (Jecca), GammaRaz (Resevior), darkangel96 (Brooklyn and Lucas), ShowWhatUKnow (Lark), slytheringal (Lauren), Angel4030 and her cousin (Matt and Ryder), tinadabookworm (Aron and Luna), Pandaxxgurly (Connor, Faith and Leah), Because_I_Promise (Roxy and Dario) and polarice2224 (Wren).