The Hunger Games: Mashup

Chapter Twenty Eight

District 13

Edward sat underneath the shade of the large tree, fanning himself with a book. The Laws of Science read the cover. Edward did not look his age, but he was a sixteen-year-old, turning seventeen the day after the Reapings. He sighed, crossing his arms across his chest. He felt the metal biceps flexing beneath his left hand. He heard the metal of his left leg clank when it collided with a root of the tree trunk.

A pair of footsteps thudded against the dirt path towards him. Edward looked up to see gleaming pink hair that's silkiness flashed in the fading sunlight.

“Hey, Ed,” came a soft, quiet voice. Edward saw her eyes that were pink, blank, and subdued.

“Hey, Meroko,” he said with a small smile. She straightened out her skirt before joining him under the tree. She hugged her knees to her chest, taking in a deep sigh and exhaling it.

“Tired?” he asked her. She nodded, resting her chin on her arms.

“Do you still have nightmares?” he asked her. “Are they still waking you up?” She nodded again. Edward narrowed his eyes at her. “Tell me the truth, Meroko. Did you get a wink of sleep last night?” She hesitated, deliberating whether or not to lie to him. She slowly shook her head. Edward narrowed his eyes, leaning forward and placed his small hands over her own blackened and sooty ones.

“Talk to me about it,” he begged her. “That always helps.”

Meroko shuddered. “I just...I keep seeing the same thing every night,” she said to him. “It's just red. All around me, it's all that I can see. I can hear others—people calling me, but I don't see anything other than...red,” she whispered, pain crossing her cold eyes.

“What color of red is it?” asked Edward softly. “I doubt it's a soft red of love. Blood red? Is it the color of blood? Of death?” he asked her fearfully. He knew he wasn't helping as much as he could, but her dreams had haunted her as much as they haunted his own nights. Meroko shook her head. “No...it's not that color...Red is a scarlet...a single color...This red was made of layers upon layers of colors, but they all still combined to make a fierce, lethal red.” She took her eyes from the ground as they momentarily flashed back to Edward. “This red was the color of fire.”

Edward squeezed her hands, but she pulled them away. “I have no idea how you can stand it,” she told him coolly. Edward's eyes widened in confusion.

“What do you mean? Are you talking about my nightmares?” asked Edward uncertainly. Meroko shook her head. “No...How can you be one of them?” she said to him incredulously. Her fists balled in her lap from fury. A shadow crossed Edward's face. “You're talking about my job.”

Meroko frowned at him, anger flashing in her eyes.

“The people of the district hate you. I usually see at least five people glaring at you at one time or another in the market. I know the job pays well...but it is no position for a young boy to be in.”

“Don't call me a midget...” muttered Edward under his breath. Meroko shook her head at him.

“I know you think that being closer to the Capitol will get you closer to finding this Philosopher's stone—“

“It has to be there, Meroko!” he exclaimed, cutting her off. “There's no chance that they let any simple-minded district person have it! President Phantom's probably got a lot riding on the stone—keeping its infinite powers locked up in his golden city! You've seen the muttations they create for the Games—it wouldn't surprise me if they're using the stone and alchemy to make them!! It's got to be there!” he said fiercely. Meroko shook his head.