The Capitol Games

Chapter 7

Three days. It's been three days since I entered the arena. I am relatively proud of myself for surviving this long.

I thought that the Gamekeepers would have created some 'unfortunate' nnatural disaster to wipe me out by now, but I haven't seen anything. Yet.

I was expressing my thoughts to Sam when I jinxed it.

"Why is the ground shaking?" I say, nervous.

"Come on, pack up our stuff," Sam says, running for our weapon stash inside the bush.

An earthquake. Not many people know what it is, but I experienced a small one when I was younger. Unsurprisingly, it only affected my family's house, and since the Districts control natural occurences like that, there's no doubt that was on purpose.

There's also no doubt this earthquake was on purpose, too. They let me survive long enough for people to suck up the drama, amd then they kill me off to make the world a better place.

"Come on, run!" Sam yells, right as the ground starts to split in half. I rin from the edge but hear a yell behind me.

"Sam!" I cry, turning around. He had slipped and is hanging over the crack. I rush towards him and grab his outstretched hand, pulling with all my might.

Finally, and a little too close for comfort, I heave him onto solid ground, and we get up to continue running.

"Thanks," Sam says as he runs beside me, our footsteps in perfect rythym.

"Of course," I say, trying not to blush. I'm running for dear life and I'm blushing?! I didn't use to be this soft! I thought the Capitol Games toughened people up!

"Look, a cave!" Sam yells, and we duck into it. The earthquake rages on, passing us by. We breathe a sigh of relief and slump against the wall, panting.

Suddenly, a knife comes whizzing out from deeper in the cave and lands in the rock right beside my ear.

"Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod," I say, eyes wide open. I take the knofe out of the wall, my heart poundong at the thought of a different outcome that could have occured. Like, the knife going a few inches in a different direction. Good-bye, me.

"That was a warning shot. Who are you, and what are you doing in my hideout?"

Sam has already sprung into action, grabbing a sickle. "We're armed, but we didn't mean to threaten you. We were merely looking for a place to get away from the earthquake."

There's silence from the direction where the voice came from. I grab my own spear with trembling fingers, ready for anything.

"Come out where we can see you, and we'll leave and never bother you again," I say, trying to hide the shakiness in my voice.

"Alright, fine. But any wrong moves on your part, and you'll be sorry."

The speaker steps closer to the entrance, and the daylight outside brightens her face.

It's like looking into a mirror.

The shock on my face is reflected on hers too, and all our other features are exactly the same.

Except for a long scar running down her face.