The Games

6.

After the incident, we were all still walking. We weren't too hungry, as Alondra killed some lizards with her sword and we cooked them. We then came across a pond. We all got in and it was surrounded by a bunch of plants. So if the careers were near by, they probably wouldn't be able to see us. It was starting to get dark at the moment, and we all relaxed in the water. We couldn't hear anybody near by. After a few minutes of all of us in the water, it was quiet. Too quiet. But it was the silence that made it calming.

"We need our weapons," I said.

I got up and handed them their own weapons, and got back into the water.

"Isn't this amazing?" Alondra said.

"Yeah," Jordan said. I looked at Janiza, and she was confused as well. I looked at the direction where Alondra and Jordan were looking. The sky... The place most people go when their dead.

"What are you guys looking at?" I asked.

Jordan pointed up at the black sky, and said, "Our stars."

"It's beautiful..." Janiza said.

"Those stars are always going to be our stars, ok?" Alondra said.

"Ok," We all said.

I sat up in the pond and started talking, "Hey I want to ask you guys something?" They all sat up like I did.

"Ok," Alondra says.

"You guys all have PE, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," they all said except for Janiza.

"No... I have Orchestra," Janiza said.

"Wait, why are you asking us this?" Alondra asked.

"Remember in PE, when we spent a whole week in the gym and outside, you know training," I asked.

"Oh yeah," Jordan says.

"Yeah I remember that," Alondra says.

"Wait... What are you guys talking about?" Janiza asked.

"For an entire week in PE, we were all able to train, as in... Training with knives, swords, axes, and other weapons. On Friday, you'd only have five minutes to train, and you'd have to chose one skill to show the coaches. And they'd grade you on how good you were. But only a few people, and they all weren't in the same class," I said.

"So that was basically a hint of the people who were going to be in the games," Alondra says.

"Exactly," Jordan says.

"But I still don't know the reason why they didn't train you, Janiza, or why they even put us here," I said.

"Wait," Jordan pauses then looks at Janiza. "If you weren't trained at all, then how did you know which weapon to choose?"

"Well in my attic, I found my dad's axes in the basement... Whenever I'd come home and I was furious about something, I would throw the axes around in our backyard. And my dad caught me one day, and he taught me how to use it. But this started happening since last year, in the 7th grade... Then my dad left us, and now I feel that's the reason I'm mad half the time," Janiza says.

"You miss him?" Jordan asks.

"Oh course I miss him," She says.

"Why'd he leave?" Alondra asked.

"I don't know... It wasn't divorce or anything... I just keep telling myself maybe he'll come back," Janiza says.

"I'm sorry..." Alondra says.

"But you know what, I'll eventually get over it," Janiza says.

"That's the good spirit," I said.

"It's going to be all okay," Jordan says.