I hugged Emily to my chest, as she cried.
"It was me" she mumbled.
"Shh, it's not you. Your names only been in their once, they're not going to pick you" I said calmly.
She pulled away and whispered in my ear. I nodded. Emily lay down, gazing up at me with her big brown eyes. I stroked her blond hair as I sang.
"Deep in the meadow
Under the willow
A bed of grass
A soft, green pillow"
I bent down and kissed her forehead.
"I have to go" I whispered.
"Where?"
"I just have to go"
I left Emily to fall into slumber as I pulled my hunting jacket over my shoulders. I quickly braided my hair, and grabbed my game bag. As I headed out the door, Emily's cat, Lyndon, hissed at me. She had found the thing on the street, and begged me to let her keep it. I, of course, had let her, not wanting to see her sad face.
"I'll still cook you" I mumbled as I headed out the croaking front door.
I headed across town, watching as district 12 slowly awoke. Ever since the war, the district just got poorer and poorer. Everyone was starving. Today was reaping day, so instead of a line of coal miners marching through town, it was deserted. I made it to the electric fence and climbed through. It was meant to be on, but the Capitol didn't have enough power to keep it on 24/7. Either that, or they just couldn't be bothered. It was only on a few hours each day.
I jogged across the meadow, into the woods. I found my bow in a rotting log, and grabbed my quiver out of a hollow tree. I loaded the bow and climbed over thick roots, going deeper into the forest. I saw a deer in the distance and loaded my bow, taking my time to aim carefully. The deer caught my scent in the breeze and moved off, trotting into the bush. I sighed in annoyance, and picked up some dry leaves. I threw them into the wind, to throw off the scent, and followed the deer.
I found it beside a beach tree, just standing there. I had a clear view, and pulled back my arrow again, aiming carefully. I was about the let go, when a voice filled the forest.
"What are you going to do with that when you kill it?" I glanced over my shoulder, then back at the deer as it started galloping off. I let go but missed by a mile. I turned, furious.
"Damn you Parv!" I yelled a he came down a small hill, grinning.
"What are you going to with a hundred pound deer Zoeya?"
I grumbled. He knew I hated that name. I preferred Zoey. It wasn't much of a difference. But it was to me.
"I was going to sell it. To the peacekeepers"
"Peacekeepers?" He asked doubtfully.
"Oh right, like you don't seek to peacekeepers"
"Not today. It's reaping day, you don't sell to peacekeepers today"
I shrugged. He was right. And we both knew it.
We sat on a grass covered hill, overlooking the forest that stretched out for miles.
"We could do it you know" Parv was saying.
"Run off into the woods"
"You have your brothers, and I have Em" I countered.
"Well, bring them along" Parv said a little too cheerfully.
"Em in the woods?"
He sighed. We gazed out over the trees for a little while longer.
"Hey" he said, breaking the silence.
"Look why I bought" he opened his bag and pulled out a loaf of bread. My eyes widened.
"Oh my god, is this real?" I grabbed the bread, feeling the texture in my hands.
"Better be" Parv grunted.
"Cost me a whole days hunting"
I broke the bread in half and smelled the inside. The warm scent of the bread filled my nose. I almost laughed.
"Happy hunger games" Parv said.
"And may the odds be ever in your favour" I finished.
We sat on the hill, each eating a half of the bread.
"How many times had your name been in?" I asked quietly.
"forty two" Parv said with a mouth ful of bread.
I sighed.
We spent the rest of the morning hunting and gathering. By ten o'clock, we were at the black market in the old coal warehouse. I bought some berries, and a couple of other things. I sold some meat to an old lady.
"Thank you girl" she said in an old raspy voice. As I went to move away, something caught my eye.
"What's this?" I asked, picking up a gold pin. It had a bird in the middle, an arrow in its beak.
"That's a mocking jay" the lady answered.
"How much?" I asked, my mind wondering to Emily.
"You keep it" she said.
"Thank you" she smiled at me and I grabbed my game bag and ran home.
