The Second Annual Hunger Games (Book 2)

Thirteen

"Two uneventful days in a row this is quite surprising," Tullis turns off the TV and looks at meet. "Your games, as horrifying as they were, were much more interesting."

I bite my lip. "It's weird. The tributes are all staying away from each other and the crocodiles haven't made another appearance. I'm happy that Fergus and Sybille are still alive but this is worrying me more than if someone was attacking them."

"I feel the same way." She stands. "Maybe something will happen tomorrow. I'm off to bed. Are you staying up?"

I stand as well. "No I'm pretty tired." I give Tullis a hug and she seems a bit surprised. "Goodnight, Tullis." I want to say more but I can't. I might never see her again, but if I say goodbye she'll know the truth when I'm not here tomorrow.

"Goodnight, dear." She goes into her room and I leave to mine.

The clock in my room says it's 10:20. Ten minutes before whoever's helping us gets here. I go to the closet and look over Talon's bag and mine. I have plenty of clothes and Talon's been bringing me nonperishable food over the past two days. I'm not supposed to take a blanket or pillow because that's too suspicious.

I sigh and sit down. I wish Talon were here with me. He had to serve on a different floor and we figured that would also be less suspicious. When the clock reads 10:28, I grab my bag and go up to the roof.

A man stands looking out over the city. He wears all black and has a backpack at his feet. He turns and sees me, his dark face blending into the night. He looks about thirty years old and has a serious air about him.

"Aldera?" his voice is deep and strong.

"Yes."

"My name is Baron. I'll be helping you get out of the city and to District 2. Come on, we don't have time to waste." He goes back in the stairwell and I follow. We go down to floor five and stop. "This is where your friend is?" I nod. We wait about two minutes for Talon and Baron looks at his watch about five times.

Talon comes into the stairwell, still wearing his avox uniform. "You can't wear that," Baron says.

"I have other clothes for him." I quickly open his bag and give him something to wear.

"Meet us at the bottom," Baron tells him and then makes his way down the rest of the stairs with me right behind him. Baron peeks out the door and takes something from a pocket. He raises it to his lips and lets out a short burst of air. I hear someone drop in the other room.

Talon comes down the stairs a moment later and I hand him his bag. He nods at Baron. We go through the door and across the room to the exit, passing the dropped guard.

"He's not dead right?" I whisper.

Baron shakes his head. "Asleep. Someone will be here to make sure everything looks good in not too long. We don't want to leave any clues." Talon and I nod and follow him out onto the street. We walk a couple blocks and find a car waiting in an alley. Baron gets in the driver's seat and Talon and I pile into the back.

We pull out onto the street and head south. "So here's the bad news," Baron calls back to us. "That was the easy part. To get out of the city is going to be a challenge. There's guards and cameras at each exit and posted along the edges."

"So how do we get past them?" I ask.

"Very carefully." He doesn't elaborate until we're closer. We park the car and he turns around to face us. "Alright. So here's the plan; Aldera you're going to pretend to be my daughter, Charitina, and Talon you're the family's avox. I am an old general that fought in the war. The Capitol has decided to send me to District 2 to train peacekeepers and so our family is moving there. If they ask about my wife she died giving birth to you Aldera."