Fuelling the Flames

Chapter 13: Falling Behind

Silver was awoken by the halt of the train. He glanced over at Ellie, who appeared to have just woken up as well. She gave him a half-hearted smile. "Morning."

"Same to you," Silver replied. "Do you know where we are?"

She shook her head. "No clue."

Silver stood up slowly, and peeked through the wooden fence that contained him and Ellie. He prayed that he would see the water of District 4 or the farms of District 11, anything but the forests of District 7, which would mean they were headed in the wrong direction. Thankfully, his eyes were met with the view of dozens of rich fields, growing wheat and other crops. Right then, it seemed like the most glorious scenery he had ever seen.

"We're almost there!" Silver relayed back to Ellie. "We're in District 11!"

"For once, luck is on our side," Ellie smiled as she munched on an apple from her backpack. The train lurched, and slowly settled into a regular pace.

"So, since we're almost there..." Silver continued as he grabbed an apple as well, "We should make a plan for what we are going to do when we get there."

"Okay," Ellie agreed. "The train stops in District 12. What do we do?"

"First, we climb out of this thing. Maybe we should leave our backpacks here, and only take the things we really need. That way we'll raise less suspicion. Then we just ask someone where we could find Katniss and Peeta, I guess."

"What if the train doesn't stop?"

"Then we jump," Silver replied confidently.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "That would not be fun."

"I do not appreciate your attitude, young lady," Silver joked, shaking his finger disapprovingly at her.

"Oh please. If I have an attitude, then what are you?"

"The sassiest man alive," he replied, and struck a pose. Ellie laughed, and Silver joined in.

"I love you," Ellie sighed and leaned against him.

"Yeah, and you're okay, I guess," Silver teased, imitating Ellie's voice.

"Sil-ver!" Ellie smacked his shoulder playfully. "That is so rude. I am not talking to you anymore."

And with that she turned away.

"Okay, we'll see how long that lasts," Silver chuckled at Ellie's fake anger.

The train kept chugging, and Ellie and Silver spent the day talking and laughing, once Ellie gave up on the whole silent treatment idea. Gradually, the sun turned to the moon, and the birds to stars.

"We should take turns keeping watch," Ellie suggested, as they lay on their backs star-gazing.

"Definitely. We don't want to miss District 12."

"Wow, look at the stars," Ellie sighed, as the dark sky gradually became embellished with hundreds of twinkling jewels. Silver couldn't respond; he was lost in the mystery of the universe. Back home in their District, they had a strict curfew and were normally inside before the stars came out. Never before had they experienced something so magical. They both laid there for hours, taking time to point out different formations to one another. Neither one of them knew their formal names, no one had ever taught them, but that didn't stop them from appreciating every little star.

Both Ellie and Silver sighed with disapointment as the sun began to rise and the stars began to fade away. "That was so magical," Ellie said in awe as she snuggled up to Silver.

"Yeah," he agreed with a yawn. He had been too distracted during the night to feel how tired he was, but now he was hit with a sudden wave of exhaustion. Ellie definitely felt the same.

"Rest," Silver ordered. "I'll keep watch for District 12."

Although she clearly didn't want to, Ellie reluctantly agreed. She curled up on his lap and was gently snoring within minutes. Silver stroked her hair lovingly while keeping watch on the landscape through the wooden fence. a pesky piece of hay was scratching his leg, and Silver pushed it away impatiently. As nice as it was to have this quality time with Ellie, he was sick of being cramped up in such a tiny train car.

Suddenly, something came into view. A huge crater in the earth, with dozens of man marching towards it. They were dressed in dark coloured clothes, and all of them looked scrawny and thin, as if they hadn't had much to eat. Silver was so over-joyed he had to blink his eyes a few times to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. But it was real, they had found District 12!

The train wasn't slowing down, and it was clear they wouldn't be stopping here. Silver knew that they were going to have to jump.

"Elle-belle," he called soothingly.

"Mmm," she mumbled, stretching as she slowly woke up. She rubbed her eyes and smiled sleepily at Silver. His heart melted from how cute she looked, groggy and sleepy. "What's up, Sil?"

"We're here," he caressed her hair gently. "District 12. But we're going to have to jump."

With that, Ellie sat up straight away. "Jump? Off the train?"

"Sh, it's okay," Silver reassured her. "I'll go first, and I'll be ready to catch you, alright?"

She hesitated, but eventually nodded her head. Although the train was definitely moving at a good pace, it wasn't completely ridiculous to jump off. Silver began to climb up the fence, and when he reached the top he swung his legs over so he was in a sitting position. Without taking a moment to let himself panic, he pushed off his hands and let out a quick yell as he free-fell through the air before landing and rolling a few feet on the soft grass. The second he landed, he jumped up and began sprinting alongside the train.

"C'mon Elle!" he hollered encouragingly. She was almost at the top of the fence, and struggled to get into a good sitting position. When she finally managed to swing both legs over, she paused for a moment too long before jumping. Her mind began to panic, showing her scenes of pain. What if she was sucked under the train? Or broke her neck when she landed? Filled with panic, she remained motionless at the top of the fence on the moving train. Silver's legs began to ache as he struggled to keep up with the speeding train. "Elle, jump!"

Silver's voice knocked Ellie out from her nightmare visions, and she was so startled that she lost her balance and toppled right off of the fence. She screamed, and Silver ran to catch her. She landed with a thump in Silver's arms, and her weight combined with the force of her fall knocked them both to the ground. They tumbled a few feet through the grass as the train sped by them. Silver groaned when he realized that in their hurry they had left their backpacks in the train car. Hopefully, Katniss and Peeta would have somewhere for them to stay.

After she recovered from her initial scare, Ellie turned around to take in the view of the District. In the distance she could see the mines, and small houses and buildings were scattered around nearby. It was still fairly dark, with only the faintest hint of daylight rising up on the horizon. She knew there were still many details for them to figure out, but for now she just wanted to sit back and pray that the worst was over.

"So this is it. District 12."

I am so sorry that this took so long to update! I hope you'll forgive me. Next chapter things are going to get exciting! I will try and get that chapter up ASAP.