Sunflower Seeds

Chapter Nine

    The dust clears shortly after Templesmiths voice fades away, and I look around to see the ruins of what was once a vibrant city, much like the Capitol. Bombed, by the looks of it. Rubble everywhere. Buildings half collapsed. Everything is grey and dark, which makes the gleaming, gold Cornucopia stand out even more. It reminds me of the smoking remains of Thirteen we are shown every year at the reaping.

    We are forced to stand on our platforms for sixty seconds, and if we make a move to run, we'll be blown to bits by powerful land mines around the platforms.

    I hardly have time to take in the fact that we are in a giant plaza when a movement from the Four tribute catches my eye. Yanking something from her pocket, a small, metal sphere, and chucking it with full force at the head of the District Eleven tribute. It smacks the poor girl right in the temple, and she stumbles off the platform.

    The sound of explosions and splattering blood and guts bring a scream from many nearby tributes, and my eyes barely make shaky contact with Niall before the gong sounds. Only a few tributes, myself and Niall along with the tributes, take off from their platforms, the others still shell-shocked by the gruesome attack. I wonder if that's even legal as I scramble to grab a backpack and sprint off in the direction I saw Niall run, into the ruins. I can hear the sickening sounds of sharp weapons coming in contact with human flesh, but I do my best to ignore it as I enter the remains of the city, still sprinting after Niall.

    The dust that covers every surface doesn't kick up when I run across it, doesn't stick to my clothes when I accidentally brush it. I grab what looks like a long, wrangled piece of metal to use as a weapon as I run. I realize then that I'm not afraid to shove it through someones chest if necesary, and the thought almost scares me.

    Suddenly, there are hands grabbing at me, covering my mouth and yanking me into a building and down a flight of stairs. I kick and struggle and try to get my makeshift spear around and into my attackers forehead, when the arms suddenly drop me and I hear shuffling as they back up a few centimeters. Before I even take the minute to register where I am, my nose detects that scent that only belongs to one person.

    "Niall!" I cry out breathlessly, scrambling to turn and hug him. Our arms find each other quickly and I try to pull him as close into me as I can. He grabs my face and kisses me with a fierce passion a few times before holding me back, checking to make sure I survived the bloodbath, and I do the same. He looks totally fine, just a bit shaken. He sees I'm okay and I can physically see relief flood his body.

    "We're okay." I whisper. He smiles widley at me, nodding vigorously, and it's so adorible that I have to kiss him again.

    When we break apart, I look around.

    "So where exactly are we?" I ask.

    "It's the basement of a mostly collapsed building. There's rubble partially covering the entrance so we should be safe for now." Niall explains.

The basement is dark and in the small rays of light filtering in, there's almost not a single speck of dust, which is odd, considering all the dust lying around.

    "So, what's in the pack?" Niall asks, motioning to the backpack that's still on my shoulders. I shrug it off and grimace at the bright red material before opening it up. Inside is beef jerkey, crackers, a canteen full of water, a tin of berries, a dulled knife, a gasmask, and a sleeping bag. I smile at all of our stuff.

    "We lucked out." I tell him, stuffing it all back in.

    "But what about that awful red? We can't keep it and stay alive." Niall says, frowning at the bag.