The Mental Games

The Children's Ward

*Katniss's POV*

"Okay, we should probably find some place to sleep." Cinna said. We all nodded.

"How about the abandoned children’s ward?" Rue asked. I didn't like the sound of it, but it sounded out of the way, which would be great.

"Okay, where's it at?" I asked.

"Follow me." She said, and began walking down the hall. Our little group followed.

I looked out a thick window to see it was dark outside. Only my first day at Sunny Days, and I was already caught up in some Hunger Games wanna-be game. I sighed, it could be worse.

We finally stopped in front of a iron door, 'CHILDREN'S WARD' written in big black letters across it. Cinna and I exchanged a nervous glance as Rue pushed open the doors.

It was dark inside the room, and the light pouring from the door made it seem creepy beyond belief. Rue flicked on the lights and dim ceiling lights snapped on, flickering and buzzing. A couple beds sat along the walls, stripped of their blankets and pillows.

"Well," Cinna said, his voice ringing through the room. "This certainly looks abandoned."

The four of us crept into the room, hesitant and on edge. I got the odd feeling that someone was in the room, like I was being watched. Rue seemed to notice it too, as she was cautiously looking behind beds and lifting up objects on the ground.

As Rue looked behind an bed, she screamed, jumping back. I ran over, willing to attack whoever was there, but who I saw was the last person I was expecting.

"Haymitch?" I asked. And indeed it was him, he was holding a bottle of alcohol against his chest like a teddy bear and looked very, VERY, drunk.

"Yeerrpp, its goooood old Haayymiiitch!" His words were slurred together. I face-palmed. Peeta came up next to me, and sighed as he saw Haymitch.

"Give me the bottle, Haymitch." Peeta said, grabbing for the bottle. Haymitch held the bottle closer to his chest, swearing at Peeta. "Don't make me do this, Haymitch, you know I will."

"You're to goooodee-goooodee for thatt." Haymitch slurred, backing into a corner. Peeta sighed.

"You three-" He pointed to Rue, Cinna and I."-Hide or go."

Rue scampered underneath one of the beds, and Cinna hid in a closet. I sighed and got underneath the bed with Rue. I could see Peeta and Haymitch from where I was, and Peeta was standing a good distance from the drunk, who looked grumpy. Peeta took a deep breath.

"NNNNUUUUURRRRSSSSSEEE!!!" He screamed out, standing in Haymitch's way so he couldn't escape. "NURSE! HAYMITCH IS DRINKING!!! HAYMITCH IS DRUNK!!"

"Classy, he's going the tattle-tale route." Rue whispered. I chuckled quietly. Almost immediately a nurse ran in, followed by... Gale? I didn't know what he was doing here, maybe he had gotten caught being bipolar or whatever.

The nurse pushed Peeta out of the way and stood over Haymitch, who was attempting to hide the booze behind his back. The nurse quickly flipped over the drunk and grabbed his bottle, and Haymitch simply began to swear at her. She grabbed the drunk.

"Don't follow me unless you want a lot of weird looks." She called to Gale as she dragged the drunk from the room. Gale stood there awkwardly after she left, Peeta sighed.

"Guys, you can get out from underneath the bed." Peeta said, making Gale give him a 'You crazy?' look that was kind of stupid considering we're in a mental hospital. After a moment’s hesitation Rue scurried out from under the bed, and Cinna pretty much fell out of the closet, an avalanche of crap crashing down with him. Rue giggled as Cinna stood, a plastic bowl on his head.

I crawled out from under the bed and Cinna got up from the ground. Gale didn't even look phased by the random appearance of three people.

"I don't even want to know." Gale sighed, shaking his head. Rue giggled, and I face palmed.

"What're you doing with a nurse?" Peeta asked.

"She's kind of following me; she decided I'm a magnet for trouble." Gale said.

"Well, troubling people are kind of everywhere in this hospital. It IS a mental hospital." Peeta said.

"I know where we are." Gale snapped.

"Hey, chill. I was just trying to make a joke." Peeta held up his hands defensively.

"Aren't jokes supposed to be funny?" Gale glared at Peeta.

"Gale. Gale!" Rue snapped, making Gale's harsh glare shift to her. "You're being a polar bear!"

"What?" Gale now seemed overall confused. I remember reading something about polar bears in a book once, but couldn't see any connection to Gale. Rue sighed.

"You're having a bipolar moment. Bipolar, see what I did there?" Rue asked. We all rolled our eyes.

"Yes Rue," Cinna sighed, seemingly bored with Rue's twelve year old jokes. "Very punny."

A/N: HI! I made a pun :3

Random anti-joke: What did a farmer say when he lost his tractor? "Where dafuq is my tractor?" 

I am so done I don’t even