Chapter 1
"Wake up! Wake up wake up wake up!" My sister yells in my ear. She smacks my head and I sit up.
I glare at her fiercely before getting out of bed. I stretch and walk lazily across the room.
"Keep moving you lazy bum! You don't have all day!" She keeps on yelling in my face.
I slam the bedroom door on my way out. I'm sick of her constant nagging. She acts like she's the best and like she knows it all.
I stroll down my measly short hallway and enter the kitchen. My grandma is sitting at the table staring intensely into her coffee.
"Grandma? Did you make any food?" I ask gently.
Wordlessly she points to the countertop in front of her. On the countertop is a biscuit. I grin halfheartedly because Rhiannon doesn't get anything. Unless she already ate...
After I get dressed in my traditional working gray clothing I head out to the fields.
Grabbing my plow I start working. After about a hour I hear Rue's whistle for water break. Grinning I look up at the trees for her. She smiles shyly back at me.
I beckon her down with a wave of my hand. She leaps from branch to branch until she's a foot off the ground. She lands on the ground without a sound.
We walk in silent companionable silence to the edge of the fields where we have our water break.
My gaze sweeps over the fields and the road. I see a faint dust cloud appearing in the distance. Inwardly I moan.
I nudge Rue and point. Her eyes widen and she looks scared for a moment.
"Ok everyone back to work! The Peacekeepers are coming!" She orders everyone around like she's in charge.
The Peacekeepers are coming. It spreads like a wildfire. Everyone starts sprinting for their places and we all start our work again. By the time the old green Jeep pulls up we are all where we are supposed to be.
Boom boom boom clang clang click. Those are the sounds of the Peacekeepers marching, swinging their guns around, and loading their guns. I look up at Rue and she is staring ferociously at the Peacekeepers.
"Halt!" The Head Peacekeeper calls out.
We all stand up and stare blankly at him. We've been through this a billion times. We know what to do. Answer their questions politely and don't say more than necessary.
"Which one of you no good beings didn't finish their work yesterday?" The Head Peacekeeper calls out.
A little boy steps forward and opens his mouth.
"I didn't finish yesterday." I manage to say before the little boy mentions that he didn't finish.
The Head Peacekeeper's eyes shift over to mine and glare at me. "Down on the ground." He says harshly.
I kneel to the ground, and the Head Peacekeeper takes out his whip and flicks it down on my back twenty times. I stare at the ground without muttering a sound.
Once he finishes and they drive off I get up from the ground. I can feel the people's sympathetic glances at me, but I refuse to meet their eyes.