"Freya." My brother's voice fills the room, and wakes me up.
"What?" I groan, rolling over on my bed to face him. He's standing in the doorway, casting a dark shadow that looms across the room. People always say we look a lot alike. Although he is way taller than I am, we have the same deep blue eyes and light blond hair. The same arched eyebrows, distinct nose and full pink lips. We could pass for twins, even though he's eighteen and I'm sixteen. We look like our mother, before she passed away four years ago. She wasn't even there for my first reaping…
"You can't stay in bed forever." He says as he sits down on the edge of my tiny bed.
"Yes I can."
"Come on." He pulls my thin blue blanket off of me. "We are going to watch the games, and see how she's doing."
"Hailer…" My voice cracks.
"I'm sure she's doing fine." He assures me and pulls me out of bed.
We walk into the living room and plop down on the couch as he tries to get the old TV to work. He swears under his breath when it won't turn on. He traded some of my father's old things for this piece of junk. Those things were important to both of us, but we needed food, and Hailer always wanted a TV. Our house is tiny with two very small bedrooms, and one bathroom. The largest room of the house is the living room, which only has enough room for one small couch, and our TV. A cluttered kitchen with barely enough room for a stove and a freezer connects to it. There is a small wooden table with two chairs nestled in the corner, but Hailer and I hardly ever eat there. There is a whole bunch of our parent's stuff that we set there because we didn't know what else to do with it.
Hailer finally gets the TV to work. The picture is a little fuzzy at first, but after a while I can make out a large group of people walking through a forest. Most of them look like Careers.
"Allies," Hailer snorts. "What's the point of making friends in the hunger games? You're just gonna to have to kill them sooner or later."
I ignore him, and pray silently that Ezra is okay. She was picked to be the girl tribute that would represent district 8 this year. She also is my best friend. Hailer informed me earlier that Holden, the boy from our district was killed at the cornucopia and it was only the first day. My eyes are fixed on the screen now that I see a familiar pale face with brown choppy hair, and warm hazel eyes. Ezra. Her trembling hands are placed over a fire she must have made to warm herself. A thin white cloud forms as she exhales. It's clear that the arena is cold by the way her body shivers. You can almost see her teeth chattering. Will I ever see her again?
My answer is almost immediately answered as camera changes from Ezra, to the group of allies. They are heading her way. This is not good, I think to myself. She is out in the open, with a fire going. My heart begins to sink as I watch her slowly doze off into a peaceful sleep. It was clear now that I'm never going to see her again. I sit here helplessly, watching as the group gets closer, and eventually spots her fire. When they start to break into a run I know what is going to happen next. I get up from the couch and turn off the TV. Hailer and I sit there in complete silence for what feels like an eternity.
"I hate the hunger games." My voice cracks before the tears come.
"I know." He says softly, scooting closer to me on our little couch. He hugs me tightly and assures me that one day everything will be fine.
***
I wake up to find myself curled up on the couch, my blue blanket draped over me. The sunlight floods through the cracks in the blinds, brightening up the dark room. My eyes burn a little, and that's when everything comes back to me. Ezra is dead. I will never again see her smile, and I won't hear her cheesy jokes anymore. We won't hang out after working in the factory all day ever again. My throat tightens and I let out a sob. I hate the hunger games, and I hate the Capitol, for creating it. One day Hailer and I are going to escape this horrible place.
Here in district 8, there's barely a blade of grass on the ground. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Our district provides clothing to other districts who can afford it, but mostly for the Capitol. Hailer and I work in the section of the factory that makes the white uniforms that the important Capitol people wear. There is a reason for it too. Hailer and I have a plan. I remember when we first heard of it, about a year ago.
I was working in the factory when I overheard a conversation coming from a small group of people behind me. They were talking about District 13. I didn't know why… District 13 had been destroyed in the war by the Capitol over seventy four years ago. The hunger games were created as a reminder that the Capitol has ultimate control over everything. It was also a punishment to the rest of the districts, so that they will never try to rebel again.
Over the next few weeks, I listened in on their conversations every day, paying more attention to them, then my work. Over time I began to understand what they were talking about. They were devising a plan to escape. This particular small group of people stole items of the clothes they made for the Capitol. They stole the different pieces little by little, until they had stolen a complete capitol uniform. The plan was to disguise as a Capitol person during the games, get on a train without getting caught, and get off somewhere around district 12. They then would walk until they find District 13, where they believe everyone is free from the Capitol. They all believed District 13 still exists, and they were determined to get there. I listened as they talked about the proof they had of the same mockingjay appearing in every single video the Capitol did on district 13. I wanted to see for myself.
That day after work I went home and turned on the tiny TV. While watching several programs about the History of Panem, I discovered they were right about the mockingjay. It appeared in the upper corner of the screen every time. If they were right about the mockingjay, maybe they were right about District 13. Ever since that day I have been slowly planning for my escape, as well as Hailers, to District 13. Hailer and I have been collecting articles of clothing, and bringing them home. Our uniforms are nearly complete. Soon we will be ready to escape, and I'll never see District 8 again.
I rub my eyes, and pull the blanket off of me. I'm still wearing the same thing I wore yesterday. The faded blue jeans and a black tank top are itchy, so when I walk into my room I pull them off and slip into the Capitol uniform I'm in the process of stealing. So far I have the pants, and the top part of the uniform. All I need is the gloves and boots. They also have masks available, so I'll probably need one of those as well. I stare at myself in the cracked mirror hanging on the wall. The uniform is a little big on me, but for the most part it fits. Could I really pull this off?
"Hey, Freya. Are you in here?" Hailer asks. He enters my room and his mouth drops. A look of surprise crosses his face for a moment, but his muscles relax when he realizes it's me.
I smile when I realize what just happened. I could definitely pull this off.
"I thought you were someone from the capitol." Hailer says with a hint of anger in his voice. He always gets angry when someone scares him. It's almost as if it embarrasses him to be scared.
"Is it convincing?"
"Yes." He says, "You look just like one of them."
"Good."
"Now take it off before someone see's you." He walks out of the room to give me some privacy.
After I take the uniform off, and hide it under the bed, I change into a clean grey T-shirt and dark blue jeans. I have a lot more clothes then most people need these days. District 8 specializes in textiles, so I've known how to knit and sew for as long as I can remember. I make an effort to comb my hair with my fingers, and then I head into the tiny living room.
Hailer's going through my father's old things, which have been piled up in the table for over two years now. For a second I think that he's attempting to organize it, but it looks more like he's looking for something. I know I'm right when he pulls out a sharp knife from the bottom of the pile. A couple of things fall to the floor, but he just ignores it. He slips the blade carefully into the loop of his belt. Panic begins to rise in my chest when I realize what he's doing.
"Where are you going?" I ask, even though I already know the answer.
"On a walk," He says, smiling. I don't believe it for a second.
"With a knife?" I point to where it hangs from his belt. "You're going hunting, aren't you?"
"Freya," He sighs heavily. "We need to eat. There is no food left and we don't have any money."
"It's too dangerous. And I can't lose you Hailer."
"I know." He looks down at his feet, unsure if he should go or not.
"Well if you insist on going, then you have to take me with you."
"No."
"Why? Dad taught us both how to hunt. I know as much as you do… maybe even more. He taught me first, before you decided you wanted lessons to. So if I were you, I would listen to me when I say that it's too dangerous right now."
"Fine... I won't go today. But we are gonna need food if we are gonna escape."
"Let's just organize dad's things and trade them for food. That's the best we can do right now.'"
He nods his head and makes his way to the big pile on the table. I follow him and we sort all of our Dad's things into two piles. One pile consists of thing's we are willing to trade, and the other is full of things we wouldn't give up if our lives depended on it. In the very bottom of the pile there is a small wooden jewelry box with tiny flowers carved into it. I open it to find a golden heart-shaped locket nestled in the corner of the box. It is the only piece of jewelry in there, and I wonder if it's real gold. I open the locket to find a picture of my mother and father smiling inside.
Hailer looks over my shoulder at the picture. Out of the corner of my eye I see him smile. "You should have it." He says. He takes the locket out of my hands and carefully places it around my neck.
When we have finally sorted everything out, it's dark outside. Hailer clicks on the TV, and changes the channel until he finds the hunger games, which is on almost every station right now. The anthem of Panem is playing as the host, Claudius Templesmith, informs us that nobody has died tonight. I think of Ezra, and the other tributes that lost their lives from the stupid hunger games. I peel my eyes away from the screen and go to my room. I lie down in my bed and close my eyes, but sleep won't come. Instead I think about how different life would be if the Capitol didn't have any control. There would be no more food shortages, and the amount of people dying would decrease. There would be no more hunger games either. It all feels like a dream, which hopefully would one day come true.