'Klink! Klink! Klink! Klink!' This sound can be heard right underneath me. I'm currently perched in a tall pine tree, watching. "How are you doing down there?" I ask the lumbermen below.

"Good!" One of them shouts back. "Just a few more hits!" His words are being drowned out by each swing he takes at the tree, which is right by mine. After those few more hits, the splintering noise of the base separating from the rest of the tree echoes through the forest. "TIIIIIMMMBEEERR!" Another lumberman shouts. I turn towards the tree as it slowly falls. Sounds of cracking and fragile bark can be heard. I quickly grab ahold of the trunk of the tree that I'm sitting in. When the tree makes contact with the ground, the area starts shaking. I can feel it. I look down and see a dust cloud forming as the tree settles. The tree must've been enormous for it to kick up that much dirt.

"Everyone alright down there?" I call out. I hear several replies from everyone. After a couple of minutes, the dirt and dust have settled. I sling my bow over my shoulder and slowly climb down, branch by branch. Once I reach the bottom, I pat myself off and look around. 2...4...6... 7. 7? Where's the 8th? 4 lumbermen, Sara, Grifyn, and Alexi. Who are we missing? Oh! Me! I laugh quietly to myself. Everyone's here. "That was a good-sized tree!" I say, looking at the lumbermen.

"Yeah, but we're gonna have trouble hauling it back to town, even with a truck," one of them says.

"Maybe you should cut it into two halves," Alexi steps forward, "It only makes sense."

Alexi, the youngest of our group, who's only 13, uses a spear. She is not only the youngest, but probably the smartest, as well. She has long, red hair and is very small. Her eyes are a bright green. Due to the fact that she's so small, she can climb trees faster than any of us and the way she uses the spear would make you think it was a part of her body. She can twirl, dodge, and dive her way out of many situations. Not to mention she's also very persuasive when she wants something. And I mean it. She uses every trick she has up her sleeve to achieve her goal.

"That's a great idea!" Sara steps forward and pats Alexi's head in encouragement. The five lumbermen all look at each other.

"Or... We could all carry it back!" Alexi says, stabbing the tip of her spear into the ground. She smiles slyly.

"No, no! Chopping it is fine!" One of the lumbermen says.

"That's what I thought." Alexi smiles, pulling her spear back out of the ground and then looks back up at Sara. Sara kneels beside her and whispers something in her ear. Alexi claps, excitedly and giggles.

The lumbermen begin chopping away at the fallen tree. I walk over to Sara. She stands up and smiles. "Hey," she says.

"Hey," I grin back and get close so Sara and I can talk quietly. "What'd you say to Alexi?"

"Oh, nothing... Just that I'd pay her in a small treat later."

"What kind of treat?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I told her that in thanks for being so helpful, I'd buy her a piece of candy. I- Is that alright?" She asks me, hesitantly.
I think about how much money Sara and I have. I think we can spare enough for a piece of candy. Although, they are kind of expensive. "Yeah. That's fine." I smile.

Sara nods and we look over to the lumbermen who have just finished chopping the tree in half.

"Good, now into the truck!" Alexi demands, playfully. The lumbermen sigh and carry the two tree halves into the back of the truck.

I smile at the image of a thirteen-year-old girl ordering around older men. Wow. Although the scavengers are treated as equally as lumbermen, scavengers always seem to be smarter. It's quite odd, actually. Especially because most of us are under the age of twenty.

"Sara, do you have that water bottle with you?" I ask her.

She nods and turns around, so I can open the black bag that's on her back. I unzip it and search through the items that she has stashed in there. Some bandages, a few apples, matches, and the water bottle. I take out the water bottle and drink a small sip, only enough to quench my thirst. We need to preserve the water, because that's all we're getting for a little while. Sara takes the bottle from my hand and takes a small sip as well. "Hey, Alexi! Do you want some water, too?" Sara asks. Alexi nods and bounces her way over to Sara and takes a drink. "How about you, Grifyn?"

"Nah, I got my own." Grifyn, our scavenging leader, replies, raising his bottle in the air to show it off. Sara sticks out her tongue at him in rebuttal. He replies with a simple laugh.

Grifyn, with his towering and built physique, wields a battle axe. He swings his axe with ease and is very skilled with it. If he needs to, sometimes he throws it into his attacker, not only injuring or killing them, but launching them a few feet backwards as well. He has brown, short hair and his eyes are gray, like bits of clay. He has a few scars on his face and arms, showing his years as a scavenger. He's about the age of 34, being the oldest in our scavenging group. He's lighthearted and laid back, a lot like I am.

"It's almost evening. One more tree." Reave states, letting us know that we're almost done. Reave is the leader of the lumbermen and also quite demanding. He's an odd person, being small but very muscular. His gruff voice reminds me of a peacekeeper Drill Sergeant. Not that I've ever heard one before.

We all sigh and walk over to the tree I was just perched in. Two of the four lumbermen take sides of the tree and smack at it, alternating. Sara, Alexi, Grifyn, and I all assume our positions, with each person facing a different direction. After a few hits to the trunk, there's a small humming noise. All of us pause.

"What's tha-" A lumberman is cut off by the noise of Grifyn shushing him.

"Ah, screw this," Reave says, taking one more swing at the tree trunk. A small cracking noise can be heard as what looks like a massive rock falls from a high branch. It smacks the ground, releasing a massive cloud of loud and gigantic insects.

"TRACKERJACKERS!" Grifyn calls out, warning us all to step away. But, it's too late for Reave. He's already being enveloped in trackerjackers, screaming for his life. Grifyn rushes to pick up Alexi, carrying her away to the truck and setting her inside.

Sara and I are running to the truck as I get an idea. Smoke! I stop at the truck and tear off a part of my shirt. Then, I wrap it around the tip of an arrow that I have already nocked onto my bow. "SARA! MATCHES!" She looks at me for a quick second before she realizes what I'm doing. I rush to the gas cap of the truck and unscrew it. As I cram the cloth-wrapped arrowhead into the gas can, Sara grabs a match and starts lighting it.

"Here!" She shouts at me. I hold the gasoline-doused arrow up for her and she lights it. Perfect. I draw back the string of the bow and release it, sending the flaming arrow flying towards the smashed nest.

The nest goes up in flames, releasing pillars of smoke. "Sara! Grifyn! In the truck!" I command, sprinting towards the passenger door. Sara's waiting for me, with the door open. I toss my bow in the back and remove my quiver, then hop in and she sits on my lap, closing the door behind her. Grifyn is in the driver's seat, with Alexi sitting on the floor in between the passenger and driver's seats. The 3 remaining lumbermen are already in the back seat... Figures. They always run at the first sign of danger.

I can see a plume of smoke rising from where the nest was on the ground. Trackerjackers just start dropping as the fire burns on, releasing more and more dark-gray smoke. We remain in the truck, all looking at each other. Alexi calls from the floor in between the seats, "What happened?"

"Torin had the idea to incapacitate the trackerjackers with smoke," Sara says. She then kisses me on the cheek. I can feel my face blush a bright red. "He was smart!" I smile at her, in an overwrought manner.

"I wish I could've saved Reave," I state, looking down at the floor.

"That asshole had it coming to him," Grifyn says, bluntly. "We should report this to the Peacekeepers." Grifyn starts the truck and we drive off, leaving the smoke, body of Reave, and trackerjackers to lie. On the way to the lumberyard, no one speaks a word.

We arrive, and are immediately greeted by two peacekeepers guarding the gate. "Halt," one of them says. The other walks around the truck and examines the load. I think he signals to the peacekeeper at the car door, because he immediately starts questioning Grifyn. "Why do you not have the required amount of trees for the day?" Peacekeeper #1 asks.

"Because we ran into some trouble." Grifyn seems already pissed at the peacekeeper, because he's speaking through his gritted teeth.

"Oh, yeah? What kind of problem?" The peacekeeper seems skeptical. It's hard to tell, because he has a helmet covering his face, I can hear it in his voice. I motion for my bow. The lumbermen have it lying on their laps, but they start handing it over when Sara stops them and shakes her head at me.

"We lost a lumberman due to some trackerjackers." Grifyn's voice is filled with anger.

"Is that so? Isn't it the scavengers' jobs to protect them? Why have you guys failed?"

"The lumberman practically killed himself!" I add. Sara quickly covers my mouth with her hand and shushes me.
"Killed himself?" The peacekeeper doesn't believe us.

I remove Sara's hand and reply, "I said 'practically'." Why doesn't go see for himself?! This is getting on my nerves as well. I look down to see Alexi covering her ears in fear. She's not afraid of bears, or bobcats, or mutts, but she's definitely afraid of peacekeepers. We all are. But, living in 7 means we're the second most poor District in all of Panem. Usually, we have nice, relaxed peacekeepers, but this guy seems like an asshole.

Peacekeeper #2 puts his hand on Peacekeeper #1's shoulder. "Relax." Huh. Turns out Peacekeeper #2 is actually a woman. "They're only doing their job."

Peacekeeper #1 turns around and looks into #2's helmet. "Fine," he replies. "Move along." Grifyn starts to drive away when he reaches his arm out and flips off #1. #2 just laughs.

"'Bout fuckin' time," Grifyn scoffs. We pull into the parking area and are greeted by a group of lumbermen who help us out of the truck. And, of course, one tries to court Sara. She simply plays along and then gives me a deep, long kiss in front of him. The look on his face is priceless.

"Alright, Scavengers, you are dismissed. We will send a group of Peacekeepers to clean up the trackerjacker area. You three, you stay with us and help unload," a lumberman says.

I sling my quiver and bow over my back and start walking. Sara puts on her bag and catches up, followed by Alexi and Grifyn. Sara and I interlock fingers and she turns her head to look behind us. She turns back around, leans into me and whispers, "That sleazy lumberman was looking again. I just winked at him and looked away." I let out a small laugh then give her a kiss.
I look towards Alexi, who has grabbed Grifyn's hand. They're both laughing. "What?" I'm startled by their laughter.
"Oh, nothing," Grifyn replies.

This is followed by a "Smoochie-smooch!" and the puckering of the lips from Alexi. I laugh and run up to her, picking up the preteen and carrying her over my shoulder. "Put me down, Torin! Down! I'll hit you with my spear!"

"Bring it!" I reply in a humorous manner. Alexi flails her arms around, trying to smack my back with the butt of her spear. I laugh then flip her onto the ground where she simply cartwheels and then lands, brushing herself off.

Grifyn just smiles and looks forward down the road. "You guys ready for tomorrow? Prepared?" He asks us. All of us look at each other, very confused. Tomorrow... What could be tomorrow? Surely, it's not another Scavenging Physical. Those are awful. They evaluate the physical strength of us scavengers by putting us through rigorous tests. Hunting, weight training, climbing, and even races and obstacle courses to test how fast we are.

"...Is it another Physical?" I ask, completely worried.

"No, the reaping. For the Hunger Games."

"Fuck... I knew something's been bothering me all week," Sara says, with a hand slightly covering her mouth.
"Yeah. I hope you all get a good night's sleep tonight," Grifyn says, clearly hurt by the idea of the Games. "Well, Alexi, here's your house. Have a good evening." She smiles solemnly and then gives each of us a quick hug, before heading into her house.

"Shall I walk you two home?" Grifyn asks us. "It's almost dark."

Sara and I look at each other and she nods. "Sure! We would love an escort!" She says, taking his arm in her hands. I smile and we begin the half-hour walk to the home of Sara and I.

We arrive and Sara and I say our goodnights to Grifyn and enter our dark, warm house. Sara lights a candle and we eat the small amount of bread that was leftover from breakfast earlier.

After we finish, Sara heads up to bed and I put away our scavenging equipment— her knives, the bag, and my bow and arrows.

I blow out the candle and head up to bed, crawling in right beside Sara. "Tomorrow I have to give Alexi that piece of candy I owe her, don't let me forget that," Sara says, sleepily. I smile and kiss her on the forehead before pulling her into my arms and slowly drifting off to sleep.

I didn't really like how I ended it. It felt rushed, but I wanted to end it on a calm note. Also, I wasn't sure how to explain more about life in District 7. One other thing I noticed, was the fact that I started to trail on about parts like the "Peacekeeper" section and the last bit. Anyway, tell me what you think!