CHAPTER 12

One week.

One week, 2 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes and 32 seconds.

That's how long I have been locked up for; they isolated me from my dad and the others, I have been alone in the dress they had me in for my interview, my hair was knotted, my face was probably smudged with make-up, I hadn't looked at myself in so long, nor have I eaten anything proper. I occasionally get some bread and water but other than that I was starved, and as my body lessened in size my stomach became more and more obvious. I haven't had any human contact in so long I've nearly forgotten what it's like. I am pretty sure I am right next door to the others and dad, I have heard them yelling but I can't muster up the energy to talk back or move or even bang something around so I made some noise.

The door creaked open and a slice of bread was slid through the small crack. You know when your arm is asleep and you try moving it but it's like you have no control what so ever over the limb that you're kind of flopping toward the thing you want. Well that was my arm right now, except it wasn't numb, I just had no energy. My unwilling arm finally reached the bread and I clutched it in my fingers. Just as I brought the bread to my mouth the door slammed open and I was jabbed with something, from then on everything went black…

…

…

…

"Bells? Bells!" I jolted up feeling full of energy; there was something against my chest keeping me in the chair, across from me and next to me were Kaleb's family, my dad and our friends. Where we are is familiar to me, I had been here once before, this was where our trackers were placed into our arms. Dad was putting up a fight and someone was grabbing onto my arm. I couldn't react fast enough and before I knew it the tracker had been injected into me. I groaned at the pain and started struggling in my restraints, I don't want to go back in the games, I just want my old life back, before the games, before all of this.

"When the buzzer goes, no matter the arena, we all run north, run for 500 metres then stop; we will all meet up there, that's where the others should meet us if they come" I spoke silently but everybody could hear me, they all nodded silently to me before going back to whatever they were doing before "Katniss?" She looked at me "You can win this; if they don't get us out of this you can win, promise me you will tell Kaleb I love him" Katniss shook her head looking at me with sorrow.

"We will get out of this, you said it yourself, the others know where the arena is and they will get us out" the people who were putting trackers in our arms had left the space; we could talk freely without them over hearing.

"We didn't know" I confessed "We were only guessing where it might be. What if we were wrong?" Eliza started hysterically sobbing, she was terrified for hers and her families lives "I don't want to die yet" I confessed yet another thing to them all, I could feel myself tearing up "I don't want to die"

"You're not going to die, I won't let you" Dad looked over at me with tears of his own "We will be fine, I promise, all of us will be fine" his voice was shaky, he was just as unsure of everything that was about to happen as the rest of us.

"I'm okay with dying" Mrs Everdeen spoke for the first time "It will be good to see Prim again, and your father" She spoke the last bit to Katniss smiling sadly "I have missed them deeply"

"I would love to see my sister again… she died when we were just children" Effie said "She was very sick; there wasn't anything anyone could do"

"My sons" Penelope spoke up, this is the first time I have ever heard her speak, she spent most of her time working with Mrs Everdeen that I never really thought to speak to her "Jamaal, Kurt, Portman and Russel, they were killed the same day as your husband, in the mines, it was there first shifts and they were so excited, I remember their excited smiles like it were only this morning that they left for the mines"

"My family, every last one of them, well except my father, bloody bastard can rot in his grave. Bu I would like to see my mother again and my younger brother" Haymitch spoke with his head down, his hair was hanging over his face serving as a curtain for his emotions.

"I won't mind seeing Saskia again" Dad joined in taking back his earlier words of us 'being fine', but I didn't know who this Saskia was? "Your mother" he turned to me as if he had read my mind "I miss her a lot, we were friends before anything actually happened between us, she was always so quiet, observing her surroundings from a far, like a mouse, that was my nock name for her, we never really hung out but I knew she liked me and deep down I liked her too, I was just too distracted to realise" His gaze landed on Katniss "The way she tied her blonde hair up in a ponytail and little strands would fall out and she would get so annoyed and the way her blue eyes would light up when she was joking around… You would have loved her" Dad turned to face me so sad, he had let a few tears escape his eyes.

"I would like to meet her"

"But not today" we all turned to the little voice who belonged to Eliza "We will not give up that easily, they think we are badass fugitives who will slaughter anyone on sight… let's give them exactly what they want… Let's give them hell" we were all shocked at Eliza's words, she was so young but so right, we would give them hell, they thought my act on stage was animalistic, wait till they see me in the arena.

I am not innocent little daddy's girl Annabella Hawthorne anymore, no I was Annabella Hawthorne, the girl who will not die, the girl who will protect her family with everything she has in her and the girl who now has the maternal instinct to kill anyone who tries to hurt my baby. Look out Capitol, you have awoken a beast inside of me and it does not want to be caged.

So I didn't struggle when I was dragged away from my friends, I didn't struggle when Philliam washed me down and dressed me in the thin body suit, some leggings, a green camouflage tank top and some lace up boots that went to my knees and I definitely didn't struggle when I was put in the tube to go into the arena.

I stood on my panel looking over at my fellow competitors; I raised my arms and tightened my ponytail, ready to run. The arena was different, it looked like a District, we would be in the main square at the cornucopia, it was a big square of pulled up wrecked concrete with grass peeking up from the cracks and our pedestals around the big square, they were all closer than usual, which was understandable considering there were more people than usual. I looked up at the sun and figured out which way was north. All around the square were houses and buildings, no forests, just buildings which bring the question of how we will find water? I'm guessing there won't just be running water in every house.

Wait, where was the countdown? I stood looking at the others but they were just as confused as me, I looked down, around my panel, there dirt hasn't been disturbed. I don't think there are any triggered bombs around our panels. I looked at the tribute next to me, their panel had a timer on it, I strained to see the one besides them, no timer. No one else has picked up on it yet, some of us could go whenever, I counted to see who every second person was from my friends, me, Eliza, Mrs Everdeen and Haymitch, I made eye contact with Haymitch and gestured to my panel then to the cornucopia, the others would have at least 20ish seconds left, I mouthed 'run', and pointed to the panel next to me, he seemed to catch on and looked at dads who was next to him, his face lit up and he smiled nodding.

I held up 3 fingers in gesture, I lowered one, and then the other and finally I lowered my third finger. We ran for the Cornucopia at full speed, I heard a few bangs behind me, some must have thought they could run as well, I skidded to a stop grabbing a pack and a few weapons, Haymitch doing the same.

"Ahhhh!" I was tackled at the side. Jokes on him though, I had my spear facing out that way, he slumped to the ground and that's when I realised some others had figured it out, they were running for us but we had to go back the way we came.

"Follow your steps back" I shouted to Haymitch. As we passed the others Mrs Everdeen stepped off of her panel joining us, I grabbed Eliza and started running handing her a knife. There was 2 tributes running after us but the others were mainly wrapped up in the fight. We were almost to one of the buildings when I heard the buzzers on the other panels go off, while Gale and Katniss went for the Cornucopia Effie ran to us, I had to say she looked completely different than normal.

"Come on, they will find us!" Haymitch snatched up Eliza in his hands and ran for it, but I couldn't leave Effie, the tributes were right behind her. I dropped my pack and grabbed my spear throwing it at the first tribute, it pierced her stomach and she crumpled to the ground, the second tribute, a man, tackled Effie, she cried out and was clawing at his face. He was about to plunge the knife into her when another knife appeared… in his head. Eliza ran over to Effie and helped her up, I grabbed my spear and we ran together in the direction that Mrs Everdeen and Haymitch went.

"Where's Penelope?" I questioned Mrs Everdeen once we had reached them. I felt like I had just run a marathon.

"She stepped off too early" Mrs Everdeen dismissed the topic "Shall we find somewhere to stay then?" I nodded and looked to Haymitch.

"We need water and somewhere safe to stay"

"How about that place, it looks like it is the town hall maybe" it was the most decent building out of all of them so I agreed with him, we ran over to it moving as quickly as possible, we walked up a few steps darting inside trying not to be seen. I paused in the doorway; Haymitch was looking over the District like arena with sadness in his eyes.

"What if they didn't make it?"

"Come on, we should see what we grabbed" I ushered him inside and followed the noise to where Eliza, Effie and Mrs Everdeen were sitting, I dumped my weapons I grabbed in a rush and the pack, as did Haymitch, he had more than me. We emptied the packs and lay the contents on the ground; 3 boxes of matches, 2 lanterns, 1 blanket, 1 pair of night vision goggles, 3 empty canteens, some dried fruit and a can of fish and 1 bottle full with water, the weapons we grabbed were a belt of knives, a spear, an axe and some throwing stars, I took my spear, Haymitch the axe, Effie and Mrs Everdeen halved the knives between them and Eliza got the throwing stars considering her good aim, unfortunately we were all very thirsty and we only had one bottle so we took turns in taking sips.

"What now?" Effie asked.

"We wait for Katniss and Gale" Mrs Everdeen said "and I will cook two of these small fish" She scowled at the off smell of the fish. The light was fading outside and we had decided to have someone on watch for Katniss and dad so they could find us when they arrived. I volunteered first, partly to make sure they were okay and partly to get away from the fish smell that was making me want to puke.

I hid in the shadows of the broken down stairs watching… waiting for whoever would come along when suddenly I saw smoke from one of the chimneys, it was only a little bit but it was enough to give away someone's position. I took one last scan of the area around me and came out from my hiding place, I knew it wouldn't be Katniss and dad because they would never be that stupid, but if this was a chance to knock someone off before they could get me then I was willing to do the job.

I kept to the shadows of the houses and tried staying out of site. When I reached the house I was surprised no one else had come to investigate, maybe they were on their way and I was just the first one here? I don't know but I was heading in. I sprinted across the street and through the front door; the house had dust all over the floors leaving my footprints defined. I tiptoed through until I found the chimney; there were no other foot prints in here other than mine. I checked the fire place, yep, self-lighting, the Capitol set this one up, and they knew I would be curious enough to check it out.

No one else was here; it was a trick, which means it was also a trap. Others were sure to have seen the smoke and would be on their way… I clutched my spear tightly and ran full speed towards the door but quickly reeled back behind one of the walls separating the living room and the hallway. In the doorway stood 3 tributes, probably careers, maybe not, I didn't get a good enough look at them.

"Someone's here alright, be silent, we don't want them getting away, step in the footprints already made" this one was smart but also stupid, I could hear his every word, if he was quieter I wouldn't have but he seems to be deaf, I'm pretty sure Haymitch could have heard him from the house.

Oh no, the others, even if I do get away what about the others? What if I lead everyone straight to them?

"In here" a girl said, they stepped into the living room with their heads on the footprints, how daft can they seriously be? They hadn't even seen me yet, always check your surroundings before you enter a room. They walked to the fireplace giving me a chance to run while their eyes weren't on me. I made it around the wall and went to the door.

"She's here!" there was a fourth member to their little group keeping watch out the front "She's out here!" I jumped off of the little porch and tried to run but he stepped in my way "I don't think so, I could use that money. A silver arrow pierced his neck and he dropped to the ground just as the others filed from the house, one of the girls screamed and came running at me but an arrow pierced her neck as well. The other two looked ready to shit themselves and ran, I didn't want to chase them so I let them go. Katniss and dad jumped off of the roof that was across from this house.

I ran to dad and jumped on him letting him crush me in a hug.

"We should stick to the roofs… Where are the others? Where's Eliza?" Katniss looked like a warrior with her bow and arrows, she had a small pack on her back and dad was the same, he had a sword and a slightly bigger pack than Katniss, he was bleeding from his stomach though, I lifted his shirt examining the cut. He can't be hurt, he just can't be, I won't be able to cope if he left me.

"It's fine Bell, just a scratch" I nodded seeing that he was right and left him too it.

"Come on, the others are waiting… safely" I added the last bit for Katniss, she was hysteric about her daughter, she didn't know where Kaleb was or if he was safe, she didn't want that to happen with Eliza as well, she wanted them to be safe. I led them to the others quickly, making sure to stay out of sight, when Katniss was sure of the house we were going to she rushed ahead running to see Eliza.

Dad stopped me outside of the house "I know you're pregnant, I saw the broadcast" I flinched back placing my arms around my stomach protectively. I knew dad would never hurt me or not respect my decisions, it was just the instinctual thing to do "I want you to know I am not disappointed in you, and I support you all the way" he pulled me into a hug cradling my head to his chest. I just hope Kaleb hasn't become too attached to his genitals because I'm cutting them off when I see him next. I snorted and laughed a bit into his chest.

"He is happy about this daddy, he loves me and I love him" the wind was whistling and I knew it never normally did that and so did dad, he pushed me so we were apart and a spear flew right where we used to be standing and lodged into the door, a group of maybe 6 tributes came from the forest, these were Careers, the others from before were babies compared to these ones, they were big and buff, and they wanted blood, each one of them were loaded with weapons and they were coming fast.

"Run!"

REVIEW PLEASE!