''Hey, where you goin'?'' My friend Senwe asked me.
''Where do you think. We were talking about this yesterday. I'm 'bout to run the hell away.'' I told her.
''I thought you were just playing man.'' She chuckled.
''Nope, I'm getting the hell out of here before the capitol gets here.'' I said.
''You know that they keep records of people who live in these districts, right?'' She pointed at me with a smile on her face. ''Anyway, they'd probably track you down.''
''That's why I have you. You know how to damage software's with your... smartness?'' I replied.
''Ohhh, so you only want me to come with you because I'm smart? Not because of our friendship huh?'' She asked me.
''Noooo, you know it's not like that.'' I said.
She chuckled and I was blushing. She noticed that my face was red, and laughed at me. It was pretty funny, but I was serious about running away. The thing though is that the fences are electrical, so if one of us touched it, we would be fried. I don't want to be friend, so I have an idea. We have this one giant tree next to the fence, but it isn't touching it. So what I was thinking was that the two of us would climb the tree, and jump over the fence. I told her this.
''What if one of us can't make it and accidentally hit the fence, and get electrocuted?'' She asked me.
''Then the other one will jump onto the fence and we can die together.'' I joked.
''That's not funny.'' She said ''But, it's sweet. The both of us dying together side by side huh? You'd enjoy that wouldn't you?''
''Maybe.'' I chuckled.
''What about our families? Won't they come too?'' She asked me.
''Only if they want to. I know that my brother wants to stay here, and my sister adores this district. She knows that it's home. My mother and father also love this, and you know that goes the same with your family. Your mom and dad love this district, and so does your younger brother, and older sister.'' I said.
''True, but won't you miss them? I know that I will if they don't come.'' She told me.
She leaned onto my shoulder, and I was blushing hard. I don't know what to do so I just let her head lay there. I told her that I wouldn't miss them as much as I would miss her if she ever left without me.
''Awww, that's sweet.'' She said.
''My flirt game is too real.'' I thought to myself while biting my lips and smiling at the same time.
I couldn't hold in my smile, and made an awkward noise that sounded like a heavy cough and a sneeze at the same time. She quickly got up, and looked at me. She asked if I was coughing up blood because it sounded like it, I guess. I told her that I wasn't and she sighed in relief. I was ready to run off the tree into the forest. Once I brought it back up she looked worried.
''What about the forest?'' She said.
''What about the forest?'' I asked.
''Won't there be animals, and dangerous creatures there. You know that the capitol puts failed creations in the forests of these districts. We don't know how to use weapons or fight, and what about food. How will we even survive a week?'' She asked in a way as if she was gonna cry. I thought that it was cute as hell.
''Yeah, but we'll learn how to. Let's learn how to survive and stuff. We definitely won't get chosen for the games. We're only fifteen, how could we get chosen out of all the people older than us. I doubt that people fifteen and under would have a greater chance of getting chosen more than 16 year olds and up. Their names go in way more than ours do so I doubt that two fifteen year olds will get chosen for the Hunger Games. So, we'll learn how to fight, fend off, and hunt for fish to survive. We'll be a great team with so much potential. We can run away, forget the districts and the capitol. They can eat my ass, I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to us. It's too risky to take chances.'' I told her.
''I see.'' She said. ''Well, I guess that I can trust you then, right?''
''Definitely.'' I replied.
After a while of just sitting down and talking to each other about pointless things, she laid on my lap and looked at the sky. I feel asleep on the grass, and she woke me up. She pointed up towards the sky, and we saw a hovercraft above us. The hover craft saw us, and we hurried up to climb up onto the tree. They saw us, but didn't do anything about it. I let Senwe go first. Her red hair was waving, and I couldn't stop staring. She was snapping her fingers for a while, and then I finally realized. I quickly told her to jump, and she did. She made it across the fence and then told me to jump. Unfortunately for me, when I jumped, I slid a little and didn't jump far enough, and I landed on my crotch on top of the fence. I was in pain, and did not get up. Senwe had to drag me to get me to get up. I finally got up, and a ladder came out of the hovercraft, and a person was yelling through a microphone for us to get back into the district boarder line. We didn't listen and we just kept on running as fast as we could. We got into the forest and lost them, but we ran into some pretty vicious animals in the middle of the forest. We were surrounded by ravenous dogs, and wolves; even some bears for crying out loud. I was scared, and mad at the same time. The capitol heard the barks of the animals, and quickly went to the location that they heard it from. They quickly sent troops to come get us. The troops dived down, and completely killed all the animals in the forest that were around us, and they grabbed both Senwe and I. They brought us up. They asked us what we were doing and all I did was say that the fences weren't electrical. They looked at each other and told us to be keep that a secret. I asked them why they didn't want anyone knowing, and they said because it would start another riot, and people would try to escape. I look over, and see Senwe crying.
''What are you gonna do with Dagan and I?'' she asked.
''You and Dagan, are both going to be quiet. If you don't, we'll either hurt your families or execute you.'' One of the capitol people told us.
''Why do you guys do this?'' Senwe asked.
''Do what?'' A capitol worker asked while smiling.
''Destroy lives!'' Senwe said in an angry tone.
''…'' No reply. ''Let's bring you guys to the center of your district, the reapings is about to begin.''
We got to the middle of our district, and we waited to see what would happen. They asked us for our full names. ''Dagan Jobus.'' I said. ''Carlieta Rut.'' Senwe said. I looked at her in shock, but then I also regretted saying my actual name. Now they can search me up in the capitol, and know everything about me. Once everybody got to the center of the capitol, the capitol people went inside the room, and I knew that they were doing something fishy..
''Hey, you're our escort right? What's your name?''
''Eil Rimi, and yeah, I'm the escort for district nine. Why?''
''Listen, no matter what. It doesn't matter who you pick, for the female say 'Carlieta Rut, and for the male, say 'Dagan Jobus' no matter what name comes from the bowl. Got it?''
''Ok...''
''Good.''
Our escort came out and started to talk. He told us his name was ''Eil Rimi,'' and we watched the video of why this all started. I looked around, and saw Senwe looking at the ground, and tears falling. When Eil announced the girl, he said the name ''Carlieta Rut.'' Everyone turned around, in curiosity. There was nobody named ''Carlieta Rut,'' in our district.
''Are you retarded? You're from the capitol right. You should know that there's no 'Carlieta Rut' in this district. You must have been told to say a random name or something.'' Someone in the audience joked.
Everyone laughed, and the two guards who were there looked at each other in disbelief. The guards were angry and Eil said that he was just messing around. He said the actual name on the card and it was ''Senwe Curby.'' I was in shock, she was in shock as well, and she looked like she was about to throw up. She walked up to the stage slowly, and the two guards walked behind her. I overheard them say, ''You're getting it now.'' Eil pulled out a card with a boys name on it, and he said my name, ''Dagan Jobus.'' I was in shock, but I was glad that I could be with my friend. We shook hands, and we both went into the rooms that we were escorted to. Before I entered the room, I ran outside and yelled, ''THE FENCES, THE FENCES AREN'T ELECTRICAL. THE CAPITOL JUST SAYS THAT TO SCARE THE CITIZENS AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY DON'T TRY TO ESCAPE. DON'T LISTEN TO THE CAPITOL, THEY'RE FULL OF LIES. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE SENWE AND I TRIED TO ESCAP-.'' That's all that I could say before they could take me away. The two guards pushed me into the room, and I put my head against the door.
''That kid is... he's something. What should we do with him?''
''Cut off his tongue.''
''Right. Smart idea.''
''Hey, Eil, who was the real boy that was supposed to be on that card.''
''Some guy named Edi Cuvel.''
I didn't know who that was, but the thought of my tongue being cut scared me.
''What should we do with the girl?''
''Let her be, she seems like the type to break down in a heavy situation. She'll probably be one of the first three to die in the games.''
''Ok.''
I was visited by family, and we talked for a while. But the guards took them away, and grabbed Senwe and I. They pushed me from my back into a bent over position and forcefully opened my mouth. I thought this was very homo, but they pulled out a knife. The grabbed a knife, and grabbed my tongue out. Senwe was being held back, and she was trying to struggle out of the hold but it didn't budge. The guards used a knife to cut my tongue. After they cut my tongue, I was let go, and I yelled as loud as I could; no sound came out.
''WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?'' Senwe asked.
''We cut his tongue, so now he cant talk.'' One of the guards said.
''No, why would you do that?!'' Senwe said while she bursted out crying.
We reached the capitol, and the two guards went to the presidents office in the hotel that every tribute would be staying at. I saw a couple of tributes, and some waved at me. I didn't do anything back. I followed the guards into the office that the president stays at in the hotel, and they told him what they did to me, and what they told Eil to do. The president jumped in fury, and quickly pressed a button that sent five people into the room instantly. Fortunately, none of them saw me. I watched to see what would happen, and the five men who entered the room slaughtered the two guards violently. The president later called Eil into the office, and I had as soon as I saw him walking. He didn't see me in the little corner that I was in, and I peaked in to see what would happen.
''Do you know, what type of bull you just put me through?'' The president asked.
''No sir, I'm sorry.'' Eil said.
''You must be the dumbest motherfucker I have ever met in my life. WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU LISTEN TO TWO GAURDS WHO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO? ARE THEY THE ESCORTS, NO! DID I TELL YOU TO SAY A WRONG NAME ON PURPOSE? NO! SO WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO IT?'' The president was furious.
''No sir, IM SORRY!'' Eil yelled. ''Are those two... they're ok right?''
''Kill him.'' The president said.
The five men each stabbed Eil in his abdomen, and each slit his throat. I threw up at the sight of seeing that, and I ran back to the hotel room that Senwe, Eil, and I were supposed to be staying at. I couldn't tell Senwe what happened, but I wanted to so I wrote it down on a piece of paper. She looked at me and gasped. After about an hour, a new escort came to the hotel room, and told us that Eil had been replaced. Senwe asked what his name was, and he told us ''Rody Tindel.'' He asked me questions, but I didn't answer; he thought I was a mute. I did not like the capitol at all, and I just wanted this nightmare to end. I'm just glad that they didn't tell the president that Senwe and I knew about the ''electrical'' fence. They probably would have executed the both of us as well.