Just to let you guys know, Cato is unfortunately not in this chapter. It's focused on District 12, and it's starring Prim and Rory :)
Meanwhile, in District 12...
Rory and Prim were walking side by side to the woods. They were both 13 years old now. It had been a few months since Gale died. Since then, nothing had been the same. Rory and his family had barely been getting by without him, but his mother had remarried, so things were somewhat better.
Before Gale died, he started teaching his younger brother how to hunt. Rory knew a little. Enough to catch animals in snares. He was even teaching Prim. Well, mostly she'd sit and watch. He guessed that she didn't want to break a nail or anything. But Rory didn't mind. He enjoyed her company. They weren't official or anything, but he knew they were meant to be. They'd liked each other for ages, but they wouldn't admit it to each other.
As they got to the electric fence, Rory checked for the low buzz it would normally give off. Thankfully, it wasn't on. "Hey, what's that? In the sky," Prim said, pointing to a hovercraft in the air. Something dropped out of it, causing an explosion in the distance. They heard screams and yells coming from all over. "No!" cried Prim. She tried to run toward the explosions, but Rory grabbed her arm before she could go any further.
"You can't go," Rory said. "If you go, then I'll have to go with you. I don't want to die. We have to go into the woods now."
"But what about our parents? And friends?" she asked, starting to cry. Prim was known for crying. It gave Rory an excuse to try to comfort her in a hug.
Rory shook his head. "We'll both die," he heard another explosion, which sounded even closer this time, "if we go back. Get through the gate, Prim!" Reluctantly, she proceeded to slip through the gate, as did Rory. They ran deeper and deeper into the woods, hearing screams and chaos behind them. They ran until they were exhausted.
Prim plopped down into the grass,with a ruddy face, stained with tears. Rory sat next to her quietly. He wasn't exactly sure what he should say. He sat and wondered if his family was okay. He doubted it, even though he wished it were true. Why was their district being bombed anyway? He wanted to know. He wanted to cry too, like Prim was doing, but the tears wouldn't come.
He noticed Prim stop crying and looked over at her with concern. "Are you... okay?" he said nervously.
"No," she said. "But I will be. I just hope that Katniss will win again, at least."
"At least you have someone," he said. "I don't have any family left."
She gave a small smile and said, "You still have me." Then she kissed his cheek. Rory smiled at that. But he wanted a real kiss, so he slowly leaned in to kiss her. She let his lips press against hers until she pulled away with a grin.
Even though things were falling apart, they still had each other. Rory just had to find a way to help them survive. There was no guarantee that they'd live in the woods and live happily ever after. "Do you see that tree over there?" Prim asked, pointing to a tree near the lake. She stood up. "That's the Hanging Tree... My dad used to sing that song to me and Katniss."
Rory furrowed his brows in confusion. he'd never heard of it. Prim frowned and said, "His grandparents both killed themselves and left his father to fend for himself."
"Can you sing it?"
"Okay," she said and looked down into the grass. She sat back down. "Are you, are you coming to the tree where they strung up a man they say murdered three? Strange things did happen here. No stranger would it be if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree," she continued. "Are you, are you coming to the tree where the dead man called out for his love to flee? Strange things did happen here. No stranger would it be if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."
Rory remembered the song now. Prim's father had sang it to the both of them before he died. "Are you, are you coming to the tree where I told you to run so we'd both be free? Strange things did happen here. No stranger would it be if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."
Prim smiled again and finished, "Are you, are you coming to the tree? Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me. Strange things did happen here. No stranger would it be if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."
"I didn't know that you could sing."
"You never asked."
Rory got up and helped Prim to her feet. "There's a house over there. Me and Gale used to sleep there at night if the gate was on when we tried to leave."
"Okay," Prim said, brushing off her dress as she followed behind him. Suddenly, they saw another hovercraft, which was directly over them. Rory gasped. "Run!" he said, pushing Prim forward. Prim, being the clumsy girl she was, tripped on a rock or something slowing them down. The hovercraft landed. They were spotted and trapped. They'd die for sure, so they didn't even bother trying to run.
To their surprise, Haymitch stepped off of the hovercraft with an urgent look on his face. "Kids! Get in here! We're taking you to District 13. It's safe there," he said, waving them over. Rory and Prim went closer.
Rory narrowed his eyes. "Why should we trust you?"
Haymitch rolled his eyes and put his hand on his forehead. "Because you two will die out here in the woods eventually. I got her sister out of the Games alive once before, didn't I?"
Rory's face softened, coming to the realization that this man had a point. Prim nodded, silently telling him that we could trust him and that they'd be better off going with him. Rory and Prim stepped in front of Haymitch, boarding the ship. He led them to some seats, where they saw many older people that neither had seen before. "What's going on?" asked Prim as the hovercraft rose in the air.
"It's a long story," said Haymitch, opening up a bottle of alcohol and pouring it into a cup. "You'll find out soon enough." Prim sat back in her seat next to Rory, defeated.
Rory looked out the window to find that their district was in flames and ruin. Prim gasped in despair. Their whole lives had been down there and now it was completely destroyed. "Is anyone... alive down there?" asked Rory.
"I doubt it," said Haymitch nonchalantly. "We'll check for survivors first thing in the morning, once the fires have died down and we're not being watched."
Rory felt so many emotions all at once. He could hardly take it. He wanted to scream, to cry, to punch something, anything. He wondered what was happening with the Games. Had they already started? Could Katniss win again? Would anyone be alive back in their destroyed district? Why would anyone want to kill thousands of people? Rory couldn't understand. He looked at Prim, who placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a solemn smile. There were no words that needed to be said.
How'd you like? Don't worry. There will be a new chapter with Cato and/or Glimmer in it :) Have a great night guys. And I'll try to update soon! Leave me a nice review, will you?
~Lola Estheim