The Running Games

Book 1 Chapter 1.

"It's reaping day, Tom. Peacekeepers are about to be crawling in 12. What did you plan on doing with a 50 pound deer?" She laughed and slung her pony tail off of her shoulder and let the game bag land on the ground in a heap.

"I was going to sell it at the hob, y'know so my family can eat." Teresa sat down on a boulder and Thomas went to join her. "We could've lasted weeks off of that deer mine and your family both." Teresa rolled her eyes and rummaged through her bag.

"Not today, you'd have been lucky to make it passed the fence without getting arrested." Thomas rolled his eyes and leaned his quiver and bow against the rocks.

"Here." Teresa handed him half of a roll and some goat cheese.

"No way!" Thomas gasped happily and took the roll from her hand. "This real?" He took a bite of the bread and relished in the smell and taste. It was still warm, it had to be fresh from the bakery.

"It better be." She snorted. "It cost me a squirrel." She took a healthy bite of her own bread and nibbled on the cheese. Thomas took his time chewing on the bread, lost in his own thoughts as he stared into the trees.

"How many times is your name in the bowl?" He asked her. She herself took a long time to answer, her eyes gazed to her fingers.

"48." She replied, finishing her piece of bread. "You?"

"23." Thomas sighed, he feared for her life in the games. She had almost outgrown the age limit, her birthday fell just after the reaping so this would be her last year to have her name drawn. Thomas himself had two more years, and his sister. This was the first year his sister would be eligible. He knew she had nightmares and somehow he was surprised that today wasn't one of the days she had woken up from the fear. Teresa had three younger brothers and her mother to look after. Her father had passed in the same mining accident that had killed his own father, leaving her to fend for her family. The capitol would offer that person a years grain and oil for each extra admission.

"What if we just ran away, didn't have to worry about these damn games." Teresa asked, her gaze was far off into the trees again and Thomas sighed. This wasn't the first time she had brought something like this up.

"Where would you go?"

"I'd go that way." She pointed into the forest that stretched for miles, just acres of dense trees.

"Kay in the woods?" Thomas snorted and rolled his eyes, picking at some of the cheese. "And you've got your mom and brothers. We wouldn't make it 10 miles." Teresa frowned and kept her gaze to the distance.

"No, I would make it ten miles. We can hunt and-"

"Teresa." Thomas warned her. He was tired of hearing this, though he always admired her bravery she was reckless. She cleared her throat and turned toward Thomas.

"Happy Hunger Games." She said, holding up some left over cheese to Thomas, who copied her.

"And may the odds be ever in your favor." He took a bite of the cheese and smiled. He'd done his best impression of Effie Trinket, district 12's escort. She was from the capital and had it all. Her makeup was probably an inch thick, caked on white with ridiculously long lashes and always wore flashy outfits. He could only guess what she would be wearing this year.

Thomas and Teresa headed back to the district border around mid morning with their haul for the day and headed for the Hob. They would be able to take their kill and trade it for other essentials, clothes and sometimes shoes if they needed some. Today Thomas decided on stew from Greasy Sae, an old cook who bought Thomas's squirrels every day.

As he approached, he saw Brenda standing at her table, a bowl of stew in her hand. Brenda was one of the Peacekeepers that was permanently stationed at 12, and to say the least, a shameless flirt with Thomas.