The Runaways

the end?

"What do you mean?" Peeta asks curiously.

Josephine shrugs, "for years, both our countries were friendly and then one day yours was suddenly different, called themselves Panem. When that happened, your country closed itself off. Stopped interacting with the rest of the world. Nobody came in or out. Radio silence."

"And then years later," Anna continues. "People started appearing along the borders. The stories were horrific. Children murdered for entertainment, starvation, beatings, public humiliations."

Peeta reaches for her hand, she takes it. "What happened to them? Once they arrived?"

"It caused quite a commotion, at first." Josephine admits, "the government argued with itself for months. They would have done it for years, but we just didn't have the time for that. People were showing up, more and more in some parts. They needed somewhere to go, food, jobs. Some people were distrustful, a lot of the refugees had seen direct combat and could be violent. It caused a lot of divides here."

"So, they built the camps," Anna says. "And they worked for a while. Helped people settle in. But they couldn't stay in them forever, so after a while, we figured out schools and tried to use existing skills to get them into the workforce. It's still a work in progress. But it's the best we've got so far."

"Are there others?" Katniss asked, "like this country, are there others, or is it just the two of us?"

Anna laughed, "every single one of you asks that. Yes, there are others. There are hundreds."

[]

The camps, once they got there, weren't that bad. Of course, her points of reference were extreme, one being the Seam and the other the Victors Village. She would say they were a step down from Victors Village, yet, in no way were they like the Seam.

It was strange, they were divided by family, assigned a small home, given a bundle of new clothes, a box filled with non-perishable foods, and informed that they would be given an allowance by the government once per month. After that they were left to their own devices, but they were told to report to the 'city hall' sometime tomorrow to receive further information and be put 'on record.'

The homes were assigned based on a family's size. Katniss her sister and mother were assigned a three-bedroom home. Peeta and Rye were assigned to a two-bedroom, and the Hawthornes' were assigned the largest one available, a four-bedroom. They were told that if there were any children under the age of 18 in any of their households, they were eligible for a larger monthly allowance, which they could apply to once they went to 'city hall.'

The 'camps' themselves did not look like camps. Anna assured them it was merely slang. Instead, the camps were a collection of what Anna called 'pre-built' homes, placed along cement paved roads which were interspersed by trees and yards. Katniss had never seen a place like it.

Still awed of having found another country, she stands gazing around the simple living space of her assigned house when Peeta walks in the door. He looks just as shocked as she is.

"Hey," he smiles, leaning against the closed front door. "How are you feeling?"

"How do you think?" she challenges dropping her arms from where they'd been crossed over her chest. "This is so much more than I had hoped for. I thought we would have to build our own houses, try to survive on hunting and foraging for the rest of our lives. I never thought we'd find other people."

"I know," he whispers a smile playing on his lips. "Katniss, do you know what this means?"

"What?" she asks, trepidation building in her stomach.