Nothing Personal

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"Do you think we've come far enough?"

Megan nodded, clutching the spear tightly. She was expecting footsteps around the corner any moment. These roads were random and seemed to lead everywhere at once. She thought they'd been walking for half an hour, but she didn't think they were far enough away from the Cornucopia to be safe from the Careers. Still, she reckoned it was better to stop now, before they got completely lost.

"Well, here's as good as anywhere, I guess," said Vedran, heading towards a house that looked exactly like the others. Megan held out a hand and grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait," she said, "This is the Games; you never know that they'll do." With that, she grabbed a rock from the crumbling road and hurled it at a top window. It clattered through. Vedran ducked automatically, thinking that the sound might attract any roaming tributes. There had to be plenty. The cannon had only gone off three times so far.

Nothing happened.

Megan grinned smugly at him. "Just checking, in case they've trapped the house," she explained and he grinned, impressed. He should have known she'd be intelligent, otherwise people wouldn't have tolerated her back home.

"I guess we should go inside then," he said, "It's safer than out here, anyway. As long as we stay away from the windows."

They wandered into the house, Vedran blocking up the door with a little table thing that was lying pointlessly in the front room. It reminded him a little of his own home, and he didn't know if that made him feel better or not. He went through to the kitchen, finding it on the first try, and was surprised to find cans in some of the cupboards.

"Megan, there's food!" he exclaimed happily, checking the view out of the back window. It was a little wood, with the stream running right by the back fence. Running water. "I think we've got the perfect place!" he said excitedly.

"Vedran..." called Megan. She sounded nervous, or at least a bit worried. He slid through to where her voice was coming from; a squat little living room with three beige chairs clustered around a TV screen.

He couldn't help it; he pressed the switch.

Amazingly, the screen flickered into life. Megan fell back from her haunches in shock. Vedran just started at the screen, a disorientated and unpleasant feeling creeping up his back.

They were staring at what looked like an old building site. Thin, wiry bushes poked up through the ground, more like shrubs. The picture was good, and it looked like it was taken from a tree or something because every so often something like leaves would flicker over the top of the screen.

For a few seconds, nothing changed. Then a small shadow stole into view, huddled over a little blue backpack. The camera zoomed in on her insane hair and frowning eyes.

"It's Court!" gasped Megan.

"We're actually...I don't...this shouldn't be possible!" muttered Vedran, searching his head for possible explanations. He found none.

"Why are they letting us?" asked Megan, not expecting an answer, "We can stay here, watch this. We'll know who's allied with who, people's specialities...we shouldn't be allowed to see this."

"Let's not complain," Vedran said. He sat down on the floor, watching the screen with his eyes fixed fast. Megan sat next to him and leant on his shoulder. It was a comfort to have someone else around, especially someone who she knew she could rely on.

On the screen, the scene flickered to Oak, perched high up in a tree overlooking the Cornucopia, then to a different park, where the Careers were lounging about on what looked like playground equipment. It all squeaked badly from lack of use. Tile was spinning round and round, occasionally fluttering her eyes at Dark and Klaus. Amber scowled at her from a swing. Dark was on top of a small tower, keeping lookout, and Klaus was striding up and down, shaking his head every so often.