Real or Not Real?- A Hunger Games FanFiction

Chapter 20- Action

Chapter 20- Action

Crying. Why do I hear crying? I sit up silently and look around the dark space. I hear snoring to my right. Zaavia. And the crying is to my left. I turn around and barely make out a small figure huddled on the forest floor.

"Althea, honey, are you okay?" Honey? I almost laugh out loud because I have never called anyone honey in my life.

I hear her sniffle. "No."

"Are you hurt? What's wrong?" 

"I miss home. And my mama. She was sick when we both got picked. She might not be there if we come back..."

"Come here." I say and she crawls into my arms. She's so small for her age. I hug and rock her. After a while of her not going to sleep, I say, "In school did they ever teach you about Panem's history?"

"All of the time. How the Hunger Games began because of the District's revolt so we should never revolt again."

"Not that history." I laugh softly. "Way before that. When Panem was called America."

"They told us that America was so stupid that it got destroyed by war and hate."

"It wasn't always like that. Sometimes I like to imagine how it was before the war. I've read a lot about it so I have a pretty good picture of everyday life."

"How would you live?"

"I would be like everyone else, but invisible. My parents would pretty much be gone like they are now. Also I would get bullied a lot. Bullies were like Careers that couldn't kill you."

"That sounds bad." I can hear the frown in her voice.

"But it wouldn't always be bad. I would have awesome friends to stand by me. To help me through the tough times."

"What did America used to look like?" She says as she yawns.

I smile. "You could go outside into the woods. There would be nothing to be afraid of in there. You could see miles and miles of land. Then, the beach. Families would go to the ocean on vacation. Little kids could play in the ocean without a care in the world. There would be no worries. And if you looked out, it looked like the world was flat and you could see where it dropped off."

"It's silly to think that." She barely whispers.

"People used to think that the world was flat. Back to America, it used to call itself "the home of the free". People were free. No Hunger Games to worry about, not many problems to deal with. People would still die, but they had food, love, and family."

"Did you have a family?" I have to lean in to hear her. It's like she knows I'm from that time. 

"I didn't realize it, but I did." I lay down with Althea beside me in the sleeping bag and close my eyes. I had Jay and Lily, my family. My real family didn't act like my family but I had one. I was so scared of everything. Me being scared about it seems so silly now.

As I hug and kiss Althea goodnight now, I realize I extended my family, too. I have problems right now and I'm not afraid anymore to protect my family.

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I feel something. Like someone's watching me. Right when I gather the courage to open my eyes, someone shouts, "Up, up, up wimps! We gotta go, go, go!"

I groan and open my eyes to see Zaavia cutting another apple. The way she said things three times reminded me of Effie. I almost miss her now. Was Zaavia the one watching me? I look from her to me to see Althea huddled next to me still. That's the reason I was so warm.