The Capital Games

Chapter 16 {THE THIRD NIGHT}

God, I’m so cold” Finnian Calibur whispered as he pushed himself against Hugh Wellben’s side. Hugh let out a sigh as he nodded his head in agreeance. Finn cuddled up against Hugh further as he stared ahead into the ‘emptiness of space’. The pair were hiding out in a warehouse in the western part of the arena, not too far from the cornucopia. The warehouse was simply rows upon rows of shelves, filled to the brim with huge cardboard boxes- all of them large enough to fit a person. They had checked a few boxes but they were thankfully empty. So Hugh had decided the safest place hide would be on the shelves of the warehouse- and so they took down one of the boxes, pushed it into the corner of the building and climbed up in its place.

    Hugh sat at the edge of the shelf, his feet dangling about three feet from the cold concrete ground below. Finn’s head found its way onto his thigh where it rested looking out across the ocean of shelves and boxes. Hugh’s stomach grumbled grabbing Finn’s attention/

    “You hungry?” he asked the slightly taller boy in concern. Hugh shook his head looking down at Finn.

    “Yeah… Kinda at least. I think we should save our food for later though, like tomorrow morning.” Hugh reasoned as Finn looked up at him, their eyes locking together. During the feast, they were lucky enough to get food without much hassle. They had followed the nearest beacon to the cornucopia where metal barrels of food lied, undisturbed. They had quickly grabbed all they could before running and finding the warehouse as it got dark out. By that time three cannons had already gone off. Others weren’t as lucky as they were.

    “Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m hungry too.” Finn responded. He lied there still, cuddling into Hugh’s warmth. His teeth chattered softly, barely loud enough for Hugh to notice. Hugh looked down before scooting backward and lying on his back.

    “C’mon.” he smiled patting on the steel they lied on. Finn uttered a small chuckle before crawling over next to Hugh and lying down. He rolled over onto side facing Hugh and grabbed his arm.  “Ya know Hugh… If we ever make it out of this…” Finn started before running off into a soft murmur. Hugh rolled his head over towards Finn and smiled, cocking an eyebrow.

    “What?” he giggled.

    “If we survive this all… I’d love to go out on a date.” Finn confessed, biting at the dead skin on his chapped lips. He looked straight into Hugh’s gray eyes. He couldn’t tell what the boy was to say. His pale face was like a stone cold brick wall. He had no reason to doubt he would say yes, and yet he worried. Hugh giggled.

    “I’d love too.” He responded with a smile as he looked into Finn’s eyes. Before going into the arena Finn had worn contacts that made his eyes a neon electric blue, but now they were bare, just their beautiful selves. Hugh continued to smile. “Not to try to change the subject but your eyes… I like them without the contacts. They’re perfect just the way they are.” Finn blushed heavily.

    “You too…” he murmured softly whilst blushing a heavy red. Hugh smiled before his eyes drifted close.  Finn tugged at his arm and his eyes opened. “If-When we go our date, can it be somewhere far? Far from this place and the capital? Somewhere without any skyscrapers or statutes or-”

“Or the hunger games?” Hugh finished for him.

“Yeah. Somewhere far from these games” Finn said as he buried his head into Hugh’s shoulder. “Like maybe in district 9 or something. I bet it’s so pretty there. Just oceans of grain and wheat. Just imagine all the different colors, Hugh… All that yellow and gold, and a vibrant blue sky. It would be like paradise.”

“Maybe… I never really thought about the districts like that before. Maybe you’re right though. Maybe we can leave for good once this is all over. Leave the whole capital… Leave all of this behind and start anew.