Children at War~(jasik,clove)~

I nod absentmindedly and walk over to the cribs. I pick up two bottles of milk and wonder how I should do this. "Zoe, would you mind feeding one of them? They're both hungry," I ask her. I pick up Clove and hand her to my wife, then turn back to Riley. I gather him up in my arms and put the bottle to his lips. He immediately starts drinking it, a content, drunken baby look on his face. I join Zoe on the couch, watching the Hunger Games.

The Cornucopia sank. I raise my eyebrows in surprise. That's a new trick from the Gamemakers. Of course, they're always coming up with new ways to kill tributes. Apparently, no one died in the sinking, but one girl got hurt. I feel bad for her. But then the cameras show Sul, Nachele, Cherry, and Kale. My favorite alliance. I'm glad they're all alive. For a moment I wonder where Argent is, but then I remember. He betrayed them in order to join the other alliance. As I recall that group of tributes, the cameras flash to them fighting off some kind of mutt. Two lizard-like creatures lash out at the teens. I see one, the District 12 girl. Twelve years old. She attacked Sul, but I feel sorry for her. She looked shocked and upset after she swung her weapon at him. I don't just feel bad for her, though. I feel bad for all of them, trapped in an arena, forced to kill. I look down at Riley and Clove and hope beyond hope that they never have to go through that.

((Sorry I haven't posted for so long, I've been busy ))

Screaming and thumping rouses me from my nap on the couch. Riley and Clove keep sleeping on either side of me, contentedly sucking their thumbs. Zoe bursts into the room and gathers Riley up in her arms, telling me that we have to go. Eyes wide, I scoop up Clove, trying not to wake her, and as an afterthought I grab my sword, which is leaning against the wall. I haven't had to use it for so long, but it looks like that's about to change. Holding Clove in one arm, I clip the sheath to my belt, sword inside. I turn back to Zoe. "Zoe, what's going on?" More thumping and yelling from the other room, and Zoe runs out without answering my question. Worried, I follow her into the front room in time to see our neighbor, Colin, taking out a Peacekeeper. Two more lie dead on the floor, one with his head off. Shuddering, I move Clove so that her face is hidden. I don't want her to see this at such a young age. I still have nightmares about my first time seeing this kind of thing, and I was thirteen, I think bitterly. Clove and Riley don't need to see this when they're only a few weeks old. "Zoe, Colin, what's going on? Why are there Peacekeepers coming after us?"