we all have a chance (Chase)

The hovercraft is visible through the dense greenery. My heart quickens, as do my footsteps. I hear a whirring and move just in time to miss another one of those spears. I am sure next time I won't be so lucky.

I look back. Daniel is still some way away. I yell at him to hurry, or he will certainly be caught and shipped off to the Capitol. He smiles at me, and shakes his head. He's so cocky...

I scream. The tip of a spear is protruding from his stomach. Blood pours from the wound in buckets. I stop running. He falls. I feel a net close around me, but I don't care. He's gone...

///

I wake up, breathing heavy and sweating buckets. I sit up in bed (well not really bed, more like sleeping bag) and look around, reaching out. Finally I felt him. Daniel was still right beside me, sleeping soundly as ever. I breathed a sigh of releif and get up.

I gaze at the fence a mere ten yards away from us. It's not electrified as it's supposed to be, but it's still dangerous. What if Peacekeepers are standing guard, making sure Wanderers like us don't get in?

I glance back at Daniel, and feel a sharp pang in my chest. He was too young for all of this. Not even elegible for the Games yet, and already running between Districts, trying as hard as he could to hide from the Capitol. I would have done anything for him.

I snatched up our pack, taking food inventory. A few handfulls of berries and one remaining turkey leg. I would have to get some more food... soon.

I glanced over at Daniel again. Still sound asleep. Well, there's no time like the present. I put down the pack and begin my steady stroll towards the once-electrified fence.

I placed my foot in the nearest rung, and climbed to the top. I carefully moved over the thorn wire and jumped, landing gracefully on the dirt.

I walked through the town, hoping against hope I would just happen to find a shop that forgot to close it's doors? That forgot to lock up it's goods? But, not to my surprise, this did not happen. But, don't get me wrong, something did happen. Something better.

As I was gazing into the open windows of the District 7 houses, I lay me eyes on something beautiful. Something amazing. A whole chicken. Just sitting in a window cooling off. I peered through the curtains, looking for the owners. Nobody was to be soon. I cautiously slid my hands under the pan. It was warm, but not sizzling hot. I would need to hurry. The owner would surely be back soon.

I grabbed the food, pan and all, and made a mad dash for the fence.

Marcelene Shumway

I jumped at the voice. I snatched up the pack, and leaned over to wake Daniel up, prepared to run. Surely this was some nosy Peacekeeper coming to do us in? But no. As I turned, I caught a glimpse of a girl (by the looks of it, older than me), standing at the fence, watching me. I sighed in releif, but I was still ready to get moving at a moment's notice. This girl could be a blabber-mouth for all I knew. I looked closer at the girl, and a spark of recognition flared inside me. This was the girl that had been underneath that tree reading. She had seen me steal that food. Surely if she hadn't gone and alerted the Peacekeepers then, she wouldn't now.
"Hey," I reply. I have no idea who this person is. I glance over at Daniel. Would he approve of this? It seems laughable that everything comes back to Daniel. A little boy, yet his future rests on my shoulders. And at the rate we were going, it wasn't looking too bright.
I place the chicken in my lap. I will only eat a little bit. Daniel needs this food a lot more than I do. I tear a strip of meat off the bone and pop it in my mouth. I wait untill I have it swallowed before I speak again. "So I'm guessing you're going to run off and tell the Peacekeepers or something now that you know about me, huh?" I wait for her response, busying myself with the chicken.