-Jason

Oh, everything's going absolutely for the best.

Piper and I were left shell-shocked and desperate by that boy's revelation - it was as if someone had given us hope, dropping us near a village where people apparently spoke our language and had suddenly removed all of it without warning, making us realize that we were in the future, half a century after our era.

 "What the hell even is Panem?" I said, trying to deflect the terrible silence hanging on Piper and me.

"I have no idea. Don't remember it from textbooks in school... Panem..." she replied, exhaling slowly as if to stop her from crying.

"I recall something from Latin class... I think Panem's a Latin word, right?"

Piper's expression shifted. "Oh, yeah... I remember. It means bread... but why on earth would a country be named bread?

I shrugged, defeated. If at least we had some sort of clue, something, anything to put us on track, I'd jump on it, but we had nothing. Absolutely nothing. We had no idea where we were.

"I'm gonna ask the civilians here for some more indications... but I guarantee nothing," I concluded.

Walking towards the compound of small, red-bricked houses that looked like they were going to fall in ruins any second, I realized that this neighborhood was even poorer than what I was used to in LA. The streets were narrow and seemingly unlit, and the residences bordering them were more like shacks: incredibly tiny, probably only large enough to hold a kitchen and a small bedroom. Even the people here looked ruined, their clothes in rags, their shoes - which most of them didn't have - with holed soles, their faces wearing an exhausted and defeated expression, as if they were living in the depths of hell and were used to it.

A pang of pity shot me in the heart. Even though these people were complete strangers, I felt compassion for them and their condition. But there was more to it.

At first, I had trouble finding what was nagging me, but quickly I realized what seemed off. It was in their eyes - they harbored intense sadness and demotivation, but not only that. It was very hard to see but still evident: a hint, just a tiny glimmer of rage. These people were fed up with their lives, and resented someone - I didn't know who. I felt this population was starting to agitate, and I could smell it in the tense atmosphere. It was the scent of rebellion.

I walked up to the closest person, a young woman in a ripped brown dress, her arms caked with mud - she was probably in her thirties, but her tired expression and wrinkles outlining her eyes made her look at least forty-five. 

"Excuse me, I asked, unsure of what to say, could you please help us? We went for a walk in the woods and got lost - now we have no idea where we are. "

The woman's expression shifted from disinterest to shock. "What do you mean, you went in the woods? The woods are off-limits, and peacekeepers patrol the forest border night and day. We can't just go for a walk."

I didn't understand. Why would it be forbidden to go in the woods? And we hadn't seen any peacekeepers - whoever they were - when we were in the forest. 

"You managed to escape? How?" She urged, keeping her voice low - as if she was worried someone would overhear us.

"Uh, we didn't escape," I replied, trying to stay calm. "We just walked out around noon-"

"What?" She shrieked, then cursed under her breath when passers turned around, curious. "You went in the woods during work hours?  How did you even-"

She stopped abruptly when a tall and muscular man, dressed in what looked like a police uniform, walked towards our direction. I noticed a small quiver in her eyes - she was afraid. I didn't know who this guy was, but obviously he had power on the people living here. 

"Is there a problem here?" asked the guard, frowning.

"Nothing, sir," murmured the woman, almost visibly shaking. I cleared my throat.

"Sir, I was just asking this woman if by chance she'd know the directions to return to my house. We went for a walk in the woods and got rather lost," I said cautiously.

Just like the woman, the police officer's eyes almost grew out of their orbits. He laughed humorlessly.

"You went for a walk?" He smirked. You do know that's a violation of Capitol law, right?

"What do you mean, a violation of the law?" I replied, beginning to realize how stupid it was to talk to civilians in an unknown country whose rules could be much different than what we were used to. "Why would it be forbidden to go walk in the woods?"

The Peacekeeper shook his head. "I don't know what game you're playing, my little man, but you're coming with me to the office right now."

Shit, I swore under my breath. We'd just arrived and were already causing trouble.

"On what grounds?" I insisted. "We didn't do anything wrong."

"Do you think you're funny?" the man spat. "Don't make a fuss, come with me to the police office, and you might get out without any problems. It's better for everyone."

"I'm not coming with you. Not for no reason." I replied stubbornly. 

The man put a hand to his pocket, reaching for what looked like the outline of a silver handgun. Uh-oh, I thought.

"You're gonna regret this," he menaced, his voice having lost all of its fake politeness.

The man didn't even have time to lift his pistol.

I lifted a hand and knocked the gun out of his hands. "What the f-" he started, but never finished his sentence. Thrusting my hands out, I pushed at the air in between us, and the police officer, with a startled yell, flew into the air and crashed into a nearby tree.

"Help! Guards! Help!" yelled the woman next to me, whom I'd forgotten until now.

"No, please, be quiet! I don't want any harm..." I tried to reassure her, but the woman kept yelling. The whole town would soon be alerted! What could I do!

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke from behind me. "Shut up," commanded Piper in a bossy voice, and the woman instantly stopped yelling, looking surprised.

"Thanks," I replied, but it was too late. We were already surrounded by a dozen guards, all lifting gleaming guns. 

"Damnit!" I swore. There was nothing we could do - I couldn't try pushing them all back without risking to get both Piper and I killed. 

"No, drop your guns - please! We don't mean any harm. All we were doing was calmly having a stroll through town," Piper said, her voice reassuring and soothing. The guards hesitantly lowered their guns, confused - that was all I needed. I gestured towards the nearest group of police officers and sent them flying across the street. Four down - eight to go. 

The nearest guard, coming back to his senses, attempted to knock us with a sort of baseball bat, but Piper reacted quicker and kicked her leg into his crotch with surprising force, causing the officer to bend in two and fall to the ground.

"Come on, we need to get out of here," I said, and grabbed hold of Piper's hand. Together, we flew into the air, summoning a cloud of dust where we had been standing. I sighed with relief. Finally, we were out of trouble!

But our problems didn't seem to want to stop there - I cried out as something sharp hit me in the leg. I looked down and gasped - a tranquilizer dart!

A moment later, I felt myself start to lose consciousness, and loosened my grip on Piper, feeling myself fade away. We were around seven meters above the ground... If I faltered now, the fall would be painful.

"Jason!" Piper yelled. But there was nothing she could do. Out of strength, I slipped away. We stopped going upwards, and for a few terrifying moments, we just stood there, in the middle of the air, as if we were in a cartoon.

The last thing I remembered was the feeling of my stomach climbing into my gut as Piper and I hurtled towards the ground.

Author's Note - 23 Nov. 2019

Hi there! Sorry for the late upload - here's a longer chapter to compensate! :)

Note that I can't upload that often since I'm working on six books at the same time. Yeah... that's my big flaw lol. I can't focus on just doing one thing at a time! Anyways, I'll see you around. Remember to vote if you've enjoyed, and comment on what you thought about this chapter! Which character's point of view would you like to see next?