Running in the wild

[Echo]

'Gotta keep running' Jaimee told herself and speeded up. The sweat was dripping down her forehead and she had a hard time keeping her breath steady. She was almost by the border now so she slowed down and settled for a jog. She'd been running everyday for the last nine days. Usually she only ran twice or three times a week but whenever the games was on, she ran. She couldn't bear sitting around, watching everybody get killed, without feeling like she had some sort of preparation in case she was next. 'Gotta keep in shape' her dad had always told her. 'Don't want your laziness to kill you, do you?'

After she'd slowed her pace, she started feeling the cold again and swore at herself for not bringing more clothes. She pulled her hoodie closer and breathed into her hands, just as she heard someone coming up behind her.

[inksstainedhand]

Rose
I don't know who this is, but I have been following her for a good ten minutes before she has slowed to almost a complete stop. She swore, more loudly than perhaps she would have if she knew someone was near. I walk up close, wanting to know who this girl is. This running girl. I get close enough to touch her before she notices I'm here. I stop but I don't say a word, waiting for her to turn and address me.

[Deleted]

Terra walked down through the district. She fiddled with a strand of her golden hair. She was in her own little world, barely paying attention to what was around her. Soon, she looked up and saw two girls standing there. She quickened her pace and shouted, "Hey, what are you guys doing out here anyways? Shouldn't you be inside watching the games?" Of course, that's what Terra really wanted to be doing.

[Echo]

Jaimee turned around and saw a girl coming up behind her. She raised her hand in a wave and the girl introduced herself as Rose. Jaimee reached into her pocket and pulled out her paper and pen. I'm Jaimee. I'm a mute. She always wrote this because it saved all the questions people usually asked. The girl was about to say something when another girl interrupted her. She walked to them, shouting "Hey, what are you guys doing out here anyways? Shouldn't you be inside watching the games?" Jaimee turned her pad to a new page and wrote "My dad always says you shouldn't stop exercising because of the games. Gotta be prepared. And I'm Jaimee. I'm a mute." She looked up just in time to see the girl stepping up to them and Jaimee smiled, extending her hand and paper.

[Deleted]

I read the paper and then said, "Wow, really? Well, that's kind of stupid. You're dad must be pretty dumb," Terra says carelessly, "My dad's the opposite way. He doesn't really care if I train for the games. In fact, he lets me do pretty much anything. He's not worried about having me picked for the games because he knows that if I am, someone will definitely want to volunteer for me anyways." Terra shrugged and did a quick fingernail check. "Oh, by the way, I'm Terra. What about that girl over there? Is she another one of those mutes that has to write everything down or can she actually speak?" Terra said rudely.