It was a lonely walk back to the house, Antonia staying behind to help clean up the body, but I knew my Grandmother was waiting for me. Though we hadn’t been in contact since I left for the Capitol, I knew she’d sense that I’d had a close relationship with Riley. I knew she’d have sympathy. But when I arrived, things were not as I expected. The house was quiet. I couldn’t hear the sounds of my Grandmother’s knitting needles clicking together, or her footsteps as she paced the floors impatiently, awaiting my arrival.

 “Grandmother?” I shouted. The silence that followed was unnerving. She knew I was going to be home, and every other year, she’d waited in the house for me, so why wasn’t she there? Something was wrong.

 I headed to the kitchen. A half-drunk cup of coffee sat on the worktop, next to an uneaten loaf of bread. I dipped my finger in the coffee. It was stone cold, and the bread was beginning to grow mouldy. Grandmother never left food out to rot, or dishes unwashed. I suspected she’d been gone a few days. And she’d left in a hurry.

 I ran up the stairs to check the bedrooms. Grandmother’s room had no clues to where she was, but in my bedroom, a note rested upon my pillow. It had been sealed at some point, but someone had opened it already. Someone had been in the house. Someone knew Grandmother was missing, and they were trying to figure out where she was. I picked up the letter, scanning it quickly. It was Grandmother’s handwriting, but the letter didn’t seem to be written by her.

 Dear Arrian,

 I dint tell you before you left, but the day you return going to markets. I need to maindain my life’s rhythm while your away. I hope you don’t mynd me being away when you get home. I am sure our District has sucseeded and I will congratulat you when I see you. I should be home at around one o’clock in the afternoon.

 Love from Grandmother.

 I read it over several times. The spelling mistakes were evident, but it seemed uncharacteristic of Grandmother to make them. To someone who didn’t know her, they would put the mistakes down to poor education. Most women Grandmother’s age hadn’t learned to read or write as children, since schools were a privilege then, not an obligation, and therefore only the richer families could afford it. But though my Grandmother hadn’t attended school, she’d taught herself to read and write, and took pride in her grammar and spelling. Perhaps she’d been in a hurry, but it seemed as though she might be hiding something. Something she hoped the intruders would miss, but that I would not.

 I began to look closer at the mistakes. Leaving the d out of didn’t was just plain lazy. I made a note of it at the bottom of the letter. She’d missed out the I in her sentence and market wasn’t meant to be plural. I swapped the d for a t in maintain. Took note of the misspelt version of you’re. Scribbled an i where Grandmother had wrote a y in mind. Corrected the word succeeded with a c instead of an s. Frowned at the misspelling of congratulate. And finally, I scanned over the time she’d promised to arrive home. It was much past one o’clock when I found the note, but something struck me.

 “Military time,” I muttered, noting down the afternoon version of one o’clock. I’d cracked her code.

 District 13.  

 I was on my feet in an instant. I took out the bag I kept in my cupboard, already filled with clothes, medicine and food for a quick getaway. I didn’t have much time, knowing that the next cargo train was due within the next few hours. But there was somewhere I had to go first. Something I had to do.

 I knocked for Antonia, and without a word, she followed me. I hadn’t told her where we were going, but she trusted me, and we set off at a brisk walk. We made our way to the poorer side of town. Everyone was in their houses, lying low as Peacekeepers patrolled the area. It was clear that after the incident with Otto, they had upped their guard, and I was certain they were looking for Jordan. After all, though a lot of people were involved in the attack, he was the one who had initiated it. I just hoped I was able to find him first. Peacekeepers watched us suspiciously, but we acted casual, holding hands and pretending to gossip and laugh as we walked.

 Though District 7 was one of the safer and richer Districts, the poorest part of town was incredibly run down. Most of the roof tops of the houses were damaged, and I knew that come winter, they would all struggle for survival. Yet Riley had lived there, and I was determined to find her family before they were all arrested. Or worse.

 I asked a woman from the street if she knew where the Swan family lived. She nervously pointed me in the right direction, clearly afraid to be associated with the family. We set off at a light jog, until we reached the end of the street. On the very end, a house more wrecked than the rest stood, a little lopsided and a piece of plastic nailed over a hole in the roof to keep the rain out. Something told me it was Riley’s house, and so I knocked on the door.

 “Get down,” I heard Jordan hiss from indoors.

 “I’m not a Peacekeeper,” I said through the door. Jordan opened up and suddenly, a knife was at my throat.

 “I’ll decide that for myself,” he said. Then he frowned. “It’s you. Arrian Rider. And Antonia.”

 “Yeah, that’s us,” I said awkwardly, gulping. Jordan loosened his grip a little, but the knife stayed put.

 “What are you doing here?” he wanted to know.

 “We want to help,” I told them.

 “Why would you care?” he growled in response. I closed my eyes.

 “Because we loved Riley,” I whispered. I swallowed back tears “I loved her so much.”

 Jordan’s eyes widened. I don’t think he trusted us, but he sympathised. He let me go “Come inside.”

 I stepped into the house. It was exactly as Riley had described it. It was very small, but homely, the two beds covered with patchwork blankets. There was a tiny kitchen counter where a chopping board lay, and there was nothing else. No other possessions. We don’t need anything Riley had told me once we have each other.

 “It’s OK, you can come out,” Jordan said. Riley’s other siblings crawled out from under their bed, their eyes wide. I opened my rucksack and brought out some dried meat, some of the food I had to offer them.

 “Here,” I said. They took it gratefully, but their eyes never left me. They were staring at me in a way that curious children tend to, but there was something more to their gaze. Fear was locked behind their eyes.

 “Go on then. Tell us why you’re here,” Jordan said gruffly.

 “After what you did today, the Peacekeepers will come looking for you.”

 “You think I don’t know that?”

 “Of course you do. But I have a better idea than sitting in your house and waiting for them to find you,” I snapped “We can take you somewhere. I can’t say it will be safer, but there, you can make a difference. We could use people like you. I want to take you to District 13.”

 Jordan spluttered “District 13? What the hell would you want with that place?”

 “There isn’t time to explain it all to you. But there are people there, Jordan. Influential people, and they want to start a rebellion. They want to make a difference. Wouldn’t you rather die for that cause than die sat at home?”

 Jordan chewed his thumb, the first signs of his uncertainty that I’d seen “What about the children?” he asked.

 “There are children there too. We’re building up a generation of warriors, people who can carry on fighting long after we’re gone. In fact, there is a woman there pregnant with twins at this very moment. You may have heard of Raven Verona?”

 “Raven?” Jordan said, wide eyed “She was a victor. I thought-”

 “She fought back, Jordan. That’s why she disappeared. The President cut out her tongue, and then she vanished. If people ask, they tell them she was taken to a hospital to be treated for severe depression. But she’s in 13, Jordan. She’s an inspiration to us all. And you could be a part of that too.”

 Suddenly, we heard cries from the street. A woman was being beaten, and her screams sent a shiver down my spine.

 “Wait there,” I said, heading outside. It was the woman who I’d asked for directions, being beaten by a Peacekeeper. She saw me and pointed with a quivering hand.

 “Have mercy!” she screamed, still pointing “He lives down there. Just leave me be…”

 It didn’t take much to persuade them. They were running at me fast, white batons in their hands ready to attack. I headed back inside the house, locking the door quickly.

 “We have to leave. Peacekeepers,” I said.

 “Out the window,” Jordan ordered. We allowed the children to go first, me getting out last, and then we ran, not turning to see if the Peacekeepers were on our trail. At some point, Max began to cry, but Jordan scooped him up and kept running. He wasn’t leaving anyone behind He couldn’t lose anyone else.

 We reached the train station. Seeing as it was Jordan they were looking for and not me, they allowed me onto the platform no problem. Antonia, Jordan and his family were hidden behind some cargo boxes. I needed to distract the workers, and I had the perfect plan.

 “Hey, lads!” I said to the train workers “I have something you might like.”

 They were used to me sharing my expensive goods with them when I worked on the cargo trains, and immediately came over to see what I had to offer. I handed out cigarettes to them and the others managed to slip onto the train unnoticed. I lit one myself, puffing out smoke to disguise my sigh of relief. Five minutes before the train was due to leave, I got on the carriage without being noticed.

 Jordan was crouched in the dark, his arms wrapped around Maia, Max and Flora. Antonia was further back, keeping her distance from Jordan so as not to crowd him. Flora was trying to be brave, seeing as she was the eldest next to Jordan, but a tear dribbled miserably down her cheek silently. I crawled next to them, knowing we wouldn’t be found amongst the boxes. Max tugged my sleeve as the train trundled out of the station.

 “I’m scared,” he said, “Where are we going?”

 I ruffled his hair and he relaxed considerably. I felt Antonia’s hand rubbing my back comfortingly “Don’t worry, Max. We’ll be OK. We’re going on an adventure.”