The 76th Annual Hunger Games » Places

         Serafina ran. And ran. And ran. Why did she do that? She couldn't take him on, he was taller AND probably stronger than her. She finally stopped when she could not hear anyone coming after her. Serafina gasped for breath, she had run at least a mile. She collapsed on the icy snow. It was tempting her, she could imagine it now; cold, refreshing snow to cool her hoarse throat. But she coudn't. She had to stay alive, for.... well, herself. She got an idea. She built a mound of the snow, at placed her water bottle in the centre. Just like a cool freezer. Once she was satisisfied, she pulled out her water bottle and drank a few mouthfuls. Serafina applauded herself for her idea. But now she was cold. She shivered, and decided to find a place to spend the rest of the night. She found a tree, whose branches were strong and thick and could hold her up easily. She climbed it easily and curled up into a ball to sleep.

"Arrrgh!" cried Serafina.
Light blinded her as she realized she had her night vision glasses on in the day. She took them off and stuffed them into her bag. She quickly realized she probably alerted everything in the area that she was there. She did a quick scan of the area and jumped down from the tree. She then realized she had no plans whatsoever about where to go. She stood there thinking about where to go next. She thought about how she could have used some backup when she was trying to kill that boy. She smiled. She needed an ally. But who? The careers? They could probably tell by the look of her she wasn't one of them. That boy and whoever was in the tree? No way, she tried to kill them. The little girl from district 3 she pitied? Maybe, if times got tough. Then, it came to her. She had to find her district partner. What was his name again? Kaiden? Yes, that was it. She saw him at the bloodbath, he was tall, strong-looking and as much as Serafina didn't want to admit, very good-looking. She knew he would still be alive, he would have smelt the poison, and he looked strong enough to take on a rhino with no trouble at all, let alone a puny tribute. She hoped with all her heart he had not joined the careers, so she would not have to join them herself. Serafina breathed in heavily. She would just have to look for him.

         Serafina shivered as she stood among the other girls from her district. The crowd of children were whispering nervously. She knew her district was supposed to be a career district, but recently their children had not been training. Parents would refuse to believe their children would be the ones to be picked out. She looked up; a woman with a hairstyle much like a bee's nest was making a long speech about the Hunger Games. She smiled and clapped her hands together. She tottered over to the reaping bowl in her 5-inch heels and stuck her hand in. She pulled out a name; grinning cheerfully, unaware how unhappy the crowd was.

"Serafina Hayes!" she called.

Serafina's blood ran cold. She clenched her jaw and squeezed her fists into tight balls. She could feels the stares burning into her back as she marched up to the stage. Once up on the stage, she glanced out; wondering if anyone would be kind enough to volunteer. She stared them down; challenging them to volunteer. The only sympathy she recieved was blank looks. The woman tilted Serafina's chin up.

"Aren't you a pretty one? We have a nice hoard of pretty little girls for our games this year." she cackled.

Serafina did her best not to cry, not to scream and not to choke the annoying woman. She looked down. She heard the name of the male tribute being called and loud foot steps as he came to join her. The reaping ended, and the woman marched them off into their private rooms. Serafina sat delicately on a chair in her room and looked up when she saw the door open. She looked away when she saw who it was.

"Darling, Serafina." she heard her mother say.

Serafina looked up, shocked. Darling. Her mother had never called her that before.

"We wanted to say... that we're sorry. The only reason we shunned you was because you were so perfect, so unlike us." said her mother.

Serafina's look did not soften.

"Go, go away." Serafina whispered.

Her mother came closer. So did her brother and father.

"But, darling, we truly are sorry!" her mother said.

Serafina jumped up from her seat.

"If you expect me to forgive you, after all those years of torture, all those years of fending for myself, not being able to trust, love, care or even make ONE SIMPLE FRIEND, well; you really need to wake up. No, mother. No amount of care will change my mind. None." Serafina shouted.

Her family scampered out the door, never having witnessed Serafina lose control before. Serafina collapsed into a heap on the floor, weeping.

"What have I become?" she whispered.

         Leo felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as his littlest brother, Sam was chosen from the reaping bowl.
Leo's normally congenial expression melted into a stony mask of locked emotion as Sam began to make his way up to the stage in front of the Justice Building.
Leo took a step out of line, intending to go after his brother, in that movement he caught his father's eye and, in a moment Leo saw the fear and distress in him and in his mother's demeanor beside him.
His mind was made up.
As he moved the peacekeepers in the center isle of the capitol corral began to move towards him with the obvious intention of restraining him. But with three long purposeful strides he reached his brother, touching him gently on the shoulder and then quickly sliding his body in front of him.
Taking a shaky deep breath he turned his face from his brothers shocked expression, "I Volunteer!" he shouted up to the strange sunken faced man on the stage.
He turned back to his brother, he could see tears brimming in the little boys eyes "why?" was all he managed to get out before the waterfall of tears and hiccups began.
"I couldn't let you go" said Leo simply, his voice strangled with sorrow and anger.
"Come on boy," came the gruff voice of the nearest peacekeeper, " Go find mom and dad Sam!" Leo shouted as the peacekeepers formed a wall between them.
"Leo!" Sam cried out as they lost each other in the sea of peacekeepers, he heard the panic and despair in the child's voice.
There was nothing he could do, he might as well have signed his own execution papers.
The world went glassy and hollow as he was lead by rough gloved hands towards the stage.
Unceremoniously they shoved him up the first step and he nearly lost his footing.
"What's your name son?" came the raspy voice of the morphing infused man as he reached the top of the steps.
"Leo Jackson" he said, no emotion traveling in his voice at all.
The sound of the presenters voice began to echo and seemed very distant as he felt himself compress in on himself all he could think as he was lead into the justice building was what have I done?.
The waiting room inside the justice building was luxurious, but it was all lost on Leo as he sat with his head in his hands waiting for his family, Sam and Austin, his middle brother, burst through the door, startling Leo.
They stopped just a few inches before him; they had obviously been crying and it seemed, tears were still leaking slowly from the corners of Sam's eyes.
Without a moment more hesitation they flung their arms around Leo in unison.
Leo heard the floorboards creak as his parents slid through the heavy doors and behind them he heard the peacekeeper say something about 5 minutes.
He stood, his brothers removing their arms as he rose, "Foolish boy!" mother said, pain thick in her voice.
He moved into her outstretched arms, "I-I couldn't let them take hi-im" he said his voice breaking as the emotions he had been struggling to control overwhelmed him.
"I know, I know" she said in a low soothing voice, shushing his violent hysterics.
She pulled him close wrapping him in her strong safe presence guiding them over to the couch to sit, "You are my strong courageous boy, you'll be okay" she said "you'll be okay" she said again more of a whisper this time unable to hold back the emotion that she was feeling any more.
A minute passed as she held him tightly rocking together slowly back and forth.
Father cleared his throat gently and mother finally released him, Leo rose from the couch on shaky legs.
"I'll be stronger dad, I-I promise I'll be stronger" he said, still having trouble controlling his voice
"I know you will son" he said Leo's eyes swam as his father moved to embrace him " Take this ring, and you carry our whole family with you," he pressed the small cold silver ring into his hand as he wrapped his arms around Leo "Take this ring and come back to us, come back to us a victor" he said, fire burning in his fathers eyes
"Show them that district six should be known for something other than morphlings!".
Leo opened his palm and examined the ring in his hand, it was an elegant thing, the silver shining in the light, the candles from the chandelier above them twinkling in the reflection on its surface, "I-" he said, his voice breaking "don't" his father said putting an end to the conversation. "Sam, Austin you'll take care of mom for me won't you? keep the house clean and don't do anything I wouldn't do" he said the barest hint of a smile forming in the corners of his mouth.
"Times up" Came the voice of a peacekeeper through the door and without a further word they were lead out and the heavy door was shut on his future.
He thought back to the girl on the stage with him and he began to wonder how she had fared through this whole ordeal.

         

District 12

The air in District 12 was thick, everyone was so tense. As with District 11, there were extra peacekeepers, maybe even more than the previous district. The place had since been rebuilt after having been destroyed years ago, but it looked the same as it had before. Old, beaten down, and dirty. They hadn't spent the funds to make it beautiful or anything, just enough to get it up and running again. Families still never had enough money or food, most worked in the mines, and many died there. District 12 was the most angry about the reaping. They had hoped that their suffering day to day had been enough for the Capitol, but it obviously had not. The girl on the stage was young, maybe 26, and had a familiarity about her. Her hair was pink, her lips an even brighter shade of the color, and she was bubbly. She was obviously one of Effie's grandchildren, and she played the part of her grandmother very well. Her voice was bubbly, and her smile big. You could tell that she wasn't happy about the deaths of the people, but that she was happy to have the chance of becoming famous herself. She waddled in her heels to the girls bowl, and pulled out a name. As she read it, her eyes lit up;

"Evelyn Wynter"

The girl that was called was pushed out of the crowd, they wanted this reaping over quickly, and didn't want to have to wait for someone to step out. Evie remembered what the previous District 12 girl had done, and hid her emotions. This wasn't a time for weakness, and she knew it. She climbed up the stairs to the stage and stood to the left of the speaker, waiting for the male to be called. When NPC Ryan Duncan was called, the crowd was shocked, but did nothing. The small 12 year old boy made his way bravely to the stage and took his place across from Evie. The speaker called them to the front and announced them, then took them away.

         

District 11

District 11's mood was different from all of the other districts. There were a profound amount more of peacekeepers here then at the others. It was well known what had happened the last time the Hunger Games took place, and District 11 was a big part of the second rebellion. The Capitol was taking no chances of something happening again. The people were crammed into the center of the town, forced to squish together to accommodate for the peacekeepers that kept them corralled. Everyone had unhappy faces, others angry, but most were scared. No one dared utter a word about anything, so the place was silent. The speech was given once again, this time by a slightly more happy speaker and they proceeded to call the girl NPC Hannah Fret, there was no incident when she was called, so the speaker carried on. She looked as though she had hoped for a more eventful reaping. Being from the Capitol, she was eager to see something exciting, even before the games began. She wanted to be the next "Effie."

When she called out the boy,

"Tommy Wong!"

Her voice rang out over the silence, her bright eyes searching the crowd. For a moment, no one stepped forward. She said it again, slightly louder, then finally the boy with blue hair was pushed forward. He didn't look scared, only shocked, but once out in the middle of everyone, he recomposed himself and walked confidently to the stage. He kept his eyes forward and didn't look around. Once on the stage, the speaker went to reach for his hand and he pulled it away. The woman didn't miss a beat and announced them as the tributes for District 11, then they were taken off the stage and away.

         

District 3

District 3's atmosphere was slightly different from the first two. The crowd was not as happy or eager for the Hunger Games. Most were indifferent about the whole thing. The speaker was a nervous little man, small in height and in confidence. No one was sure how he was chosen to be the speaker, but they weren't about to raise this question to anyone. The man monotonously gave the speech given at District 1 and 2, making it sound as though nothing truly significant had happened in the past to begin with. He slowly walked to the females bowl, pulling out the name and walked to the microphone before reading it, he cleared his throat and quietly read the name;

"Thalia Cronin."

The crowd was silent, anger on their face as the small, young girl silently and slowly made her way to the stage. A man yelled something nasty at the speaker about her being too young and was taken away by the peacekeepers immediately, the girl barely giving him a glance - not wanting to see who it was or if she knew him. Anything bad said about the reaping or the Games were deemed punishable, as per the new law that was made by the new president. The then called out a boys name [NPC Logan Bell], and they were both escorted away, their District standing in silence as they walked away.

         

District 2

The speaker for District 2 mimicked the speech from District 1, and looked even more cheerful about the whole thing. She was a tall, lean girl, and had she been young enough, probably would have been a good tribute for the games, but as it stood, she was only a speaker. She danced around the stage, happy to be the center of attention, trying to get the crowd involved, and they were more than happy to oblige. This was another district of people that were prepared and eager for The Hunger Games, many of the children of the right age had been training for the past year as well. The woman reached into the girls bowl and pulled out the slip of paper, before she could even read the slip of paper, a nervous but strong looking girl stepped from the crowd, "I volunteer!", odd because she wasn't even taking the place of anyone, but the woman on stage didn't look surprised, this was normal for the Capitol's "pets" to volunteer for the Games. As the girl made her way on stage the speaker asked her her name;

"Mallory Foster"

the beautiful girl said in a confident voice, not matching her nervous face. The crowd went wild for her, and the rest of the reaping went on to call NPC Ian Smith to the stage as the male tribute.

The speaker stepped forward, holding both tributes hands and said; "And here are your District 2 tributes." They were taken away with the sound of the crowd going crazy behind them.

         

District 1

"The time has come, once again..." The speaker for District 1 spoke into the microphone, he was happy, a smile playing on his face. His face was reflected upon most of the faces in the crowd as well - of course, this was District 1, they were more prepared then others, and took pride in the Games. The only sullen faces were those of the younger children standing in the boys and girls spot to be chosen, and that of a few parents. The older children though looked eager, all of them well fed and in good shape. This was the moment they'd been training for in the past year.

As the man finished his speech about the past, and about the two rebellions, he looked out into the crowd. "We shall now choose the two lucky tributes to compete in this years Hunger Games." He walked away from the microphone for a minute to reach into a large bowl filled with small pieces of paper, this would be the girls. They were always chosen first. He slowly opened it, read for a moment, taking much too long then was necessary, then walked back to the microphone. The crowd was silent, save for a few murmurs, then his flat voice yelled out;

"Hadrian Allardyce!"

The was silence for a moment as the crowd looked around for the girl, once she stepped forward there was clapping, cheering, and whoops of happiness. She gracefully made her way to the stage, a smile playing on her face, she was a beautiful girl and was sure to get at least a few sponsors. The speaker raised his hands to silence the crowd once Hadrian had settled on the stage to his left, then walked to the other bowl. He reached in and did the same as he had done before. Once back at the microphone he yelled out again;

"JiYong Ashton Kwon!"

The boy stepped forward, ignoring the crowd and the pats on the back. His siblings in the crowd looked sullen, not at all happy that he had been chosen. He though, looked as though he could care less. His face blank. As to what went through his head, no one knew. He made his way to the stage and stood to the right of the speaker, across from the girl, they didn't look at each other, one seemed at least somewhat happy about being chosen, the other looked distant. The speaker spoke up again, "and here we have it! The District 1 tributes! Congratulations to you both!" The crowd went crazy, and they were both taken from the stage. They would have little time to say goodbye and take care of what they needed to.