CHAPTER 1
The President's cold, robotic voice blasted over the whole city from sky high speakers. Live broadcasts blared from radios and television channels and crowds huddled in front of the flat screen TV's set up in every town square. Balancing on the edge of the largest of these crowds and standing right outside the Empire State Building, was me.
I tried to ignore the growing pounding in my head as President Evelyn Alistair declared the initiation of the world's first ever – modern – Hunger Games.
"In an effort to maintain citizen unity and harmony, I, Evelyn Alistair, ninety-eighth President of the United States of America and beyond, hereby declare the beginning of Earth's first ever post-modern era Hunger Games.
In accordance with this decision, I hereby request all my beloved Americans to cordially greet the Officers who will arrive at each of your homes shortly, for the registration of your sons and daughters between 12 to 18 years of age. A citizen known to be creating resistance of any sort will be dealt with as deemed fit.
In the name of the greater good of America, always and forever."
The screen blacked out with a beep.
I silently backed out from the crowd, and made my way north, away from the glamour of polished buildings and the throng of panicked people. How did you all not see this coming, I asked silently? It was only a matter of time before the U.S. decided to follow in the footsteps of China and Brazil and establish a so-called peace system to increase "unity" and "harmony". Three years ago, China had introduced their point system: each citizen carried a card which carried information on all their actions; they gained points for the positive ones and lost them for the negative.
It was all simple enough, except for the slight catch: no points meant no money, no free education, no healthcare, no home and no respect. The point system (commonly known as the Black Mirror now) had worked out wonderfully for them. Crime rates had plummeted astonishingly so and China had finally managed to control its population problem. The government boasted of its achievement openly, which swiftly set the other countries into motion.
France and Italy were quick to establish Black Mirror in their borders too, while the others wracked their brains trying to come up with something equally effective, but didn't look as if they were copying.
I was walking along the grungier parts of New York now, weaving along short cuts to make it home before the Officers arrive. Everywhere I went, there were Officers – men in plain gray uniforms, a gray blazer thrown over a gray shirt and gray pants. They were knocking on doors, asking questions, breaking down the doors that refused to budge. I kept my head down, doing my best to maintain a swift pace and at the same time, not run.
A hand lunged out from the alley to my right and grabbed me by the waist, dragging me in. Another clamped firmly on my mouth, stifling my screams and making my eyes water.
"Hello there dearie," a deep, husky voice spoke, his mouth next to my ear. "Make no fuss and I'll make this fun for the both of us".
I writhed in his grasp, trying to pry his hand loose from my waist. The man moved his hand lower and gripped my ass, pressing me closer and grinding me against him. A sudden bulging pressure on the front of my jeans told me he was already hot, and if I didn't get out soon, this could go very, very badly. He moved his other hand from my mouth and smashed his lips against mine, his tongue pushing them open, demanding insistent. The man smelled and tasted of baking bread. He moved his lips with the ferociousness of a tiger. I felt a small trickle of fluid leak down my vagina as the hand clutching my ass, moved up and down, now rubbing my naked butt cheek. His fingers pinched the skin hard, releasing a small moan low in my throat. The trickle turned into a burst and I groaned low in my throat.
I was beyond fighting now, caught up in the sensations, forgetting all morals and principles of right and wrong. He trailed kisses along my neck, pushing down the straps of my tank top to reveal my heaving breasts, already stiff and aching. His mouth moved to my nipples sucking on them gently while his other hand circled the other. The hand on my ass slid forward moved to caress my vagina, my core pulsing with heat and wet with lust. A quick pull and my jeans were off and I was now pressed up completely naked against a stranger who had grabbed me in an alley. I didn't care – whatever had begun, needed to end and I could not move, I could not think…
I felt his index finger slide along my core again, and circle the aching, swollen area, once, twice, my hips thrust forwards of their own accord needing to feel something, anything, to soothe the heat. I ground my hips against his bulge and rotated them in a circle motion, a moan – no, a plead – escaping my lips – the stranger laughed, a low amused sound in his throat. He wiped his hands on his jeans and handed me the discarded clothes lying in a pile on the floor.
"We should do this again sometime."
What – noo! As I stood there naked, and lusting, the man walked away without another word, his broad retreating back growing smaller and smaller in the shadows.