The entire city was buzzing about the arrival of an Adult. For real this time. A man, spotted at the center of the city, near the former home of President Snow. Some rumors even claimed he was a former member of The Capitol Corporation - CAPICO.
Katniss couldn't remember the last time she'd seen an Adult. Maybe it was four years ago, as a 12-year-old, watching her mother die of the Blight that had already wiped out the rest of the adult population. She brushed off the memory of her mother breathing her last, skin feverishly hot, cracked bloody lips murmuring nonsensically. It was useless to dwell on the past, Katniss reminded herself, bringing her attention back to the command room, where her lieutenants waited tensely for the scouts to return with news.
"The other Districts are coming out," observed Gale, her First Lieutenant. Katniss joined him at the window of their command center at the top of the tallest tower in the city.
Katniss followed Gale's gaze, saw the normally deserted streets now specked with children from the other districts.
"I'll wait for the scout to confirm. But otherwise, prepare to send out our armies. We'll wipe them out when they're vulnerable." Gale nodded at her other lieutenants, who silently left the room to carry out the order. For a moment, Katniss questioned herself. Was she being heartless?
But no. She needed to be. Heartless was how a girl, and the daughter of one of the poorest families in the district, had become a District Keeper, and kept her district alive. When the Blight first hit, she had overcome objections and led District 12 to the capitol, for the last stores of food in the decimated country. They had survived the most vicious fighting that erupted in Year 2, when food was becoming scarce and the districts that had swarmed to the Capitol began fighting amongst themselves. For two years, she had led the children of District 12 to victory in the open wars that killed off almost all twelve districts. Four years later, District 12 was one of the last four districts left. Only the strongest districts could last now. She knew that in the streets, they called her the Hunter. But it was with fear, respect and even envy that they whispered her epithet.
"The scout is back!" shouted Gale. "Open the door."
Katniss kept her face expressionless, as the scout tumbled into the command room panting from his climb up fifteen flights of stairs. "It's true," he panted, "I saw him with my own eyes- an Adult. A man, maybe 40-something."
The other Lieutenants shifted excitedly, their eyes wide with excitement. But Katniss kept her face blank. She remembered the last time an Adult was rumored to have existed, almost a year ago. But it had been a disappointment. The kid was just a few days shy of 19 years old - the age when the Blight struck, swift and sure. In the few days before he died, they had questioned him, found out that he was one of the few who hadn't migrated to the Capitol immediately after the Blight. It was all a wasteland now, he told them, all 12 districts nothing but dilapidated ruins and dirt so thin it was more like sand.
"What does he want?" Katniss asked the scout.
"He wants to talk to you, to all the District Keepers."
"About what?"
"He didn't say."
"What else did he say?"
"He says that there are more Adults. A group of them from CAPICO. They survived the Blight, and they've been conducting research the past four years to find a cure."
Katniss was skeptical. Believing these lies, giving into hope, and leaving her defenses down - that had been the demise of the District 9 back in the day. They had been stupid enough to believe the District 2's peace offering. Before they knew it, they had been massacred, the survivors scattered to the streets and left to starve. Things were even more dangerous now, with food supplies running so low. Not only that but their weapons stores were running low as well. They had used up virtually all of their Malotov cocktails defending themselves against District 2's last offensive.
But they couldn't hide behind their walls forever. Her District was disciplined, but already kids were growing restless, and worse, weak, because of the strict rationing-300 calories per day, and hot food for active soldiers only. It seemed like so long ago that Katniss had real food. What she wouldn't give for food that didn't come in plastic wrapping and tin cans now.
"What if the other Districts get to the Adult first?" asked Gale.
"It doesn't matter. We wait."
"It could be a mistake," repeated Gale insistently. "If it really is an Adult, we need to make a move first." Normally, Katniss would have rebuked him for questioning her twice.
But she knew why Gale was so eager. He was the oldest one in the group, just a few months shy of 19. Already, the other lieutenants were starting to whisper about who would take Gale's position as the First Lieutenant. It would be a loss when he died; he was her best soldier.
Katniss gazed somberly through the bars in the window. She had just turned 16 herself. She had less than three years now. But right now, nobody was thinking a year out, not when they could feel their empty bellies against their spine. Just getting through the week was hard enough as it was. She looked at her inner circle, all them better fed than the rest of the district, but still emaciated-looking, with sunken cheeks, and their ribcages jutting out through their clothing.
There was a clamor, and then someone shouted, "Our second scout is back!"
The lieutenant's parted, allowing the scout to report to Katniss. "It's true," he said, his face flush with excitement. "Definitely an Adult."
"You're sure? Tell me exactly what you saw and heard."
"It's definitely an Adult. Everyone's out there. No fighting. He knows about us, wants to meet with all four District Keepers"
"Are the other District Keepers there?"
"Yeah, the District Keepers have all agreed to come."
Katniss began putting on her helmet and gear. This was the first time that the District Keepers had assembled publicly. Then she saw the Adult, standing just next to the monument. There was no doubt. He wasn't very tall, but still towered head and shoulders above the tallest child there. He had sleek blond hair, a heavy jaw covered with stubble, and warm, friendly brown eyes. He smiled fondly at the the children clamoring noisily around him, but ignored their questions.
"How are you alive?"
"Are there more adults?"
"Is the Epidemic over?"
The children parted for Katniss, her lieutenants trailing behind her. She saw the other District Keepers already assembled. There was Marvel, from District 1; Cato from District 2, and Thresh from District 11.
"Alright kids, lets talk," said the Adult. "And get me some food. I'm starving."
The District Keepers took him an abandoned building, their respective soldiers standing guard around the perimeter. They watched silently as the man devoured with gusto the precious food that they brought him, wolfed down a can of baked beans, inhaled a twinkie, then reached for a can of Coke.
"So, tell me what's going on," he asked in between bites.
The children looked at each other. Katniss wasn't going to be the first. She suspected the other Districts were also suffering from food shortages, but she wasn't sure to what extent exactly?
"What, cat got your tongue? I asked you a question. How much food do you have stored up? How much water?" The ring of command in his voice was startling. Rebecca was reminded of a time, seemingly long ago, when she had been in a classroom, doing as the teacher instructed.
Thresh was the first to speak. "We have a good system for collecting rainwater. It's food that's the problem."
Katniss had known Thresh since she first led her district to the Capitol, had even called him a friend for some time, when food was still abundant and the districts coincided in peace. What he lacked in cunning, he made up for in enormous strength. Even now that he was her opponent, Katniss admired him for more than his exceptional fighting abilities.
Seeing that Tresh had spoken up, the other District Keepers were eager to share information too
"Yeah, the food situation is bad," piped up Marvel. We're down to our last scraps. Maybe three more weeks, tops. And that's with rationing. Everyone is getting restless."
"I see," said the man, opening a bag of saltine crackers. "What do you have left?"
"Mostly canned food, like baked beans, corn, that sort of thing," answered Cato. "And snack foods, like the crackers you're eating. We used to eat perishable food that had gone bad, like the bread, but people got sick and died, so we stopped."
"And where did the food you have now come from?"
Katniss remembered Year One. After the initial fear and shock, things had been fun for a while. Running through the abandoned streets, no one to tell them what to do. She remembered ransacking shops, digging her hands into every bucket of candy, and gorging herself on sweets. But that was before she knew the true meaning of hunger, the feel of her belly against her spine.
"By Year Two, we were starting to look for food warehouses," continued Cato. "That's where most of the food we have now is from. The warehouses are empty now though. At least the ones close by are."
"But how are you alive," demanded Katniss. "Why are you here?"
"I was a scientist at SciCorp. And somehow, I was able to survive the Epidemic. For the past four years, I've been conducting research on myself to understand why, to see if there was a cure I could replicate." Peeta chewed fiercely on a particularly stringy tough piece of sourdough bread, chewing silently for a full minute before he looked up, straight into Katniss' eyes and said, "And there is. I've found a cure."
Katniss could hear the intake of breath. If they had really found a cure, and if there were more adults… Marvel and Cato were laughin, Beetee was asking a question, something about how the cure had been made. Katniss remained silent, but her head was spinning. Would the world really go back to the way it was? She felt a new energy. There was so much that needed to be done. For the first time in a long time, she smiled.
"There's just one thing though," said the Adult. "This cure is exceedingly difficult to produce. The ingredients are available in extremely limited quantities. I have enough for just one child."
Silence filled the room.
"And if I'm going to save one child, I'm damn well going to make sure that he or she is the best goddamn human specimen we got. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to leave for three days. And you all," he gestured at them, at the doors where the Districts waited silently for their leaders to emerge, "are going to fight it out. One winner takes all."
He stood up and brushed himself off. He walked with measured steps towards the door. Just before he left, he looked back and grinned, "May the odds be ever in your favor. Let the games begin."