Geronimo! I think to myself as I take the leap off the roof. This is my favorite part, the rush of the wind against your face, the adrenaline knowing this could be your final act. I count the floors as I fall, 8 70 and on until I pull the break on my pulley and stop right were I am supposed to, floor 47. I adjust myself on the harness until I am in a sitting position. I try to blend in perfectly with the pitch black night, my dark suit matching the darkness with ease. I pull a small laser from my belt and point it at the glass. A small beam begins cutting, until a perfect circle has been formed. I put my laser back in my belt and clap my gloved hands together, activating their suction ability. I place my hands on the circle of glass and pull. The wind blows me backwards; the circle of glass comes with me. I had prepared for this in my prep, I brace myself and try to swing my way gently back towards the building. When I am close I place my legs through the hole. I release one of my hands from my gloves to steady myself. Before I know it I am inside, resealing the glass as if I was never there. Task one complete, two more to go, from this point I have 7 minutes until the guards make their next round. I tiptoe through the office I entered until I reach the door. I insert an encrypted card key in the lock and it snaps open. I survey the hallway, no one is there, so I rush down the dark hallway. I come to the door hiding my goal. This one will be difficult. I take my encrypted key card and attach it to a small-computerized box. I attach the box next to the door. It comes to life and after 30 seconds the door snaps open. I stop at the entrance and look inside. Ah just what I thought, I think to myself. A shifting laser grid guards the super computer I need to get to. I smile; take a deep breath and charge. I run to the first sets of lasers and jump through them. I cartwheel over the next few, ducking to barely miss the ones shot at me as I land. I shift my weight and lean backwards into a crab stand. I complete my rotation and after a few more backhand springs I am where I need to be. I take the usb drive from my belt and put it in the port. I am winded after jumping through the lasers and start to sweat. I feel a trickle of sweet fall from my face. My eyes widen and I am about to scream as I see the bead of sweet fall from me and past right through a laser. It barely touches it when the alarms start to blare. I grab the USB drive just as it finishes and I sprint from the room. I hear guards coming from all sides. My escape route is blocked. I feel like I am finally caught when I notice something, a ventilation shaft on the ceiling. Perfect! I think, I reactivate my suction gloves and climb the wall. I barely make it into the shaft and close the vent when the guards rush in under me towards the vault. I begin climbing through the air ducts. It is a cramped crawl, I am almost at the main duct that will guide me to the ground floor when I hear a loud creak. Before I can respond I feel the duct around me crash to the floor. I tumble out expecting to be surrounded by guards. However there are no guards, only one of the janitors. An old avox, I smile at him evilly and attack him. He is to shocked to fight back and soon he is unconscious. I strip his uniform off and put it on. I hide him in a near closet and take his cart towards the elevators. I swipe the janitor's card key and the lift doors open. I go inside and press the one button. The lift begins its decent. Will I actually make it out of here? I think to myself nervously. When the doors open I almost scream in shock, until I remember that an avox has no voice. The guards pour in weapons drawn. I hold up my hands expecting to be shot, but that does not happen. "AVOX!" the man in front screams at me "WE HAVE AN INTRUDER IN THE BUILDING HAVE YOU SEEN OR HEARD ANYTHING!" he screams at me. I look at him frozen for a second until a plan comes to mind. I point to myself, they nod, I point to my ears, they nod. I point the number 47 on the elevator control panel. "You heard something on floor 47" the guard asks me. I nod. "All guards to floor 47!" he screams into his radio. "Go home and come back in the morning you will have plenty to clean up" the guard says as they essentially push me out of the elevator. I am to stunned to feel anything. I get back up and walk towards the door. The guard at the front moves to stop me until he notices the work uniform, I place the pushcart next to the others. "Just wait till tomorrow, you will probably hear a great story" the front guard says with a light chuckle. I smile, nod then head towards the door. When I walk through it I have to force myself to walk normally. When I am over two blocks away I head into an alley I set up as a hiding spot and strip off the janitor uniform. I change my clothes into ordinary District 3 clothes, A grey shirt with black pants. I leave the alley and continue walking. Three blocks later a woman at a table extends her hand as if making a gesture to her friend. As I walk by I place the usb drive in her hand. One block later a man bumps into me, he places an envelope in my pocket as he rushes past. Mission accomplished, I think happily, now to spend some money. I know right were I am going, District 3's best jewelry store. I could easily rob this place ten times over but the owners were always kind to me when I lived on the streets, so I make sure the other thieves in three know that this place is off limits. The woman behind the counter smiles when she sees me come in. "You know you will eventually have to buy something here" she says warmly. When something needs to be fixed, or they need a young man's strength they know I will always help them. "Today is the day Ms. Dant!" I say happily taking the envelope full of money out of my pocket. "Oh Wyatt how many times do I have to tell you to call me pen" she says as she walks over to her safe and pulls out a small box. She opens it and I see what I have been hoping for, the ring I have saved for over a year to buy. A solid gold and emerald engagement ring, engraved to say W and T until the end of time. "You think Thalia will like it?" I ask Ms. Pen Dant excitedly. "She will love it" Ms. Dant says adoringly. I pay her and almost bounce out of her shop. I rush home as fast as my legs will carry me. I think of Thalia, her beautiful blond hair, such a contrast to my black, her warm brown eyes so dark compared to my light blue ones. Everything about her is perfect, I met her four years ago. I had lived on the streets since I was 8 and my parents were killed by peace keepers. When I met her, it was as if an angel itself had come to district three. When I reach our house, a rundown apartment building. I begin climbing the fire escape. When I reach the top floor I go through the window I see her sitting on the floor drawing. I beam when she looks up at me. "How'd it go?" she asks. "Complete success" I say as I run over and take her in my arms. I lean in and kiss her and that's when I notice something is wrong. "Thalia what is it?" I ask gently. That is when the door to our apartment bursts open peacekeepers flood inside. My first instinct is to protect thalia but I feel a Taser hit my back. I am on the ground and look up in shock to see the taser in thalia's hands. "Thalia,…. I love you…, Why?" I manage to say as my heart breaks. "I'm sorry wyatt but it was either you or me, and I pick me" she says with ice in her eyes. Then everything goes black.
CH 2: The first thing I feel is cold, I am very cold. I open my eyes and all I see is darkness. Have I gone blind? Where am I? That is when the memories all come flooding back. I was arrested because I broke into district 3's weaponry development center and passed the info onto the rebels. I am here because thaila turned me in. I feel as if my heart weighs a thousand tons. Why did she do this to me? I have spent the last four years protecting her, keeping her warm and safe and this is how she repays me? I have the urge to cry, but I force myself not to, they are probably watching me. The thought of that gives me an idea. I have spent the last 9 years of my life improving my stealth, agility, speed. I refuse to be a prisoner so I won't be. I start to twitch, slowly at first but then my body starts to jerk. I go flat on my back as I make loud struggling breathing noises. I do this for about a minute before I hear a voice from an intercom. "Quell stop that right now!" the voice booms. "I….can't" I choke out, "I….neeed…..my….inhaler" I say in a forced raspy voice. I continue my act when I heard the door slide open, I hear footsteps coming towards me and I react instinctively. I jump up, wrap the chains binding my arms around his neck and twist. I hear a loud crack and he falls to the ground without moving. I grab his keys as the alarm goes off. I unshackle myself and run out the door. I see guards charging towards me and I run towards them. They are almost on me until I jump up and grab a low hanging water pipe. I swing over their heads and land behind them. I take off at full sprint down the long hallway. I see a window at the end of the hallway. I see the bright blue sky of day on its other side. I do not stop, this is my only chance, death before dishonor. I jump, bursting through the glass, I expect the bright sun and a long fall but I am greeted with darkness and almost immediately landing on a floor. As soon as my feet touch the ground I feel immediate pain shoot through my body, almost as if every cell is on fire. I fall to the ground and the pain stops. One of the gaurds makes a show of putting on special boots and gloves as she walks through the broken window. "Not a bad escape attempt Mr. Quell," she says," but you will have to try a lot harder than that to escape this facility. "Oh I will" I say breathlessly. She towers over my fallen frame, "Oh it is going to be fun breaking you" she says in a cold yet excited way. Then I feel her boot hit my face, and the darkness entraps me once more.
I am awoken with a shock. I am no longer in darkness but bright light. When my eyes adjust I see what is around me. I am laying on a small hard bed, I am attached to two machines that have Iv's leading to my arms. I am restrained under many thick belts and my hands and feet are handcuffed to the bars bordering the bed. I had to admit, while I had prepared for many situations, this was not one of them. As I am lost in thought I see a part of the large white wall slide open. Two men in white coats and the female guard from before walk into the room. She walks right up next to my bed and looks me in the eye. "So sorry you got so banged up, my men got a little carried away" she says as she grins at me wickedly. "Oh I expected them to, 6 guys against an unconscious 17 year old boy. I'm surprised you didn't call the army for back up" I say sarcastically. "Well what do you expect, we were dealing with such a dangerous thief that was trying to escape. Oh I'm sorry did I say thief? I meant murderer, the man guarding your cell is dead now thanks to you." She says as rage fills her voice and her fists clench. "I did what I had to do" I reply although inside I am realizing what I did. When I go to trial, I will ask for the death sentence, I cannot live with this. She spits on me. "Your trial is in an hour, the doctors will make you functional for it, do not resist or we will use force." She says then storms out. Leaving me to the hands of the men in white coats.
Ch3 Sentencing: The doctors are smart, they do not remove my binds as they pumped med after med into me. Just as my head begins to clear the wall opens and the guards return. One of the doctors takes a small needle and injects into one of my IV tubes. Soon my whole body goes numb, I try to move but to no avail, I cannot even speak. The guards undo my straps and lift me into a wheel chair. Every fiber of my being tries to fight but I do not even move or twitch. They wheel me out of the room, and through a long hallway towards the elevator. We enter and one of the guards pushes a button. I manage to make my pinky twitch. The time in the elevator takes longer than expected. When the doors open, I am caught unaware by what I see. A high-rise room, rows of seat begin at the floor and continue back all the way to the ceiling. I am wheeled to the center of the room, removed from my wheelchair and shackled onto a hard wooden bench. After I am secure, people pour into the room. Soon all the seats are filled, the room seems to go dark, light seems only to shine on myself and the front row of people. I can see why, everyone in the front row wears a white peacekeeper uniform. While everyone behind them wears ordinary clothes, citizens to watch the proceedings I expect.
The man in the center of the first row clears his throat and the room goes silent. He snaps his fingers and a small timid woman rushes up and places a stack of files in his hands. It takes every ounce of my energy to hold the glare in my eyes. I focus all my attention to him. He purposefully avoids my icy gaze as he skims through the files. When he and the rest of the members of the first row finish skimming the files, they seem to look at me all at once. 12 separate lions fighting over one gazelle, as if wondering who will take the first bite. One of the Doctors injects my Iv with another liquid. Soon I begin being able to move but I am still heavily restrained. The man in the center snaps his fingers and the small woman returns to him. He hands her the file, she walks to the center of the room to address the crowd. In an annoyingly squeaky voice she begins to speak: "The case of Panem v. Wyatt Artemis Quell will now commence. The charges are:Treason, Murder in the First Degree, Grand Theft, Breaking and Entering, Destruction of Capitol Property, First Degree Assault, Attempted Escape, Obstruction of Justice, and Slander against the President. District 3's council of 12, whom after hearing the case shall decide the verdict, will oversee the proceedings. Mr. Quell how do you plead?" she says as everyone in the room looks at me expectantly.
My head is barely clearing when the first word I think of blurts out of my mouth. "Bullshit" I say quietly. "Excuse us?" a shrill woman in the front row shrieks. "Bullshit!" I scream. Everyone in the room gasps. "Like it matters what I plead" I continue to bellow, "whether or not I have committed these crimes is not important. You will punish me for them anyway. In this case yes, I did all those things. I plead guilty on all charges. I do not regret a single act, except killing the guard. Do you want to know why I did those things? Because it is the only way regular people have a chance against tyrants like you! It is this government that killed my parents and left me a homeless orphan when I was barely more than a toddler. You kill people for speaking their mind, for wanting their share, for protecting their children. I refuse to tolerate such small-minded people being given so much power. The only smart sentence for you people to give me is death, any other punishment I will escape from and then you will have a real problem. My name is Wyatt Artemis Quell, you have killed my family and now you come for me. I will not stop until everyone of you capitol people are dead. So prepare to die." I finish when my voice starts to go hoarse. The room seems to stunned for speech.
The man in the middle of the front row is the first to recover. He blinks a few times then clears his throat "Thank you for your confession Mr. Quell, the Council of 12 shall deliberate and your sentence shall be delivered" he says as the 12 in the front row rise and leaves the room. When they leave the lights return to normal and I truly take in the audience watching the scene. Every eye is on me I smile at them. "If you continue to just sit and watch, nothing will get better. More children like me will die because you are too afraid to fight for your freedom. You people disgust me" I say as I spit on the floor. Barely a few minutes later the Council returns to the room and retake their seats. The room is tense as the man in the center rises. "Wyatt Artemis Quell, you have pleaded guilty to numerous grievous crimes. The council of 12 has decided on your punishment. Because you have not only defied the capitol but your district as well, your punishment must repay both of these in turn. The Council of 12 has decided that you Wyatt Artemis Quell, at 17 years of age, shall take up the duties of the male tribute for District Three in the upcoming 24th annual Hunger Games."
Please give me feedback! Thanks!- Haymitch