Unrest: Tension in the Dark Days
So this is my story about a group of kids living in Panem during the Dark Days. I've never seen this idea before so I want to write about it. Hope you enjoy
(NOTE: Each POV is separated by the name of the person, their age, and where they're from, not necessarily where they are now.)
{New characters: Shimmer Ford, Corin Reine, Boult Bagot, Rhode Dumaine, Archer Ladon}
(Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.)
~*~*~X~*~*~
Chapter 1: Bearings
~*~*~X~*~*~
Shimmer Ford, Age 16, District One
I don't even have a mirror in here. All I have is a small grey floor cot with a thin grey blanket, a grey metal table, and a matching grey metal chair.
And I actually have to share a bathroom with everyone else on this floor. I know, right? It's really disgusting – think of all the people brush their teeth at the same grey sinks and all the people use the same grey toilets and all the people who use the same grey showers as you. Sometimes it just makes me want to cry.
~*~*~X~*~*~
Corin Reine, Age 17, District Two
Maya is having nightmares again. She says they are about our parents, but she didn't even know them. They died less than a year after she was born, leaving ten-year-old me to take care of her.
We almost died then. Because a young child and a newborn baby can't survive in this world by themselves. The only reason we stayed alive was because we lived in one of the districts favored by the Capitol. So we got sent here. We were given a chance.
I take Maya to the bathroom at the end of the hallway outside our room. There I help her wash her face and let her take a shower. She doesn't stay in very long though because there's no warm water. Then I take her to her room, put her to sleep, and close her door shut. I go up eight floors in the creaky elevator and slip back inside my assigned room.
She falls back asleep instantly when I leave her. I stay awake though, thinking about what's going to happen to us here. Maya and I have been here for almost twelve years now, and since then the only thing that's improved is that we actually have food and showers and beds, even though the food is bland, the showers are cold, and the beds are hard and uncomfortable cots.
I want to be strong. For Maya. I want her to think we have hope, that we are safe here. That we'll stay alive.
The truth? There is no hope. We aren't safe. In fact, we will probably die soon.
~*~*~X~*~*~
Boult Bagot, Age 17, District Seven
I spent all day burning tracker jacker nests in the hot sun. I'm used to the heat, coming from District Seven, but the stings make it more like hell.
Everyone who has to destroy the nests, or hives, or whatever you want to call them, has been in and out of the nurse's tents. The doctors there are running out of the ointment they use to soothe the tracker jacker stings, and if they don't get more from District Thirteen soon they'll run out.
I see Archer walk up to me. "Yo, the hovercraft is leavin' soon. You're goin', right?" his husky voice says.
"Yeah, no way I'm stayin' here," I respond. "You?"
The tall tan boy nods. "Yeah. Time to go soon. They said not to bring anything. We'll get dinner when we get there."
District Seven's one of the largest districts in the country. So I have to take a hovercraft just to get to the hovercraft that's leavin' for District Thirteen.
I have to wait another hour before the hovercraft from Thirteen arrives, so when I get off the first hovercraft, I leave the takeoff station and walk to the nearby beach. The ocean here borders the entire western part of our district. In our history books back home it says the ocean used to be called the Pacific Ocean years and years ago. Now it's just called the Western Sea.
I'm relaxing in the sand when I hear the horn that signals an arriving hovercraft. I make my way back to the station and get in line to board. Out of all the people, I don't see Archer anywhere.
"Arm, please," A tall husky woman says. When I hold out my arm I look at her chest. I know what you're thinking, but I'm not looking at what you think I'm looking at. I'm studying the simple District Thirteen emblem when I feel a sharp zap on my arm.
"Ow," I say instinctively. "What was that for?"
"Tracker," the woman says. She waves me on, and I walk up the ramp and into the hovercraft.
The ride takes about two and a half hours. When we get to the hovercraft station in Thirteen, I see it's a lot different than what I was expecting. Instead of everything being above ground, I see smoking rubble everywhere when I look out the window. A hovercraft assistant tells me Thirteen was bombed a little before the Dark Days began. I wouldn't remember, because when it began I was only two years old.
Instead, we disembark in an underground station. I look around as all the other kids get off, and an official-looking man in a grey District Thirteen uniform meets us at the bottom of the ramp.
"Good evening, children. This is where you'll be staying until the war is over. The elevators are there," he gestures behind him toward the ten elevators, "and the stairs are there." He points to the stairs to his right. "You will be assigned floors in which you will stay on according to your age – age twelve is twelve floors down, age thirteen is thirteen floors down, and so on. There is a Floor Map on the walls next to elevators on every floor, so we trust you to find the cafeteria, hospital, and other necessities on your own."
Kids look around in shock. It is a bit overwhelming. We're only supposed to be staying here until the war's over, but who knows how long that will be.
"So, children," the man says, "Welcome to District Thirteen."
~*~*~X~*~*~
Rhode Dumaine, Age 15, District Four
I miss the ocean. I miss the sun. I miss fishing. I miss warm sand. I miss palm trees.
Heck, I miss being above ground.
I've been here for only one day, but I can already tell you District Thirteen is horrible. I feel trapped here; I feel like I'm cut off from my real self, who is above ground, near the ocean, and back in District Four.
The food here is horrible; they don't serve shrimp. Or fish. Maybe it's just because I'm too used to seafood, but the food here tastes disgusting to me.
To add on to all that, I have this really annoying girl in the room next to me from District One. She thinks she's all that and more, and she acts like she's too good for everybody here. She's way too spoiled, too.
At sic o'clock the dinner bell sounds. People make their way to the elevators. When I step inside the elevator I observe the Floor Map:
Floor 1 Military Training Division
Floor 2 Military and Government Housing
Floor 3 Command, Gov. Offices
Floor 4 Aircraft and Weapons Division
Floor 5 Aircraft Stations 2100 - 3200
Floor 6 Hospital, Jail
Floor 7 Mess Hall, Kitchen, Classrooms
Floor 8 Living Quarters: Ages 0 - 8, 19 +
Floor 9 Living Quarters: Age 9
Floor 10 Living Quarters: Age 10
Floor 11 Living Quarters: Age 11
Floor 12 Living Quarters: Age 12
Floor 13 Living Quarters: Age 13
Floor 14 Living Quarters: Age 14
Floor 15 Living Quarters: Age 15
Floor 16 Living Quarters: Age 16
Floor 17 Living Quarters: Age 17
Floor 18 Living Quarters: Age 18
Floor 19 Emergency Housing 0000-1000
Floor 20 Emergency Housing 2000-3000
Floor 21 Emergency Housing 4000-5000
Floor 22 Emergency Housing 6000-7000
Floor 23 Emergency Housing 8000-9000
The rest of the floors are more emergency housing and things I've never heard of before.
Someone presses the button with "7" engraved on it and we zoom upward.
From the Floor Map, I can tell there's a lot more kids here than there are adults. Only part of one floor is needed for them, not counting the adults in Military Training, and more than 10 floors are needed for us.
When we get to the seventh floor, I walk out after the other kids and walk over to the long cafeteria counter to get my plate of food. It's the same for everybody, although there are rumors that the serving sizes will change soon for everyone depending on age, weight, and body type. Right now we get what looks like white mush and brown slop, with a small glass of water. No one is allowed to leave the mess hall until they've finished their meal so no food is wasted. And it's not like we can throw this disgusting excuse for food down the garbage chute either; there are guards in the grey District Thirteen uniforms stationed at the doors and at the cafeteria counters watching us.
Once I get my plate, the tall boy in front of me says, "This stuff looks gross, don't you think?"
"Tell me about it," I say. "Back home we had all kinds of seafood and fruits."
The boy raises his eyebrows. "Really? I've never had seafood before. I'm guessing you're from District Four?"
"Yeah," I pause. "Where are you from?"
"District Seven," he says. "No seafood there, even though we live next to an ocean."
I frown, trying to remember everything I've heard about District Seven. "You guys live near an ocean? I thought we were the only ones."
The boy, who has a really nice tan, nods. "It's called the Western Sea. It surrounds the whole western border of our district."
"Oh," I say.
"Let's get a table before everyone else comes," he says. We both sit at a table near the center of the hall and start eating. The food tastes like sawdust. "So what's your name?"
"Rhode," I say. "You?"
"Archer," he says through a mouthful of food.
I put on a small smile. "Nice to meet you, Archer."
~*~*~X~*~*~
Shimmer Ford, Age 16, District One
I flip my straight blond hair behind my shoulder as I get my plate of food. Some stuff that looks like mushy rice and a pile of an unknown brown substance plus water. I grimace in disgust as I walk to my usual table at the center of the cafeteria and sit down. I glance at a cute guy sitting at the next table and then finish my food in silence. The food is soooooo gross. I feel like throwing up!
I really can't finish this. I need to barf. I don't know how anyone else can eat this shit! I get up quickly, and I hurry over to the garbage chute and toss everything down the huge hole in the wall. I drink my water to get rid of the taste and throw the cup down as well.
And then, all of a sudden, a siren sounds.
~*~*~X~*~*~
Corin Reine, Age 17, District Two
The siren sounds so loud I almost drop my plate on my way to the tables.
Two guards make their way urgently to the garbage chute where a confused looking blond girl stands, and they each grab one of her arms and haul her out of the hall. The siren turns off and that is that.
I look back to the garbage chute, where a group of officials are assessing the situation. I'm guessing the girl who got taken away threw food down the chute, because they are talking about lowering her food portions from now on.
"She must be escorted to a cell immediately," one man says sharply. "No one can get away with wasting food."
"That's not the standard protocol here," an older looking woman chides. It seems like the man who just spoke is new.
"She needs a hearing before we can proceed with any action," a second man states.
"A hearing?" a girl sitting behind me says. "That seems a bit harsh, doesn't it?"
A husky voice answers her. "Yeah. A hearing and jail time? Remind me, no matter how gross this shit is, to never throw it away."
The girl laughs. "Well you're not eating it. Where are you gonna put it?"
"In my pants," the boy says, and they both laugh hard at that.
"Ew," the girl says in mock disgust.
I grimace at the mental image that just pops into my head and head over to an empty table. The food isn't that bad; it's just not what I'm used to back home. It's definitely bland, but it's bearable.
After dinner, I go back to my room. On the way there I see people holding small slips of paper I recognize as Daily Schedules. I already have mine, seeing as I've been here for so long, but my guess is the new people who've arrived in the past week or so get theirs today.
The first thing I have tomorrow after breakfast is History. In my opinion, the class is a waste of time. What else is there to know other than what everybody already knows? Panem was a dictatorship, so the districts rebelled as one, attempting to destroy the cruel Capitol but failed. This led to the Dark Days. The Dark Days have lasted for twenty-six years. District Thirteen has been trying their best to recover from the constant attacks, but everyone has been forced deep underground due to dangerous radiation levels from nuclear bombs.
Well, at least that's what they teach us. The real story? Panem is a dictatorship, so District Thirteen started a rebellion. The Capitol retaliated harshly, so District Thirteen abandoned the rest of the districts, leaving them at the hands of the Capitol. The Capitol granted Thirteen its freedom when Thirteen captured nuclear weapons and bartered a cease-fire with the Capitol under the terms of mutually assured destruction. Almost everyone outside the district is unaware Thirteen is alive and functioning; the only reason random kids are being taken from their districts and sent here is because there's a rumor going around that random children will be chosen every year to be slaughtered to death on a reality show. The reason Thirteen is saving us is because they're going extinct. Almost the whole population has been wiped out, so they are recruiting tons of young children and strong adults to help them survive the war.
So, in reality, neither District Thirteen nor the Capitol has won. The Capitol hasn't won because District Thirteen is still alive and not under their control, and Thirteen hasn't won because the Capitol is still in power. And the rest of the districts are in this weird in-between that isn't serving well for anyone.
~*~*~X~*~*~
Boult Bagot, Age 17, District Seven
It's 7:30 AM. Time for breakfast.
Breakfast here is two bland bread rolls that look like balls of rock, plus an apple and a small glass of water. I walk to an empty table when someone calls out to me.
"Yo Boult! Sit over here."
I turn to see Archer, my friend back from District Seven. I haven't seen him since he asked me if I was coming here.
"Hey, man," I say, walking over to his table. He's sitting with a girl. "Oh, this is Rhode," he says. "Rhode, this is Boult. I knew him back home."
"Nice to meet you," Rhode says. "These bread rolls are disgusting."
"I'll eat your last one for you," Archer offers quietly so no guards hear. I can tell he doesn't want to eat it though, and I wonder why he offered.
"Nah, I'll eat it. You already ate both of yours."
"Dude, it's fine." Archer reaches for the bread roll on the girl's plate as discreetly as he can. He stuffs the thing in his mouth before anyone can see.
"So not noticeable," Rhode says sarcastically.
"Mm, delicious," Archer jokes after he swallows the bread.
"I told you, you didn't have to eat it," she says, not laughing at all.
"Chill a little, would ya?" I butt in.
Rhode ignores me. "Let's get to class."
"Yeah. Hey Boult, what's first on your schedule?"
"History."
"Same for us," Archer says, gesturing to Rhode and himself. "Let's go."
With that, we start off toward history class.
~*~*~X~*~*~
Sorry for the HORRIBLE ending to Chapter One. Just want some feedback for this new Dark Days story, as I said in the beginning of the chapter I've never seen this being tried before so FEEDBACK PLEASE Thanks to all who read and review! –B
ALSO, what do you think of the characters so far? I'm thinking of doing a chapter intercession where I post a detailed page of the characters, where they're from, their backstories, thoughts on the war, etc. so it's easier for people to keep track…I don't know if that's needed. Please don't hesitate to tell me your opinion in PM, reviews, or otherwise. Thanks for all the support I got in writing this story!