Hunger Games: In theShadow of Death

Chapter 1

District 12 is a bad place to grow up. The last of the 12 Districts in Panem, all surrounding the city of Capitol. They all manufacture things for the Capitol. District 12 is the butt-end of the Districts, situated over what used to be the Appalachian mountains in what used to be North America. District 12 supplies Capitol with coal.

I live in the worst part of District 12, nick-named the Seam. The Seam is very close to the Meadow. A fence topped with barbed wire stretched around the Meadow, surrounding District 12, and cutting the meadow off of the woods. It's supposedly electrified, but only during a few hours of the day. I discovered I could go out into the woods, long ago.

My name is Thrazz Altar. I have black hair, that I've cut into a mohawk. I once read that mohawks are a sign of anarchy. I support that. I hate the Capitol, and I want to show that in anyway possible, without endangering my own life. I'm sitting here, in the woods, staring at a small pond. I see my face reflected. My green eyes. The nasty scar that cuts across my left cheek to my neck. I'm small, only weigh about 95 pounds, even though I'm almost 16. Luckily I get enough to eat, with no one to watch over. My parents are both dead. My older brother is a drug addict who's lucky the Peacekeepers haven't shot him yet. I hate him.

I got up from my comfy seat and started my way back. As I walk I think. I turn back and look again at the body of my last victim. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I'm an assassin. My latest victim will get me a lot of food. He was the Mayor of the Seam, Avery Scot. It's worked out perfectly, the body is hidden in the woods, where nobody will look. Even if they, do, my handiwork is so well done, that it looks like he got caught in a poachers trap. I've always hated him.

It's kind of ironic, seeing as how my biggest crush is on the mayor's daughter, Jennifer Scot. She'll be heartbroken. I turn back around and walk back to the fence. Knowing that it's not electric at the moment, I crawl under the fence and crawl through the Meadow, so there's no witnesses of me leaving the woods. I'm always a bit jumpy after each kill, so the whole way back to the Hob, the black market in the Seam, I was jumping at every sound.

When I got there, I walked past all the vendors and straight to my contact. He's got metallic blue hair, (obviously dyed) and a forgettable face. I gave him some evidence, the tip of the mayor's nose, and he handed over a bag of flour. This is a really good deal, as flour isn't easy to get. This is also the good quality stuff from Capitol.

"I've got another 'project' for you" My contact says.

"Yeah? Who is it, and what'll you pay?" I reply

"He's a man who ticked me off yesterday. He pushed me around, and demanded my money. I want it back. That'll be the proof I need that you killed him."

"Materials? Those are easy to reproduce. How do you know I actually killed the guy, and not just stolen the money?"

"Because I trust you. You've already killed five people that I asked you to take out, and besides, the reaping is tomorrow. I have the authority to rig it so that if you don't kill him, your name will be drawn."

The reaping is the day of the year when two people, a boy and a girl, get their names randomly pulled to compete in the Hunger Games. Every district does it. They have to.

I smiled. The Hunger Games would be an improvement to my current condition, but it would still be a death sentence to someone as thin as me. "Alright. What will I be payed?" I repeated.

My contact nodded. "Another bag of flour."

"Wow, he must have really made you mad." I say. He nodded. Then he handed me a photo of a man with blond hair. I know him. His name is Isaiah Woodrow, and he is always drunk. It'll be easy to find him, I might even be able to collect the bounty today. "I'll do it." I say.

He nods. "Alright, but you can't turn in today. So I wouldn't even bother going after him."

After that I walk home. When I get to the shack I live in, I mix the flour with some water, and a little bit of sugar I swiped from the market on the way back. Then I prepare the dough, and put it into the little oven that my mom left behind. While I wait for the bread to be done cooking, I do some thinking. What if I do get my name drawn? What if I get my name drawn, and Jennifer Scot get's HER name drawn? Jennifer. The one person who gives me the strength to keep going. If we both get our names drawn, then I'll have to kill her. But what if just her name gets drawn? She's not the kind of person to fight. She would die in the bloodbath at Cornucopia.

Five hours later, the bread is done, and I'm eating it and some cooked rabbit I snared in the woods. An assassination AND the Reaping tomorrow. It's going to be a big day. I go to sleep with all this on my mind. I also know my name is in the pool five times.

The Reaping system is unfair. You are eligible for the Reaping the day you turn twelve. That year your name gets entered once. At thirteen, twice. And so on until you reach the age of eighteen, the final year of eligibility, when your name gets entered seven times. I'm fifteen, so my name'll be in five times.

Here's another thing, there's something called tessera. You can add your name more times in exchange for tessera. Each tessera is a meager year's supply of grain and oil for one person. You can do this for each of your family members as well. Although, at the age of twelve both my parents were dead, and my brother off somewhere else, so I've never had to do it.

Strangely, I get a good nights sleep. When I wake up, I get ready for hunting Isaiah Woodrow. The Reaping isn't until two o'clock, so I'll have plenty of time. I leave the house with my dual knives up my sleeves, ready to equip at a moments notice. I check the first bar I come across. He's not there. I spent the rest of the day looking for him. By one o'clock, I still haven't found him. I'm getting frustrated.

At one thirty, I'm really worried. If I don't find him, and my name gets drawn, if I survive, my contact will be mad. The only thing to do is kill my contact. I head to the Hob. I stop outside the exit. My contact leaves the Hob with two other people, on their way to the Reaping. My contact leaves the men and cuts through an alley. Now's my chance. I make sure no one is looking, then follow him. I pull my knives out. I come up behind my contact. He pulls out a cigarette. I make my move right when he lights it. I stab him in the back, and then slit his throat.

Leaving his dead body hidden under a house, I leave my contact. I took his money, though. Then I head to the Reaping. It's almost two when I get there. I register, and then get into the group of fifteen year olds. I give my attention to the stage. Three people go up. There should be four, but unfortunately, the Peacekeepers are still looking for the poor dear Mayor, whom they must have discovered missing last night. The three people who are up on the stage are six years ago Hunger Games male winner, Gram Marshal, and two years ago Hunger Games female winner, Sophie Rite. The third person is District 12's escort, Julie Allens, fresh from Capitol. I already hate her.

After a few minutes, a Peacekeeper goes up in place of the still missing (forever, although they don't know that) Mayor Scot. The Peacekeeper announces why he's not there, that the Mayor is missing, this gets shocked gasps from the audience, and then he starts reading about the history of Panem. It's required.

He tells of how Panem rose out of the ashes of what was once North America, listing the disasters, droughts, storms fires, the encroaching seas that swallowed most of the land, and he also told of the brutal war for what little sustenance remained. The result: Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to it's citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, and subdued, but the thirteenth was completely destroyed. The Treaty of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games.

The Rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a cast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.

After that the Peacekeeper reads the list of past District 12 winners. In ninety-three years, we've had six winners. The latest, Sophie Rite, before her, Gram Marshal. Then we reach a point of both pride and sorrow. When a girl and a boy, Katniss Everdeen, and Peeta Mellark, showed the most treachery and deceit by tricking the Gamemakers into letting them both win at the same time. After them, Haymitch Abernathy. I spaced out after that.

I stared at the camera crews ringing the town square. I was nudged by another boy when Sophie Rite stepped up to pull the girls name from the pool. After a pause for suspense, she reached in and pulled out a piece of paper. She walked to the podium, straightened the paper out, and read, "Jennifer Scot." My heart skipped a beat. I heard Jennifer scream, "No!" The camera crews trained there cameras on her as she dramatically fell to her knees.

The Peacekeepers brought her up to the stage and she stood there in shock. Sophie started clapping and the crowd slowly picked it up. I knew that even if my name wasn't drawn, I would volunteer to go, I would keep Jennifer safe, and then when it was just her and me, I would kill myself and let her live.

Sophie heads to the boys pool. She reaches in, and very dramatically, she must have been enjoying her time onscreen, pulls out a piece of paper. She slowly makes her way to the podium. Then she reads the name.

Thrazz Altar. I smile and proudly make my way forward I can almost sense the camera crews disappointment when the mysterious boy wearing a camouflage shirt and dark hood proudly makes his way up, and they don't get any drama.

"Congratulations, and may the odds be EVER in your favor! " She is looking at me, thinking I will be more likely to win than the crying and pathetic fifteen year old girl standing on her other side. It will look close, but in the end, I know I'm going to die, not by anyone else's hand, but by my own.

Well, I hoped you guys liked it, this is my first book that I have shown to anyone besides my parents, and I hope it isn't too cheesy, or anything like that.