DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the known characters. They are the property of Disney. Original characters belong to their creators. Neither do I own the basis of this story. That belongs to Suzanne Collins.
Chapter 1
When the boys woke up that morning the bunkroom was stifling hot. It was the middle of summer after all, and in a lodging house full of boys it was to be expected. The previous year, the year of the strike, had been just as warm. A lot of boys had taken their chances sleeping on the streets. Why waste six cents when it was warm enough to sleep outside without catching a chill?
It was also common during the warm summer months for some boys to wake up early. Get a head start on selling and enjoy the sunshine. The good weather always meant a game or two once most of the newsboys had finished selling. Better to finish early than to miss any of the fun and games.
And then there were some boys who would stay asleep until Kloppman came to do his rounds, waking everyone up. Usually they were the minority. The boys who didn't like joining in with the games or simply just the lazy ones. Today, there were a few new faces amongst them.
"I don't like it," Skittery said once they were in the washroom, picking up the conversation from last night.
Snoddy, who stood opposite him, rolled his eyes. "Y' never like anything."
Skittery glared at him, throwing the towel towards his face. Snoddy laughed, side-stepping it with ease. As far as he was concerned, Skittery was simply over thinking things as usual. Just as he'd been doing the previous night, keeping a lot of boys awake in the process.
Blink, Mush and Jack filed into the washroom, all looking rather dishevelled, closely followed by Crutchy who, as usual, looked nothing short of cheerful.
"He shut up about conspiracy theories yet?" Jack asked Snoddy, reaching for the shaving cream.
Snoddy nudged the pot toward the still half asleep newsboy and shook his head. "Still doesn't like it."
Jack rolled his eyes and flicked shaving foam at the back of Skittery's head, earning a "Hey!" from him. He shrugged, going back to his daily routine and ignoring Skittery.
That's what most of the boys had been doing for months. Ignoring Skittery and his constant comments about the new regime.
At the beginning of the year a new Governor had taken control of New York. No one knew exactly how it had happened and tensions had been high for the first few weeks. Eventually everyone relaxed into the new routine. They saw nothing wrong with more actions being taken against the "scum" of New York.
By the time things took a turn for the worst, no one could do a thing about it. Changes to how the state was run had been implemented. Most of the mainland was now barren. People were moved into the main city. New boundaries were created, splitting the existing boroughs into smaller territories. Curfews had been instated. The new council, as selected by the Governor himself, were taking strict measures to ensure it gained and held complete control over the citizens of New York.
A matter of months after the shift in power, the powers-that-be announced their biggest and most ambitious plan yet. They planned to do something with, in their opinion, the biggest trouble makers in New York City. The newsies. Something that would deal with them once and for all. Make better use of them than just selling papers.
That summer, an event would be held that would involve all the newsies from the five boroughs. No one had cared at first. After the strike the previous year, a lot of New Yorkers simply didn't care anymore. It didn't have anything to do with them. Why should they bother caring? Nothing more on the event was revealed, leaving everyone to check the papers for some clue. All they knew was that August 24th, some big announcement was going to be made. That day had arrived.