Dear Katniss,
You might think it strange, but I'm not surprised that you killed me. I was never a compassionate being at the best of times and the choices I made have been truly despicable. I have few regrets but most were within the first fifteen years of my life. In return for Snow's death I give you this.
This is the story of my life.
Sincerely,
Alma Coin
District 8 was muddy and cold all year round. If it weren't for the fact that they made most of the clothing for all districts, the death toll would be unconscionable; it was bad enough already. The heavy soot from the factories combined with the constant dragging of lifeless feet had churned the ground into a mud pit that never came off clothing and left the people downtrodden, muddy and freezing 24/7, 365 days a year.
It was a bad enough life for its normal residents, but worse when you were an angry fourteen year old who didn't belong in it.
My family was born in District 13 in one of its many underground vaults. We were an oddity; it was rare enough to have a child at all but rarer to have two. Victoria Coin was a year older than I was, pretty and popular but too old for school but too young for work.
We'd ended up in District 8 because my father was working with an old victor, Reginald Paylor, to attempt to set up an underground movement in the shaky political climate.
My mother died in child birth, a common fate for those lucky few who could parent children after the pox.
It didn't help that we'd been signed up for the tesserae after that year's Hunger Games, despite avoiding the radar for the two previous years when I had been applicable. The 37th Hunger Games were always brutal on principal, but this year had been spectacularly cruel. A desert setting made water a necessity, except the only water was in the Cornucopia and you had to use a bucket to access it. There were no weapons anywhere in the arena so tributes had to throw rocks at each other and break necks while they attempted to access the water with a slow-moving winch. When a tribute fell into the Cornucopia and drowned, bleeding heavily from a cut across the temple, it became a blood bath until finally the winner was a kid from District 11 who'd been fast enough to run away and made a shelter in the sand.
He was asphyxiating and dying of heat stroke when they picked him up, but the two remaining tributes in the Cornucopia had gone in a death roll and both had died falling off the rim.
Still, the celebrations had run despite the fact he was mute due to irreparable burns on his vocal chords.
Now, things were going back to normal, if 'normal' is what you call the joyless grind of district life. I spent most of my days playing truant, running free in the streets and the warehouses.
My favourite spot was the main factory near the centre of the district. The pieces were from before the Dark Days and required frequent replacement. For the most difficult to access parts, they sometimes paid the kids who ran around the place to climb up and refit the new pieces.
Kieran, on of the middle-aged factory workers who I got along well with, called for some kids to help him. Seeing as it was school time and most of the older kids didn't hang out in the warehouses, I only had a boy around a year older than me to compete with.
He had a head start but I managed to tackle him to the ground so that we slid through the muddy footprints to come to a halt in front of Kieran.
I had always been a favourite but it seemed like he was friends with the boy I'd tackled as well as he chuckled, "Oh, Aeros, tackled by a girl," shaking his head with mock disapproval as the boy attempted to rub the mud off his face, succeeding only in wiping it through his already spiky brown hair, "Anyway, it's a big part so I could use both of your help."
We both groaned as we got off the ground and picked up the fan rotor and attempted to balance it between us.
It was tricky because we each needed a hand free to climb so we ended up holding onto the metal flaps on the sides, much to the disapproval of the senior mechanic who Aeros flicked off. I smiled and he grinned in reply and for a few seconds there was an awkward silence as we started to climb until he started to talk, "So… my name's Aeros, but most people call me Ross… what's your name?"
"Alma Coin," I replied.
There were a few more seconds of awkward silence before he continued, "Nice tackle back there."
"Thanks…"
"Where'd you get so strong?" he asked, groaning as we lifted it over one of the main hydraulic valves.
"Well, from this," I said, hefting the rotor as I spoke, "And I exercise… one in five hundred isn't that great odds…" I whisper as we both fall silent.
I was about to pull it over another auxiliary valve when Ross shakes his head and drags me about ten metres to the left where there's a gap you can squeeze through without climbing over the pipe.
"Thanks," I replied as he grinned again, his teeth shining against soot-blackened lips.
He was about to reply when he tripped over an excess length of pipe stretched across the top of an otherwise flat engine block. His foot slid towards the edge of the engine as I reached forward, gripping his wrist as well as the rotor as his body swung out over the edge before I finally managed to pull him back, slipping in the process as he landed on top.
We both just lay there, panting, when he rolled over to look at me and say, "I think you just saved my life."
"Don't be so dramatic, but thanks," I replied.
"Look down, seriously," Ross exclaimed.
When I did, I realised we were about ten metres off the ground. At the same time as the terror hit, I could also feel a faint draught from some broken boards near the roof, gently blowing my hair back.
"Just a couple more metres, Alma," Aeros called as I turned back.
We hefted it up to the socket as we started a gentle conversation about each other; age, lifestyle, family. It turned out Ross' full name was Aeros Servan and he was an orphan and only child who'd turned fifteen the previous week and was pretty good-looking except for the layer of mud with his spiky brown hair and green eyes. He worked as an apprentice mechanic as well as helping with the various odd jobs like part replacement. He showed me some basic electrics and what to do with them as he fitted the new rotor.
"I like it up here," I admitted as we rested, dangling our legs out over the production line.
"Yeah, I wish I could stay up here forever…" Ross replied wistfully.
"Why can't you?" I asked, genuinely concerned that I might not get to see him again.
"My size," he admitted as he pulled of the layers of clothing to reveal a broad and muscled frame, "Soon I won't be able to squeeze through those smaller gaps and they'll pay some new kid to come in and replace me. I tried wearing fewer clothes so now every day I'm freezing. I tried eating less but it leaves me exhausted and soon I won't be able to hide it."
"You know… if you eat more you'll get bigger so you can climb over the top instead, it'd be hard but you could still stay here," I replied.
A smile burst onto his lips as he thought this over, "Hey, you're right, and then I could do it faster as well because I wouldn't be so tired.
He was still grinning from ear-to-ear as I stretched, preparing to heft the old rotor all the way back down. Ross pointed out a join in the metal that ran to the ground that you could push the scrap parts down and use as a slide instead of climbing the whole way back again and I started smiling ass well.
When we reached the bottom, I was exhausted but fairly happy, having actually enjoyed myself in the company of a real friend and riding the slide had given me an adrenaline rush.
As we walked into the gentle snow fall, I asked him where he lived to which he replied, "Nowhere."
When I raised an eyebrow, he led me over to a bench next to the door and explained, "I ran away from the orphanage and I have enough money to buy clothes for warmth but I can't afford a home."
"You could come with me…?" I offered as I banged my hands together. Exhaustion was slowly fogging up my consciousness and I tried to fight of tendrils of sleep.
"Thanks," he replied as he put his arm around me in a semi-hug. It was a friendly gesture in return for my offer but I hadn't realised how poorly I'd slept since arriving in 8 and I barely realised that I drifted into sleep in the safety of his arm.
Whew, first part is finished. If anyone finds anything wrong, please feel free to tell me. It might seem a little childish now but consider it to be Coin's point of view as a child. Later, it will be a lot more serious.
Please, DO NOT SUGGEST Coin goes in the Games.
