A/N: It's probably not very smart to start a third story, but I'm doing it. So now I'll be juggling this among two others. But, I got a good idea and I could hold off writing it any longer.
Description: Explores the foundation of the Career system, beginning with the first Career: Austin Millburn. This will be ten chapters.
My father was always pro-Capitol, even during the war. A lot of District Two citizens were pro-Capitol, but my father was much more active in his support for the government. He actively worked against rebellion movements within District Two even before the war broke out, and he fought on the side of the Capitol when war eventually did begin.
I'm not sure what made him love the Capitol so much. It could've been his cushy job, the number of political friends he had in the Capitol, or my late mother, the love of his life and a citizen of the Capitol. Regardless, he defended the Capitol with every ounce of heart he had.
He was even more thrilled when the Treaty of Treason was signed and the Capitol won. He thought that the districts deserved to be punished, and he wholeheartedly agreed with President Ravel when he decided to begin the Hunger Games, despite the fact that it put me in danger of being "reaped".
The reaping ceremony for the First Hunger Games was scary. I remember standing with all of the other sixteen year olds as Lydia Bell, our district representative, pulled a small piece of paper from a large glass bowl.
"Maribel Para!" she yelled excitedly. Lydia acted as if she was picking lottery winners, the kids in the audience felt like she was giving out death sentences. I only knew Maribel vaguely from school. She was my age, but I never really talked to her. We were just in different social circles.
But regardless, the look on her face saddened me, and I realized that I would probably wear a similar expression if I knew that I had just been selected to die.
I wasn't even paying attention when Lydia drew the next name; I was too focused on Maribel's face.
"Jake Duffield!" she shouted.
The sudden abruptness of which she shocked caused me to jump in fright, and a few people turned to look at me thinking that my reaction meant that I was Wayne Duffield. But fortunately I wasn't.
A large eighteen year old took the stage and Lydia forced him and Maribel to shake hands. Maribel held both of their hands up in the air and yelled at us to congratulate them. We acquiesced, and applauded.
Several of the adults were clapping proudly; they actually felt like it was an honor for the two kids. Of course, none of them were ever in danger of being reaped, so how could they possibly understand the terror all of the kids were feeling? I turned to look at my father in that moment, and it was clear who was clapping the loudest.
No one knew what to expect when we all watched the events unfold on TV in the following weeks. We all watched in curiosity when the tributes were paraded around wearing ridiculous comments, and we listened carefully when Camilla Ravel, the Head Gamemaker and President Ravel's sister, explained how training and evaluations would work. Although there were Sponsors, interviews didn't begin until the Tenth Hunger Games.
Everybody anxiously anticipated the training scores, hoping that our tributes did well and that they would have a better shot at coming home. Maribel scored a six and Jake scored an eight, the highest score that year. Back then, no one was actually prepared for anything the Hunger Games was going to throw. None of the tributes had used weapons before, and many had never seen some of the plants.
The opening of the Hunger Games was actually sort of awkward. People ran to get weapons and supplies but no one was sure if they wanted to be the first one to attack anybody else. All twenty-four tributes had gone into the cornucopia to get weapons and essentially played cat-and-mouse games with each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.
In this time, a few tributes broke the tension and ran into the surrounding environment (plains). Jake, Maribel, the girl from District Six and the male from District Three all ran into the plains.
The first kill of the Hunger Games came when the male tribute from District Four stabbed the male tribute from District Seven in the back with a spear. The two tributes had apparently gotten into a brief skirmish during training and held enmity towards the other.
After the first cannon shot fired and the body of the thirteen year old boy fell to the ground, all hell broke loose. The boy from District Four was immediately attacked by a high strung girl from District Eleven, scared that she would be attacked next since she was closest. She tried to shoot an arrow at him but it missed and struck the girl from District Three in the back of the head. The boy from District Four immediately turned and stabbed her through the stomach with another spear as other fights began to break out.
The female tribute from District Seven and both tributes from District Eight were killed by the male tribute from District Ten, who had acquired a sword and was attacking everyone in sight. He killed the two tributes from District Twelve as well before the boy from District One stabbed in the back with a dagger.
The girl from District Five fell and cut herself on her own knife, injuring her leg so badly that she couldn't move. The female from District One decided to kill her, but was then attacked by the girl's angry district partner. He killed her with a sword, but the District One male took revenge and killed him immediately after.
After all the fights were done, the boy from District One, Jake, Maribel, the boy from District Three, both tributes from District Four, both tributes from District Six, both tributes from District Nine, the girl from District Ten, and the boy from District Eleven all survived the initial bloodbath. The boy from District Three drowned a few hours later because he fell in a lake and didn't know how to swim.
Most of my friends and I were horrified by the events that unfolded on the TV screen, but my dad just smiled to himself as he watched. "This is what they deserve…" he would occasionally mutter.
Only eleven tributes survived the first day. And after two more days, both of the tributes from District Nine and the girl from District Six all died when they ate poisonous food. The boy from District Four killed the boy from District Eleven on the third by stabbing him through the heart with his sword.
By the fourth day, everybody was running low on supplies and the first Feast was announced. Most of the tributes had no choice but to go to the Feast and another bloodbath ensued. Maribel was killed by the boy from District One and the boy from District Six killed the boy from District Eleven. Jake managed to grab his supplies and he almost escaped before being attacked by the boy from District Four. Jake used his knife to critically wound him before escaping. The bloodbath ended after the girl from District Ten was killed by the boy from District One.
Jake later encountered the boy from District Six and stabbed him in the side with his knife.
That just left Jake, the boy from District One, and the boy from District Four. A series of thunderstorms and tornadoes on the outskirts of the arena forced the remaining three back to the center of the arena. Jake maintained a defensive strategy, while the other two viciously charged. Jake's defensive strategy paid off, because the other two focused on each other.
Due to his injuries, the boy from District Four was unable to put up a very good fight and was eventually killed by the boy from District One. But as soon as the boy from District Four fell to the ground dead and the boy from District One turned around, Jake slit his throat.
President Ravel crowned Jake Victor the next day, and Jake wore a proud smile. The smile was clearly forced, but tears of happiness began to well up in my dad's eyes at the sight. And then he said the words that would change my life and the history of the Hunger Games:
"I want that to be you someday…"
I looked at him in shock, not wanting to believe that what he was saying was true. I ultimately dismissed it at the time; I didn't think he could've been serious. Besides, I didn't see any way that he could increase my odds of not only getting reaped but actually winning. I didn't think there was actually anything he could do to fulfill his dream of seeing me crowned by President Ravel as a Victor.
But I was dead wrong.
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