It had been twenty years since the rebels took over the Capitol and destroyed the hunger games and all the old arenas. I was five when it happened. Chaos had erupted all over Panem, Capitol rebels who had gotten a hold of some weapons and killed the president and the rest of the government. My mother told me they were unhappy with the changes the new president made, that they wanted everything to go back to the way it was, when the Capitols people had easy lives and endless entertainment. They wanted the Hungers Games back. " Why would anyone want that?" I asked her. " Nobody knows baby but it will be okay as long as we are a family."
CHAPTER 1
I'm running through the forest trying to hunt the way an old tribute named Katniss did back during the second rebellion. My bow is an old one my father bought before the Capitols retake-over. I manage to shoot a squirrel, not enough to feed my family of four but still something. I trudge back home, disappointed by my lousy catch. I told my brother I would bring back a lot so we could have a good meal before the reaping tonight. Yes I said reaping. The Capitol restarted the Hunger Games after they took over. Only this time we don't get the little silver care packages, and four kids are taken each year instead if two. I had a bad feeling in my gut that this year was going to be my last reaping.
I hear a slight noise behind me and take aim at what was following me. I catch sight of my good friend Chaos Flint, his name is kinda funny because he is so nice and peaceful. I lower my bow and smile at him; he steps out of the shadows and gives me a sly grin. My heart melts at the sight of him, that tall and muscular build that can easily snap someones neck in half yet can make soft and beautiful sounds come out of the guitar in his room. "Hey Minny" he says as he ruffles my hair. I swat his hand away and glower at him, I hated my nickname he gave me, it makes me feel small and powerless, my real name is Minnehaha (which means laughing water in an old language called indian) Brackletter. I roll my eyes at him when he starts laughing at my reaction. I fix my hair and continue on my way. Chaos stops me and turns me around. I look up into his beautiful blue eyes I fell in love with oh so long ago. "Aren't you curious as to see what I've caught today?" he asks me. I nod not showing that all I want to do right now is lean up and kiss the heck out of him. He smiles and reaches around and hands me his hunting pack with out letting go of my arm. I open the bag and my mouth drops open in shock; he caught enough animals to feed three families. He beams at my reaction and reaches in and grabs a fat rabbit and hands it to me. I start to protest but he tied it to my belt and wouldn't let me give it back. This was one of the many reasons I loved him, his stubbornness. I thank him and say goodbye, we both head off in pursuit of home.
I get home to find my brother asleep and my mother preparing a pot for stew. I untie the rabbit and the squirrel from my belt and I hand them to her, she smiles and gets to work cleaning them. I walk to the room my brother and I share and try to wake him. "Leon, wake up Leon." I whisper in his ear. He stirs a bit, yawns, and then sits up. He sleeps all the time now that school has let out. I leave the room so he can get privacy. I was super nervous for the reaping today. I am 16 now and I have a higher chance of being one of the two girls that go to the arena to die. My brother, only 13, has little to nothing to worry about. Still we try to not show how nervous we are.
We eat the stew in silence then Leon and I get dressed to go to the reaping. My parents hug my brother and me and walk with us to the town square. Hand in hand we arrive at the square and go to our specific areas and wait for our names to be drawn out of the dreaded bowl. A man with red spiky hair walks onto the stage and addresses himself as Rupert Doily. I zone out as they go through they history of the uprisings, not really caring about us being crushed under a more superior foot, twice. I come back to earth when Rupert says, "Alright let's draw our tributes!" Many people clap and whistle while the rest of us sit silently and stare ahead. "Now for our first girl tribute we have Minnehaha Brackletter!" I stand shocked for a second then compose myself and walk confidently up to the podium. I catch sight of Chaos; he is glaring at Rupert like he was going to break him like a twig. I try to make myself look fierce but only end up looking mad so I stop. "For our first guy we have Leon Brackletter!" I hear my mother scream and then see my father catch her as she faints at the sight of both of her children being chosen to die in an arena. That's when my confidence plummeted, I almost fell down when I saw my brother, my baby brother, walking out of the crowd with the same determined look on his face that I had. " I volunteer as tribute!" I hear, momentarily grateful for the volunteer until I see who it is, Chaos steps out of the crowd, walks right past Leon, and stands close beside me. I stare at him with sadness in my eyes till he looks down and sees how much I was hurting, he then reaches over and grabbed my hand giving it a strong squeeze. "Now what is your name volunteer?" Rupert says, "Chaos, Chaos Flint" Chaos growls out. Rupert flinches at the harshness of Chaos' voice but recomposes himself and announces the next two tributes. "The next girl is Majest Mar" Majest, she was my friend when we were younger. Now she is one of the people I am probably going to have to kill. "For the last boy we have a Spencer Wildwood". A tall and lanky boy quickly strides up to the front, obviously scared, when Majest links pinkies with him he calms down but only a bit. Chaos looks over and links hands with Majest connecting us all together, I smile a bit at this then remember where I am going. I look up at Rupert not an emotion showing on my face, he looks incredulously at our linked hands then shakes his head and says, "Happy hunger games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" A song plays and we are escorted into the justice building. As soon as the door closes behind us I press my face against Chaos' shoulder and cry. I get torn from him and thrown into a very comfortable room to wait for my visitors. My family is the first to enter, my mother runs in crying and latches on to me not letting go, I hug her tightly then let go. My father smoothes my hair back then plants a kiss on my forehead then whispers in my ear to try as hard as I can. Leon looks at me with sadness then catches me in a bear hug, I hold on to him tightly, grateful he won't go through what I am about to go through. "Memento vivere," he said remember to live. The peacekeepers push them out of the room and shut the door behind me. I had no more visitors.
They escort me out of the room and shove me onto a train then close the door behind me. I turn and try to find my way to the car the holds Chaos but only find my room and a locked door. I kick the door and scream for Chaos for what seems like hours before someone opens the door. Rupert frowns and scolds me for bad manners then, seeing that I obviously don't care let's me go through to the other car. I find Chaos, Majest, and Spencer sitting at a table with a plate of untouched food in front of them. Chaos stands up, takes my arm and leads me over to the empty seat beside him. I keep holding on to his arm even as I have sat down he didn't seem to mind but he pried my fingers off his arm then grabbed my hand. Rupert sat down, "Now since district 13 doesn't have a victor I am going to mentor you to the best of my abilities." he says sympathetically. I inwardly groan at the thought of Rupert mentoring us then I realized I have already gotten military training from my father, and I know how to use weapons so I will at least stand a chance in the arena, so will Chaos. I think of Majest and how she grew up as the butchers' daughter, she might know a little but I still worry about her. Rupert looks at us expectantly waiting for us to eat. I look at him and then I take a bite of the food. "I ate before I came to the reaping, I'm full." I say then I excuse myself and walk to my room in the other car. I hear a chair scrape behind me but I stare straight ahead. I walk through the door separating the cars and stop at my door, I turn around and see Chaos standing close behind me. I stare at him trying to say all the things I need to say with my eyes, "Why did you volunteer?" "You know only one of us survives?" "I won't be able to kill you." "What will happen to us?" "What do you think the arena is this year?" "Which one of us will go home?" "I love you." He seems to understand because he reaches out and engulfs me into a hug that feels as though nothing could hurt me. "I know, we will figure everything out." he says. He rests his chin on the top of my head, still holding me close, protecting me. The door opens and Spencer tells us we have to see the reaping of the other districts. Chaos waves him off, he let's go of me. I look up at him; he wipes a tear off of my cheek I didn't know I had cried. He looks into my eyes then leans down and kisses me on the lips. It was a quick, butterfly kiss but enough to make my heart skip a beat. I watch as he walks out the door and I stand there wondering what just happened.