Lockdown

Day 1: Manic Monday Part 1

AN: This is my first attempt in writing something in a while, it was inspired by several things so if you recognize something from another franchise that is why : )

In the crowded central area of the city of Panem people were going about their daily business. Some shoving and sliding past one another to avoid any kind of contact, some stopping to talk and laugh with people they know. Some lying across grass to admire the glorious sun shining above them.

But on a main street there was a small coffee shop, inside sat a blond male. His school bag was placed on the table in front of him as his head was down and glued to his phone screen.

A lot of people were doing the same, it was either they were talking to someone, typing on a laptop or had their attention on a mobile phone. It was the way ran in the central area of Panem, known as the capitol. Students came here for school before going back to their homes in a different district of the large city.

The door to the coffee shop slowly opened, a tall olive skinned male stepped inside. A light frown on his face as he looked about the crowded place in search of someone. He then stepped over to the blond male, taking a seat beside him.

When he heard the movement next to him the blond lifted up his head, a quick smile appearing on his lips. "Oh, hey Gale"

"Thought you were meeting me after work?" Gale asked, turning his attention to the window in front of the table.

"Sorry. I tried to call you because you were taking too long then Delly told me to meet her here and that she had told you as well." Peeta shrugged, he felt a little bad for getting impatient and not waiting for him.

Gale arched his brow at Peeta before shaking his head. "Yeah she told me to meet you two here."

Peeta gave a nod and pulled out his phone again, flicking it open and messaged Delly to ask where she was. "Oh that reminds me. Have you seen that website that Madge has been showing everyone?"

"What you mean the one that apparently gives you a clip of your future?" The olive skinned man raised a brow and snorted. "Sounds like a load of crap to me. I haven't seen anyone actually get a clip sent to them yet."

Peeta's face scrunched up for a moment as he thought about it. "You know neither have I, I've heard of a rumour that someone did. Apparently he saw himself running and that was it."

Gale simply shook his head and laughed under his breath. "What's the site again?" He asked, bringing the phone out of his pocket before peering over Peeta's shoulder to try and get a look.

"Uh Lockdown dot Panem forward slash future." The student read out the address from the screen.

The older man nodded and typed it in as he went along, looking at the screen in confusion when the website loaded. "Hmm…" He pondered for a moment before clicking on the sign up button.

"Yeah it asks for a photo and then you fill in the stuff." Peeta pointed out with an absent shrug.

"Well that's just stupid."

"Just do it." Peeta rolled his eyes.

Then Gale done so, taking a casual photo of himself and filled out the parts that needed information about him. He then clicked onto the next screen where he was met by multiple squares, each with a picture and a title at the top. 'Pick your Avatar!'

Gale tilted his head, scrunching his nose. "Which one did you choose?" He turned to Peeta.

"I chose the wolf guy with the club." The blond shrugged and pointed to the picture he was talking about.

"Hmmm..." The olive skinned man hummed to himself as he swiped through the rather large selection of images before finally settling on one. "I'll choose the red guy with the horns" He chuckled to himself before leaning his head back in surprise when the screen flashed white.

Then a woman came up, her skin was a pale white, hair in a bright green bunch and lime coloured clothes to match. "Welcome welcome!" She spoke with an odd chirp to her voice, her accent made her sound like she was from the capitol area as well. "Thank you for registering with Lockdown! We aim to keep you up to date with all of your future seeing needs. We plan to Lockdown on your knowledge of the future and keep you informed!"

"Terrible tag line" Gale snorted.

But then, it was as if the woman in the phone responded to him. Her smile twisted into a slight glare at Gale's remark before she continued. "My name is Effie Trinket and I shall be your escort to give you tips and bring you the latest news on this website! Please wait while I gather recent updates."

Gale then turned to Peeta giving him an odd look before the blond finally spoke again.

"It's done this for everyone. Apparently Katniss' escort is some guy dressed in blue named Ceaser." The blond student explained before rolling his shoulders and turning back to Gale's phone.

Within a few more seconds the cheery voice of 'Effie' was heard once more. "I have gathered your recent updates Gale Hawthorne. I see you are near a fellow website user, Peeta Mellark. He too has registered with us and it says here that you both will be receiving your future clip very soon! Oh how wonderful!" She grinned widely and gave a small bow.

"That is all for now! I will notify you when your future clip has arrived! Oh it's going to be a big big day for you two!" Effie laughed before she faded away, leaving only the Lockdown home screen.

Gale was sat there with a confused expression; silence was caught between the two males before it was broken by Peeta. "…Well?"

"It's probably a load of crap." The taller male scoffed, leaned back in his seat while shoving his phone in his pocket.

"Really, after all of that you're claiming its crap?" An amused smirk was edging its way onto Peeta's lips before he shook his head at Gale. "If this was around last year while you were still in school you'd be all over it. But now that you're a big fireman you're too grown up now?" He teased further, nudging the male gently.

The two shared a sigh as silence fell between them. Peeta decided to finally take a sip of his coffee before Gale stood up and went to get his own, in the moments Gale was gone Peeta's phone began to vibrate violently in his pocket. He reached down and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Peeta oh- bad- mom- help!"

It was Delly, but the signal was so bad he was only able to understand five of the words she spoke. But he could tell her voice was frantic and maybe even tears pouring from her eyes.

As soon as the connection was dropped; Peeta was up on his feet, grabbing Gale and quickly dragging him out of the coffee shop, darting towards the bus station. He explained the phone call as they ran, figuring she must be at home since Delly had mentioned her mother.

The pair reached the bus station, but sadly the one they were waiting for hadn't arrived yet. So they stood around, anxiously waiting as Peeta tried to call Delly over and over only to be told there was no connection.

After a few minutes of standing around both of their phones buzzed at once, causing them to quickly check the screens where they were met with the 'Lockdown mascot' Effie Trinket with a wide smile on her face.

"Welcome welcome! I have big news for you! Your first future clip has just arrived!" She clapped her hands in excitement before dragging her finger across the screen, looking as if she moved it along where she then faded away until a black screen was present.

A few long, dreadful seconds passed before the video began to play. The blonde's eyes were fixed on the screen he hadn't even noticed the bus pulling up at the stop, but lucky enough Gale did. So he dragged Peeta onto the bus before they both sat down, turning their attention back to the video.

It started with a shot of Peeta, sitting on the bus beside Gale just like they were. And then a crash was heard, causing the blond to peer out down the centre of the vehicle to out the front. Then after a few seconds of silence an even louder crash caused the passengers to shout in fright. But it wasn't finished there, an animalistic roar attracted the attention of everyone to one side of the bus before it was suddenly flipped over, sending everyone tumbling over one another against the side.

Then the screen cut to black, leaving the two males in stunned silence. They slowly turned to each other with frightful looks upon their faces.

"We have to get off the bus." Peeta whispered quickly, standing up and Gale soon followed. They planned to get off at the next stop.

It happened. A loud crash was heard; everyone turned their heads to see what it was. Just as it happened in the video another sound was heard, it sounded closer to the bus, almost as if it was right outside. But then the roar echoed through the bus, causing Peeta to shiver and snap his head in the direction it came from. Just before the bus was tipped he caught a glimpse of something, it seemed to be a large red creature with strange markings all over its body.

Before he had the chance to open his mouth to shout, the bus was flipped and the small blond felt the weight of several passengers' crash on top of him.

This time unlike the video, a metallic crushing intruded into the bus. And Peeta had only caught the glimpse of the window before the whole other side of the vehicle fell on top of him and the others.

Gone.

Darkness filled his vision and the feeling of several people on him had vanished. The only thing that was clear in his vision was a small glowing screen lying in front of him.

A phone, on the screen held a rather serious looking Effie Trinket. Her eyes fixed on Peeta.

Her voice then drifted almost soothingly through his ears.

"Do you have the will to live? Fight the dangers that you will face?"

No answer, the blond couldn't even bring up the energy to speak.

"Do you have the will to live Peeta Mellark?"

Silence filled the air again, no matter how much Peeta tried to speak he could suddenly feel the weight crushing down on his chest despite nothing being there.

"I feel it. I can feel it in your heart. Your will is strong enough. Open your eyes Peeta. You have a big big day ahead of you."