Celtic Mordel - District Eight Citizen

Father of Future Female Tribute, Kitrus Mordel

"The attack is scheduled for midnight, understood?" I look through the crowd, searching for someone who is not smiling, is not nodding, is not agreeing with the sacred words I speak. No one dares to question me.

"Weapons at hand?" I ask. Everyone solemnly lifts a matchbox, assured that each tiny match they hold is important. "Then come midnight, we will fight for our freedom! We will fight for the end of the Tyranny of Panem."

I stand alone at the top of the Justice Building of District Eight. The flag of Panem flies proudly above me, freshly replaced for the Reapings. A crescent moon gives light to the sanctuary that will soon be the last glimpse of home two innocent children see before they leave to fight to the death in the Hunger Games.

It's reasons like that that I can't give up on the Rebellion. Reasons that are everywhere I look. The exhaustion my wife shows everyday after she gets back from the textile factory, working long hours making Capitol Citizen dresses only to receive a handful of silver. The skinny frame of my teenage daughter, who has never had a full meal in her life. The Peacekeepers who whip starved orphan children for stealing fruit from the stand's of merchants. The jeering shouts of the Capitol Citizens as they cheer for children to murder each other. The President, who knows of the poverty and cruelty but still lets the Hunger Games live.

My only goal is to show all those victims the wonderful life they could have, the life that Panem steals from them. How funny they call this the Justice Building. Starve your citizens, then send them to their death from the Justice Building. Tonight, as men and woman alike climb to the top of the Justice Building to join me, we will show Panem real justice.

Soon the crowd of people stands behind me. "Grab a match," I say. There is no wind or rain tonight, I couldn't have picked a better night to do this. The congregation reaches for their matchbox. They each take one match and strike it. "Now the flag."

The youngest person in our group, a nineteen year old boy, climbs up the pole and uses a rare pocket knife to cut the flag away from the strings that hold it down. He succeeds, and carries the flag of Panem to us.

I pull out my own matchbox and swiftly light a match. The little fire flickers to life in front of me, dancing in the moonlight. Someone is holding each corner of the flag, making sure to keep it flat for me. I take my match and drop it onto the center of the flag. "Let us watch Panem burn!"

Everyone throws their match onto the flag and it ignites, flaming brighter than the stars. The flag holders run to the edge of the roof, ready to throw the flag of the top of the building, but gunfire opens on us from below. Peacekeepers. One of the corner holders crumples to the ground. I snatch the flag quickly and toss it over the edge.

"WATCH PANEM BURN, SOLDIERS!" I shout. The flames rage all the way down, and hit the dirt ground in a poof of smoke. Then more gunfire. Chaos erupts on the roof. I run for the side I climbed up on, a side full of footholds and handgrips. Around me, people are shouting and falling, some getting shot and some simply toppling over the edge. I make my way down, alongside the mass of survivors. At the bottom, we flee.

The next morning, the bodies are gone from the area for the Reapings, I checked. A new flag is flying over Panem. But on the dirt floor, there is a noticeable patch of ash, the remains of the flag.

I was about to leave when I saw a small spark of light. I came in closer to investigate. A match. In spite of the losses and failure, one match still burned on.

President Falcon POV

The Districts are close to Rebellion. Too close. I blame it on the tributes last year; they ruined everything. In last year's Hunger Games, an alliance survived until the end and then refused to kill each other. There were six tributes in this group, enough to keep themselves safe. The Districts loved it. Uprisings started popping up everywhere, save District Two and the Capitol. Gamemakers set mutts on those tributes, and tried to kill them in avalanches, but the group never separated and managed to survive all of it. Meanwhile in Panem, the resistance continued.

Eventually, Gamemakers had to poison the tribute's water. It made for a terrible ending; incredibly boring to the Capitollites. Five minutes after drinking, the tributes started dropping dead. The last tribute alive had to be rescued by Gamemakers and rehabilitated in the Capitol to be the Victor. The ratings were terrible, but what was worse was that the Districts had hope because of the alliance.

It's been next to impossible to control Panem. That's why I'm thrilled for this years Quarter Quell. This year, the Games will be so sinister, heartless, and devastating, that the hope will be crushed. The Games will be bloody and ruthless. The uprising will die when I remind them who's really in charge.

I straighten my green tuxedo one last time. The backstage countdown says that I'll be on live in thirty-five seconds. There's only enough time to practice my smile. I work on my smile a lot - I have to have the perfect glint in my eye, and raise the corners of my lips just the right amount. If I execute this move flawlessly, the Capitol will see me as charming and the Districts will see me as evil. With that, I can control both of them.

5... 4... 3... 2... 1!

I swing the door open and step onto the stage. Thousands of Capitol Citizens stand in front of me, screaming and jumping in their stands. I wave to them, and then the cameras. Everyone in Panem is watching. So I smile.

"Thank you, thank you," I say into a microphone in the middle of the stage. "Are you ready... for the Seventh Quarter Quell, and the 175th Annual Hunger Games?" The Capitollites continue to shout and applaud; several groups chanting my name. I'm ready - it's time to announce the Quarter Quell twist.

"As a reminder that entire families were destroyed in the Rebellion, parents will be Reaped and forced to send all of their sons or daughters into the Arena. If a set of siblings reaches the end together, they all will be announced Victors. Happy Hunger Games, and May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor."

Authors Note

First of all, hello and thank you for reading my story! Although this is my first fanfic, I have written a few filler chapters for The 125th Hunger Games: Fearstruck by Angelofmusic4ever. (It's a great SYOT and I highly recommend you read it.) That's all I have to say. Please read on!

~ Oceane