Chapter One

The Reaping of District Twelve

Kenny McCormick was running.

While some people, even in the god forsaken coal pit that is District 12 may go for a walk, maybe even a jog if they ever so felt inclined, no one really ran through the tight pathways in the slums. Unless they'd been doing something they shouldn't have been doing and needed to make a get away.

Kenny McCormick was always doing something he shouldn't have been.

When he finally wasn't able to hear the stomping or shouting from the Peacekeepers that were chasing him, Kenny slowed down his pace to an inconspicuous stroll, with an extra skip in his step that told anyone that knew him that Kenny had gotten away Scott free with whatever he'd done, and was happy about it.

On the edges of the slums barely stood a shack, and it was this shack that looked like it could be knocked over by the barest of breezes that Kenny ducked into.

'Karen, time to get ready.' Kenny pulled back his hood. The original colour was barely visible through the dirt and years that he'd worn it, making it look a dull brown.

'Karen,' Kenny starts to call again before a mousy haired girl steps out of one of two rooms that branched out from the main room.

'I'm moving, I'm moving. Shouldn't you be getting ready to?' Karen scrutinises Kenny's appearance.

'I'll do it in good time. Now, I have a surprise for you.' Kenny grins down as he reaches down the front of his jacket.

'Jesus, Kenny. What did you steal this time? You know you're going to get in trouble.'

'You only get caught if you leave evidence, which I think we won't.' With a triumphant sound Kenny pulls out a freshly baked apple scroll. It may be covered in dirt from his jacket, and slightly squashed from it's hectic journey, but it was still warm.

Karen's eyes widen.

'Come on, eat up. It's a special day after all.' Kenny hands the pastry over, watching as Karen holds the crushed cake as if it was something precious to be cherished. Eventually hunger wins, and Karen takes a bite, moaning at the taste.

'Oh my God, Kenny. It's so good. Have some.' She holds the pastry up.

Karen deserves so much better than this, Kenny thinks to himself as he shakes his head.

'Nah, I'm good. Swiped one for myself and ate it on the way over.' Lies, Kenny hadn't eaten anything since the day before, but he was always willing to sacrifice a meal or three if it meant his little sister didn't have to go as hungry.

'Now once you finish that, wash your hands and get changed into the green dress I patched up for you last night.'

The green dress was Karen's favourite, but in true McCormick fashion it had been close to falling apart. Kenny's fingers were still aching from a night hunched over it with needle and thread.

'Only if you wear the blue shirt and promise to leave your jacket at home.'

A stare down between the siblings commences, but as usual, Kenny backs down. Anything for Karen.

'You drive a hard bargain, you little monster. Especially after all I do for you.'

Karen simply sticks her tongue out before running off into the washroom.

Running his hands through greasy, dirt covered hair that used to be blonde, Kenny enters the other room.

'Ma. You need to get up.'

Walking into the dim room, Kenny bends down and gently shakes one of the blanket wrapped lumps on the ground.

'Not now, Kenny. It's too early. Let Mamma sleep a bit more.'

'Sorry, Ma, but it's Reaping Day. We need to get going.'

The blankets fall away to reveal a scarily thin woman who blearily looks at her youngest son.

'Is it that day again already? Go get cleaned up and help your brother get your sister ready while I wake up your Dad.'

It's all Kenny can do to keep a smile on his face, no matter how fake it is.

'Sure thing, Ma.'

Stuart McCormick was probably passed out in some dark corner of the District and most likely wouldn't make it to the Reaping Ceremony, no matter how hard Carol tried to get him there. They'd get penalised for him not being there, but what more could they really take away from them at this stage?

And Kevin. Kevin had been dead for little over two years now.

There was a saying in District 12, McCormick's are born in the dirt, live in the dirt, and die in the dirt. Kevin had only further proven them right, getting into fight after fight before the Peace Keepers' supplied a permanent solution.

Before leaving the room as his mother get's ready, Kenny gathers up the outfit he'd patched up the night before from the floor. It was more than slightly crinkled, but it was still by far the nicest thing he had to wear, even if the shirt, so faded that it was more white than it's original blue, was coming up too short on him. What did it matter if it didn't quite fit though, only have to wear it for another year or two, Kenny thinks to himself as he moves over to the washroom's door.

'Karen, you 'right?' Kenny knocks and waits outside for a response.

'Yeah.' Was the muffled reply.

'Need help with anything?'

'I can dress myself, Kenny. I am twelve you know.' And Kenny did know that, and Karen being twelve terrified him. It could be her name that got called out today, despite the fact that her name was only in the ballot once, there was still a chance that she'd be selected and shipped off to the games and that was the last thing Kenny wanted for his baby sister. The last thing Kenny wanted for anyone, but unfortunately the games were a way of life and were just one of those terrible things that happened for the 'greater good' of the people.

'Well, if you're all good and ready can I come in and scrub off?' Kenny opens the door and steps in to the sight of a frustrated Karen struggling to braid her hair.

'Come here, let me.' Kenny sits down on the edge of the bath and Karen sits down between his legs, her back facing the metal tub. With thin fingers long practiced, Kenny begins to weave Karen's mousy brown hair into the braids she always admired a lot of the older girls wearing.

'There we go, pretty as a princess.' Kenny declares once his work is done. Having been given the all clear, Karen pushes herself off the ground and rushes over to the dull and cracked mirror, admiring her new do.

'It's so unfair that you're so good at doing this, Kenny. So unfair.' Karen chastises, turning her head this way and that to try and see every twist and turn that Kenny has woven in with nothing sort of admiration in her voice.

'And now you're all good to go. Go check on Ma while I try to make myself as presentable as you, 'kay?'

''Kay, Kenny.' Karen smiles before bouncing out of the room.

Kenny hears her talking to Carol, along with Carol gushing about how Karen looked as he strips down and steps into the murky and cold water of the tub. An old shoe brush in hand, Kenny goes to work, attempting to scrub as much of the caked on dirt off his skin as he could.

Walking to the Hall of Justice on Reaping Day was always a nerve racking experience. There were extra patrols of Peacekeepers marching around in pairs, leering at the pale and terrified faces all heading in one direction, with their hands on their shock batons, ready to whip them out and enforce disciplinary measures at a moments notice.

Kenny squeezed Karen's clammy hand in a reassuring manner, leading her through the defeated masses towards the sign in desks.

They'd already said their goodbyes to Carol, embracing each other as if it were the last time they'd get the chance, before she went off to try and find their father.

'I'll be watching and will see you afterwards, 'kay?' Carol had told Karen as she tried her best to hold her close while not ruining the braids Karen was so proud and excited to wear.

'Promise me you'll keep an eye out for your sister, Ken.' She'd whispered into his ear as Kenny held on for dear life. Kenny nodded.

'Always, Ma. Always.'

As the two of them began to near the line near the sign in desk, Karen began to lag behind. Turning to face his sister, Kenny crouched down in front of Karen and took her face in his thin hands.

'Hey, it's going to be fine. Perfectly fine. 'kay? All you need to do is hold out your finger, there will be a prick which will barely hurt, and that's it. Just a drop and you're done. I'll walk you to the other girls once we're done and then it's just standing about while names are read out and then I'll find you again and we'll go get Ma and head back home. Then it's done for a year. Do you think you can do that?' Kenny keeps his voice low and steady, wiping the corner of her brimming eyes with his thumb.

Karen nods with a sniffle, trying her best to be strong and it hurts Kenny to know that his sister has to put on such a face.

'That's my girl.' Kenny smiles before bringing himself up to his full and unremarkable height. His hand finds Karen's and holds on tightly as they make their way to line up behind the other meek lines of children.

If Karen could put on a brave face so could Kenny. As the needle dug into his finger, droplets of red seeping out of the small wound, Kenny does his best not to flinch or let out a sound, knowing that Karen was watching. His finger pressed down on one of the sectioned sheets of paper, Kenny looks back to Karen, tossing her a reassuring smile as the bored attendant scans the drying smear with a small silver scanner. As soon as it beeps, Kenny is dismissed and Karen is called forward. As desperately as Kenny wants to stay there and hold her hand through all of this, he knows that it's not allowed so he moves to a spot not to far away and waits.

'You lied.' Karen whines as she walks over, her left hand gripping a finger on her right where the blood sample must have been taken from.

'I know, but you did it, so what harm is a little white lie.' Kenny places his hand on her shoulder and leads her towards the two group of kids standing before the stage like a heard of cattle.

'Still hurt.' Karen pouts and it's all Kenny can do not to laugh. Laughing was one of those things that you just didn't do on a day like today.

'Alright. I need to go now, but it won't be for long. Just stand still, keep calm, and everything will be alright. You hear me, Princess?' Kenny pulls the smaller body close to him.

Kenny can feel Karen nod against his chest, as well as her thin arms wrap tightly around him.

'Everything is going to be fine. I promise.' Kenny tells her as they finally pull away before heading in different directions.

Kenny didn't pay any attention to the other boys pressed around him, to busy craning his head around the crowd in order to take a look at the set-up this year.

While it was generally the same as it had been the past four years Kenny had had to stand in this crowd before the stage erected in front of the Hall of Justice, there were always a few small changes. Whether it be the increased size of the screens, new flags flapping on freshly polished poles, or even the new Capitol speaker allocated to the district. It seemed they had a new one for District Twelve every year and Kenny could not quite put his finger on why. Sure, they were the poorest district, and had barely a winner in the previous sixty nine years the games had been running for, but that was no reason for them to be considered a lost cause. Though Kenny decided he couldn't quite fault them. If he had a chance to get out of this coal dust covered cage he'd leave and never come back, as long as he could take Ma and Karen with him.

Kenny was so caught up in his musings that he didn't realise that the Capitol speaker had taken stage, flanked by two Peacekeepers and had begun their speech on the games and what they represented.

When the film started playing Kenny tried to focus on it, but found it difficult because it was the same thing he'd seen every Reaping day. The same rough voice, the same scratchy video, the same propaganda. Kenny just wanted this to be over with so he could find Karen and go home.

'And as always, ladies first.' The woman speaks in an accent that had to have been forced because Kenny knew for certain that none of the other Capitol speakers had sounded as ridiculous as that. Then again, no two had ever sounded alike.

A hush had fallen over the District as she stuck her hand in a large glass bowl filled with hundreds of little slips of white paper. She smiles to the crowd as she swirls her hand through the names and lives within before making a show of pulling out a single white strip.

'And the lucky lady who'll be participating in this year's Hunger Games for District 12 is-'

And the world goes silent for Kenny as the speakers lips seem to move in slow motion. The girls seem to push away, leaving whoever's name was called out to stand alone and be singled out by the Peacekeepers before they were escorted to the stage. This year's girl, barely twelve, walks slowly, shock painting her features and paling her face. The green of her dress brings out her brown eyes and the intricate braids, that her brother had done up this morning that she'd been so happy to be wearing, kept her mousy brown hair out of her face.

Kenny brought up a hand to cover his mouth to try and muffle the sob and he was sure he could hear his Ma somewhere in the back of the crowd crying out against the decision.

He'd promised her that everything was going to be alright. He'd promised Karen that nothing bad was going to happen. Kenny had promised Carol that he'd look out for her. And here Karen was, standing before the district as the latest sacrifice to the yearly games and there wasn't anything Kenny could do about it.

'And now, the boys.'

'I volunteer as tribute!'