Chapter 2: The announcement (districts 1-6)

District 1: Luxury

Lovino was running. He knew you weren't supposed to be out and about at this time of day but he needed to get home. At the age of 12 his sister, Sicilia, would be in the reaping for the first time, not to mention Marcello's three names in there in addition to his and Feliciano's thirty a piece because of the tesserae they had both been taking out since they were 12. With them working in a small shop that sold pasta and having five mouths to feed the family needed it. They had a victor as a father, but their mother had not wanted to ever accept his money after Sicilia was born and so they lived almost in poverty. Not many people would believe that there was starvation in a career district, but the Vargas family knew better. Lovino had been doing the math at his job and he split once he realized that the four siblings had 64 slips in there all together. 64 names, 64 chances for one of them to be picked, and with this quarter quell things would be bad. He knew what he had to do though, Marcello and Sicilia would not be taking part in this hunger games. Their father had won his year but his younger siblings would not fare as well. If he was being honest with himself neither would he or his twin brother, but they had to try. They had to protect the youngest of the Vargas children. He had a plan and that was focused on getting Feliciano out of work and making a pact. They would volunteer if Sicilia or Marcello were picked. They would protect each other in the arena and Lovino would do anything he had to so that Feliciano would get out of there alive. It was the only way he could live with himself.

District 2: Masonry

The games had been announced and Gilbert took a deep breath. He and his brother were the only two in the family eligible for the reaping. At 18 Gilbert was in his last year and Ledwig only had one more game to make it through before they were done. Gilbert had been planning to volunteer this year, but now he didn't want to go into the games. If he was picked he and his brother would be there together. They came from a well off family so each of them only had the basic number of entries, but Gilbert didn't know what he would do if he and his brother were picked. He decided then and there though that if anyone's younger sibling was picked he would volunteer. He would have to; he couldn't let some 12 year old kid go in there to die. Gilbert smiled at Ledwig over the bricks they were pouring and received a smile back. He knew things would be okay, so long as neither he nor Ledwig was chosen first.

District 3: Technology

Matthew Jones was sitting at his desk in the programing room when the announcement ran over the screen. He took a deep breath when it was over and he returned to his job. He knew that his brother was head strong and hoped to be picked. Alfred had been practicing in his spare time for the games in secret for years. Matthew was content to just stay and keep his head down. He was 15 this year and only had a few more years till he turned 18 and would be done with worrying about the reaping. Alfred was 17 and he had wanted to be picked since the day he turned 12. Mattie knew that his brother didn't just want the glory; he also wanted to provide for the family. Mattie and Alfred only had their mom left as their dad had been executed for creating a hacking program that hacked the capitol when the boys were only a few years old. Mattie had inherited his father's brain and his mother's heart, while Al had gotten their mother's strength and their father's foolishness. He sighed again and went back to his programing if he finished this then the TVs would be able to sync across the districts while shaving off two seconds of delay. There might even be a promotion for this. Mattie knew that some programmers ended up in the capitol to work on programing the games and he knew if he could make it there then he would be safe. At 14 he presented his first program to the head of the center and been hired early, now a year later and he was still programing at the main factory in the district. If everything went well he would get a promotion soon. That is if he wasn't picked for reaping.

District 4: Fishing

Antonio was on a fishing boat when the announcement was made but even out here the capitol was able to reach them. He could see the fear on his best friend's face when they explained the games. Toni was lucky he didn't have siblings, but Francis did; he has a little sister and at 13 years old this would be her second go through the reaping. Antonio kept fishing as was his lot in life after school each day. He enjoyed the work, it was good and being able to work meant that should he be picked then he would have a better chance of survival. Francis faltered in his fishing silently; Toni knew what he felt though. The two had been best friends since the first time they met and Toni thought of Angelique as his own little sister. He knew that he would volunteer for her even if no one else might.

District 5: Power

Vash was in school when it was announced, and for the first time in his life he was truly afraid for his little sister. Lilly was only 12 but this would be her first year in the games. He knew her chances of being picked were almost non-existent, but his own were actually pretty high. All he could do was hope for the best and hope that is they were picked he could protect her and keep her alive. He would do anything to keep his sister alive through these games.

District 6: Transportation

Arthur and Cathrine Kirkland were washing up at dinner when they heard the news. They looked to their mother as she dropped a glass where she was standing. Alice looked to her children and started to cry. Even a victor's children were not exempt from the reaping and hers were so close to escaping altogether. The others had warned her not to have children; that she would regret it should they ever be chosen. But she had wanted kids since she was eleven and so she did. Now though she was regretting it. Neither kid had that much of a chance of being picked on their own, but between the two of them there was 11 chances for them both to be picked. She also knew that no matter how many friends they two might have no one would volunteer for a victor's kids. If one of her kids was picked then she would lose at least one of them if not both to the games. And so she cried. She cried well into the night as her children spoke in low tones telling each other it would be okay and she drowned her sorrows in the wine she had been saving for the day her youngest turned 18.