Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.
A/n: This is a series of oneshots. Each oneshot features, in order, a person from the character list on this site as well as a few i felt should be there (Boggs, Coin, Caesar, Cashmere, Gloss, Marvel and Maysilee) each with a randomly picked prompt (or as random as i could manage without throwing actual darts at my poor old dictionary!). Updates will be one a day (hopefully) though when i go back to uni, this might change. Anyway, i hope you enjoy! As always, any criticism, just shout it out. Any advice on law, shout it out louder!
4) Boggs – Graph
Set about thirty years before Mockingjay
"I don't get it," Boggs mutters to his friend as they leave the classroom, ready to enjoy the ten minute break.
"What don't you get?"
He wrinkles his brow in frustration. "Alright, so the Capitol want to bomb us," he begins hesitantly.
"Yes."
"And we want to get rid of the Capitol."
"Yes."
"So explain to me again why we don't just nuke them before they do anything to us?"
His friend rolls his eyes and walks back into the room. Boggs turns and follows him. His friend brings up a graph on screen which they have just spent the last hour staring at (it's about ten years out of date but this doesn't stop them). Boggs already regrets asking.
"OK," his friend says in a weary voice, "this is the current population of District 13, right?" Boggs nods, looking at the indicated part of the graph and ignoring the fact that the current population has probably changed by now. "And this is the population of Panem, not including us. More of them than there are of us. If we nuke 'em, the radiation would cover this radius." He clicks and a map comes up on screen.
"Radius, right, right," Boggs says, nodding to show that he is keeping up.
"And this graph shows how many people would die or become infertile, right?" His friend looks at him. The exasperation on his face is still there.
"Yeah." Boggs looks at the steep decline on the graph. He thinks he might understand this, finally.
"And this graph shows how our population would decline if we continue the way we do."
OK. Now there were too many graphs...
"If we mix the two together, like this-" Another click. "- then the population would hold steady like this..." Point. "...But then the radiation would spread to this and so this amount would become infertile."
It looked like two graphs had decided to get married. Or had grown several different arms. He couldn't work out what any of the lines were supposed to mean.
"And, bearing in mind the limitations we have on our gene pool, the population would start to fall. And eventually..."
"It goes flat! So we're all dead!" Boggs says triumphantly.
"Exactly!" His friend grins. "So you understand it."
Boggs laughs. "No. Just that the end is we all die."
His friend groans. "What didn't you understand?"
"I got it up until we put us and them together." Boggs pulls a face. "Never mind. I'll just go along with it anyway."
His friend rolls his eyes. "You're impossible, Boggs. You might need to know this one day."
"I'll just give you a shout when that day comes." He laughs. "Come on, are they ever going to put me in charge of anything remotely dangerous?"
His friend looks at him and grins. "No, you're right. Come on, we have to get to the next class."