Chapter 13: Birthday books

[Winter/Spring 2261 AD]

Christmas and New Year's Day had been great, not only because our family had been all together, but also because we could be looking forward to a new year without war and repression, a new year without Hunger Games and tyranny, and a new year of cooperation and building.

Some of the districts, in particular those close to the Capitol and those which had been occupied and ruled by Snow until the very last moment, had been hit hard, and some of them had big trouble feeding their population in winter. However, as we learned, the Capitol had huge depots full of food, mostly preserved one like tinned food, and some of that was now transported to where it was needed. The new government did not play favorites; they assigned food, tools, and clothes to places where it was needed most. From a nutritional point of view, our own district was already mostly self sustaining; we had had a decent crop and vegetable harvest on the fields around the old town, we had hunting groups going into the forests, and we had our fish supply from the harbor on the coast.

The transportation network between the districts, mostly the maglev lines, was slowly getting extended, and we had more or less regular transports going around distributing whatever was produced. Our coal was still needed in some districts for power generation, and while Panem had long term plans to switch to green energy entirely, that would take years or even decades. After all, solar panels, wind turbines and power lines could not be manufactured and installed overnight.

Almost each Friday afternoon I took the train back to the core district to stay until Sunday evening or Monday morning. The trains ran on a reliable schedule, and most of the time Primrose picked me up from the station on Friday. We usually spent most of the weekend together, and as we both had quite busy weeks, that had to be good enough. Naturally, Prim was focused on school and her grades even more than before, as she knew that her grades would likely impact her chances to be accepted into the Capitol University.

Barely before we noticed, spring was there, and Prim՚s 15th birthday was coming up. Before that, though, we had a team from the Capitol University visiting our district. They spend a few weeks at school, and they explained the concept for university applicants. This year, for the first time in many decades, school graduates from each and every district would get a chance to move to the Capitol and attend university there, if they were qualified. There were no standardized admission tests or so around, so that the team was going to interview interested pupils. They were aware of the fact that many people in our district were poor, and scholarships were prepared for the real gifted.

The interviews had a general knowledge part, covering all kind of topics, bearing in mind what had been taught at school here so far, plus a special part for the direction one might be interested in. Both Prim and Lizzy were of course interested in the medical branch, and when I met my girl on a nice Friday evening on our meadow she proudly told me:

"Rye, can you imagine? I was interviewed, and they were really impressed with my knowledge on healing! Not only that, but they also knew about my contributions to the morphling antidote, and they liked it a lot. They will consider to take me next year; for this year, I am still too young. The normal minimum age is eighteen, but they make exceptions for gifted students age sixteen upwards."

I hugged her and smiled: "This is great! Finally it looks like you may be able to learn your trade properly!"

"And," Prim continued, "I got confirmation that the minimum marriage age is going to be sixteen rather than eighteen quite soon."

"Yep, I heard that as well" I nodded. "Mayor Undersee explained that the new government wants to have the population in the country growing as fast as possible."

"You know what that implies for us?"

"I guess I do – we are getting married next year."

"Indeed, my love, that's what we are going to do."

"But, let's talk about the university plans a little more. How exactly is that going to work?"

"Well, I don't have all of the details yet, but it really does appear that they want to have me there. Rather than having me finish school here, they suggested I enroll into some kind of pre-med preparation course for a year, bringing my education up to capitol standards, and than I can attend university. They are setting up have some kind of boarding school for students from the districts, and there will be other housing available as well."

"Is there somebody else in our district they want to come?"

"There are some applicants for other areas, and for medicine, Lizzy also qualifies, and she also wants to go. However, paying will be an issue. They are not going to charge for the education itself, but accommodation needs to get paid for, and for minors on their own the expensive boarding school will be the only option. Lizzy's family is not rich at all, and they may not be able to afford it. There are going to be some scholarships paying also for boarding, but only for the really gifted students."

"So Lizzy is not gifted?"

"Oh, she is, but maybe not on the level required for such a scholarship. She is good and certainly qualified for a medical profession, as I know, but don't forget that our school here missed out on a lot of stuff which the Capitol University expects us to know, and catching up will be very tough."

"And what about yourself?"

"See, even if I do not get a scholarship, I am sure that Katniss will help me out and support me with some of her victor's money. But of course, I would so much prefer to live from my own money than my sister's. Also, I won't have to go to boarding school, because I am going to be with you, and we will move into an apartment of our own."

"We will?"

"Of course we will. If Mayor Undersee is not willing to let you go, I will have to talk to him, and if even that's not going to be good enough, my sister and your brother, our two victors, will make him change his mind for sure."

"Oh, I believe that the mayor will let me go for sure; he hinted something in that direction some time ago; that's not likely to be an issue, my dear. But you are not even asking me!" I pretended to complain.

"That's not necessary; I know exactly that this is what you want, too, and it's about time. We are not going to be waiting even a day longer than we have to."

"What is this supposed to mean?"

"We are going to get married on my 16th birthday and not a day later, my dear. For a couple of months we can both live above the bakery, and in summer, as soon as school is out, we will move to the Capitol to finally have a place just for ourselves."

"We are? So, this assumes that I am not staying in Appacolia after our wedding?"

"No, you are not. I have to finish school, but your work is flexible. I am sure that the mayor will understand, and if he does not, we can make him understand."

She had it all planned out, as it appeared. Thinking about it, I did not mind; her plans were good, and I had no problem at all with my girlfriend making forward-looking plans for and with me. She had a clear vision of the future, and her main emphasis was to go into the medical profession and to be with me, and that was quite all right, actually, more than all right – it was perfect.

"So, what am I going to do in the Capitol?"

"They are offering advanced courses on-the-job training for administration, city-planing and engineering and such; I had Madge find out about it. You will enroll in some of those, and when Mayor Undersee gets you back a few years later, you will be much better in your job. Besides, that's what you are interested in and like to do anyway."

"The poor mayor is not going to have a choice, right?"

"No, and he knows it. He he is aware of my plans to attend university, and he knows that I will not go without you. He is going to support our plans; don't worry. Madge is fully on our side, and if necessary, she can talk to her father."

That was a lot of stuff to digest, and I told Prim so. She smiled and replied:

"So, you have been listening attentively and you don't mind me planing ahead; let's get you a reward and make out for an hour or two, okay?"

The sun was about to set, but the temperature was comfortable. I had brought a big blanket, and we stretched out on it, with my little minx on top of me. For the next hour or so planing was forgotten, and we focused only on ourselves and how much we loved each other.

On Prim՚s birthday I took the day off, as I usually did, so that I could fully focus on my girl. She was still kind of my little Primrose, with her height and weight being somewhat below average and her bust still an A size, whereas her best friend Lilly, for instance, had already passed Katniss՚s size and could be mistaken for being a few years older.

In early afternoon I picked her up from school, and we went to celebrate in Katniss' and Peeta՚s victor home. Since they had come back from the war, they had moved in together finally, and the other home they used to own had been opened for those who needed it. They had of course kept the one with the greenhouse, and this was still meticulously taken care of, mostly by a group of volunteers headed by Prim.

The Hawthorne, Anderson, Mellark and Everdeen families were there for the party, and Prim enjoyed being in the center of attention for some time. My present for her this year was a set of expensive medical books. I had consulted Madge on that topic, and she had recommended a set of books a friend of her had suggested, supposedly books which should help Prim to acquire some basics and advance knowledge for her intended profession.

When Prim unpacked the stack and saw the titles, her jaw dropped and she started to smile. Finally she turned her head towards me and told me:

"Oh Rye, this is perfect! I was just told recently that I'd best start to become familiar with the basics of medicine, well, the theoretical part, and they recommended some books. There was a price tag attached, and I noticed that I would not be able to afford them. Now you got most of those for me!"

"But you know that Katniss would have been more than willing to help you our from the victor's earnings?"

Katniss nodded and told her sister:

"You know that you can always come to me with those concerns, Little Duck."

"Yes, I know, and for that I will even allow to call me 'Little Duck', although I am not really little any longer."

"Oh yes, you are" I could not resist the temptation to object.

"You too, Rye?"

"I just love my little girlfriend and fiancée, as you know quite well. No reason to complain at all!"

"So, what are you going to do when I actually grow up?"

"Well, I hope that you don't, but if you actually do, I except you to stay as you are internally at least, in mind and soul. You are absolutely perfect!"

Even Katniss could not avoid a smile when she heard that, and in no time Prim was back on my lap and kissed me wildly, not caring at all that everybody could see us.

The year proceeded, and with everything which was going on, no single week was boring.

Dad and Peeta spent most of their time in Appacolia nowadays, and a big baking house was built on the city's periphery, with a big mansion for our family to live in close to it. In the city center and in two other suitable locations around the city, we had started construction of small stores for the actual sales. They found good people to run all of that, and Peeta was going to supervise the baking activities, while Dad was going to split his time between the stores. When the first store, the one in the city center, opened, there was a long line outside, and it looked like every citizen wanted to see and taste what was offered. Many citizens of Appacolia had lived in the core district before, and they had been used to getting fresh bread and pastry from the Mellark bakery, the service had been missed in the new city, and we were happy to see that it was well accepted now. We did not know to what extent our food could compete with bakeries in Europe, though, but maybe we could learn about that later.

As we had planned, the store in the city center had a small section with a few high tables to stand around, and there was a special sales counter for snacks, such as rolls with ham and cheese, various sandwiches, and some drinks.

Major Undersee still spent most of his time in the old core district, but he had a new town hall built in Appacolia, and he prepared his own move for either late this year or early next year. Each time I met him he beamed, and he obviously enjoyed being able to do his jobs in a was he liked rather than being little more than the Capitol's puppet.

For this years Reaping Day Mayor Undersee had yet another even planned. Last year we had celebrated the opening of the Maglev Connection to Appacolia, and this year we were going to celebrate the official founding of the 'District Rangers'.

We had talked about that topic a few times before, and meanwhile Johanna mason, victor of the 71st Hunger Games, had relocated to our district; since a few months ago, she lived together with Gale Hawthorne in a house just outside of Appacolia. The two were not married, but it was quite obvious that they were together in every possible sense.

We, that is Mayor Undersee and I, had been talking to both of them frequently, and a larger house was currently under construction not far from their residence; this was going to be the ranger headquarters.

Now, on the 4th of July, the 'District Rangers' were to be founded officially, although the new headquarters building was only partially ready for the event. Also, Johanna and Gale had been working in their new position for a few months already, without any other people so far, but on that day almost a dozen junior rangers were going to start their new jobs; Johanna and Gale were going to train them. Some of those ranger applicants had not related experience at all and were just interested and willing to learn when they had heard about the rangers; a few of them, though, had been hunting or at least gardening before and could contribute some knowledge.

The school year had ended a few days earlier, and Prim could enjoy her summer school holidays, potentially the last ones she was going to have. If things went according to plan, her plan, that is, she'd be finishing school early here in the district next summer and move to the Capitol for pre-med intensive schooling and university one or two years later. For that move, we'd already be married, and we were supposed to find a nice place to live together in the Capitol. She was little bit ahead of me with her planing, as I had to admit, but on the other hand her plans seemed to be better than anything I could have come up with, and I did not mind at all having her decide out future for the most part. As long as she was there for and with me, that was all fine for me, and although I had not expected us to get married right on her 16th birthday, I fully agreed that we should not wait even a single day longer than required. Keeping myself fully under control while having my wonderful Primrose in my bed, which happened usually for one or two nights on the weekends, was getting harder and harder. But we both kept our promise to not 'go all the way' until we were married, and at least we kept our pants on all of the time when we were together. Tops were a different story, and Prim refused to cover her chest when it was just the two of us, like she had done for years already. Far from me to complain about that, of course, and the joy I felt whenever I was touching her boobs and noticed how much she liked my caressing, evident by her purring and smiling, made my heart jump every time.

So, like last year, there were free maglev rides out to Appacolia, and in the city itself, one of the two tram lines which has been partially completed ended not very far from the new ranger building. Of course, Prim and I were there, and a small stage was erected next to the new ranger building. Once again, while some helpers started to prepare a buffet, Mayor Undersee delivered a speech, with Johanna and Gale standing next to him:

"My dear citizens of District Twelve, dear guests from other parts of the country and other parts of the world, once again I have the honor to present something which is going to benefit us a lot. I believe that almost all of you know Gale Hawthorne, a citizen of our district, who has excelled in hunting and contributed a lot to feed us in the last few years. You probably also know Johanna Mason, victor of the 71st Hunger Games, who has shown herself to be very capable in natural environments. Those two are now heading an organization, which we are officially founding today: The 'District Rangers'."

There was some careful applause, but at this time most people did not know yet what that was good for, and the mayor did not hesitate to explain:

"Now, what are those rangers going to be good for? For those staying in the city, not for much. However, the city is growing. We already have two small towns outside, Kirchheim and Hillbonia, and more will follow. Some farmers will want to establish a farmstead further out, people may want to go into the hills for mining, some people will want to go hunting, citizens may want to enjoy nature and go for a hike on weekends, and much more. In addition, the city needs power, which is electricity, and while some of that can be generated with solar roofs, we will need external sources from hydro plants, wind turbines and such, and this means building those plants somewhere outside of the city."

The mayor interrupted his speech for a moment to drink from a glass of water, and then he continued:

"Going outside of the city borders is still a risk. Areas of high radiation have not been fully mapped yet, we have already seen dangerous predators in some areas, and we also need people to make plans for roads, power lines, communication lines, and other infrastructural items. Some experts will have to declare which areas are safe to go to and which are not, and this will be done by our new district rangers. In addition, they can also go hunting, scouting, and do some basic scientific research, so that being a ranger will imply to have a good knowledge of many areas. Besides doing some of all that on their own, Johanna and Gale will also train other rangers, and I am proud to announce that eleven junior rangers will start today. This building here is the headquarter building, and most of the theoretical training will be done here. At least half of the time, though, Johanna and Gale will take the junior rangers outside for practical training. They will need to be armed, but they are not supposed to be working as police force, too. They do have the authority, though, to prevent people from entering areas they declare as unsafe."

"Now, I believe that we are all a little bit hungry, and the buffet will be served in a moment. Enjoy your meal, and feel free to walk through the new building afterwards."

The citizens and guests started to line up at the buffet tables, and Prim and I did so as well. I was surprised to see that one table was handled by Dad and Peeta, and they offered snacks, bread, sandwiches and such complementing the food being offered at the other tables. But of course we had been discussing expanding the family bakery into different kind of food, and it seemed to be fitting.

When we had eaten, Prim and I had a look into the new building and liked it. There was a big lecture room for twenty or so people, there was an equipment shack for various type of outdoor stuff, including a small number of all terrain vehicles, there was a kitchen and a few bedrooms for the rangers on duty, when they had to stay for the night. A few more rooms were planned to have maps, computers, and more stuff like this, but that part of the building was still under construction. My fiancée actually told me when we had seen all of it:

"You know, if I wasn't so much focused on becoming a medical doctor, being a ranger would be also a good job. This is sure going to be my second choice."

"Yes, I can understand that. I am happy to be within city limits most of the time, but I can understand the merits of being outside a lot. I do hope that your future education will give you a chance to go out at least occasionally."

"I do hope so, too. They have told me that most students specialize on a particular topic after the basic medical training, and I hope that that is a chance to focus on plants and natural healing. If there is, this would certainly allow me to be in nature from time to time to search for plants."

I nodded, and Prim continued to talk:

"Say, Rye, the mayor mentioned a settlement called Hillbonia. I haven't heard about that one yet. Do you know the place?"

"Yes, I do, and I have been out there a few times already. It is a pretty recent town, and so far it is just a few houses and not much else. It is closer to the hills, and a few people believe that it will be a good base for sending mining expeditions into the mountains."

"Mining what? Coal?"

"No, certainly not coal. We have enough of that, but for specific equipment, like electronics, batteries, and such, we need other metals and elements, like gold, copper, lithium, and more. We do not need much of those yet, and we get it from other districts and even from Europe. It would be good, though, to have our own supply for some of those elements or ores, and we have an agreement with some other districts and the Capitol to search for suitable locations. Once we have found those, we will add details to a large map maintained in the Capitol and electronically accessible to all of us, and we will share the resources we can get. Gale will soon lead a few geology and mining experts to start the search; they will be based in Hillbonia."

"Will they search for plants, too?"

"This is currently under discussion. Ideally we want to send out teams with members from different areas of expertise, like a geologist, a zoologist and a botanist, plus maybe even a meteorologist, protected and guided by a few rangers, but we don't have that many experts yet."

At the end of the day, at least, when we got back to the core district, there were no bad news waiting for us, like it had happened one year ago.

[Author's Notes: Times are certainly improving and looking good, aren't they?]