District Three Reapings

District Three, Reaping Day

Lucas Persus

Lucas awoke, tired as hell. He may have stayed up late reading and taking notes on 'Energy Sources: Vol. 4'. He had almost made the breakthrough of a lifetime, he smiled envisioning the headlines in the Capital: "Boy from District 3 creates cleaner energy source for Panem, the trick. It's made from the sun." That's right, Lucas was going to make the first non-coal energy source for Panem.

But that would all have to wait, Lucas really wished he had the self control to put the book down. He rubbed his eyes and looked in the mirror, his red hair contrasting a lot against his pale skin. He put on some green pants and a shirt, which had microscopic LED stripes. He had invented it himself.

"Lucas, wanna have a quick spar real quick?" Lucas' stepfather, Toby, asked him. Toby had been a street fighter before he married Lucas' mom, Suzy.

"Sure, half speed though, right?" Lucas responded.

Toby laughed, "Sure, but it won't do you much good."

Lucas walked into Toby's boxing room, which was just an extra room in the house. He put on some gloves and then got on the pad.

As soon as he hit the pad Toby threw the first punch. Lucas quickly dodged it, throwing a jab of his own. It hit Toby in the stomach, leaving him open for a right hook to the head, which Lucas sent flying. Toby blocked it though, jabbing Lucas in the stomach. Lucas felt winded, and in that brief moment, his guard was left down. Toby took advantage, giving the three jabs to the stomach, their set stopping point.

"Dammit Toby, I thought I had that one," Lucas said, out of breath.

Toby laughed, "Maybe next time bud. You need to get ready though. It's reaping day."

Lucas checked his watch. It was 10:00! The reapings start in a half hour! He grabbed some waffles and ran all the way to the town square, with only five minutes to spare.

"Hello District Three! Glad to see you smartasses decided to get out of bed. Now, before the reapings, a quick video from the Capital," Varya Holt, the District escort said to the awaiting crowd.

The video played, and Varya put her hand in the bowl. Suspension built up by the crowd betrayed Lucas, because the name Varya said was his.

"Lucas Persus!"

He was terrified. He cowered down whilst walking through the crowd. He saw his sister in the crowd. They made eye contact and he cowered a bit more. He whimpered down a bit more, then locked eyes with his mother. A tiny thought ran through his head.

By the time he saw Toby, that thought pounded into his brain. 'I can win this.' And oh would he. The moment he was on the stage he was a different man. Lucas Persus: The Victor of the 88th Hunger Games.' He smiled and waved at the crowd, knowing he would win.

"Great. Thank you Mr. Persus. Our female tribute will be, Pixel Cotton!"

Lucas locked eyes on his district partner. He could beat her in a fistfight, sure, but she had the look of someone he should watch. Lucas knew he was right about that. He always was right.

The peacekeepers led the two to the goodbye rooms. The two tributes split up, and Lucas went into the one where he would see his parents for the last time for weeks.

"Lucas, I'm so sorry. This shouldn't have happened. First your father left me, then you're reaped! I'm so sorry honey!" His mother said, tears coming from her eyes.

"It's okay mom, it'll just be a few weeks. I'll be back soon," he said to her.

She smiled, and boy, seeing Suzy Susper smile was one of the greatest things in all of Panem.

His sister and his mother both hugged him, and before Lucas knew it, there were tears all over him.

They left, leaving Toby alone with him.

"Don't forget kid, I'll be waiting for when you get back," he said to Lucas.

"I'm holding you to that. You better be the first person I see when I get off that train," Lucas said back.

They shared a hug, then the peacekeeper came to bring Lucas to the train.

Pixel Cotton

"Alive I know what I'm doing! All I have to do is bypass the firewall, then I'll have all the information we need to blackmail Old Man Hughes," Pixel was saying to her one and only friend, Alive.

"Yes, Pixel, I know. I also know that the firewall is Capital encrypted. It will be twenty times harder to break than the normal ones here, and we're the smartest district in Panem," he said back.

Pixel sighed. He always seemed to think Pixel was a beginner, after he taught her everything he knew.

The two of them had been on a wild ride ever since they met. They both resented the Capital, but never said so, knowing it would be suicidal. They were also pranksters, much to the chagrin of Frame, Pixel's sister and the main victim of their crimes.

"Dammit!" Pixel cried out, "I've been locked out!"

Alive laughed, "What'd I tell you Pix, I'm pretty damn sure I know what I'm doing."

"Yes Alive I know, I also know I know what I'm doing! And getting locked out isn't what I'm doing!"

Alive just laughed some more, "Cmon Pix, let's go do something to Frame, we haven't pranked her in like a week. Oh and by the way, I built this light source that I think you might be able to use." Alive handed her a pin of what looked to have her computer on it.

"What does it do? Other than look like my favorite friend?" She asked him.

"Hey, now that's not very nice. It's a light source. It hooks to your chest and when you tap it twice it shoots out a beam of light, blinding people," he told her.

Pixel tried it out, and sure enough it was BRIGHT.

"Sweet! Thanks Alive! Now we better get to the reapings. We'll prank Frame later."

The two of them left their little shed on the outskirts of the district and headed to the town square. They were just in time.

Pixel found her age group, and soon Varya Holt took the stage.

"Welcome District Three! Before we get to the reapings a short video from the Capital!"

The clip rolled, and Pixel thought of about twenty-three different ways she could vandalize it. She snickered to herself about one, which was put some old cartoon tune above it.

The video ended, ruining Pixels fun and Varya took the stage once more.

"This year's male tribute from district three is! Lucas Persus!"

A scrawny boy slowly made his way to the stage, taking his sweet time. By the time he got up there Varya didn't even let him speak. She just reached her hand into the bowl and pulled out a name Pixel did not want to hear.

"Pixel Cotton!"

Pixel looked at her sister, and immediately regretted any harmful thing she said or did to her. She expected Frame to volunteer, but the only words spoken, weren't. The look in her sisters eyes said, "I'm sorry.", and Pixel wasn't sure if she meant it.

Her first thought was 'shit'. Her next few were probably the same, but the moment her mind cleared she knew she was going to win.

She had brains, she could hack, and from the looks of the boy, she could probably take a decent amount of tributes. She decided then that she would do everything in her power to return home, even if it meant killing the tiny boy next to her.

The ruthlessness turned her from a tiny girl, into a force to be reckoned with. She resented her sister for not volunteering, but the feeling she would get when she won would overweigh that eventually.

She shook hands with the boy, and the peacekeepers led them to their goodbye rooms.

First to come we're her parents, Dell and Graphics. Her father, Dell, didn't say anything. Didn't joke like he usually did. Didn't act like someone younger than he was. He just sat there. Her mother did as well.

Her sister on the other hand, was bawling her eyes out. She was crying all over Pixel, saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Over and over again. It really annoyed Pixel, but she went with the flow.

Her family was led out, replaced by Alive. Pixel may have gotten a little teary eyed during the encounter, but no one saw.

"Come back Pixel. If you don't, I'll have to hack into that firewall-"

He would've said more, but the peacekeeper led him out. Apparently her family had taken up too much of her time.

She was led to the train, and felt something rustle in her pocket. It was the pin Alive gave her! She could use that. She may well be the first district three victor in years.

Lucas

Lucas was led onto the train by Varya. His partner was there as well. He thought her name was Pixel. Drake Moore, the lone victor of District three, met them in the dining car.

"So, Mr. Moore, how do we win this?" Lucas asked.

"Well, first you stay the hell away from the Careers. I've watched the reapings for One and Two already, and most of them look ruthless. Second, you're going to want to survive. Usually if you stay alive, you win." The mentor responded.

The girl scoffed and left the room. Lucas realized he probably wouldn't be able to get any real tips from this guy until later, so he went to the rooms.

The people who designed the train thought it was a good idea to leave a power box exposed. Lucas quickly proved them wrong. He opened it up and meticulously took some wires apart. When he managed to scrape off a good foot of wire, he had thirty seconds to put them back together, or the power would stop.

The lights started flickering, 15... 14... 13... "Got it!" He yelled. He had successfully put them back together. He took his foot of wire, and let his hands do the work. After five minutes of messing with them, he had fashioned himself a bracelet. He decided that was enough excitement for one day, and took a nap.