In order to survive in a world of instinct, its alternative is to hunt or being hunted.
Reject this, then be prepared to be hunted.
-Toba Beta

The Wilds, June 15th, 10:00 am

Abernella Dressel (13) POV

Rebel

A year ago, almost to the day, the rebellion was talked about on national television. When Jaclyn Hide's family was sent to prison and a community home, I fled, trying to avoid capture myself. Out of everyone in Jaclyn's family- her parents and her younger sister- I was the most active in the rebellion and the most vocal about my beliefs. When Jaclyn made it to the final 8 in the Games last year, her family was promised immunity if she won. Once she made it to the final 3, which I knew of from a message from rebellion leaders, I was hopeful that she would get to the Victor's throne. However, the final three was as far as she got, when she was killed by the girl from District 4, who was then killed by the boy from 10 who won.

Since then, I've been on the run, trying to make my way to one of Alicia's hideaways outside District 5. I didn't expect the trek from District 8 to District 5 to take very long, but it's hard to do without a map. Nobody really has a map outside the Capitol, so I've been going off of little notes from rebellion leaders; Nathan Gepler, Dylan Ross, even Alicia herself, the Victor of the 225th Hunger Games.

Since the Reapings are tomorrow, I received a note from Alicia a week ago to go into the closest District and sneak into the Mayor's house. All of the Reaped tributes are picked in advance, and the Capitol is in touch with the training centers in Districts 1, 2 and 4 to see who will volunteer. Using this information taken from the Capitol, the rebellion has come up with a list of tributes that's guaranteed to be accurate, assuming no one from an outer District volunteers. In the refrigerator under a bottle of milk will be the list of tributes, so I won't seem completely clueless if I'm ever in the position where I should watch the Games.

After a few hours of aimlessly looking for a District fence, I come across one. The fence isn't completely charged, but I don't want to take any chances. What if it randomly turns on while I'm climbing it? I'd be dead or maimed in a second. I scoot along the perimeter of the fence until I see a brown blanket covered in leaves. I gently move the blanket, keeping all the leaves on it and hop into the hole, pulling the blanket back over my head.

The hole, unsurprisingly, turns out to be a tunnel of only a few feet. When I peek out the other side, I find myself just outside the electric fence and into the District. Looking around, I try to make a game plan before completely revealing myself. They've had my pictures up on TV for a year, so surely if anyone saw me, they'd report me for the money. Maybe not in District 8, where people know me, but in District whatever-this-is, people wouldn't hesitate to get the cash prize.

I look down at myself, comparing what I look like now to what I looked like when I left a year ago. My hair is longer, reaching almost my elbows. Following this, I'm sure my roots look lovely. It was my idea to dye my hair fire engine red, but I didn't think I'd ever be in the position where I'd have to go a year without re-dying it. The knife in my combat boot is beginning to rust, after all the times I've had to wash it in a stream after use. Currently, I'm wearing black shorts and a black T-shirt, but I change into the black jeans and sweater I packed, wrapping a scarf around my telltale hair. It's sweltering, but I'm safe.

Peeking over the hole again, I try to decide which District I'm in. There's no lush vegetation or flowers anywhere, so that completely rules out District 7, 9 and 11. There's no visible large body of water, so I'm pretty sure it's not District 4. It's not nice enough to be District 1 or 2, yet way too nice to be 12. I know it isn't 8 from living there, and the way Alicia described District 5 is nothing like this. The only Districts left it could be are 3, 6 and 10. Upon further investigation, I don't see any barns or factories, so I'll go with my gut and say this is District 6.

A non-rebelling District.

My best course of action is to try to blend in, so when I'm sure nobody's looking, I crawl out of the hole and into the District. I look around, trying to see if someone's already noticed me, if someone's already suspicious. Everybody's minding their own business, not bothering to look my way. It looks like this section of the woods is near the more affluent end of town, because everyone that's milling around over here has clean clothes and shiny, clean hair.

I know I'll never find the Mayor's house on my own, so I try to find the best person to enlist the help of. After looking around at all the people here, I decide on a girl not much older than I am. She has long, straight, dark hair, and her brown eyes have an exotic slant to them. Her pale blue dress is ironed neatly, and the bow at the back was tied perfectly. She was talking to two girls and two boys, who all look about as well off as she is.

I go up to her, taking deep breaths. Before they notice me, I duck behind a tree and exchange my jeans for a skirt and stuff the scarf back in my bag. I brush out my hair and fluff it up a little. I pinch my cheeks a little, bringing some color to my face. Confidently, I walk over to them and tap the girl on the shoulder. She whips around, looking into my eyes with a smile on her face.

"Hi," she says, perkily. "Can I help you?"

"I'm a little lost," I say, fighting to keep my voice steady. "Would you mind telling me how to get to the Mayor's house?"

She pauses for a beat, and then smiles again.

"You must be the President's niece," she says, brightly. "Yeah, I'll walk you there."

She links her arm through mine, and we begin walking into town. She looks down at me, a glint in her eye.

"You're Dominique, right?" she asks. "The Mayor said President Baxwell had a niece coming in from the Capitol with really bright red hair. Where's your sister?"

"M-my sister?" I ask. "Um... She said she'd meet me there."

"Oh, cool," she says. "I'm Alayne."

After about a half hour of walking and mindless small talk, we reach the Mayor's house. I turn the nob and push the door open.

"Want me to come in with you?" she asks.

"Uh... Sure," I say.

I roam around the first floor with Alayne until we come across the kitchen. I open up the fridge and pull out the bottle of milk, reading the note underneath.

District 1

Linda Hemmings, 17.

Julius Helios, 18.

District 2

Alecto Caraway, 18.

Romulus Ambrosia, 18.

District 3

Heather Frayman, 14.

Cyno Holding, 13.

District 4

Elle Maults, 18.

Daniel Lanthair, 17.

District 5

Clio Paxton, 17.

Elijah Stork, 16.

District 6

Alayne Suzuki, 16.

Brian Spencer, 17.

District 7

Lydia Collins, 18.

Edison Burt, 12.

District 8

Calico Jones, 16.

Conn Raineir, 17.

District 9

Oneka Scalia, 17.

Marsellus Hopson, 18.

District 10

Terry Kartcher, 18.

Rowan Griffey, 16.

District 11

Adelaide Simon, 15.

Coy Levionne, 12.

District 12

Tessa Ray, 15.

Adrian Jr. Burrow, 15.

I look up at Alayne from under my eyelashes, quizzically.

"What did you say your name was?" I ask her.

"Alayne Suzuki," she responds. "Why?"

"Just wondering," I say, looking at her name on the list. "Um... Good luck at the Reaping tomorrow."

"And may the odds be ever in your favor," she says, grinning.

Possible reasons your tribute didn't make it in:

- I cannot stress this strongly enough: I loved most of the submissions. The most likely reason your tribute wasn't accepted was because they didn't mesh well with the other tributes, or there simply wasn't room for them.

- Your tribute was in another story. Alternatively, a tribute incredibly similar to yours was in another story, and was still made by you.

- Your tribute was too similar to another that was submitted. It would be boring to have 2 similar tributes in the same story, not to mention hard to keep track of.

- Your tribute was a Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu.

- You didn't fill out the whole form.

- You submitted past the deadline.

I'm very sorry if your tribute didn't make it in! I received over 70 tributes, and it was hard to pick just 24.

Spot the characters from the prequel (if you read it).

-Make the day special!