District 3 intros

Electra "El" Shielle, 16

Four years ago

As I run through the town's market, laughing alongside my best friend, Ariana, I hear her yelling at me to slow down, which makes me run even faster. I avoid colliding with the shoppers and workers, especially the ones yelling at me, and eventually reach the end of the shops. I slide to a halt and my attention is drawn to a large cloud of smoke that covers most of the sky in front of me. Ariana finally catches up to me and lets out a small gasp when she sees what I see.

"Oh god, where's that coming from?" She asks. I don't have to wonder the same thing. I know where it's coming from. And my heart drops to my stomach when I put two and two together.

So I don't hesitate to start sprinting down the path to the electronics factory both my parents work in.

When I reach the factory I find myself face to face with a row of Peacekeepers blocking the way to the entrance. I look around them and see the entire building up in flames. I see the large gap in one of the sides that could have only been made with an explosion.

"Keep back, little girl." One of the Peacekeepers puts his arm in front of me.

"My parents are in there." I say, desperate to get past. He pushes harder.

"Let us work. We're evacuating survivors now." He tells me. He doesn't let me pass, and after I start yelling at him, Ariana shows up and manages to pull me away from the scene. I don't stop yelling until we reach my house. I sit at my front door for hours, waiting for my parents to come home.

But little did I know the Peacekeeper was lying to me. There were no survivors.

Present Day

I keep my balance on a neighbor's fence, then carefully jump to the tree. I grab a hold of the branch and swing my legs up. I pull myself up onto the branch. Crouching, I repeat this process until I reach the top of the tree. From here, I can see most of District Three. I can see the small market where people go to sell their products and others buy. I can see the grouping of factories, including the one that murdered my parents, despite the fact it's been fully rebuilt. I can see most of the residential area, all the way up to Victor's Village where only a handful of people reside.

I find myself focusing on the factories. At this time on a normal day, many of the workers would be arriving for their long shifts, including the man who set off the explosion that killed my parents.

It didn't take long for me to find out that the explosion was deliberately set by someone. The Peacekeepers "investigated" but could never find a culprit. So I did what they couldn't. The last two years of my life I dedicated myself to this search, and I've finally figured it out. Chip Lux. Why he did it, I don't know. But I know it was him. He's the reason my parents are dead. And I want him to have the same fate.

I could do it myself, but I worry he'll overpower me and I'll lose my opportunity. I could do it like he did, set a detonation device at the factory. But I don't want to take more lives. I don't want another child to feel the devastating loss of their parents.

So I've come up with a solution that will take care of Chip without staining my hands red. Chip is 18 years old. Today will be his last reaping. And I've made sure he won't escape it.

It was easy enough to hack into the system that keeps the records of 12-18 year olds and how many slips need to be printed per name. It was easy enough to change all the names to say Chip Lux. It was even easier to remove my name from the equation. I also removed Ariana's name. And I covered my tracks so, if they do notice the "error", they can't trace it back to me.

"El!" I hear Ariana's faint voice coming from the bottom of the tree. I carefully climb down the tree and once I'm close enough to the bottom, I jump down.

"Hey." I say, my face beaming. She tilts her head.

"You seem unusually happy for a reaping day." She says. Of course she thinks it's strange. I haven't told her what I did. I didn't want her to be seen as an accomplice.

"I have to be. My name's only in there 5 times." I wrap my arm around Ariana and we walk to my aunt's house together. When my parents died, I was fortunate that my dad's sister, Lettie, stepped up and kept me from the orphanage. Although she isn't the best parental figure, due to her lack of biological children and her long mourning of her brother, she gave me a comfortable place to sleep and always made sure I was well fed. Besides, she leaves me to my own devices most of the time. I couldn't ask for more.

"I'll meet you at the square. We can check in together." Ariana hugs me tight before walking to her house. I go inside Lettie's house and head into my room.

I quickly get dressed for the reapings, slipping on black leggings and a matching black T-shirt. I cover the shirt with a leather black jacket and slip on matching black shoes. Once I feel good, I leave the house and head to the square.

It doesn't take long for Ariana and her brother James to show up. We check in together and Ariana and I stay near the back with the rest of the 16 year old girls. I watch as the boys section fills up. He's one of the last to show up but when he does, he stands right at the front with others his age. My face can't help but smirk, knowing what will come next.

Our escort doesn't waste any time introducing herself as Constance, her platinum blonde hair glowing under the sunbeams and her pink skin embroidered with glitter. Her voice is as ridiculous as her face. After the Capitol's monotone video, she walks over to the girls bowl and pulls out a name. I'm so certain my plan worked that I don't even waste energy thinking she said my name. It takes Constance reading my name a second time, combined with Ariana elbowing me in the ribs for me to realize what's happened. My heart drops to my stomach, the same feeling I had when my parents died.

My mind races with questions on how this could have happened as I slowly walk up to the stage. My only conclusion is that they must've figured it out. I find myself red with embarrassment, but I know those seeing me will just assume it's fear. Only I know better.

With this conclusion in mind, I'm not surprised when Chip isn't reaped. My embarrassment is replaced with anger. How could they let this happen? They let my parents die and they let the boy that committed the murder go free. They must want to finish the job. Kill the last of the Shielle family.

Screw them all. As I shake the hand of the male tribute, a boy named Beckett, I've already devised my arena plan. Although it will be amended as we move through the various segments, I'm mostly certain I can do this. I can make it through the arena, and I can return home as victor.

And when I do, I'll finish what I started. Chip Lux won't make it out of here with his life. I'll make sure of it.

Beckett Amory 13

Day of the reapings - outside the reaping square

"A honey bee's wings stroke 11,400 times per minute," I whisper frantically, rubbing my hands together and shifting my feet awkwardly in the dirt. "A queen bee's life expectancy is 3-5 years," I continue.

"What's he doing?" I hear a girl to my right in the reaping square ponder in confusion.

"He does that when he's nervous," my friend Byran answers.

The girl just replies in a bemused expression.

"A queen bee lays… urm 1000 or is it 1500? Ah! You made me lose focus!" I snap at the girl! She looks a little startled from my sudden outburst.

"Sorry," I mutter sheepishly.

I look back up at her and she seems more sympathetic now, it's only now that I notice more details about her. She is slightly older than me and taller with dark curly hair and dark skin.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realise you were nervous," she smiles. "Is it your first time?"

"No, I've been nervous lots of times," I reply.

She seems a bit confused at my reply.

Earlier that day

My mom struggles against my constant fidgeting as she finishes buttoning up my short sleeved, white shirt. I am buzzing up and down as a bee would do until my top button is finished, buttoned up tight around my neck as though it could be strangling me. I hate it! As soon as it is buttoned, I shoot off towards our gigantic, shining white staircase.

"Wait!" Mom shouts. I race back through the hallway to where she's standing outside my bedroom. "Where are you going?" She insists.

"Checking on the bees!" I exclaim with my best beaming smile.

Her eyes move down to my bruise and sting riddled arms. I can see the constant worry in her weary eyes. It doesn't help that she has a fear of bees when we run a bee factory.

"I wanted to give you something before you go to the reaping's today," she says, pulling out a pendant in the shape of a bee.

"It's perfect!" I exclaim. Throwing my hands up in the air and also knocking my mum in the face. I can see she's used to it by the way she barely reacts.

"Sorry," I mutter.

"It's to make sure nothing bad happens to you," she explains, while attaching it to my shirt. "Nothing will happen to you as long as you're wearing your special bee pendant," she smiles.

"Whatever…" I respond, taking back off towards the stairs. However, I soon feel my feet begin to slide across the floor.

"Ahhhh!"

I am thrown over, across the hall and begin tumbling down the granite stairs, crashing my arms, ribs and head on the way down! Although I am quick to spring back up to my feet.

"I'm ok!" I yell to my mum, rubbing my arms!

"Beckett…" I hear her cry.

I don't stick around to hear my mum's rant so I speed through my king sized dining room past my dad!

"Watch it!" He complains.

In no time I am out the door and heading down the lane towards our bee factory. On the outskirts of the district it finally becomes more scarce of buildings and the wildlife picks up all around me, from buzzing insects to green shrubs and bushes. The only buildings that can be found here are a few old stone remains and some factories.

When I reach the entrance to the factory, I gently nudge the door open, careful so I don't disturb too many of the bees. I spot my grandad standing there with a full bee protection suit meaning his face is mostly covered by the black netting.

He pops his head up as soon as he notices me.

"Beckett!" He croaks, as enthusiastically as he can in his old weathered voice.

"Hi grandad!" I exclaim.

I hear a bee buzzing around my head so I quickly duck out of the way of it.

"Bee careful!" Grandad chuckles!

It takes me a few moments before I fully understand the joke, bursting out laughing. My grandad is always making hilarious bee puns.

After I'm finished assisting my grandad with some bee chores, I'm finally forced to head to the reaping's with my friends.

"Bee seeing you grandad!" I joke.

"Bee back soon!" He replies.

I feel myself chuckling at grandad's constant jokes but inside I can still catch my nerves building up, It's only my second reaping and I can't help feeling this way, I quickly shake the thought from my head that it would be me sitting in the justice building in a few hours and dash back outside to meet my friends!

After reapings - In the Justice Building

My fingers twitch nervously as I'm sitting in the cold, grey empty room awaiting the arrival of my friends and family. Staring through the walls, I can feel my heart racing like it could explode at any second, waiting for the fuse to go off. I can't do anything to stop this now. No matter how much I twitch my fingers awkwardly together. I don't even want to see my family, I don't want to see the pain on their faces, I can't bear it right now! I wish that I had no one that loved me. I wish I had no one to leave behind. I can try and mutter bee facts to myself? That's an idea...

"A honey bee's life span is 30...wait no is it 20 days? Ahhh it's not helping!" I stand up in rage and kick my chair across the room.

I can't help but think in the back of my mind that whatever it is, it's longer than however long I've got left to live.

The door then bursts open and my family comes rushing in! My mom and dad cradle me in their arms, allowing my tears to soak their rough clothes.

"Remember Beckett… be like a bee," my grandad suddenly says from behind them.

I notice my mum turning back to him, clearly slightly irritated.

"Do you really think now's the best time dad!?" she growls.

"But it's true, bees only attack when provoked, so don't go looking for trouble in the arena because you're unlikely to come out on top," he says.

I can hear some of the words said but they are mostly going straight over my head I think or through it… I'm not sure. I'm too depressed to think right now.

After my family's time is up, my friends come to see me. Tad, Byran, Tech, Vulcan. All the people I grew with, all stood in silence, unsure what to say. It's a very awkward scene.

"You can make it Beckett." Byran croaks, he's always the upbeat cheerful one of the group but even he's struggling to sound hopeful for me.

"Remember 5 years ago when that 13 year old girl won?" Tech stutters.

"That's true." I murmur, I have to be hopeful… glass half full and all that. That's normally my motto.

"Yeah but she was from District 4 and a Career! You idiot!" Tad snaps at Tech, he looks to the ground, embarrassed and sheepish. Normally I would be the one defending Tech from Tad but I just don't have the energy at the moment.

"Don't worry Beckett! If you're lucky you will get a quick death and slip off the pedestal before the countdown is up." Vulcan chimes in.

Byran simply slaps him on the head after this comment.

"Ouch!"

"And if you're even more lucky they might mail the pieces of your body back to District 3," he continues, rubbing his head in pain.

I clutch my hands across my face, trying to keep my emotions from exploding out! Byran slaps him again but even harder this time.

I take what might be the last look at my friends with my teary eyes. These people got me through all my hard times, helping me through school with my ADHD and all my other troubles. I am going to miss them...

Hey everyone! This is Nautics! Sorry for the long delay it was my fault (Nautics). I had really bad writers block caused by mental health difficulties but now we are finally back with a new chapter! Also two pieces of big news! The final cast list is realised with this chapter so you can check that out on here and on discord. Also the district 4 intros are already written so you can expect them in about 24 hours! See you guys soon!