Ammo Lawson - District 2 Male - Age 18
"Dad, can I stop now?"
It was a fairly normal day in the Lawson household. Ammo was doing reps on the punching bag while he watched his father get into his uniform for work. Lamont was doing whatever the hell he does. Ammo honestly wasn't too sure. He works at some sort of factory but the money clearly wasn't very good because he still lived at home, besides being nearly 22, and in the mornings he did whatever it was that he needed to do to prepare for that.
"Sure," his father said. "Good work."
Ammo sat down on the couch and put a towel to his sweaty forehead. He went over to the kitchen sink and splashed water in his face. He put back on his shirt and started reading that day's newspaper.
"Alright, big guy." His father patted him on the back. "I want you to have a good day today. Don't overwork yourself and try to get home early for tomorrow."
He put on his helmet and headed out the door.
"Bye, Dad!" Ammo waved.
"Bye," Lamont mumbled.
Ammo had always been the favorite child, and he sort of was better than his brother in every objective way. He was half a foot taller, physically stronger, and way more motivated. To be fair, Lamont was old enough to remember their mother, as he was 7 and Ammo was only 3 when she died. The tragedy undoubtedly shook up their father, as he became a cold shadow of himself, and Lamont just became unmotivated to do anything. People always said that Ammo used to be more polite and sensitive before his mother died, but Ammo could not remember anything but the stoic and borderline apathetic man he is today. His father's only focus after the death was having a child win the Hunger Games, and it was always apparent that Lamont would not be that child, so he quit his job welding and became a Peacekeeper in order to fund Ammo's training at the District 2 gym. He always felt as though he became his father's property, but he didn't mind much because he wanted to win the Hunger Games just as bad so that there would finally be something to celebrate in the Lawson household.
That day at the gym, Ammo wasn't the only one taking it easy. James, who had won the Games about a decade back, insisted everybody remain focused, but the nervous energy towards the next day's Reapings was apparent to everybody. Ammo had hoped he'd be chosen by James to be the District's male volunteer the previous year, but somehow that happy-go-lucky bastard Micah beat him to the chase, despite Ammo clearly being stronger and faster than him. Sure, Micah did win in record time, but Ammo was sure he would have done it faster. He was nearly positive he would get the endorsement today, because he was the only 18-year-old boy and none of the 17-year-olds were close to his level of skill, but unlike previous years, he couldn't just volunteer to secure his spot in the Games. People had to vote for him, and while he was hopeful people would listen to James, he couldn't be positive. Ammo spent most of his time at the gym that day coyly throwing knives at the wall, and after a few hours, James gathered all the students for his big announcement.
"I'd like to preface this by saying that I am so proud of all of you and the progress you've made this year," James started. "And as you know, this year is different, and technically you can vote for everybody you want, but I would strongly suggest you vote for the people I suggest, and tell your friends to do the same."
Ammo was twitching with nervous energy.
"For the male tribute, I am proud to endorse Mr. Ammo Lawson!"
He stood up as his classmates cheered. James placed a flower crown over his head and congratulated him.
"I'm so thrilled I get to represent our lovely home and give us our second consecutive victor!"
The crowd cheered some more.
"Before you go too crazy," James stopped. "I'd like to endorse our female tribute, Hosanna Guerra."
The girl from the corner arose and looked shocked.
"Thank you so much!" she smirked.
Hosanna sort of made sense to Ammo. She had always been quiet, but she was never off task when they were supposed to be training, and she often stayed after hours. They'd never really spoken much, but he supposed she'd be a fine district partner, and he would feel sorry when he had to kill her.
Hosanna Guerra - District 2 Female - Age 18
When James called Hosanna's name, everybody around her looked as surprised as she was. She had always seen herself as average in a District of Titans, but she worked her ass off anyway to show James and the other trainers that she was perfectly capable of representing District 2 in the Games. Her father had taught her the mindset that if she didn't give something her all, there was no point in doing it to begin with. Did she think that mindset would actually get her into the Hunger Games? No, but she was pleasantly surprised. She accepted the flower crown just as Ammo, her new partner had, smiled at the other students.
"Hey." Ammo, tapped her on the shoulder. "Are you excited for this?"
"Definitely!" Hosanna exclaimed. "I'm just honestly a bit shocked I was chosen."
"Well, it makes sense," he said. "You've always seemed the most dedicated."
"You really think that?"
"For sure."
"Well it means a lot, especially coming from you." She started to walk away.
"Wait!"
"Yeah?" She was confused.
"We should probably get to know each other, you know?" Ammo smiled. "I assume we're going to be allies, and even if we aren't, it would be nice to have a friend when we get to the Capitol."
The two sat down at a bench against the wall.
"I'll begin," Hosanna said, "I'm Hosanna Guerra and you're Ammo Lawson."
"Glad we got that out of the way." He laughed
She told him about her childhood and how she'd always been the quiet kid who had trouble making friends, so her parents forced her to begin training when she was 12 to get her out of her comfort zone. She never really cared for it until she was 14 and realized it may actually be something she's good at. Ammo was the opposite. He came off as gloomy and closed off, but she could tell there was a real person, and probably a really good one underneath the facade of someone she'd always observed to be stone cold. Granted, she'd never really talked to him until that moment, and she almost regretted not doing so, because his life was pretty interesting. His mom died of some sort of respiratory disease when he was young, and now it was up to him to be the star of his family. His dad was a Peacekeeper and he did everything to make him proud. She could tell he was under a lot of pressure and she wondered how he handled it so well.
"You're pretty cool, Hosanna," he said about an hour into their conversation. "I hope you know that."
"You too, Ammo. I'm excited to work with you."
The two left the gym together and right as they were about to part ways, Ammo offered to walk her home.
"Don't want you getting kidnapped before tomorrow."
Hosanna laughed and waved goodbye.
Hosanna had never seen her parents as happy as they were when she told them she had been endorsed.
"I'm so proud of you!" Her mother clapped
"I always knew you could do it." Her father pulled her into a hug.
She was always grateful for her parents, but exceptionally so that night because her talk with Ammo had made her realize that not everybody is as lucky to have such amazing parents, much less two of them.
"How's your partner?" her father asked
"I saw him walking you home," her mother teased, "You know, he's really handsome."
"Stop it, Mom!" Hosanna laughed. Ammo was definitely good looking, but that didn't really matter except for the fact it would hurt a bit more when she had to kill him eventually. "He's just a friend! And we wanted to get to know each other before the Games. His name is Ammo, and he's really nice."
"That's Ammo Lawson?" Her father seemed surprised.
"Yeah, why?"
"He made headlines last year after his big freak out when Micah was endorsed instead of him, that's all. I'm just surprised they're endorsing him now."
She had forgotten all about the Micah incident. Last year, when James called Micah's name, Ammo basically went on a rampage and knocked over all the weapons in the gym. It was fairly embarrassing, even from the perspective of a bystander.
"Well he's really strong, Dad."
"I suppose so, and I hope you two work well together."
"I'm certain we will."
Hosanna woke up the next morning to the smell of pancakes.
"I made you a surprise dear!" her mother exclaimed.
She walked out of her room and into the kitchen where a stack of pancakes with "Congratulations Hosanna!" written on them with icing.
"Mom this is so kind of you!" she said, digging into the pancakes. "And these are amazing!"
"Thank you! They're your grandmother's recipe!"
"I know, I love them so much."
"I hate to break this up," her father said, "but if we all want to walk to the Reaping, we're going to have to leave soon."
He was right. Hosanna finished her pancakes and went into her room. She changed into a white jumpsuit and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
"You look beautiful!" her mom said, as Hosanna went into the living room.
"Thank you, Mama!"
The three walked through the District at a leisurely pace, and they were often stopped by people congratulating Hosanna and saying they were going to vote for her.
"Thank you so much!" She was confused as to how everyone seemingly knew her now, but she wasn't complaining, and assumed James had told everybody to vote for her.
"We'll see you at the train station!" her mother said, as she dropped her off in line.
"We're so proud of you!" her father exclaimed.
The line passed by quickly and once she pricked her finger, she marked down her and Ammo's names and wandered into the seating area. She was hoping she'd find Ammo so she could sit next to him, but she was out of luck and settled for a spot next to her semi-annoying friend Anastasia who she'd met at the gym before she quit.
"I hope you know I voted for you, girlie!" She was always way too excited.
"Thank you." Hosanna sighed.
Ammo Lawson - District 2 Male
Ammo looked his best for the Reaping. He wore a fancy silver suit that his father had used a full paycheck to afford, because they figured they had to make a good first impression on the Capitolites. They had said their goodbyes the night before as he had to wake up early for work the morning of the Reaping, and he didn't know if he'd be able to visit him in the train station before he left. It wasn't a particularly emotional goodbye, but Ammo was going to miss the old man for sure.
"Are you going to walk me to the Reaping?" he asked Lamont.
"Do I have to?"
"It would be nice of you."
"Fine."
They barely spoke on the walk. Ammo was slightly nervous people wouldn't vote for him, but Hosanna had assured him otherwise the night before. She was a really sweet person and he was glad they were able to chat, and was looking forward to seeing her again.
"See you at the train station." Lamont waved goodbye.
Ammo flinched as the Peacekeeper poked his finger. He always did. The Peacekeeper laughed this time.
"You're so much like your father."
"What do you mean?"
"He flinches when we poke our fingers to check in and out of work." He awkwardly chuckled.
"That's funny!"
Obviously, he voted for Hosanna and himself, and was going to look for her until he stumbled into somebody else.
"Ammo?" A tall boy with pale skin and blue eyes stared at him. "Long time no see!"
"Hi Micah." Ammo grunted. He knew he'd have to see him eventually but he was hoping to prolong that by as much as possible.
"Why the long face?" Micah smiled. "I heard I'm probably going to have you as one of my mentees! That's going to be so much fun."
"I wish it were the other way around."
"I know. But I'm still excited to work with you. I was hoping you'd be able to get over last year."
"Whatever." Ammo stumbled off. He really couldn't tolerate Micah. He was just so… happy?
Micah Fairforge - District 2 Mentor
Micah couldn't believe Ammo still had a problem with him an entire year later. So what? He got to go into the arena first. Ammo gets to go in now? The order didn't really mean anything to him. He was going to be a handful to train, that was for sure. Not that he needed much training. He was ready for the Games physically, but he definitely would need an attitude adjustment if he wanted any sponsors.
"Are you okay?" Vipsania Sickle, the District 2 escort asked as Micah made his way to the stage.
"I'm just frustrated." He sighed.
"May I ask why?" she asked. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"I'm just frustrated," he repeated. "The probable male tribute is sort of an asshole."
"Most boys from District 2 are."
"Am I an asshole?"
"Of course not, Micah!" She laughed. "How do you think you won?"
"Because I'm good with a spear or whatever?" he guessed.
"No!" she exclaimed. "Because you're different. People really like you. You're a sweet person."
"That means a lot, Vip." Micah blushed. "Hopefully I'll make a good mentor."
"I know you will."
Micah took a seat while Vip gave her speech about the history of the games. He remembered being on the other side a year ago and laughed at how different he was back then. He was definitely more immature that was for sure. The female tribute Vip announced was a girl named Hosanna Guerra. He remembered her as being really quiet at the gym, but he was sure there was a reason James chose her, otherwise she wouldn't be there. As expected, Ammo was the male tribute and while Micah knew it was coming, he still winced a bit when Vip called his name.
"Alright, let's get going, team!" Vip said after the ceremony had concluded. "I'm so excited to work with you two and I'm sure Micah is too."
"Of course I am," Micah said, thinking about how excited he wasn't to work with one of them at least.
Hosanna Guerra - District 2 Female
"WooHoo!" Hosanna's parents came into the train station clapping.
"Don't embarrass me in front of the Peacekeepers."
"Oh we don't mind," one of the Peacekeepers in the corner said, chuckling.
"Before you go, we have to give you something," her mom said. She pulled out a beautiful golden ring with the Guerra family crest and placed it in Hosanna's hands. She carefully examined the ring and slipped it on her finger.
"I love it, Mom!"
"Oh good. I was worried you wouldn't!"
"Can I go now?" Hosanna had begun to be annoyed by her parents' enthusiasm. What if she died? She didn't want to get their hopes up.
"Sure!" her dad said. "We love you so much."
The family hugged one last time before Hosanna went on the train and slowly started to tear up. Even if they were annoying, she truly had the best parents in Panem.
Ammo Lawson - District 2 Male
Ammo's farewell with Lamont was brief. They didn't have much to say besides Lamont joking and telling Ammo to say hi to their mom from him if he died. Ammo didn't appreciate that. Surprisingly, Ammo's father was able to make it at the last second.
"I just wanted to say I'm proud of you."
Ammo smiled.
"Thank you, Dad!" He waved goodbye. He was anxious to see Hosanna again and really didn't want to waste time with his father. He knew Micah wouldn't be much help so the two would need to talk strategy on their own.
"Do I not get a hug?" Mr. Lawson sighed.
"I guess you do." Ammo walked towards his father and wrapped his arms around him.
"Make your mother proud."
Thank you for reading Chapter 5! Thanks to IVolunteerAsAuthor for Hosanna and Axe Smelling God for Ammo. As of right now I have just over half my tributes, and I would love to have a full set soon so please submit if you haven't. I hope everyone is staying safe today.