District 5

Darwin Wandris. Age: 14.

I think Mom worries about Reaping day more than I do. I've heard all too many times how she didn't really want kids in the first place because they could get sent off to the Hunger Games. It's her worry for the last two years that really convinces me that she doesn't entirely regret having me. At least without any more mouths to feed beyond the three of us we're able to keep from needing the tesserae. Honestly I can't tell you the last time though I actually was full. Even when they give us a little extra in the summers trying to fix up the large number of solar panels is just enough to keep from laying there trying to sleep despite your stomach growling.

That's what I'm best at though. The solar panels need to be up higher where they don't end up covered in shade and much the same goes with our "wind catchers" as I've always called them. Being small means that you can get up there where the others can't and I have gotten to be a good climber over the years. I just deal with it while mother tries to scrub my face clean.

"There we go Win. Everything's going to be fine."

"I know." The odds should actually be in my favor. True, I have noticed we always seem to have fewer slips of paper every year than most districts, but I still only have three with my name on them. I just smile at her though while she ruffles my blonde hair. "Do you think we can go and buy some bread later? Just to go with dinner." Others might consider bread to be barely a treat. I know even this far is pushing my luck without asking for one of the pastries they enjoy putting in the windows.

"We'll see." I just nod. Fair enough. I just check myself over one last time and head toward the Justice Building. Dad will already be there, having been working on making sure the screens are working for the annual reminder of all things Dark Days. As though any of us could forget. I could easily name off all of the great heroes of the Capitol that beat back the Rebels before the destruction of District 13.

Not the Rebels though. As with all things in war, you're not supposed to remember the names of the losers. As though remembering their names might conjure their ghosts to lead us to another rebellion. I highly doubt any of that will happen anyhow. They would likely send all of us off to the Hunger Games if that were the case and not allow us out until there was no one left.

It takes a good hour to get all the way to the Justice Building on foot. Despite Power being our main industry, there is none left to waste for things that would carry anyone from the Dregs. It's one of the poorer areas, mostly noted for the people who spend all of their bodily power by waking early and not getting home until the sun is slumping on the horizon. At one point Mom has us speeding up to meet up with the Jorres. I know she and Juniper Jorre were friends from school, though she's not exactly gone the same direction as Mom when it comes to kids. All three girls are trying to keep up while I give a small nod and smile to Hope. She's a year older than me, but I also know mom would be thrilled if we started dating one day. It's not exactly that I don't like girls. They just tend to go for the older boys which has always been just fine. The last thing anyone wants is to end up falling for someone just to end up with them getting Reaped and killed. I let the adults talk though and just fall back enough to keep the two younger ones from falling behind.

Faith Jorre. Age: 12

Mama says I have to look pretty. It's worth all of the annoying parts like brushing on my hair and tying it up in pigtails and sticking me with a few pins to make sure my dress hem doesn't fall out when she lets me use a little bit of her face paint. Papa got it for her during their last anniversary and even though she yelled she was also happy. My lips are a pale shade of pink to go with my dress that Hope made me and I'm all the happier that Charity seems to be jealous. She's only eight though and doesn't have to go and stand with a bunch of people while they call out names and everyone is supposed to clap.

Of course you see the kids that they call a few days later, but they rarely look the same. It's like they've been all polished up with wax until they can reflect the sun and it's amazing that they don't.

I wonder if I look pretty enough that it means I won't have to go away. The kids on TV never come back when they leave, and the whole idea that they "die" just seems weird. Old people die. People who aren't careful when they're working around the cords die. Kids don't die. They might get really sick, but I've never known one who actually has died.

At least I don't have to just put up with Charity the whole time we're walking when one of Mama's friends comes to join us. She's only got one kid though who is a little older than me and never had to share anything with stupid sisters. Lucky…

"Hey Faith. How's school been going?" He's usually this nice, but then I wonder if he's just feeling a bit lonely. He looks a little sad, but I keep myself from just asking what's wrong. People don't seem to like it when you just think that something is disappointing them.

School, however, is boring… "Good. Mama's been working with me on my stitches after school too so I can become a seamstress like her and Hope." I smile up with him and try to look enthusiastic. Working with a needle is the one thing I am good at. In fact it's a lot easier than trying to remember facts and dates that no one really cares about and I've already figured out we're just going to learn about them again next year.

"Good. It's important after all to have a good education. And at least we get to take a trip occasionally to see the different power plants?" Darwin has a way of at least relaxing me from all the stress people seem to be putting on today even if it's just talking about silly things that I don't even know all that much about.

"That's kinda fun. No one seems to be able to tell me about the moon though?"

"The moon?" Apparently I have also distracted him as he starts to search the skies for it even though it's probably still too low for anyone to see.

"Yeah. We get all of this energy from the sun and other stuff, but why not from the moon? It's there all the time as much as the sun is." He looks a little amused by my question even though I'm being serious. When you've got pigtails though no one really wants to take you seriously.

"Well… Really all of the light from the moon is actually just sunlight bouncing down. I don't know how much we could actually collect, but the ones that pick up the sunlight probably already do just a tiny bit."

"Bouncing?" Somehow I'm having a hard time picturing sunlight jumping around on the moon.

"It's more like… A reflection. Like if you take a mirror and shine a light onto it then you're going to get the light somewhere else as well. I'll show you later though when I've got something I can use."

Some of that makes sense, but as long as he says he'll still show me maybe I can understand it then. At least he doesn't just laugh me off like one of the others like I'm just another kid. He's also nice enough to give Charity a piggyback ride when her feet start to hurt so we don't end up too far behind and possibly in trouble. There's a lot more kids than I remember when I was always standing on the outside just watching while people passed money back and forth on whether or not the person called would cry and sometimes even who it might be that got called up. Personally it didn't seem all that nice.

At least I get to be in the back row with other girls from my classes in school. I'm also the only one with pale pink lips though which makes me hold up my head a little higher. Maybe now I won't get picked. There's already three people up there including the mayor and Miss Miranda. She looks a little younger than mama and apparently won these Games when I was just a baby. The other lady up there just looks weird with bright yellow hair and a red and orange dress. What happened to the guy last year with the funny striped hat? I kind of liked him. She has a really high pitched voice that makes me want to cover my ears so I don't have to listen to her introduce herself and how happy she is to be there.

No one cares, can I go home?

"Now let's find out who gets to be my lucky first Tribute!" She takes her time digging her hand around before she pulls out a name.

My name… I just try to look happy though rather than confused as to why I can hear my mom screaming and crying while I'm going up and getting introduced. It's all a Game. Aren't games supposed to be fun? I try to find Hope in the crowd though, but she has her eyes looking anywhere but the stage and at me. Then the crazy fire lady goes over and gets a name out of the other bowl that is always full of boy's names and calls for Darwin.

At least I won't be playing alone.

District 6

Tempest Shallows. Age: 14.

Somehow I don't think any amount of scrubbing is going to get all of this grease off, but that does not seem to be keeping Ariel from trying. I guess when you can blame me for killing mother the one payback you can exact is to scrub me raw. At least without Dad getting mad at her for taking it out on me. I can't say that I blame her, but she should at least be glad the dirt doesn't show as much in my dark hair. Not all of us get to sit and do scheduling to make sure that the trains don't crash into each other today. Some of us have to actually make sure that they work. Dad's been teaching me everything he knows though about fixing trains and cars and everything else that we build around here.

"She looks like a cherry already. Can we get this done with?" Star, my brother, has learned to fight back with the washings so we look presentable. He doesn't blame me though and just looks a little nervous over the reapings. We're a big district though. His chances even with two more slips are about as good as mine.

"Ugh. Why is it you two little grease monkeys have to go and get all dirty today? You know what is going to happen if we're late because I was too busy trying to get engine oil out from behind your ears." I take the opportunity though to pull away and just take the towel to try and dry myself off.

"Who cares? I worked hard to get all that grease and oil in just the right places." I think I got to her since she huffs and goes off to try and see about Dad. If we're lucky he'll actually just get up and be close enough to ready that we can just go. If we're not… well the Peacekeepers will probably be by trying to decide again at which point Morphling can make you considered "too sick to go to the District Reapings".

Looks like we're going to find out when she comes back a lot more quiet than before and just starts ushering us out of the house. At least we don't have far we need to go unlike some of the others. A larger district means that most people have to come in to the Justice Building via the Train system within the District. I've had to go on them before for different jobs in the areas. We're always packed in there and then it's rare you're fortunate enough to get one of the few seats that are usually saved for the older ones that are still managing the Intradistrict travel. It's no wonder everyone hates having to go anywhere when the only place the product of our labor takes us is another dull area with more work to do.

They pack us in enough for the Reapings. I'm sure everyone has a little bit of pride in their own District, but I seriously think we're the largest for the exact reason that we are the most important… Or at least in the top 3. Without us there wouldn't be the big fancy trains that get everyone all over Panem or the hovercraft that I've only gotten to see in testing to make sure they work before they're shipped off the Capitol. You'd think that would make people a little more likely to sponsor us and give us a few more Victors than we do.

Unfortunately we're lucky to have three currently living: Track, Marta, and Cole. Cole is the oldest and mainly just there considering he's required to show up like the rest of us, and is usually the most amusing part of the day considering he's almost entirely deaf. Thankfully from age rather than the arena, but it's hard to not smile a little when they're announcing things over the loudspeakers and he's sitting there going "Eh? What was that?" At least he's managed to mentor two more out of the arena so he doesn't have to go to the Capitol. Marta's the next oldest, having managed to get out of the 42nd games alive. Track I can even remember sitting and watching the games and proclaiming him Victor when I was seven. That probably doesn't put the odds very good in our favor. Especially when your mentors look like they've fallen into the same addictions as most of the District.

Hopefully the odds are in my favor as they go up to call the first name. Unless there's another Tempest Shallows though, I think I'm as good as dead now.

Rowan Lorca. Age: 13.

When I was 12, my parents tried to buy my way out of the Reapings.

The Peacekeepers just laughed. We were well off enough that I would never need to have my name entered more than was required for my age group and if I should get called then it would only be right that I was honored to get the opportunity to fight for my District. Apparently no amount of money my father could offer was going to be enough to get them to forget about me on Reaping Day. If the mayor's two kids couldn't get out of it then I was definitely going to be put in with the rest of the huge district. I just had to hope for the best among all of the other children that were considered in my "age group". I wasn't allowed to communicate with any of them nor even gone to school with any of the kids since I'd had private tutors since I was four.

The smell of several hundred thirteen year olds packed together though is not something one really wants to focus on. I try just to keep my hands in my pockets like I've been told and avoid touching any of them in case they might be carrying something. Really, this whole thing is ridiculous. We send two kids off that are basically going to end up dying and this is supposed to keep us all from going up against the Capitol? Other than these ridiculous required events, why would anyone bother? We would just end up getting bombed out like Thirteen did and they'd find someone else to make all of their machines.

All I can think while they play the anthem and talk about the Dark Days again is how much I'd rather be home just reading a book and forgetting about all of these. Maybe that's what I'll go and do this year. Forget the Games and all their silliness and just read one of my books and ignore what's going on considering we're just going to have two more corpses on our hands while everyone cries and talks about how great the person was. Honestly, they could have been stealing bread all of the time and getting flogged for it and we would still be talking about them as though they were the greatest kids to have ever graced the planet.

Someday I'm going to actually have the guts to point out that so-and-so was actually a bully who liked picking on all of the younger kids and we're better off with him/her being dead now because s/he was only going to grow up to be a mean adult that threw wrenches at people and such. The first quarter quell had the right idea with getting rid of some of the people who weren't useful to the District and then the last one standing went home to riches and probably never shared with another person.

That's just the way things are in Panem though. Survival of the fittest and everything we've been taught about the strong ones being allowed to reproduce while you cull the herd a little to get rid of the weaklings. The girl they call up doesn't entirely look weak, but I can't imagine how much good she really is to the District as a whole when she's about my age. Thankfully just a few more minutes and I can get out of here and we'll have dinner with some of the other more affluent families of District 6.

Instead I hear my name being called and just blink a few times while the whispers start. My family is known in the area which is probably the only reason why people are interested as I manage to get out and walk up. The way everyone is watching though… Certainly someone knows that my parents would give up anything to keep me safe which would include giving some boy's family money to take care of themselves even if they do end up dying. It would all be for a worthy cause, but as I am introduced and look out at the crowd, I'm fairly certain my fate is sealed.

Maybe they should have tried paying someone to volunteer for me instead.

A/N: Six down, six to go. Any favorites so far or one's you're hoping will be dead by the bloodbath? Or just any feedback in general?