-Sabadosh: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

Nothing.

No communication. No orders. No information from the outside world.

Neither McAvoy nor the director. I'm beginning to doubt this whole thing. Was I just changing from one mysterious shadow to another?

I tapped my fingers against the armrest. Those left in the control room ocnintued to ignore me. In front of me, only the most necessary staff was in front of me; I had sent the rest away before the lockdown. As if to remind us of the fact that there was no escape, two heavy men stood by the door like fat apes, the Capitol insignia on their bulbous chest. Every attempt at leaving ended in one of the two guards grunting at us to stay put as he waved around his gun.

I smiled. I guess I should feel lucky, being treated like such a V.I.P.

Though no information came into the room, the constant ringing of bullets above and the faint alarms were enough to suggest that a war was most certainly going on above us.

A full blown war. What is the point of keeping this stupid game up? It has to be a matter of Capitol pride at this point. Someone above has not yet realized how much of a failure this Inter-district benefits programs turned out to be.

I sighed. Two weeks ago, I had such high hopes. It's almost funny how quickly this IB program ruins those.

-Sabadosh: 7 Days until the Hunger Games-

They just don't shut up do they?

I cleared my throat. "Hey, kiddos." Nobody looked my way. They probably couldn't hear me. I tried to speak up. "Um, hey guys. Guys…"

"SHUT IT." Instantly, they all turned towards me and paid attention.

"Um, thank you, McAvoy."

"No problem. The other advisors and I will be in the next room, have fun with them."

Most of the other advisors shuffled out the room, I was left with thirty teenagers staring at me blankly, waiting for me to speak. In front of each of them sat an empty plate, ready to filled, but they seemed like they would rather be talking than listen.

A ginger girl, (Rachel, I think, but I was still trying to learn names) spoke up from the group. "What? Do you have something to say?"

I nodded my head. "Um, yes. I would just like to say welcome to the IB program." I began clapping. With a meager amount of enthusiasm, they followed suit. "Yeah, and more specifically, welcome to the first IB dinner." I snapped my fingers and the waiting staff set the food on the table. "I hope you enjoy this chance to get to know each other." Taking a large water jug from a small Avox girl, I watched as it was passed around, each person pouring some for themselves and passing it on.

To the right of me, a girl attention was buried deep in some strange device. Jill turned to her. "What you reading there, Katy?"

Katy put the device away and took the pitcher. "Oh, just another story."

Beside them, Evan twiddled with his fork. "Chau, everyone here looks pretty capable. Can we do this?"

Chau shook his head and pointed towards the food. "Eat now, worry about that stuff later. We'll be fine." He smiled and the passed food to the boys next to him.

As Rhett squinted to try to identify what type of meat was in front of him, he gave up and tapped Jacob on the shoulder. "Hey, Jacob."

Classically conditioned to the words, Jacob placed his hand on his face to protect himself. "You are not getting me this time."

Behind Rhett, Colin placed bacon on his plate. "Guys, what are you doing?"

Shelby piped up from across the table. "Colin, don't ask. Just accept it."

Beside her Zoë whispered to Jill. "What are they doing?"

Jill shrugged. "I don't know, but then again, I don't really care."

From across the table, Miranda shouted at Jill and Zoë, "Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing Miranda." Lindsey rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Kamila, as I was saying, I really liked your outfit at the introduction."

Kamila smiled. "Thank you. District One usually had really good outfits."

"Yeah," Allie snarked, "better than District four's bathing suits."

Listening in, Eva smiled. "Well at least, you didn't have to wear that fish outfit from last year."

Danielle shuddered. "If I had to wear that, I would probably just run away."

"Or swim away! Ha!" Andrew spoke from across the table. All the girls glared at him and turned away. "Aw."

Aaron patted him on the back. "I thought it was funny."

Eric nodded in agreement. "You just need to work on your delivery, Andrew." Eric felt a poke in his side.

Remington glared at him. "Eric, I wasn't done talking about ponies. I already talked to David this morning. Wasn't it great, David?"

David said nothing.

Beside him, Kaxee slumped in her chair, about to drift off into sleep. Right before she hit her food, Savannah poked her. Kaxee jumped. "What? Who? Where am I?"

Savannah laughed, her necklace jingling on her chest. "Um, you're here. Wherever here is."

"Good point, where are we?" Jon said in between shoveling mouthfuls of steak.

"The trains headed west, so I assume somewhere in the center of the continent, maybe by some mountain range." Patrick adjusted his glasses.

Mia stared into the distance, and spoke to no one in particular. "

"Woah, how'd you do that?" Marcus seemed utterly amazed.

"Oi, Marcus, pay attention to me! I was talking to you." Rachel tapped her fingers against the table.

"Rachel, you are completely running this meal I am having right now. Gosh." Matt feigned anger.

"Matt," Zach shook his head and smiled. "No."

I was so engrossed in everyone else's' conversations that I failed to see Katlyn, peeking over her plate and turning to me. "Soooooo, meow."

Covering my full mouth, I spoke. "I'm sorry?" Did she meow at me?

"Got something planned for us then?" Her smile had the tiniest hint of malice.

"Um, yeah." I nodded. "I'm really excited for you all. I can't wait to see everyone do their very best! With some instruction and guidance, I know you all can do well."

-Sabadosh: Day 10 of the Hunger Games-

That felt like six months ago, not a few weeks.

Only Mia, Katlyn, and Matt are left, but for how long? And, I am simply sitting here, waiting for something to happen.

Well, something was about to happen.

As I almost fell asleep at my seat, a small beep came from behind me. Then another and another. The beeps started out slow, but quickly increased in frequency. Everyone on staff turned towards the source of the beeping, the exit door. The beeping reached its peak and an explosion rocked the entire bunker, as the sole entrance was lost in a cloud of dust. Sound rebounding within our metal casket; I tried to understand what was going on. In the confusion, I heard the two guards crying out for help but they were quickly silenced by…some tall girl?

"Uh…sorry. I didn't mean to hit that hard. Are you coming, Nathan?"

A boy about her age, Nathan apparently, stepped forward, staring at the unconscious bodies. "Not bad, Halle. Anyways," he turned towards the hallway, "all clear McAvoy!"

He stumbled into the room. "Aw. You guys took all the fun." His eyes scanned the room until they fell upon me. "Ah, Sabadosh. I've been meaning to find you."

"Uh…" As I was about to start my endless line of questioning, McAvoy strolled past me and began to type wildly on my computer.

"Hey, Halle."

"Yes?" The tall girl straightened up.

"Your sister is in prison cell D7. It's way underground. I have some other business to attend to, so you are on your own for this one."

She nodded. "Alright. Nathan, will you come with me?"

Nathan nodded enthusiastically. "Hell yeah. I'm coming." With that, both of them rushed out of the room.

"Hey, McAvoy! Will you slow down and explain what is going on?"

As he continued to type on the computer, he tilted his head in my direction. "I think you would have figured that out already." He paused. "The war has been taken to the Capitol. Thanks to your distraction and my…well everything really… both the president of IB program and that other president are dealt with. All we have to do is take the city from the remaining forces. Not that that is an easy feat, mind you. But be proud, you helped bring down the Capitol. Hopefully, history will be kind to you."

I wanted to pull my hair out. "Wait wait wait. Are you saying to me the rebels are going to win?"

McAvoy smiled and laughed. "I wouldn't call us rebels anymore, but yeah, that's about right."

I began pacing around the room. "Th-that's great. A free Capitol…I can hardly imagine it! But…but what about the remaining three in the arena? Are they going to be okay? You promised me you were going to send a rescue, right?"

McAvoy stopped typing and face me. "Well…"

"Well?" I slammed my fist against the counter. "I want to see these kids alive."

McAvoy flinched. "Look. I've done the best I can. I sent some airships other to the arena. The problem is…so did the Capitol. I guess they have this idea that if they can't have their toys, no one can. I don't know who will get there first. Our best chance might be to shut down the force field."

I shook my head. "If we shut down the force field, they'll be set loose in the real world."

"Yup."

"I won't be able to watch them anymore and help them. Those three barely made it through the IB program. They can't handle it out in the real world alone."

McAvoy put on a weary smile, and placed his hand on my shoulder. "I know it's hard, but I know that those kids can handle it out there on their own."

McAvoy hit one last key. On the screen, an option flashed.

Shut down power? Accept/Cancel

Did I have that much faith in these kids? Did I think that could handle themselves without me? Was this their best chance?

I hit the 'accept' key.