My spell checking sucks. And Disclaimer: I don't own either story but the plot is all mine!
When Iggy and I reached the Hob, we sold all of the fish, one rabbit and the beaver. We each kept a squirrel and a rabbit and exchanged the two remaining squirrels for two loaves of bread in which we both kept one. We spotted Mick, a peacekeeper and he offered us an extremely low price for the water cress as his sister had a stall where she sold food in the hob. However, I faked annoyance, stating that the price was too low. This was traditional banter for me and Mick- he always started out too low, I always made him raise it. In the end, as always, he gave us a decent price for the watercress as long as I added in a kiss. As usual, I laughed but complied all the same, knowing he was naturally a flirt. He handed the money to Iggy and grabbed my lower back before swooping down and kissing me. I even did the whole one-footed pop thing and many people in the hob cheered and laughed at us. It was no secret that as a peacekeeper he could afford- and did- to shell out for the occasional whore. He had offered me as such once or twice but I always turned him and the others down. I had even been nicknamed 'the forbidden fruit' in the hob for my endless teasing and never putting out. Iggy rolled his eyes at me and we continued on out of the hob. I exchanged the eggs from my four chickens I had at home for more money and handed half to Iggy. He tried to protest as technically, the Chickens were all mine but I forced the money on him anyway.
When we had finished our sale, we split the money in three. We both took a third of the money and the last third we put in the joint reaping pot, which would serve as the float if either me or Fang were chosen. Speaking of whom, we met up with Fang outside of the Hob, putting a large sum of money in his pocket, no doubt from the beating of the peacekeeper I had at my door last night. I had noted that he had flogged a known 'Hobber' (people who traded at the hob) last week- he probably would think twice before omitting a punishment like that again. Fang nodded at me and put in half of his money in the float.
'Excited about your last reaping?' I asked, even though I didn't like the guy, I was civil for Iggy. Fang nodded at me but made no attempt to converse. When we reached our flats, Iggy and I fist tapped and we all went our separate ways to prepare for the Reaping.
Angel and Gazzy were both already awake and ready for the day when I opened the door up to my flat. My reaping clothes were sat where I left them and Angel was dressed in an old blue dress of mine, which on her, was almost floor-length. Gazzy had washed and dressed himself in a shirt and trousers. I filled a small tub up with water and took a short bath before changing into a black velvet dress of my mothers. It was crocheted in intricate floral patterns at the top and floated down to my mid-thigh. I paired the dress with some flat black shoes and tied my hair into a bun on the top of my head. Angel skinned the squirrel and pan-fried a piece over the stove. I sliced the bread and spread it with the last of our butter and filled the sandwiches up with sliced squirrel. I handed one each to Angel and Gazzy and when they were finished, I gave them both half of mine each. I was feeling far too sick to eat. Today could be the day I reminded myself.
I walked hand in hand with Angel and Gazzy to the square in town. As Iggy was no longer considered a potential tribute, the twins went to stand with him in a spot on the outskirts of the hoards of people. Both Iggy and I were conscious of large crowds and so I was grateful that he was not situated in the middle of the giant mass of people. I found Fang standing next to Iggy and we both made our way to our section of the possible-tribute area. As an impulse, when Fang left to go join his section, I reached out and squeezed his hand. Fang seemed just as shocked as I at the action. As if it were on fire, I quickly dropped his hand and took a huge step back aware that by now my cheeks had flushed red in embarrassment. I muttered 'sorry' to Fang, expecting him to laugh at me and humiliate me. Instead, he pulled me into him and hugged me before dispersing to his section. I stood like a fool for a few seconds before regaining my senses and carrying on to my section.
Standing on the stage were Chloe Mac, Mayor Witlock and Nugde Banner. Nudge was the only living winner of the Hunger Games District Twelve has. In the last Quarter Quell, She was chosen as a tribute. The difference that year was not in the rules but in the arena where the games were held. To remind the Districts how merciful The Capitol was at the time of our deceit, The Arena was specially designed to be 'merciful' to the players. It was basically a cavernous space covered with wires and computers. Each Tribute was injected with a small computer that was hooked up to a larger computer in their 'base'. If a tribute managed to get hold of the larger computer, they could 'terminate' the tribute who was connected to that computer- i think it basically stopped their hearts instantly. The only other method of killing a tribute was by electrocution, mainly through the giant cattle prodders found in the cornucopia. Nudge never managed to kill anyone directly. For the first week, she avoided trouble, only killing one person by electrocuting the wire they were standing on so that they fried to death. When there was sixteen tributes left, Nudge got hold of a base computer from one of the deceased tributes. She hacked into the mainframe and terminated all the other tributes through the one computer, thus pronouncing her winner. It was probably my favorite Hunger Games as it wasn't very brutal, it was actually very humane.
As always, Nudge and Chloe gossiped and chatted constantly, both managing to keep up a steady stream of conversation. Mayor Witlock was a stout, pompous old man with sickly green skin and thinning red hair. You could immediately see the resemblance between him and his daughter, Lissa. Chloe gave the traditional speech, about how panem rose from the ashes of the old world and went on to explain the rebellion of the Districts which consequently ended in the downfall of District Thirteen and as a constant reminder of how we are at the capitol's mercy, the Hunger Games. As always Chloe trilled a 'Ladies First' before bouncing over to the small ball containing the names of all the eligible girls in District Twelve, among which sat five pieces of paper, all with Maximum Ride written on them in harsh blue ink. A deafening silence settled abruptly among the crowd as Chloe's hand emerged from the ball with a piece of paper in. Chloe rose to the podium again. As she unfolded the piece of paper I had a moment to pray for my safekeeping. She called out the name of the unfortunate girl before the crowd erupted into screams of horror and defiance.
After the social workers sacrifice and the gifts from the people of district twelve, they still did not manage to save me. My eyes zeroed in on my death sentence. The piece of paper that read: Maximum Ride.