Disclaimer: I will never own the Hunger Games.

Five deaths after this...


Irion Mitil (Age-16) male – District 9

"It's rigged I tell you, the whole thing is rigged!" I shout at the top of my lunges while I climb up the mountain. Alicia follows close behind. I'm not looking at her, but I can tell that she is acting annoyed by my rant. It is not that she thinks I'm wrong; it's just that the Capitol is listening. Need to play for the cameras.

"Please, Irion! Shut up! No one wants you spewing out those lies! You'll just make it more miserable for us all!" I have to give Alicia credit, no matter how dire her situation; she can always follow the same act. I haven't seen her stray since the reaping. I should be convinced that is just how she is; I know her too well to believe that though.

I continue my rant. "What, you think that it just happens to be a coincidence that they chose this Quell? It's to turn us against each other. Or, mess with our minds. You know they wouldn't pick us!" I am starting to have my doubts, though. "Not the both of us. They know our family depends on us." I know Alicia is nervous now. She knows that our family depends on us. I feel like turning around to comfort her, but I have to continue.

"And, asides from this Game, do you think that it is chance that chooses the tributes? Look! Whenever a Victor's child is eligible for reapings, it is they who are chosen! Same with the Mayor's children! Oh, yeah, not to forget whenever there is a small child let's chose one of the strongest in the districts to compete with them! And what about twins that just happen to be the oldest and happen to be the sole providers of their family? Let's throw them in! At least they have a reason aside from fame to win!" I feel like turning back to my twin sister, but I continue to climb to nowhere.

"Irion," she said, her voice on the edge of crying, "Irion, please stop. These lies are upsetting me. I don't like how you say this about the Capitol. They aren't that bad." From the beginning my sister took on the goody-two-shoes routine about loving the Capitol. I, being her fraternal twin, took the exact opposite.

In a way, our ranting is factual. At least my points were. We figured at the beginning, with the tributes selected, probably the strongest, that we didn't have a chance. We also figured that we might do something productive in our last moments. Hence, our bashing of the Capitol.

We had this plan since the beginning, along with our angles. In the training center, we had approached the lesser districts to see if they would join us. They were either too scared or didn't want to.

"That's bull, Alicia! Look at the world they have created around you!" I stop and do a 180⁰; my arms stretched high above me for exaggeration. I face Alicia. "Beauty is poison! Is that symbolic enough? Or do you still not understand? It's a hidden message! The Capitol – as grotesque as they are – consider themselves beautiful! We are surrounded by beauty here! Like in the Capitol! And it is all poison trying to kill us! And everything is poison, everything, even the most vital of resources—water. Nothing is safe, not even the Districts."

"Please, just look at what you're saying." She pauses a moment for an effect. "You're saying that they rig the Hunger Games to make it represent our lives. Consider that statement. Does it not sound ridiculous?" She says. I kind of hate it when she asks these questions. I have no idea whether to answer no or yes. So I just repeat the question with what I'm trying to say.

"It is rigged, and I'm not being ridiculous! They probably even tuned out of our whole conversation! And they are probably going to punish us for it!" I turn towards the top of the mountain. "So, what's it going to be Gamemakers? Ya' gonna rig this volcano like the Games? You gonna make it explode to punish us? Just burn us all? Seems like the kind of 'accident' you would arrange!" I shout angrily, and stare at the top, waiting for a response.

I feel Alicia come behind me, and she whispers into my ear, "I think you have taken it a bit too far." I'm about to apologize when I hear and feel the ground shake. Not that significant, but then I see the birds flock together in the sky. They fly away from the mountain.

I know the Gamemakers have listened to me. Even though we knew we were going to die from the beginning, instinct takes over. I have to protect my sister. I spin around. "Alicia, run!" It doesn't even take a moment for everything to settle in. She takes off like a fox. I am a close follower. Close behind I hear a loud rumble, followed by a blast.

Alicia and I turn around just in time to be knocked off our feet by the force of the eruption. I land in a dirt clearing, but Alicia doesn't share my luck. Her head hits a rock. There is red in my vision; there is blood in my eyes from my head, and there is blood in the distance, where Alicia lay. And there is red in the far distance; lava. I hear a cannon fire, but I don't believe that it is Alicia's.

I scramble over to her, my breathing heavy. There seems to be no noise; I can't even hear my own breath. I should have though; the air was thick with ash. "Alicia!" I scream. "Alicia, talk to me!" I manage to cough out that last sentence. There is no response. "Alici—coughcough – Alicia!" I break into a mad fit of coughing. I can't control it. I can't run from the volcano.

Instead I curl in a ball besides my sister. Letting my eyes slip close and coughing until there is no more air to support that. It is like sleeping when you're sick. Only you know that you won't be waking up again. I never feel the heat of the lava, but somewhere in the distance I hear a cannon fire. My last thought is if it is mine.


I found out what my main issue with writing is. I am very bad at tenses. Half the story will be in past tense, the other in present. It all seems the same in my head, so I deeply apologize that I cannot notice it. Second to that is spelling... thank heaven for spell check, even if it does make you spell privet instead of private. Thanks to Realityshowfan, Broken Violet, Inthefire, LeoLeon, and hungergames51 for reviewing my last chapter. You know it makes my day^^ Thanks to all who read. Now I have to figure out how to write the equation of a freaking hyperbola... I dislike exams.