Juniper Preen
Juniper entered the square just in time. The Reaping always started at 11am sharp, so everyone had to be in the square by 10:45. She had put off coming here as much as possible, today. Juniper just knew she wouldn't be going home from this Reaping.
A week ago, Juniper had been joking around with her friends from school. They were far away enough from the homes to not be overheard. Juniper had made a few jokes about the Peacekeepers of Eleven, and who should overhear her but Head Peacekeeper Forette. Juniper only saw him duck back around the corner of a building, but she knew she'd been caught. When no one came to bring her to a public lashing, she figured there was a worse punishment on the way. What worse punishment was there than the Hunger Games?
Tessa Braze
Tessa watched Ogden, the escort, take the stage in his usual colorful getup. He was all smiles, which creeped Tessa out. She didn't want to listen the same rehearsed speech that he gave every year about how being a tribute was such an honor. It was a load of crap. If the Peacekeepers weren't guarding the stage, Tessa was sure they'd try to hurt Ogden.
"Now," he started, "Let's find out who this year's tributes will be." Ogden went to the girls' ball and pulled our the four slips, one at a time. He walked back to the podium and opened the first slip.
"Our female tributes are as follows. Miss Juniper Preen." Tessa looked around for the girl, who stepped out of the seventeen-year old group. Ogden opened the next slip. "Miss Theresa Braze." Tessa whipped back around to face the stage. He'd called her name.
Tawny Hestion
Tawny watched the girls walk down the aisle from their sections. There were still two names left for the girls, and four for the guys. Six, the number of tributes from Eleven guaranteed to die in the games. Only two could come home. The odds were worse than ever.
"Miss Tawny Hestion." And now Tawny was a tribute. Tawny quickly slipped her shoes back on and left her group. She didn't have far to walk to get to the stage, but it seemed like miles. She'd end up in the arena, be forced to kill other innocent people, and probably end up dying lying them. She'd fight, of course. Even the most peaceful of tributes seemed to lose that in the arena. She'd fight until she died, and she'd try harder than ever to come home alive.
Aprila Mantra
Aprila was one of the few people in Eleven that didn't work the fields during the Harvest. She had horrible nervous attacks whenever she saw a tracker jacker nest. They were everywhere around Eleven, and they always reminded her of Brady. Aprila could still see her brother dying in the Games. They replayed it over and over that year, as one of the worst deaths in the games.
Now, Aprila was old enough to be eligible for the Reaping, and she was terrified of ending up like Brady.
"Our last female tribute this year is… Aprila Mantra." April's breath caught in her throat. She wanted to be sick. This couldn't be happening. She didn't want to follow in her brother's steps.
Macen McGrathe
Macen was devastated at the sight of a twelve-year-old girl being Reaped into the quell. Why was it that Eleven was known for reaping twelve-year-olds. In the past twenty five years, there had been eight of them. And now there were nine. Only one twelve-year-old, in the entire history of the Hunger Games, had come home alive, and now he was dead.
"Congratulations to our tributes so far." Ogden pulled the four names from the boys' reaping ball, and Macen saw the guys in his group tense up. Even though they weren't the oldest, the odds of being picked were still pretty bad..
"First up is… Jasper Altone." Macen looked around for the first tribute. He saw him step forward from the section in front of his own.
"Next is… Macen McGrathe." Macen looked up at Ogden. There must have been some mistake. Of all the people here, it couldn't have been his name. What about another twelve-year-old?
Jasper Altone
Jasper saw the other kid as he stepped from his section. A year younger, he was from the section right behind Jasper's. Macen. He looked strong enough. Probably worked in the fields for years. He'd make a good ally in the games. Jasper was already thinking strategy, yes. It was what would keep him alive.
He was at the stairs before the other kid. Ogden held his ground, didn't offer any support like escorts were supposed to. Jasper took his spot by the mayor and Eleven's only victor, Frado. He'd have to make friends with the guy if he wanted to see Eleven again someday.
Niko Whiatt
Niko stepped out of the way as his friend Macen made his way to the aisle in the middle of the square. He was a tribute, another person who'd probably be lost to the games. Did the Capitol not realize that their 'tributes' had families? Parents, brothers, sisters, friends? That they belonged to someone? This wasn't just a show on their screens. People were dying to keep them entertained, and they cheered for the death of children. It was wrong. It was highly immoral.
"Niko Whiatt." It was his future.
Anton Corathas
Anton had had two friends Reaped into the games in the past seven years. He was almost glad that he had never met the Jasper kid, who was from his year in school. It was hard enough watching the games, Anton didn't need a friend on the screen. He'd just sit there at the viewings and try not to watch as the tributes were slaughtered.
As the three guys grouped on stage with the girls, Anton began to get hopeful. There was only one name left. Anton had slipped by through the first three, he only had one left. Ogden had already chosen the slip, now it was all about waiting to see whose name was written on it.
"Our last tribute, rounding out these seven, is Anton Corathas." Shit.