Thank you to Dani H. Danvers, FrostyShadow, ladyqueerfoot, Very New To This, FlameAndVoid, TeamShadow, AlexFalTon, KKstar47, goldie031, and wiifan2002 for your reviews! Keep them coming because honestly, sometimes you guys give me new ideas for the story/characters and I love it!

Slight trigger warning about suicide in this chapter. It's presented as rumor/hearsay and we don't have the full story yet, but just wanted to give a heads up.

Chapter IV The Reapings Part 4

District 7

Day of the Reapings

It was easy to forget just how massive District 7.

As the source of all of Panem's lumber, the District had to cover huge swathes of land filled with dense forests and snow capped mountains. No one really knew where the borders of District 7 were as they were constantly expanding, pushing further out as they searched for lumber to feed Panem. Most citizens lived in small towns scattered throughout, dominated by a lumber mill and transport hub, miles apart from each other and civilization. But there were plenty who lived in what passed for District 7's main city, those who could count as middle class. But even the city was surrounded by woods and nature that were diligently kept at bay but always threatening to overrun it.

Luckily, being in such close proximity to it gave David Levering a perfect running path.

He was jogging with his best friend Ned, trying to work off the stress he felt for the Reapings later that morning. At fifteen years of age, David's name wasn't in the Reaping bowl much thanks to his parent's managerial role at a mill and his older sister Darlene's time taking out tesserae. Darlene had aged out but his parents had refused to let their son but his name in further. David, relieved, hadn't pressed the point.

Still, the threat was always there. David had to admit he had a rather lucky life compared to others, and there were times that he felt his luck would run out soon.

He picked up the pace, trying to drown out those thoughts with the sheer exhaustion of running. The problem was that David could run for miles on end. Unfortunately his friend, Ned, couldn't.

"Can we please just take a breather!" Ned begged behind him, sweating through his clothes.

"We're almost there! Just another minute!" David encouraged.

"That's a minute too long for me!" Ned replied, gasping for air. "If I don't make it, tell my parents I love them!"

David laughed and the boys kept running through the forest. The air smelled of pine and was filled with the sounds of nature. Bird chirping, leaves rustling, and somewhere further off David could even hear the steady torrent of a river. He never felt more at peace then when he was in the forest, even on cloudy days like this when the clouds hung low and clung to the mountain tops. By nightfall they'd be gone, and David could look up and see millions of stars and far away galaxies. It was beautiful, and David it was nice to see that the world could be a beautiful place to live in.

They finished their lap much to Ned's relief. He leaned over, hands on his knees, and gulped in air, face red and clothes drenched in sweat and sticking to his skin. David was far more composed, feeling like he had only done a warm up jog. As they recovered, a group of Peacekeepers on patrol walked past them, armored and helmed, guns at their side and ready.

David nodded politely to the Peacekeepers. It was always good to be nice. Be nice to them and they didn't bother you. Some people just didn't seem to get that, David thought.

Like Ned. He glared the both Peacekeepers as they passed. What they thought of that, David couldn't say. Their faces were always hidden behind black, tinted visors that revealed nothing of the humans underneath. Some kids at school said that the Peacekeepers weren't even humans, but Mutts cooked up by a mad scientist in some District 3 laboratory.

"You should be nicer to them." David remarked once the Peacekeepers were out of earshot.

"Why? It isn't going to make them nicer to us." Ned replied.

"Most of them are nice!"

"How can you tell? You hanging out with them?"

"You know I'm not. I'm just saying, they're people behind the masks, you know?"

"Yeah, really bad people."

David sighed, giving up the argument. He hated fighting with Ned, with anyone really, and this was a disagreement that would last forever between them. And he didn't want to get Ned started on one of his anti-Capitol rants. Not today. Not the day of the Reapings when the eyes of the Capitol were even more on their District.

"Do you wanna do another lap?" David asked.

Ned waved him off. "Can't. I don't have your energy anymore. And you've been kicking my ass all morning anyways."

"What's the matter? Tired?" David challenged with a smile.

"You know what, yes I am. Being an apprentice is hard work. You'd know that too if you joined me."

"I'm ok. Beside, I heard your boss beats you guys with a leather strap if you don't do well enough."

"That's bullshit." Ned laughed. "Only one who straps my ass is my dad when I'm bad. But my boss is tough, but like… a good tough, you know? So why don't you come work with me finally?"

David shook his head. It was a frequent disagreement and his reasons were always the same. "Because I like school! I wanna do well there and-"

"And what? Be the best little mouth piece for the Capitol you can be? Come on, David. I know you know that once they've taught you how the multiple and divide and read, the rest of the classes are just ways for the Capitol to make you swallow their bullshit!"

"Shush!" David hushed, looking around to see if the Peacekeepers came back. Nobody was out except for them though, and some blue jays that were calling to each other.

"What? It's not like I'm wrong. I'm sure school matters in District 3 or 5 if you wanna be a scientist or engineer, but out here, you know it's worth nothing and leads to nothing. Do you wanna work for the District government? You gotta know someone to get that job. Or sleep with someone. Store owner? Those are family businesses. You and I are only meant for chopping wood and molding wood and that's it."

"There are other jobs." David muttered.

"Face it, David. The only way you're not going end up working with wood is if someone does something."

David knew exactly what Ned met by "something" but didn't want to engage. "You don't know that." He whispered.

A pitiful look was what Ned gave him in response, before sighing heavily and replying. "David, let me tell you, you're my best friend. I love you. But you know something? Sometimes, you can be as dumb as a tree stump."

David didn't reply. He really didn't like fighting, and so the two boys journeyed back to the city in silence.

It hung there alone, separate from all other clothes in her dingy closet, and Ola could swear it was mocking her. The blue dress with the white trim was mocking her, or at least the ghost that came with it was.

Oleanna Ellery knew no one was going to make her wear it to the Reapings, but she knew certain people expected it. Not her parents, who couldn't understand why it was still in her possession who wanted it tossed. Not her older brother Jacks, who had tried to toss it until Ola begged him not too for reasons she still couldn't fathom. It was everyone else, everyone at school who all whispered amongst themselves when she passed. Everyone at the mill, who still gawked at her a year later. They expected her in that stupid dress.

And Ola hated herself for even considering wearing it.

Earlier at breakfast her parents had tried to get her to talk about things over some lightly burnt toast, the last bits of their butter, and their luxury item of beef jerky. Her mom was tough and to the point, but there was love there that Ola wish she could easily reciprocate. It also pained her that her dad struggled to connect with her. At least there was Jacks who always had her back.

"I'm taking an extra couple of shifts at the Mill this week." Ola finally tried, tearing the rough jerky apart.

"You don't need to do that." Her mother replied.

"It's not good for you." Her dad said bluntly, but with care in his voice.

"I know. But I want to." She had said.

"If she wants to work, let her work." Jacks jumped in.

"You should find a new place to work." Her mom had said. "I don't like how they treat you there."

'They'd treat me like that anywhere." Ola had replied simply.

"You could try striking out into another town." Her dad had said. It wasn't a command to leave. Ola knew that it would pain him to see her go. He was just trying to help her.

"Everyone knows what happened to Rua." Ola muttered. Jus the mention of his name made everyone tense up. Both her parents looked like they wanted to kill him themselves, and even her usually goofy brother grew serious.

"I doubt everyone." Her mom said.

"And if they have, who the hell cares?" Jacks said. "You're Oleanna Ellery! The coolest girl in District 7!

"You'd let us know if you were feeling worse, right, Ola?"

Ola forced a smile to her face. "Of course, Dad."

Hates how she can't confide in her dad. Why can't she just speak? Her family had always encouraged honesty, sometimes too much honesty at times, but when it came to this she just couldn't speak.

She looked at the Reaping dress, cotton and dyed blue with ruffled hems, puffed sleeves, and a white floral print. It would look beautiful with her red hair. She remembered when she first bought it a year ago. Her parents had given her the money when her old, hand me down dress was too thread bare to be worn anymore. Forced to cough up money for a replacement, they gave the money to her and trusted her to make a good purchase. She had been so happy, felt so independent running through the towns few clothing stores for something nice. She had even found one, a beautiful green dress with black trim and a tree design.

But Rua wanted her in the blue one.

Rua said she looked better in it.

And blue would match his Reaping suit.

'It's better this way. We'll look better together. You just need to trust me. Why don't you trust me, Ola? Why do you have to be like this?'

A flash of anger, primal and hot and raw, bubbled up inside her. Angrily she shut the closet, angry for even considering wearing that dress. Angry that she still even had the dress. Angry that he still had a grip on her, even though he was five feet under and worm food now.

Embolden by her anger, Ola put on her best pair of pants and cleanest tank top. A wicked smile spread on her face, imagining the shock that Rua would have expressed if he saw her in this. 'Serves the bastard right.'

And with that, she left for the Reapings.

The Justice Building was a lone building in a rather large field, which was only ever busy during the Reapings. Before the Dark Days, the area had been filled with trees and potted plants, symbols of the District's strength and prosperity. But after the Rebellion the Capitol had come in and burned the plant life and rebels with them. Instead, the Justice Building, grey and made of stone, stood alone in the field surrounded by statutes of Peacekeepers, holding spears and standing in heroic postures.

David tried not to look at them. If Ned caught him, he'd probably launch into a tirade about the Capitol, and right now David was too nervous to deal with it. He stood in the fifteen year old boy's section, leg shaking and body tense. Ned was next to him, looking calm but silent. Ned was never silent unless he was scared.

'At least I'm not alone in that.'

The District had a new mayor this year and she took her time reading the Treaty of Treason, careful to get every word out. Once she was done, the Escort ran to the Reaping bowl for the girls, pulled a named, and announced it eagerly.

"Oleanna Ellery!"

The first thing David noticed about the Reaped girl as she stepped out from the seventeen year old section was her hair. Her hair was so voluminous and curly that her face was practically lost in a bush of ginger hair. The second thing he noticed was that she was wearing a tank top. Who wore a tank top to the Reapings, David thought scandalized. The top showed off her muscled back and arms, which weren't unusual for the girls and women in District 7 who, just like the men, spent their days chopping and working the wood.

"Dude, that's Ola!" Ned whispered to him.

"Who?"

Ned rolled his eyes. "Ola! The Ola! Girlfriend of Rua! She made him kill himself!"

Oh, that's Ola. Feeling silly for forgetting her, David remembered the whole tragic story. She and a classmate, Rua Garrett, had been a couple for two years until she broke up with him. He ended up killing himself, leaving a note revealing that Ola had been a horrible girlfriend and was the reason for his suicide.

"Serves her right." David heard a boy in front of him say. There were plenty of murmurs of agreement. One boy on the aisle actually spit on the ground as she passed. Rua had been a popular guy, and David remembered how every guy wanted to be him and every girl, and a few guys, had wanted to date him.

"She should have been strung up by the Peacekeepers a long time ago."

"She killed him, everyone knows that."

"Well, she's dead now."

"I hope the Careers gut her."

"Or maybe they'll hang her from a tree like Rua was."

Ola was on the stage now, next to the sunny Escort. "How are you feeling, dear?" He asked.

"Terrible." Ola responded bluntly, arms crossed. The Escort seemed taken aback by that, but no one else in the District was. District 7's citizens were known for their bluntness. Watching her up on the stage, David actually felt District 7 had a solid chance at a Victor this year. She certainly looked tough.

The Escort was drawing another name now. David's heart raced, legs trembling so violently he felt he'd fall down.

'It'll be ok.'

And then the Escort spoke.

"David Levering!"

He didn't scream. At least he could say that. Ned did though, letting out a guttural shout of rage. David wasn't quite sure what happened next. There was a fair deal of shouting, Peacekeepers were there to drag him out of his section, and marched him to the stage. David walked slowly, his legs feeling like concrete slabs. He also didn't cry. That was something he supposed.

Before he knew it, he was next to the Escort, who was saying something into the microphone, but for David they might as well have been in District 1 shouting it since he couldn't hear any of it. The Escort touched him on the shoulder and directed him to Ola, motioning for them to shake hands.

Numbly, David did so, realizing that his luck had finally run out and that he was a dead man walking.

District 8

"Hold his arms, boys!"

"No! Chase, no! Stop it!"

"No getting out this, kid. We know you're lying."

"I'm not!"

"And you know what happens when you lie to me!"

"No please, Chase, stop it I don't kn-AAAAAAAH!"

A loud screech echoed up and down the stairwell of the apartment complex, emanating from Chase Metro's latest victim. The younger boy, being held in place by Chase's pals Jason and Nathaniel, was currently suffering through a rather painful wedgie curtesy of Chase. Jason and Nathaniel held him still, stopping the boy from squirming away from his interrogator. The three friends laughed all the while.

Chase pulled harder on the pathetic boy's underwear, watching it tighten and the boy gasp loudly. "Tell me who you told, and I'll stop." He lied. He had plenty of practice with this and knew you always had to give them hope. It was always a laugh when they broke and then realized there was more in store.

"I didn't tell anyone!" The boy insisted. "Please, please, please stop!"

That didn't work. Chase pulled harder, illiciting another squeak of pain. "Then who? Tell me who told Megan I was bullying kids at school!"

"I don't know!"

"Look, Chase, he's starting to cry!" Jason commented, hands gripping the boy's arms tightly. Sure enough, there were tears in the boys eyes. Chase had to smile at that.

"You're not even pulling that hard." Nathaniel commented with a grin.

"Aww, someone going to cry? You a little baby, huh?" Chase teased, and then pulled harder on the strained elastic band of the boy's underwear. "Give me a name or your head going in the toilet!"

"NO!" The boy shouted, desperate. "Not that! Please!"

"Name! Now!"

"Ritter!" The boy screamed, voice high with pain and fear. "Ritter told Megan that you were bullying the other boys and that you weren't any good! I swear! Please don't give me a swirlie!"

Chase considered that, voice dripping with sympathy though he kept the wedgie up.. "Hmm… I actually believe that. Ritter thinks I'm a bully, do you?"

The look of fear in the boy's always with so sweet, Chase felt his heart race with delight. "No-no." The boy muttered, unsure of what the right answer was.

Too bad there wasn't one.

"Well," Chase said slowly and with glee. "I guess I'm too light on you then."

The three boys left a short while later, laughing and joking as they left the crying boy, worse for wear, crying in the stairwell, throughly bruised and beaten.

"Nice going, Chase! Did you see his eyes when he thought it was over?! You're too good, dude." Jason commented.

"We after Ritter now?" Nathaniel asked, eager for another victim.

"Nah. We'll save him for after the Reapings." Chase said. "I've got to think of something good today him back with."

"Alright. Well, do you wanna hit the nets then?" Jason asked, looking eagerly at him. Nathaniel as well. Both of his pals were great in that, like so many in the District, they loved him and wanted to be around him. Chase absolutely loved it, was like having his own personal moving audience cheering him on.

"Going to stop by Megan's first." He replied simply.

Naturally, neither boy was put out. "Yeah dude, go get some!" Jason laughed, giving him a high five that Chase eagerly reciprocated.

They broke apart at Thread Junction with promises to meet up before the Reaping and look for Ritter afterwards. Chase knew the fastest way to get to Megan's apartment, but decided to take a longer route and see if any of his admirers were out. Sure enough, there were people. Other boys from school waved to him as he passed, girls gave him wanting looks, and even the adults were happy to see him. Life was pretty good, Chase thought, when everyone loves you. And what wasn't there to love? He was the star player on his school's basketball team, one of the few extracurriculars that the Capitol allowed. His dad was the coach and with him leading the team, Chase became a star. There wasn't much entertainment in the District, or reasons to feel good, but when Chase took the court, he made people forget their troubles and they loved him for it.

He passed an elderly pair of women who smiled at him. "How's the weather up there?" One asked playfullu.

"Pretty good, ma'am. I'll give you a warning if it starts raining." Chase joked. The elders giggled amongst themselves and others around took note of how well mannered he was. Everyone commented on that. And his ability to play basketball. And how tall he was. At seven foot one inch and a hundred ninety pounds, Chase was a monster of a seventeen year old, towering above everyone else in the District.

He absolutely loved that.

Megan's apartment was on the fourth floor of the complex and Chase easily bound up the flights without breaking a sweat. He stopped in front of Megan's door and knocked firmly, thinking about what he'd say to his girlfriend. Because she was his girlfriend. She had said they needed a break, or whatever that meant, after hearing some rumors about him. All true, but she didn't need to know that.

She was just being emotional. She'd probably come around by now.

The door open, creaky and well worn in this ancient building. Instead of his beautiful girlfriend, Megan's father stood in the door way. Heavy set, bald, and with a permanent expression like he just smell crap, he was utterly immune to Chase's charms, much to the boy's annoyance.

"Hey there, sir." Chase began easily. "Is Megan home? Her and I had talked about going to the Reaping together."

"Doubt that." Her father said, voice rough. "She hasn't mentioned you in a while."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you." Chase replied, all innocence. "Maybe it slipped her mind?"

"Doubt that too, boy." He growled. Silence enveloped them and Chase waited for him to continue. When he didn't, Chase took the lead again.

"Well, can I see her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"She doesn't want to see you."

Chase smiled tightly, patience running thing. "I wanna hear her say that."

"And I wanna be the President of Panem. Tough shit."

More silence followed. Chase couldn't see any movement in the apartment behind Megan's father. Maybe she really wasn't home.

"Guess I'll see her at the Reaping then." Chase said, giving the man a shrug of mock surrender and patronizing smile. "I'll see you around, sir."

"Hey, boy." Her father hissed. Chase stopped from leaving, turning back to give him a waiting glance. Megan's father's expression remained utterly unchanged. "Go near her and I'll beat your ass within an inch of your life."

The door slammed behind him, and Chase was left furious and wanting to shove some weak boy in a toilet until he choked.

Privacy wasn't much a thing in District 8. Maybe it was in Victor Village, where the Victors of the Hunger Games had their own mansions with dozens of rooms and servants to take care of all their needs. But for the average citizens of District 8, who lived their lives in squalid and over packed tenements, privacy meant that once a day you could maybe get five minutes alone to yourself in a bathroom.

Because of that, Cara Whitlock was immensely grateful for Spin A Tale bookstore, a small shop tucked away in District 8 that few ever visited. It's collection of books was hardly grand, in fact most of the shelves and wall space was empty, but what books it did have and the little nook with comfy though battered chairs were the only way Cara could retreat from the world and feel at peace.

Well, almost at peace.

"Do you think it's going to rain during the Reaping? That'd be such a downer." Audrey Sine commented. Audrey was pretty much Cara's only friend, but in that very moment she wasn't interested in anything her friend had to say. Cara absolutely hated being interrupted while reading.

"It'd fit the mood of the Reapings." Cara replied, noncommittal.

"But that's not how it happens in any of the books, right?" Audrey said. "In every single one of these books, the Reaping Ceremony is always done on sunny days and everyone is so happy they're about to explode with love of the Capitol. So gross."

Audrey's family owned Spin a Tale, which is how the two girls from different worlds became friends in the first place. Audrey was everything Cara wasn't, extroverted and bubbly, able to talk on end for hours about the profound and mundane alike. Cara, meanwhile was introverted to the core and got tired when she talked too much.

"Life isn't a book. Nothing can be that perfect." Cara said.

"Oooh, how philosophical of you." Audrey teased. "Bet you're not getting those ideas from that book."

Cara rolled her eyes. Literature was a tightly controlled business in Panem. Censorship was rampant and nothing – and truly nothing at all – that was critical or questioning of the Capitol was allowed to be published. Thus, everything in Spin A Tale had been carefully approved by the District government and the Peacekeepers, though raids were still common to make sure they weren't selling any black market books with "revolutionary" ideas.

Unfortunately, that led to books where in order to enjoy reading, someone had to ignore the staggering amount of patronizing propaganda in them. Though Cara's family had plenty of practice with that. The worst example of it was when at the climax of the novel the author took six pages to have her protagonist remind the readers of all the wonderful things the Capitol did for the Districts and how grateful everyone should be to them.

Her current novel wasn't so bad though. It was a newer one, written by an up and coming author out of District 1. For whatever reason, none of the books were ever written by anyone in the Capitol. The novel was a debut for the author, and the jacket cover reviews from the Capitol press seemed to promise she would be writing more. The story wasn't anything unique, but the details of it were quite good. A young girl from the Capitol was on vacation at a new beach resort in District 4 when the resort was attacked by "anarchist" who began killing the Capitolites and District citizens. The District Citizens were portrayed as helpless and begging the Capitol to save them, the Peacekeepers noble, and the anarchist were outlandish characterizations that it was tough not to roll ones eyes at it. But through her own wits, the girl from the Capitol outwitted the anarchists and even tricked the Mutts they used to attack the resort into attacking them. The story was nearing it's climax, but unfortunately Audrey was determined to distract her from it.

And she knew exactly how to do that.

"So I saw Jason two days ago."

Cara was careful not to look too interested. "Oh yeah?" She asked, trying to sound disinterested. Audrey just smiled.

"He asked about you."

"No he didn't." Cara replied, too quickly.

Audrey's smile widened, knowing she had Cara. "Oh yeah. Asked how your summer break was. What books you were reading. He seemed interested."

Cara's face was turning a deep red. "You're making that up."

"No, I'm not. You're my best friend! I wouldn't lie to you!"

Cara knew that, but it was shocking. Jason was a classmate and Cara's first real crush. She sat near him in history class and, occasionally, cheated off of him since he did so well. Cara wasn't the best with history, her talents in school more in math, science, and engineering. Unfortunately in District 8, the furtherest that could take you would be fixing the factory machines. If she had been born in District 3 or 5 she could probably have gone far, but no, she was stuck firmly in District 8. No one was allowed to leave their District. Ever.

Unless of course they were Reaped, or turned into an Avox. Cara wasn't sure which of those options was worse.

No, if she didn't accept that, she might just end up like her brother, who thinking about always caused her to spin out. She pushed him from her mind and went back to Audrey and her promises of a boyfriend.

"I know. I'm sorry. It'd be nice to hang out with him."

Audrey knew when her friend had enough. "I think you two would get along. Want me to talk to him for you?"

"No! No, please, absolutely don't!"

Audrey laughed. "Ok! But offer's always on the table."

Cara took a moment to clam down, feeling very flushed. Images of her and Jason flashed through her mind, a nice happy life, like those cheesy romance novels. She hadnt read one of those since her brother died though. She had been reading it when they learned about his overdose. Furious with its silly depictions, she had actually tossed the book out a window.

Life wasn't like a book.

No sign of Ritter as they waited for the Reapings to start. Chase smiled at that. The boy was probably hiding. But he also hadn't seen Megan. That was annoying.

At least he had his fans around, he approached him and his parents on the way to the Reaping. All of them complimented him and his parents by extension. His dad was thrilled, always happy to have a son to be proud of. His mom was polite but less enthused. She didnt like how her husband favored Chase over his daughter, which Chase thought was dumb. What had his sisters done that was great anyways?

His sisters he hadn't seen earlier. Anna and Jessica were twins and at twenty-one lived their own lives. They worked some kind of job in a factory, like everyone did, and hadn't spoken to him a while. No doubt they were just jealous of him.

Now with other boys his age, Chase was eager to get started. Thankfully they did shortly, and before he knew it, the Escort was pulling a girls name for the Reaping.

"Cara Whitlock!"

There was a pause as everyone waited for her to appear. After a minute, an underweight, pale skinned girl emerged from the fourteen year old section, her wavy brown hair a mess and blue eyes as big as saucers. Chase looked her over, a hazy idea of who the mousey little girl was. He vaguely remembered her in the halls at school, head always in a book and not talking to anyone. He leaned over to his boys, cruel smile on this face.

"Bet she's a Bloodbath." He muttered.

"I bet she makes it at least 2 hours" Jason whispered back.

"You're on."

It was rather pathetic watching her. The Peacekeepers had to practically carry her as the girl kept tripping. Chase rolled his eyes at the mousey little girl. At that rate, she'd probably trip on the starting plate and have a mine blow her up.

"Chase Metro!"

When someone was Reaped in District 8, the reaction was always the same. Terror. The level of it might differ, but it was always terror in that Tributes eye's as they walked or were dragged to the stage.

Strangely, Chase didn't feel any of that.

In fact, he actually laughed in absolutely delight.

He walked proudly up to the stage, ignoring the cries of sorrow from people who loved him and the nervous but excited looks from the boys he bullied. The Escort looked him up and down, clearly impressed by him.

"My, my, my! Are you something!"

"Thank you, ma'am." Chase said, giving her a nod.

The Escort giggled. "So tell us, Mr. Metro, are you a gentle giant?"

Without hesitation, he smiled and replied simply. "No."

Th Escort was beside herself. "Oh I love it!" She cooed, clapping manically. "The eight foot giant from 8!"

"I'm not actually eight foot." Chase attempted to correct, but the Escort covered the microphone with her hand and leaned in close to him.

"Nobody cares, my dear. Just play along." She whispered, before uncovering the microphone and announcing proudly. "Ladies and Gentlemen, your Tributes for the 58th Hunger Games, Cara Whitlock and Chase Metro! I know which one I'd bet on!"

And on the high note, Chase was led into the Justice Building, feeling rather like the Odds were going to be in his favor.

After all, they had been all his life.

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Up next the penultimate Reaping chapter: Districts 9 & 10