Nothing around here is quite as it seems
Not sure if anything's real or a dream
And the only thing sure from the start
Is the song that's inside of your heart
Don't let it leave

Nicole Gatsby

District 5, She/Her, 17

(4 Months Prior the Reaping)

...

I beckon the group across the street, all of us dressed in black without an inch of skin showing. We sneak into an alleyway, staying up against the wall - the less we're on camera, the better chance we have to not get caught. The five of us slowly shift ourselves back onto the morning street, it's fairly isolated at this time of day due to work schedules, luckily, I only work on my schedule.

Ray's Jewellery

Reads a sign above the building that the wall in the alleyway belonged to, I signal my team with a nod and begin to countdown using my fingers.
3, 2, 1.
I slam open the door, snatching my gun from its holster. A frail old man's hands fly into the air and fear shimmers in his eyes, I giggle at the sight of it. "Spread out, stuff anything you can find into your duffel bags."

"Oh, please no!" He shrieks. "It's all I have, please." I approach him and slam the gun into his chest.

"Talk one more time and this bullet will tear your insides out." I snap and he stands frozen still in response. I grab a sparkling diadem and a golden necklace from his desk and continue on, searching for anything that looks the slightest bit valuable. Beep. I stop in my tracks and turn to the man, looking into his frightened eyes. "What was that?" I hiss, a slight fear edging into my tone.

He begins to breather quicker and his eyes grow wider. "I'm sorry, please, they told me to press it when something like this happened." I mutter a curse word under my breath, the rest of my team looks at me to make a decision. "They would've killed me." The man whimpers.

"They wouldn't have got the chance." I shoot a bullet clean through his head and his now lifeless body slams to the floor. Without hesitation, I pull a walkie talkie from my pocket and press a button on its side. "Yeah, we're gonna need some backup." As soon as the words slip from my mouth, a gunshot shatters the window of the store, causing everyone to jump. I signal team and we get into position, crouching behind desks with our guns pointed toward the door.

The Peacekeepers continue to shoot through the windows and, when they realise they are getting nowhere, they knock down the door. The first Peacekeeper enters and, as practiced, all five of us shoot him in unison. Some bullets blast his brain, a couple straight through his heart, one simply bounces off of his armour but it doesn't change the death sentence he has given himself. "We're not gonna hold them back for long," I shout into my walkie talkie as more Peacekeepers rush into the room.

We all shoot but so do they, one of my men goes down, five Peacekeepers go down with him. That's not the last of them, another eight enter and this time we can't hold them off, they back us up against a corner. If we shoot them, they shoot us. We're at an ultimatum of death or death. Each of us has two Peacekeepers with their guns to our heads, we're severely outnumbered. "Nicole Gatsby, you're under the arrest for charges related to murder, theft and gang violence. You may come peacefully where we will put you on trial for these charges or you may die here."

I spit on the floor in front of him. "I think that's my answer." He says, with a tone of disgust. He aims his gun at my head and I aim my gun at his, this might be my time but I will take my killer down with me, vengeance is something I believe strongly in. Nobody will kill Nicole Gatsby and live to gloat about it. Something catches my eye, almost like a shadow swiftly entering the store, my attention causes the Peacekeeper to turn and look. I could shoot him right now but that means the others will shoot the rest of my team and I will always put the Fire Wolves before myself.

Fortunately, I don't need to. Eight bullets slash through the heads of the Peacekeepers and all of them fall like dominoes. "Thanks babe." I laugh, Marcus stands behind the Peacekeeper who almost killed me - his gun level to where his head used to be. I throw my arms around him and he wraps his own around me, forming a tight embrace. What's another near death experience in my life full of them?

Marcus Russel

District 5, He/Him, 18

(Reaping Day)

...

"Stop his shouting!" I bark at the two men in the backseats. They muffle the tied up man in between them with with something that resembles a sort of sock. "We're almost there buttercup." I taunt the man and he struggles at a more alarming speed. The car rolls past the factories of District 5 until we reach a desolate area around the outskirts where a few abandoned buildings sit, it's here where the Ice Devils plan and perform most of our crime. It's also been my home since I was disowned by my parents.

I park the car at the side of one of the buildings and slam the door behind me as I exit, Lorenzo and Daniel - the two men in the backseat - follow suit, dragging the tied up man with them. I don't bother locking the car, nobody around here would dare touching it and, if they did, it wouldn't be long until I tracked them down and slashed their throats without mercy.

I open the door of the abandoned building (we have named it Building C) and help pull the struggling man inside. "Now, now. Settle down." Four men sit around a fire in the centre, guns by their side, laughing and drinking. The Ice Devils bring people happiness in this way, we give them everything The Capitol and the rest of The District labeled them too poor to have. "We've got some fresh meat boys!" The men cackle in excitement and rush over to surround the man. "This is Roman LaRusso, a District 5 Government Official. We helped him kill a political competitor a couple of months ago and it seems he still hasn't payed off his debt."

I rip the sock from his mouth. "I'm sorry Mr Russel!" He cries and we all laugh again at the sight of a man who was once at power now begging for his life.

"Hear that boys? He's sorry." I mock, kicking Roman in the side. "What do we do to sorry people?" The men snicker, collecting their guns, barely conscious from the amount of alcohol they've already downed today.

"I have a family."

"Boohoo." I take the first shot, right in the centre of the chest. "Let's drag this out." We take turns, going around the circle and shooting him in different places until he has almost bled out. Finally, I take my gun and point it between his eyes. He doesn't have time to react before I push the bullet through his brains. "Clean up the body. I have a reaping to attend." I drop the gun on the floor and get back into my car without a second thought, those doofuses will take care of it and, if they don't, they'll pay for it with their lives.

It's a fairly long drive back to the District Centre so I'm forced to go full speed in order to make it their on time, I don't swerve out the way of people and allow them to jump from near death to back to life as I come close to slamming into them. It's a sick game but I thoroughly enjoy it. I park my car beside the Justice Building and get myself checked in. I push through the crowd until I reach the spot where Nicole stands and grab her hand.

"Welcome District 5 to our Reaping! Before we get started, Government Official Roman LaRusso has been reported missing this morning. Anyone with any information, please, make your way to the Justice Building at 2pm this afternoon. Thank you." Nicole looks over at me and I wink at her, she snickers and shakes her head. "Welcome this year's mentor, Kara Filer." I clap, as do the rest of the District, I'm not against the Games - The Capitol has a right to their form of control, just as I do.

"We'll start with our female tribute." She dives her hand into the female bowl and mixes around a bit before taking out a slip. I'm not worried, Nicole and I have never taken out tesserae which is more than I can say for the rest of the people around us. "Nicole Gatsby." My heart stops and I can barley watch as her hand slips out of mine and she walks up to the stage, her eyes stay locked with mine as she stands beside the escort.

"And our male tribute, Marcus Russel." The odds of this happening are close to nothing. This has to be some game ordered by The Capitol to weaken our two gangs, I storm up the stage and share a passionate kiss with Nicole. The Capitol have no idea who they have just messed with.

A/N: Thanks to wiifan2002 for Nicole and Marcus, this was a fun chapter to write!

- Neb