Hey there guys! I'm super sorry about the long time between updates, I got a little stuck while writing but thankfully I managed to power through! I'm super grateful for the tips I've received and I'm hoping that I'm following them somewhat. Now without further ado, here's the seventh Reaping Chapter! I hope you guys are excited to meet Billy and Georgette! (Yep, little change, just so it'll be a bit easier on me to remember details and all that)

Billy Gauge, 14

District Eight Male

The light of the sun rising indicated to Billy that he better get on and wake the other kids before they were all yelled at for being lazy. Miss Jacket didn't tolerate laziness; if you were caught slacking off, she put you in the closet for at least an hour or better.

It wasn't a fate that many were subjected to, but it wasn't as if it never happened. Billy could still remember when one of the kids a few years younger than him was stuck there for several hours. It still echoed in his head as a reminder to never break the strict rules in place within the home.

He hurried along the dim hallway, which was slowly being illuminated by the still rising sun, to the furthest door away from the stairs. Skidding to a stop right by the brightening window, Billy knocked a few times on the door. Just a few raps were usually enough to wake the children, so he didn't bother to perform the action more after he had stopped.

Hearing the giggles of the children behind the closed doors made him smile, it was such a rare thing to hear on such a day of grief. At least, in Eight it was usually a day of grief. They had obtained no victors so far from after the Rebellion and there had barely been four or five from before all the mess that had happened, so it usually meant that they were sending yet another pair of teens to their deaths.

He leisurely went along the rest of the hallway, pausing at each and every door to knock and awaken the inhabitants within. Hearing the same response of little giggles from about half of the remaining rooms, Billy got tired of the noise after a bit. Thank goodness the kids around the same age as him took today seriously.

At last finished with his first morning task, Billy walked the few steps back to his door and entered his room, intent on getting dressed for the day. He tugged on a pair of slightly wrinkled khakis and his best looking shirt that was kept specifically for days like this. No orphan of Miss Jacket's would be caught wearing rags on Reaping Day; it was just part of her heavily enforced facade to keep making all that money.

Freshly dressed, Billy made his way to the shared bathroom and began the few little tasks that provided him with a sense of hygienic cleanliness. Even if the smoggy, dust-filled streets of Six would quickly reverse his skin's clean canvas, he appreciated the few short opportunities he had to experience that wonderful feeling of being scrubbed clean before the wind blew a filmy layer of grime back onto him.

Billy stepped back into the hallway, now fully alive with the hustle and bustle of the morning. Kids were running about trying to get ready, probably now regretting the fact that they didn't get up earlier, and he slid to press his back up against the railing as one flew by him.

Alas, his enjoyment of the day before he had to face the storm was soon ended by the wracking coughs that he knew all too well. There was one positive in this otherwise terrible morning: he lasted an entire fifteen minutes before having a coughing fit. That would have to be close to a record for him!

"Get down here children! You better eat your gruel and get on before someone gets a beating for embarrassing me!"

There it was. Miss Jacket loved to only have to shout to get her way and Billy wasn't about to be the one to receive a punishment by defying her. Sure, it wasn't the greatest to be treated like trash everyday, but at least he had three meals a day, a roof over his head, and a bed to sleep in.

Snapping his head to the side as he heard a sniffle to his left, Billy's eyes softened as he noticed one of the young boys with tears beginning to well up in his small, precious eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. She won't hurt you, she just wants everyone to be on time this morning, that's it," Billy softly told the boy.

Engulfing him in a light hug, he let the kid dry his tears on his shirt so he would calm down and they could both make their way downstairs to gobble something down quickly. He pulled back after a long moment, glad to see that the kid had dried up his tears and tugged the little boy towards the stairs by his little hand.

"Come on now, let's get something to eat before I have to go," Billy excitedly said to him. The little boy nodded him and followed close behind as he descended down the staircase, so Billy considered his actions a success.

He slid past another kid near his age once they reached the first floor and went into the kitchen, seeking out his meager serving of whatever Miss Jacket was feeding the kids this morning. Billy took one look at the big bowl of gray tinted slop and suddenly wasn't too hungry anymore. Might as well get his serving and give it to his shadow, he thought.

He stood in line for only a moment before getting a bowl full of the offending-looking excuse of breakfast. Turning around, Billy spotted the little boy that had been following him and gestured for him to follow Billy to one of the few tables in the house. Upon reaching his intended destination, he set the bowl down on the table and offered his shadow a smile.

"I'm not really that hungry right now, so how would you like to have some extra breakfast this morning?," he enthusiastically asked the child.

Billy got an excited nod in response and grinned back with the same enthusiasm. If he wasn't going to do anything more here, he probably could go to the Reaping and be one of the first in line.

"Well now, I've got to go to a special event this morning, so I'm gonna say goodbye for now, okay?," came his softly-asked question.

The little boy pouted a bit, but reluctantly agreed to the fact that he was leaving.

"At least give me a hug please, Billy," pleaded the child.

Chuckling softly to himself, he obliged the boy with his wish and squeezed him back gently. After their separation, Billy stood and waved as he made his way towards the front door, ready for all that was about to happen.

He felt bad that their interaction would definitely be the last time that they would speak to each other, but the boy didn't need to know that. Nobody did. The truth was, Billy Gauge was going to keep his plan to volunteer a secret until the moment it happened. There was no point of living while slowly dying.

You see, Eight had been in bad shape before the rebellion, and the aftermath was just so much worse. The air was polluted and it was a known fact that the majority of the population became plagued with terminal lung conditions. Billy was unfortunate enough to have been included in that majority. He might as well get to experience the luxuries of the Capitol and have a quicker death than that of which he was experiencing now.

His steps quickened as he approached the center of town, the dusty air choking him of oxygen just as it typically did. Great, the little coughs had made their return after his few hours of rest overnight. He was about to be near hacking as he reached the scuffed concrete and asphalt of the square.

Entering the line, he didn't have to wait long before it was his turn to be poked. The process went by quickly and Billy was soon on his way to stand in that little square for who knows how long.

The area was beginning to fill up and you could hear the wracking, hoarse coughs from across the square. There were just that many also affected by the terribly polluted air.

At last, the ceremony started with the rough tap of a finger on the mic. It was a deep-voiced man, auburn red hair and clothes perfectly coiffed and not a single thing out of place. He didn't look too pleased about the smoggy nature of the air here in Eight, exactly what you would think a Capitolite would think of it.

"Hello all. Welcome to today's Reaping. We will play the video as usual then draw our lucky girl and boy," came his somber statement. Very unenthusiastic for an escort. It truly made Billy wonder how the man had gotten and even kept his job so far.

The escort sat down with a clunk and rolled his eyes as the video played on the giant screen above him. He must have been recruited rather against his will to be behaving like this in public. Or perhaps he had a relation to someone with a whole lot of influence.

It ended a few minutes later, and the escort shared his relief through his facial expression. He slowly got to his feet and yanked a name out of the bowl for the girls.

"The female tribute is Georgette Coiro-Metaxas."

The girl in question was scary looking, but still appeared to be shocked at the fact that she was chosen. She would be a good contender for the victory, maybe Eight actually had a chance this year. She climbed the stairs with irritated sounding steps and took her place next to the microphone.

Billy blew out a breath, knowing that next, it was his turn to have the spotlight. He didn't want everyone's attention, but it was the only way to experience those unique things he wanted to do before kicking the bucket.

"The male tribute is Spence Gatton," came the escort's next monotonous announcement.

"I volunteer as tribute!" exclaimed Billy. He had done it now. There was no turning back.

Now the adrenaline was running through his veins, his heart was pounding in his ears. Billy would finally get to experience his greatest dreams before hopefully dying a quick and painless death. That was the ultimate package for someone who was terminally ill, just like him. Sure, some would rather expend every possible resource to cure themselves, but Billy had accepted his fate a long time ago.

He just hoped that the boy that had been saved by his decision was thankful. It wasn't everyday that an outlier volunteered for the Hunger Games, especially one his age.

Georgette Coiro-Metaxas, 18

District Eight Female

Georgette never slept the night before the Reaping. Her father always said that it was just going to hurt her in the long run, but it was tradition at this point. She would drink a concoction that all other peacekeepers drank before long shifts and it always worked like a charm, precisely what the person she had purchased it from had claimed.

Her brother, Kyland, was all about his beauty rest, so he had never been a fan of the idea either. Georgette didn't care, just another reason to make fun of him for being such a sissy. It was just a typical older sibling thing to do. She made fun of him and he ratted her out to their parents. Her advantage was, she was her father's favorite and no claim from her brother could change his mind.

The training had definitely helped her keep her cool in situations like that, otherwise she would have probably just lost her temper and attacked him every time her snitched on her for being mean to him.

She was going to become a peacekeeper soon, all she had to do was get through the Reaping this morning. Then she would get her very first peacekeeping assignment and prove to her father that she deserved his pride. Georgette had endured eight years of the brutal training required to qualify for such a position and she would finally get to put it to use; she was definitely looking forward to it as well.

Another useful thing she had learned while training was that the body needed fuel and today was no different. Even if said fuel wouldn't be necessary until the afternoon, it was good to gain energy through two meals, not just one. Their family was fortunate enough to afford all the meals of the day for every day in the year and she was constantly reminded of how grateful she needed to be.

If she didn't act thankful for what she was provided with, it likely meant another tough day of endurance training or even an occasional beating from her father. The lesson was well ingrained into her head after the first few infractions, just because the emotions were trained out of her, it didn't mean that she couldn't express feelings that were important to maintaining a good personal and familial reputation.

She headed down the stairs quickly and headed straight into the kitchen towards her source of fuel for the day. This morning she was going to make some eggs and toast, a wonderful source of protein and energy-packed carbs. Popping a piece of bread in the toaster, Georgette cracked two eggs into a bowl and whisked them up, finally pouring them into a sizzling pan on the stove top.

She stirred them around in the pan, making sure nothing stuck to it before turning the stove off once she determined that they were cooked. The toaster went off when she had just scraped her scrambled eggs onto a plate, perfect timing indeed. Quickly grabbing the piece of toasted bread on her way to the utensil drawer, Georgette placed it on her plate and opened the drawer, grabbing a fork and closing it afterwards.

Georgette sat at the table while she ate, savoring the breakfast she had prepared herself, although it was a bit bland without any seasoning or extra condiments to give it flavor. The flavor of her food wasn't important, the nutrients it provided her were the crucial aspects of this meal.

It didn't take her long to finish the plate of food, and once she was done eating, she placed her used dishes in the sink and carried on her way to get dressed and then head out the door.

Quietly heading back to her room, Georgette decided that she was going to wear a more comfortable outfit, namely stretchy black dress pants and a soft blue cotton top. Upon reaching her destination, she walked over to her wardrobe and grabbed the previously decided pieces of her outfit so that she could change.

She'd gone on a run last night, so she was wearing the clothes that she had changed into after her shower. Georgette pulled on the clothes she had grabbed and swiped on a bit of deodorant before heading back downstairs to leave the house.

Darting through the front door upon reaching out, she turned and shut it back gently. No need to wake up the rest of the house. Her brother had spent the night with a few of his friends, so it was likely that she wouldn't see him until after the Reaping this morning. He's smart enough to know to be there.

The path to the square was familiar, being the exact spot of many of her training session meetups before moving to the designated sector for peacekeepers around half a mile away. She knew it wouldn't take very long and she was exactly correct when she spotted the familiar image of the stage set up in the middle of the square. One of the bonuses of having an influential and wealthy family she supposed, her house was in that wealthy neighborhood right outside of the downtown area.

Upon arrival, she waited in the line and presented her finger to the woman taking attendance when she reached the front of the line. Once she had gone through that checkpoint, Georgette made her way to the section of girls her age and waited painstakingly for the Reaping to begin.

The shorter time that she had to wait surprised her, normally it seemed a lot longer between the time she normally checked in and when the Reaping started. Well, that meant that her last Reaping would be over sooner. Why not find the positive in the pointless situation.

The escort this year seemed super annoyed over his job, which was definitely another surprise to Georgette. Normally they were all nauseatingly enthusiastic about the whole sending kids to the death, she guessed this one might have been forced to do the job in order to keep daddy's money.

"Hello all. Welcome to today's Reaping. We will play the video as usual then draw our lucky girl and boy," said the man, whose color scheme was clearly auburn red. She didn't know what it was about escorts' insistence on wearing one color, but at least this one picked a halfway decent color and could pull it off somewhat.

The boring, outdated film played on the projector screen and it thankfully only lasted a few minutes. Now Georgette was a few more minutes closer to her future. Here came the part that made her a little nervous though, the actual reaping part of the Reaping ceremony. All she had to do was hope that her name wasn't on that slip of paper that the escort was about to read out loud.

"The female tribute is Georgette Coiro-Metaxas," stated bored-sounding voice of the man.

What? Did he just say her name? Fate had to have had her on its list of misfortune for this to happen the day her future was supposed to become everything she had dreamed of since she was a child. Well, her future had definitely changed, just not in the way she was expecting or hoping for.

Georgette steeled her face and drew her shoulders back as she strode towards the stage. She would survive this, her training would give her all she needed to pull through, and she would come back to be the greatest peacekeeper Eight had ever seen.

And now you guys have met Billy and Georgette! What do you think of them? Thank you guys for reading and a special thanks to AstralKnight98 and Gomex for Billy and Georgette respectively! I'm glad to have gotten out of my little spell of writer's block and I'll be working on catching up with the rest of the Reapings! We officially have four left! With that, I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one!