The 4th Quarter Quell (A Hunger Games FanFic)

District 2 Reaping

2

Holly Reed woke late. She had remembered to set out her clothes the night before, and quickly got dressed. She had chosen a simple yellow dress that fell to her knees and tied with a black sash.

She quickly walked over to her dresser, and placed a blotch of blush on her cheak. If she was sent to the Capitol, she could at least look decent. She nimbly tied her long black hair back with a yellow ribbon that matched her dress.

She had a slight build for a thirteen year old. Skinny arms, thin legs, and no chest to speak of. She had her mother's dark hair, as did her brother Steven, and her father's inquisitive green eyes.

She never saw her other brother much. Matthew was in constant training to be a peacekeeper. She was okay with that. She hadn't seen him much for the past five years, and the ache that had settled in her heart when he first left had slowly but surely dissapated.

Aware that she had to hurry to catch the shuttle, Holly ran downstairs. She passed Steven and her mother, and hurridly stuffed a toasted bagel in her face before she left.

The shuttle stop was just down the road from her house. About twenty families were standing outside the shuttle, and she hurridly got on with them. The rest of their village had gone to the reaping town the night before.

Holly sat down, quiet and contemplative. She hoped she wouldn't be picked. If she was, she could just about kiss her life goodbye. She was thirteen. If she was reaped, she was dead.

She started thinking about what she would do in the arena if she was picked. She couldn't join the careers. She was too small and too young and had no special talents to speak of.

She wrung her hands nervously the entire way there. She kept smoothing her skirt, trying to ensure there were no wrinkles. She wanted to look decent if she were sent to the Captitol.

But she never wanted to see the spindly white buildings in person.

The train's windows were covered in a slight layer of early morning condensation. It sent the world into a blurry sludge of gray and green and brown. It hurt Holly's eyes to look out, at the trees and sky rushing past at breakneck speed.

The bus got to the reaping square far too quickly for Holly. She jumped out of her seat, quaking, and started marching over towards the thirteen-year-olds.

She searched around for her friend Marie. Spotting her familiar face, she rushed over towards her friend.

They shared quick, grim smiles before the mayor began to speak.

He spoke of the destruction of a nation called North America, and of the war and drought and disease that followed. Then he spoke of the rise of a shining nation called Panem. They created the thirteen original districts, which prospered. But rebellion stirred, and the first twelve were punished with the Hunger Games, while the thirteenth was obliterated. Then he spoke of the recent rebellion, where rebels from District Thirteen had claimed the Capitol for their own, and had murdured the president. A new one was put in place, but when she died, the Capitol rose back into power.

Then the District Two Escort walked over to the first ball. This year, she was a white haired hady with strange red flowers tatooed against her cheeks.

She dug her hand into the ball, and opened a black, plastic ball. Holly stood trembling next to Marie.

"Would the Reed Family please come up on stage?" the announcer asked.

Holly staggered against Marie. How could this be happening? Why was this happening to her?

She felt Marie's hands come up and shove her. She stumbled in the middle of the crowd, and felt disgusted hands pushing her towards the front. She stubbed her toe on the stairs, and a tear began to stream down her face.

Why was this happening to her?

She tried to stand as still as possible on stage. She could be a statue until they called her name.

She clenched her fists at her sides.

Her fingernails dug into her skin. She felt the blood leaking onto her fists. Let the audiance see that too, she thought.

She watched her brothers cooly walk up the stairs. Matthew just looked annoyed, that someone could rip him from his studies this way. He was about to be shipped off to district 15, so he had every reason to be upset. Steven just looked scared.

The escort dipped her hand into the black ball and pulled out a name.

"Your first District 2 tribute is...." The crowd held a collective breath, and waited for her to say the name.

"Holly Reed!" The crowd had a collective gasp as she fell to the ground in a dead faint.

Steven looked over at the heap of yellow skirts that was his sister and nodded his head. She would definitly be a bloodbath tribute.

Peacekeepers swarmed onto the stage, pulling Holly away and into the nearby press building. Steven watched in disgust.

Now he and Matthew were the only people left. Two people. One slip of paper that decided whether they lived or died.

"Our male District 2 tribute is... Matthew Reed!" Steven took a sigh of relief.

Matthew was escorted off stage and into the press building. Steven took a sigh of relief. He hadn't been chosen. He could go home and watch his siblings die with the rest of the nation.

Then the escort stuck her hand in the reaping ball once more. Steven watched in a rather detached horror as she opened up the slip of paper.

"And our District 2 mutt is... Steven Reed." He stared around, confused. The peacekeepers had to drag him off the stage.