The First Annual Hunger Games: Denver Quillam

I. The President's Address

"Denver, come quickly," Lauri said, rushing to my side and tugging on my arm. I set down the bridle on the work table and let her lead me out of the stables.

Lauri's feet hardly seemed to touch the packed dirt of the path that led to the Town Square as she ran, towing me along. Her legs were nearly as long as my own yet I had a hard time keeping up.

"What is it?" I asked quietly as she started to slow. We were nearing the Square and I saw everyone was silently gathered around the mayor's house; their eyes were fixated on something I couldn't see from where we stood on the opposite side of the Square. What I did hear was muffled and it wasn't coming from the townspeople.

"The President is about to address the Districts," she said breathily, leading me closer to the crowd. Our footsteps seemed impossibly loud on the stone. "I ran for you as soon as I could."

As we neared, I could see the screen in front of the mayor's house. Despite the grainy projection on the screen, I could now make out the figures of the president's advisors. There was a man droning on and I didn't care enough to listen to what he was saying after arriving so late.

Lauri's eyes took in the screen before landing on Geoffrey the same time mine did. We made our way over to him without a word.

"What's happened?" I asked him when he tore his eyes away from the screen to look at us. His lips pursed when he saw Lauri's hand in mine.

"Out with it, Geoff!" Lauri said in a harsh whisper, raising her hand as if she were about to smack her brother upside the head.

Geoffrey conceded when he saw our hands unlinked. "President Jepson's advisor was updating those in the Capitol about, well, trivial things really. Nothing that concerns us or, you know, makes our situation any better." The bitterness in his voice turned to revulsion. "But you should have seen them," he said, looking around for the ever present Peacekeepers--who were towards the front of the crowd, flanking the pillars of the mayor's house--then at me. "You should have seen how they're celebrating. Like it was a game they won, and not a war that people lost their lives to."

At the applause blaring from the speakers, our eyes snapped to the screen. None other than President Jepson stood in front of the Justice building, smiling his untrustworthy politician's smile. The crowd's enthusiasm for their beloved hero didn't die down for minutes on end.

It seemed that Jepson's mask was exhausting for him to keep up; he waved his hands and the Capitol crowd fell into revered respect. However, it looked as if having so many people besides themselves trying to please him brought the smile back to his face.

"Good morning, citizens of Panem," President Jepson said in his deep, authoritative voice. His enthusiasm seeped through the speakers though it left the people around me unaffected. I was surprised he had it in him; Jepson was younger than most presidents before him but the rebellion and all the scheming had taken its toll on him, making him seem older than he was. "I am honored to welcome you to our newly rebuilt Justice building." There was more applause which he shut down sooner rather than later. "Yes, it does beat the renovations the rebels thought to add."

"They're eating out of the palm of his hand," Lauri commented as the Capitol crowd chuckled along with him, holding onto his every word. Her voice was suspicious and low. "What did he promise them?" Her suspicion wasn't unfounded; the Capitol was furious with Jepson for not ending the rebellion sooner. Why were they suddenly his biggest fans? Winning the war was a bonus but there must have been something else he did to earn their awestruck looks and hungry grins.

"I'm sure many of you are wondering why I called for this telecast," Jepson said looking out over the crowd with a knowing look. "Some of you may have already heard whispers.