Chapter 5
788 Words
Steven Gilbert Kraft
I was finally old enough for the most dangerous game. I'd been training for years, but I was ready before that. I had the heart for it, something a crazy amount of volunteers lacked. It was always "I only kill dangerous people" or "I don't REALLY want to kill kids" or "I just want to see if I can win". Not me. I wanted to hunt and kill and play the game to the fullest. I was especially excited to be going in with my particular District partner. She was going to make things even more fun.
Gaudius took far too long to call the name. Everyone knew it didn't matter anyway. I waited until he read the slip and asked the next question.
"I volunteer as Tribute!" I answered.
"What's your name?" He asked after I got onstage.
"Steve Gilbert Kraft," I announced. I waited eagerly for him to call the girl name. That one didn't matter either. I was already looking at the girl I knew would be with me in the Games.
My sister Alex was a piece of work. She was a bitter, whiny piece of trash. Nothing was ever her fault. It was always some man oppressing her or holding her back. The only reason she ever got chosen to volunteer was because one volunteer had to be female. Otherwise, she never could have hacked it. There was a reason she always complained about men. It was because they were always better than her. She glared back at me as she gave Gaudius her name. Gaudius started some canned spiel about how brave we were to have two volunteers, like it didn't happen every year. We stood behind him glowering at each other.
"Witch," I whispered.
"Monster," she whispered back.
"I'm sure everyone is proud of these two fine young citizens..." Gaudius went on obliviously.
"w***e," I whispered.
"Lunatic."
She dug her nails into my palm when we joined hands to be announced. I bent her thumb back and she dug in harder. We didn't even pretend to smile.
Alex Laguna Kraft
My brother, like most men, was a piece of work. There was some aggressive instinct in his s*x that was still left over from the caveman days. He was never happy unless he was hurting someone else, preferably a woman. Back when my father was alive, he and Alex used to taunt me constantly, slinging insults based on my s*x life (I was twelve and didn't have one, despite Daddy's efforts) and appearance, the classical insults for women. They actually had a name for it. They called it the "Torment Alex" game. I was never prouder of my mother than the day she'd had enough and cleansed the world of that leech. She died for it, but she was a martyr.
What I learned from the whole affair was that the world was better off without men. All they did was insult and attack and break us down. If they couldn't find a woman, they'd hurt someone else. I'd seen Steven sticking knives into a mouse after he cut the legs off so it couldn't run. He was perhaps the worst kind of man possible: the kind that honestly didn't understand that what he was doing was wrong. He was so evil he had never conceived of good.
I probably would have volunteered anyway, but Steve's plans made it certain. There was no way I was going to let him loose on the innocent female Tributes. First I'd make friends with the other lady Careers and we'd purge him from the world. Then we'd take out the other plagues on humanity. Once we were the only ones left, we'd decide what to do next.
If I won, I would get started right away making a paradise on Earth. I'd use my money to build a commune for other exploited, oppressed women. It would be only us- any man who set foot on our land would disappear. It infuriated me that we'd have to be sneaky about it. They should have praised us for killing them.
I volunteered to make sure my brother was stopped, but I was going to enjoy my time in the Arena. I could bond with girls from all over Panem and hear their stories. Best of all, we wouldn't be penalized for giving the boys what they deserved. Steve was only my first target. None of them were getting away from me.
Steve has dark skin and short dark hair. He looks like Steven from Minecraft. Alex has long black hair and dark skin. She has a face claim at
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