Power to the People: The Thirty-ninth Hunger Games

Chapter 7

Hooray, I get to do another Reaping! It's my own fault it took so long, since I messed up the submissions, but I least I got the right ones, I think...

Zetan Thompson POV

The bland porridge me and my family were eating was bought with another slip in the bowl with my name on it. I was the only one in the tesserae age range, so it was up to me to feed us all. Everyone else must have been thinking the same thing, since none of them spoke. It was so disturbing I couldn't eat, and I left for the Reaping early.

The littler boys scuttled out of my way as I walked, at least the ones that noticed me. Even if I was the town bully, for most of them I wasn't as scary as the Reaping. I didn't expect any trouble on such a perilous day, so I nearly fell forward when someone shoved me from behind.

"Hey. You been giving my little brother trouble again?" I heard Switch's voice and turned around. Switch was a year older than me, and his little brother Paul was my age. Usually if someone accused me of picking fights they'd be right, but in this case, Paul actually started it. He was slinging those old, tired insults about my mother and sister. How is it there are a thousand ways to insult a man, but all men use the same accusation against women?

"We can take care of this later. If we're both still here," I said, and I kept walking. I hoped Switch didn't press it, and I was glad when he glared and turned away. I didn't want to beat anyone else up. I only did it when I had to.

The other kids used to think the boy who bullied them so ruthlessly wasn't afraid of anything. They found out who I really was when Mariposa called my name. I screamed and cried and dragged at the ground. I pulled at anyone around me and I proved what a coward I was.

"I don't want to go!" I screamed as they held me onstage. I clenched my fists until my palms bled and knew there would be no volunteers for me.

Only my family came to visit me. After they were gone I was alone with my token. It was the weirdest token, too. I found out my mother had saved all my baby teeth when she pulled one from her pocket dangling from a string. It was gross feeling it against my neck, but I couldn't say no to her. Mothers can be so strange.

There wasn't a single good thing to fixate on. I was going to the Games and I was most likely going to die. I wasn't as strong as the Careers or as smart as past Victors. The worst part came when I thought of how I'd be remembered. Usually the whole District mourned when our Tributes fell. But no one would miss me. When I died, the other children would cheer. I was worse than the Capitol.

I didn't mean to be like this. It was the old story, cycled endlessly for ages past and future. Other kids picked on me and kicked me around until I'd had enough. I started hitting back, relishing to control it gave me to make them hurt as much as I had. I'd wondered now and then about what kids would take over for me and what new bullies I'd spawned. Maybe it was for the best that I was going away.

Juniper "Junie" Brett POV

Life could be beautiful. There were so many wonderful things in the world, and so many things to experience. Even in Panem, I loved life. I loved our forests and my friends. I liked making pretty things and knowing I'd made the world a tiny bit prettier. But there was no life in Panem on Reaping Day. Reaping Day was Death Day.

If our mentor had worn beautiful Capitol dresses like some of them did, the Reaping would have one bright moment. But Mariposa always wore tight-fitting garments and there was hardly anything there. She wasn't even wearing clothes this year. She was just covered in brown paint decorated with swirls of green glitter and sequins. She didn't look pretty, like our trees. She looked fake.

She called the boys first. When I heard Zetan's name, I actually relaxed, and then I cursed myself for it. He was a bully and we were better off without him, but he still didn't deserve this. I should have still mourned his loss. I couldn't bring my heart to feel what my mind knew, and the satisfaction inside me came from vengeance, not justice.

I got my just desserts when Mariposa called the next name. When I heard her say it, my eyes widened but I didn't see. I tilted forward and two Peacekeepers ran to catch me. I darted between their legs and started to run, but I couldn't go on. I knew they'd catch me anyway, and someone else might get hurt. When they approached me, I waved them off and went to the stage myself. I didn't need their bloody hands on me.

I didn't dare cry when my parents came to see me. I could tell my mother was teetering on the edge of total breakdown, and my father didn't need any more pain either. I told them I would be all right, even though it was useless. My skin was tight and I knew my face gave me away. My parents had seen the tight smile, the puffy nose, and the fake upward tilt in my eyes before. I wasn't fooling anyone.

"River made it really far last year," I said in a voice far too chipper and even to be anything but a sham. "Maybe I'll make her my role model and chop off my hair." My mother laughed and couldn't stop. It was so funny she and Dad were both crying when they left.

My friends Brent and Rowan came next. Brent was crying and Rowan held my hand like she would never let go. I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Good luck. Stay safe."

"Shouldn't we tell you that?" Brent said in a thin voice, and he smiled through his tears. The Peacekeepe banged on the door to signal time was almost up.

"Goodbye for... however long it is. I'll try," I said. Why couldn't I say I'll win?