The 750th Hunger Games

The Train Ride - (Anouk Oakheart's POV)

Saxon slips into my room.
"I wanted to watch the other reapings. Just to see what we are up against, you know," I say.
"Ok," he says, as I flick the screen on. "Have you had the privilege of meeting out mentor yet," he asks sarcastically, glancing round my room.
"What, Tom? Yeah. Don't listen to anything he says to you. I know that's kind of the opposite of what mentors are for. But that boy last year, Vikta, who died after he ate those berries. Yeah, Tom told him to do that. He said they were the best source of food in the whole arena."
Saxon looks horrified.
"We should warn the others later." he says, his hair flopping over his dark brown eyes. And with that we settle down to watch the reapings.
District One includes the usual career volunteering process. Five tributes are reaped this year, all from one bowl, so they could be all boys or all girls. The district one, two and four tributes all look pretty formidable this year, and if they all join together, it'll be a big career pack. Districts three, five, six, seven and eight are also pretty normal, apart from a boy from six, Enmity, who seems slightly mad and pretty dangerous. Then we reached district ten. And girl was reaped, turns out she was blind. On her way up to the stage, she walked into a peacekeeper, who shot her with no second thought. This caused complete outrage. A large gang of kids from the 18 year old section leaped on top of the peacekeeper, who was crushed under the large tangle of bodies. Kids from all the pens raced around, until there was a huge explosion from behind the stage. Then the spark died down. Peacekeepers rushed in and herded the kids back. And the reaping resumed. The slightly ruffled looking escort, who had a chunk of her wig missing, came up on stage.
"I think we will have two reapings. She picked five names out the bowl, and read them out all together. The kids walked out, glancing warily at each other. "Line up here."
Five peacekeepers walked out and stood in front of the kids. Then a single shot ran out, and the kids lay dead. There were screams, probably from the families of the dead kids. " Then President Anacriam Snow came on on the screen. "These are the consequences of defying the Capitol," he says with a smile that shows his pointed teeth. Then the screen goes black.
And suddenly, I don't want to watch the reapings any more.