Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

The End

The Capitol

Jemima sat at her desk, face in her hands. She knew the punishment for Head Gamemakers who failed to keep their tributes in check; she was only lucky President Aria Merryweather was a patient woman.

She had to figure out a way to stop this rebellion before it started. All she had for clues was the severed leg left under Gate J of Maintenance Tunnel 25, knowledge of which of the Mentors and tributes were now missing, and the captured District 7 stylists she was convinced were hiding something. Her Gamemakers were all being interrogated (all except Souma and Rolf, who had mysteriously never returned from their "investigation"), prodded for information in the hopes one of them would rat out the rebels they had clearly been helping. She could tell President Merryweather to bomb every district to oblivion, but the Captiol needed those districts. No, her solution to this problem had to be something smarter than that.

The rebels had not struck since they left the Capitol three days ago. They had given no rousing speeches, had stolen no property, and had left no symbols behind, but the news was still abuzz with speculation on who had shut down the Hunger Games arena. This was a message, plain and simple. It was a middle finger to the Capitol, proof that they could be defeated with a good plan and lots of help.

Jemima looked up from her hands, an idea coming into her mind. So it was a message they wanted to send, was it?

Standing abruptly, Jemima left her office and hurried towards President Merryweather's office, her heels clicking on the neat floor as she bustled past Avoxes, Peacekeepers, and Capitol dignitaries on her way to get permission for her plan.

The late, great President Coriolanus Snow had nearly made a grand mistake when he believed known rebel Katniss Everdeen's message to the Capitol had been just that. Jemima did not plan to make the same mistake.

District 13

The District 13 rebels had a single television at their makeshift camp. Asahi had spent hours working tirelessly on getting it set up and connecting it to a satellite he snuck from home. It didn't get much, but thankfully, it did get the news; Asahi had taken it upon himself to watch the current events to make sure no one had figured out their plans yet.

It had been one week since Fuyuko Kawaguchi and Uriel Andros shut down the arena and the rebels left for District 13. All of the injured tributes had thankfully recovered, and there had been countless emotional reunions between family members and friends. Laurel Faust hadn't left her brother Nicholas alone for a second; Asahi ended up being immensely grateful for Lucifer and Eriko's help getting him out of the Capitol. His name had made the news a few times, but it seemed no one suspected the Mentors yet.

The Capitol was in a state of quarantine. While rebel Gamemakers Souma Kinoshita and Rolf Spence had escaped back to District 13 on Frost's last train out, there was no word from District 7 stylists Tiziana Fridd and Makoto Kobayashi, who had bravely stayed behind to stall the Peacekeepers searching for their escape route. All the Mentors, Escorts, and stylists who hadn't left on one of Frost's trains were now stuck in the Capitol while Head Gamemaker Jemima Milhouse and President Aria Merryweather tried to find where the rebels had escaped to.

The news had been slow all day. Asahi played idly with an old remote, trying to see what he could make from it.

"Breaking news," an anchor announced. "Head Gamemaker Jemima Milhouse is set to make an important announcement in front of the Capitol Building. Please keep your TV tuned to this station."

Asahi looked up, alert. He stared at the television for a moment, frowning, then went to the front flap of the tent he was in and lifted it, poking his head out to see what was going on.