One Lucky Winner

Chapter 1 ~ President Snow

I look over the balcony of my office, watching over Panem. The reaping for the 75th Hunger Games is to begin in less than a month, and no one in the Capitol has any ideas on how to make it rememberable. It's a Quarter Quell, so we're obligated to.

Somehow, I want to bring Katniss Everdeen back into the arena. What she did last year was unforgettable, and I hate her for it. It made the Goverment of Panem look ridiculous, having two winners. I want to blow both Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark to bits. But, there's no way victors can go back into the arena. I lost at my own game.

The sound of my office door opening disturbs me from my thoughts.

"Sir?" I hear one of the gamemakers, Honorious Clackmannan, gently call out into the room. He just got the job last month. He's a young man of 24, too young for a gamemaker in my opinion, but Plutarch hired him for some reason.

I look over at him. He's with Balthar Williford, another one of my gamemakers. Balthar is older, in his mid thirties. He's seemed to have developed a strong friendship with Honorious. I hate them both for interrupting my thoughts. "What is it?" I ask, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"We have a few ideas for the upcoming Quarter Quell," Honorious says.

I face them, interested. "Continue."

"Well, we were thinking that maybe, because we had 48 tributes instead of 24 for the 50th Quarter Quell, we could only have 12 this time," Balthar says.

"One from each district?" I ask. They both nod nervously.

"Would it be drawn from the males or the females?" I ask suspiciously.

"We would just pour all the names together and draw from one big pile," Honorious says.

It's not a bad idea. Even though half the tributes means half the time the games will take. Capitol citizens want the games long. Once again, Honorious interrupts my thoughts.

"It was just an idea. Maybe we could draw three pairs of tributes from each district, so we'd have 72 tributes."

"No," I say blandly. 72 is too much. The games would be too long and citizens would get bored.

"Well, what if we draw just boys? And for the 100th Quell draw just girls?" Honorious continues.

"No," I say strictly. That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard from this man.

"How about we-"

"No," I blow up. "You have no ideas." They're silent for a moment. I sigh. "Go. Now."

They both hurry out of my office.

I turn back around and continue looking over Panem. I need better ideas then what they came up with. The sound of the phone ringing suddenly brings my brainstorm to an end. I go in my office and pick up the phone.

"This is President Snow," I grumble.

"Hello, this is Jeanine Matthews," a womanly voice says. Jeanine is a friend of mine. She sometimes stops in the Captiol to help my gamemakers create the games. She's the leader of another organization, where she split her citizens into 'factions'.

"Hello, Jeanine. How may I help you?"

"I was wondering if you have any plans for your 75th Quarter Quell."

"Well, no, I don't have any at the moment," I say, somewhat ashamed.

"I have an idea for you."

This perks me up. I'm curious to see what Jeanine came up with. "Continue."

"I understand if you don't want to do this; it's a bit extreme. But I have a young woman that I would like to get rid of here. Her name is Tris Prior and she's divergent, a huge threat to the faction system. So maybe, for your 75th Hunger Games, you can pick people that are not from Panem." I think this through. A Hunger Games with foreign tributes. The idea is alright, except I need to punish the districts somehow. Having a Hunger Games without anyone from the districts would defeat the purpose of The Hunger Games. And I really want to find a way to get rid of Katniss Everdeen.

"It's a fine idea, except I need to execute someone too. I need some tributes from Panem to participate."

"Who do you need to execute?"

"One of the victors from last year. Katniss Everdeen," I say.

"You can pick two or three from Panem and pick the rest from the outside," Jeanine says. I think about this for a minute, and realize this is a very good idea. I can pick from a 'random district', which would be District 12. I can include anyone 18 or younger, including former victors, in the reaping, so Katniss could get reaped. When Katniss is in the arena with other experienced killers, she won't stand a chance.

"I like it. Three from Panem, three from your faction system,"
I say, pleased. "That's only six tributes, though. I need more," I add, realizing the problem.

"Pick different people from around the world. I know there is a school in London that teaches witches and wizards. Pick three from there. Pick a couple from the organization called WICKED, lead by my friend Ava Paige. Go to New Zealand and choose a couple of dwarfs, elves, or hobbits there. And, if you really want Katniss Everdeen dead, find Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor. They call themselves 'The Avengers'. They will murder her very quickly. No one can say no to you. Panem is the strongest government in the world," Jeanine says. "It won't be 24 tributes, but it will be close, and it will be a very close competition. All of these people are lethal."

I see this happening in my mind. Katniss Everdeen. Lovely Katniss Everdeen. Being thrown into an arena with deadly, experienced people. Katniss and her bow and arrows won't stand a chance against somebody like Tony Stark.

"Okay. I like this plan. It'll go into action. I'll let my gamemakers know. Thank you, Jeanine. My peacekeepers will come by soon to pick up Tris and two others."

Shortly after we hang up the phone, Plutarch Heavensbee comes in my office.

"Sir, I came up with some ideas for the Quell. We could-"

"No, thank you, Plutarch. I know what we're going to do."

He looks at me, waiting for me to explain.

I don't tell him anything, though. I walk out onto my balcony and stare down at Panem again, thinking about how wonderful this is going to be. Katniss Everdeen dead and another popular tribute winning.

"Plutarch, fire up the hovercrafts. We are going to picking up some people today," I say. "Start creating the most dangerous games you can manage. This is going to be a tough competition."