Iron Clad

Chapter 1

     Iron Clad

     Chapter 1:

     When I wake up to the sound of birds calling outside the window, my bed sheets are still neatly laid across my old mattress. After some thought, I realize that I don't remember going to sleep the previous night. The open book on the floor confirms my suspicion, and I consider actually resting tonight, as opposed to passing out mid sentence at some ungodly hour of the night. I pick the text off the ground. "The Districts of Panem" is embossed in gold lettering on the plain, blue cover. A gift from my mother on Reaping Day. I doubt I was supposed to read it last night, seeing as the actual occasion is today, but I toss the thought aside as I stick the new book in my messenger bag.

     Reaping Day is, in theory, a national, work-free holiday for Panem, but there are still letters to be delivered, and so I still have a job to do. I have to finish before mid-afternoon so I can be present for the Reaping itself, but the celebrations before and after the ceremony are purely optional. Most of the stuff I'm delivering today consists of last minute gifts for loved ones, congratulation letters to the Careers who volunteer to be in the Games, and a lot of Capitol propaganda. I call them “useless wastes of paper that could better serve as a book or supplies for the school children.” They only serve to remind us of the rules here in District 2. Today's shipment reads, "Take your work home, and in jail you'll sleep alone." Probably referencing the rock miner who was caught pocketing a small chunk of quartz or something. The Peacekeepers shot him on the spot. Orac, the poor old man, lost his head long before they got to him. I feel a simple scolding would have sufficed, but he did break the law, and the rules in District 2 are clearly posted outside every building, village square, and rock quarry. At least his family doesn't have to feed him any more.

     It takes me only a few minutes to get ready for work. I don my navy-blue courier uniform, which consists of an uncomfortable material not suited for long days of walking. I like the way it looks, but the pants are doubly miserable on hot days, and the heat hasn't let up for over a week now. The best part, in my opinion, is the snazzy hat that keeps the sun from beating down on my face. If it was made out of a lighter fabric, the uniform would be perfect. I try my best to silently creep down our home's old hall towards the kitchen, as my mother is most likely asleep at this hour. To my surprise, my younger sister Lapis is already awake and sitting at the table. She's happily eating bread with jam and swinging her legs. They dangle from the chair, not even touching the floor. Even for a nine year old, Lapis is at the shorter end of her classmates. She waves at me with excitement as soon as she notices my presence, and points to a second plate at the table, gesturing that the extra bread and jam is for me. I thank her and sit down to enjoy some breakfast.

     "Will you be back in time for the Reaping?" Lapis asks me timidly. Every year since I began my job as a messenger, three years ago, she has asked me the same question. Of course I will be there, attendance is mandatory for all citizens, even those who are older than eighteen and can no longer participate in the Hunger Games. I choose my next words carefully, as to not upset her with a caustic reply.

     "Lapis, we've been over this before. I go to make a few deliveries, then I meet up with everyone in District 2's auditorium, take my place with the other seventeen year olds, and after the Reaping's over, you, me, mom, dad, and Septus will all come back home and eat a nice dinner." She looks down at her plate.

     "I just wanted to make sure. Sometimes you forget to do stuff, get lost, show up late. I don't want you to get in trouble, is all." She's right. I wonder if my head's on straight sometimes. Dad and my brother Septus, well, they seem to have everything together. They're Peacekeepers: Organized, focused, practical, and brave. Everything I am not. I only took my job as a messenger because I had no other choice. It was either train to be like my father and brother, become a Career Tribute, work in the rock quarries, or provide a special service for the District. I lucked out. Delivering mail is perfect for me. I just walk from place to place, making sure that everything is delivered by the end of that day, and when I'm done, I go to the Capitol liaison at the Justice Building and pick up the mail for the next day. I tell Lapis goodbye, shoulder my bag, and make my daily rounds.

     As I walk down the dirt path towards my first stop--the central rock quarry--I begin to recall what I had read last night from my book, about how District 2 is very different from the other eleven districts in Panem. We all learn in school that the districts each produce a different set of goods for the Capitol: 1 makes luxury items, 3 assembles electronics, 7 processes lumber, and so forth. The inner workings of these places, however, are a mystery to most people. With 2 being the wealthiest of the bunch, we have access to books and things of that nature, where many people in other districts barely have access to food. This is how I learned that while most all of the districts are built like something resembling a box, with the factories and production plants in the center, 2 is more like a web. In the public eye, we mine for gems and minerals, while 1 processes them into jewelry. This is true, but we also train the vast majority of Panem's Peacekeepers. Since we have the entire military force in one location, we also construct the weapons that it uses whenever the need arises. With the rock quarries so interspersed amongst the weapon factories and military training facilities, it is necessary to keep the district spread out across a larger area.

      As the memories of the information grow hazier, I decide to fetch the book from my bag and read it while I walk. I notice that while the author mentions several things about District 2's layout, even he seems largely unaware of our industries--beside rock mining, that is.

     The rest of my work day is spent going back and forth between forcing small talk with clients that I should know by now, but don't, and skimming through "The Districts of Panem." I find nothing else of interest, aside from the very well done photographs. Some of these places are vibrant and colorful; District 4 specializes in fishing, and the water is the wonderful pale-blue that I have never seen before. 11's orchards and fields are every color I could possibly imagine, and I wonder how such a poor district could be so beautiful. Others, like 8 and 12, are a bleak grey. Textile mills and coal mines must not be the liveliest of places, it seems. After scanning through each chapter briefly, I start to make my way towards the auditorium located in District 2's direct center, where two adolescents will soon volunteer to compete against the two tributes that every district provides on each Reaping Day.

     These twenty-four children will participate in a televised fight to the death for the Capitol of Panem’s pleasure.