Midnight Azalea-A Story of the 34th Hunger Games

Chapter 2-The Peacekeepers

This question causes me to have another pang. What if I get picked? What survival do I know? I can climb a tree well, and sometimes, when you have to really get that Apple that you can't force off with your fingers, you must sever with a knife. A sharp one. So maybe that's a good weapon for me. But I can't really throw one...so...

Oh why am I so worked up over this? It doesn't matter. I won't get picked.

But what if I do?

I make my way home with my father, traversing the path from the Marker all the way to the village, a collection of small homes made from plants and logs. My home is down the street from the Market, where all the "surplus" foods, or the little extra food of a few ounces we get on the end of our paycheck. My address is BC72, meaning it is the seventy-second home built in the BC lot of the villages of Sector six. I've never been to an outside town before, and probably never will, but I believe they are the same exact buildings and views as BC. Log buildings with little chimneys on the ones people spent a little extra on, (not mine), overgrown grass in front yards, a Main Street which crosses straight between the houses on the left and right sides of the village, and backyard crops and gardens people have to tend to every morning and afternoon, IT IS MANDATORY. My father says each town has its own peacekeeping council of three Peacekeppers. These Peacekeepers keep the peace and laws and act as executors for anyone that steps out of line. Ours are Len, Betro, and Lee. I've had my few run ins here and there will Betro, which is the nicest one. He calls me Little Lady and usually lets me slide when I forget to tend to our backyard crops every now and then, mostly because he's new, and we all know what happened to the old new peacekeeper Eledor. Eledor actually gave villagers advice on how to treat the crops and also mend them. He helped them and was too nice. He let laws be broken and let it fall under secrecy and never raised a hand against anyone who broke them. Lee, the scariest and strongest, as well as tallest, Peacekeeper was the one who ambushed him from behind and tackled him to the ground, shooting him through the forehead. That was the day the mockingjays fell silent. That was the day the bitter cold of winter killed almost all of our crops and we had to start anew. Ugh I hated that day. That was the day I accidentally dropped an apple, and the strictest Peacekeeper, Len, forced me, with a red face, to eat the apple off the ground. It wasn't disgusting, probably it would be to Capitol people, but for me it was a gift. The men around me stared, their mouths most likely watering as I chewed up the apple with the dirt. But the only bad part was when I took out the wet core, and Len forced me to eat it. I almost died.

Anyways, yes, the peacekeeping council is terrible. Len the leader, Lee, who basically kisses Len's rear end, and Betro who will probably share the same fate as his predecessor Eledor.

Once we make it home I open the door, and my sister who is eighteen is lying on the couch, wallowing over the television. "Lenora," i say. It takes me a couple rounds of saying her name before I catch her attention. "Why aren't you getting dressed?" I start to unbutton my overshirt in front of the mirror, exposing my Undrrshirt that is drenched in sweat. "You know for the Reaping."

Lenora still sits.

"Did you hear me?"

Father heads upstairs. "I'm going to dress, Lenora get up here and dress too!"

"I'm not going!" Lenora sits up and leans in now. She has bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and I know why. She's upset because last year, her friend was reaped to go to the Hunger Games. The victor was from District 1. I guess she fears someone else close to her will be reaped. "And anyways this district is crowded they won't notice!"

"You can't just not go, it's breaking N the law!" I exclaim. "You could get in trouble!"

"I don't care!"

I stagger backwards. "L-Lenora."

Still she continues to not care. "Go without me, and if I die, I die."

I can't let her do this I approach the phone and threaten to call Len, Head Peacekeeper but still Lenora doesn't budge. I put back the phone. I can't have her die. I shut off the television and watch her get up for the first time. This is when mother comes in and by her words Lenora goes up to change. I do as well, following close behind her to make sure she doesn't go back down and leave. We make our way to the hall that separates our two rooms, and with hesitation I head into mine, shut the door, bathe, and dress into a nice pink long dress. I comb back my hair and let my mother braid my bangs to the back of my head. "Beautiful, my darling. Look like the flower you were named for my sweet Azalea." My mother places my azalea into my braid. She whispers in my ear, I love you, and she heads downstairs to prepare our exit.

I'm done once I apply my makeup (mandatory) and check up on my sister to make sure she's still here. I open her door and she's ready. Her hair is braided into a bun lined with flowers and she wears a blue dress that looks a blue version of mine. She's sitting on her bed, her hands crossed at her ankles, her face in her knees. "Lenora," are you okay?"

No answer.

"You have to get up some day, you can't just prepare to go to a Reaping you aren't attending?" I grab her hands but she smacks mine away.

My wrists turn red. "I'm coming Azalea, you don't need to check up on me every second of the day."

In reality I do. But I continue to not mention that. "Mother is ready. You're eighteen, and probably not going to be picked so get up and go."

"I hate you," she says. She gets up and follows me downstairs where we meet my mother and father who lead us out into the fresh air. Smells of flowers waft into my nose, and I see a band of Peacekeepers marching towards the Square, we follow them there, and we make it to the outskirts of the valley. We enter the Center and cross the address BC1, making it to the extremely long lines of District Elevens age groups, meanwhile the adults have their own line as well. But nobody cares for their ages. I peer at the banners that hang saying Happy Thirty Fourth Hunger Games and yadayadayada.

A sharp pain jolts up my spine.

What if I get picked?