The Fourth Quarter Quell

I

Thea's POV

I stood behind the bush, peering through the leaves. I notched an arrow, pulled back, and let the arrow fly, piercing the deer through the side. I smiled. This was the first deer in two years.

"Hey, Thea." I heard behind me. I spun with an arrow notched again ready to fly before I had even seen the face of my terrorizer. I smiled in relief, releasing the tension in my arms and setting the bow down next to me.

"Balyn! Don't do that! I could've killed you!" I screamed at him.

"But you didn't. That's the part I like about you. You don't have the heart to kill me."

Balyn and I had been best friends since we were little. We were the same age and had been in the same class since third grade. Being in District Twelve meant we never had enough food, so we taught ourselves how to hunt. We would trade game at the Hub for money or food. The Peacekeepers didn't care. They traded with us. They were just as hungry as the rest of us.

"So, what have we got today?" He asked.

"A turkey, three squirrels, and two birds." I paused before continuing with suspense. "And . . ."

"And what?"

"A . . ."

"You actually caught something big?"

"Deer!" When Balyn heard that he jumped up in excitement.

"Really?" I nodded ecstatically. This was the biggest catch in quite some time.

"We'll actually have some food."

"Come on. Help me carry this back."

"Hold on, I have to carry the berries I picked."

"Attach the pouch to your pants and help. I have to carry a turkey!" I told him bossily.

"Yes, Your Majesty." He replied sarcastically, bowing as best he could while attaching the pouch. The deer was heavy. We had to carry it on our shoulders and hoped they wouldn't tire out on the long trek back to the fence and to the Hob.

The Hob was the black market in District 12. Everything there was cheaper and a perfect place to trade game because even the Peacekeepers were hungry and would even break a few rules to stay alive. The turkey were for them and everything else, after keeping what we wanted, got traded to Harlow, the butcher at the Hob.

We listened for the hum of the fence before climbing through the hole I had cut out over time behind the rundown, one room hut I called home. Balyn lived right next door in a similar house so our families just move in with each other for a few hours and during the Games we would go over to theirs because we usually make the food, so they have to host.

"Mom, Dad, we brought dinner and then some for money!" I announced. Mom was working at the table cutting some of the greens she had planted in our 'backyard' if that's what it could be called. Dad was sitting on the couch having just gotten back from the mines, his face still covered in the coal dust that was settled on everyone and everything. The miners got to leave early today because they would be announcing what the rules for this year's Quarter Quell was going to be. With it being the 100th games, everyone assumed it would be worst than the Third Quarter Quell. That had failed miserably because the Third Quell had ended with the beginning of the second uprising.

Panem had been at peace for ten years before someone managed to regain control of the Capitol. They became president and restarted the Hunger Games where they left off. The only difference was that they couldn't start halfway through the 75th games because of tributes dying in the rebellion. [A/N: Finnick 😭] So they started on the 76th and continued on since then.