Ultimate (thg fanfic)

District 3 Reaping

Trina Everscott POV:
I attach the last bobby pin into my wig and stand up. I smile into my mirror, a quickly wipe off a smudge of mascara that ended up on my cheek.

I walk over to the wing for District 3's stage and wait for Mayor Manny to be finished speaking.

It's my first reaping, and I got the decency of receiving district three. Getting 1, 2, or 4 would have been better, since there's lots of people anticipating the games each year.

Although, when I received a call from my best friend Tara, she said most tributes weren't as excited to enter the games this year. She also told me one of them slapped her in the face, and being her best friend, I couldn't help but laugh at Tara's words. Just imagining her getting slapped by a twelve year old is priceless. I'm dying to see it on the recaps later.

Manny concludes his speaking and signals me onto the stage. I strut to the stage's center and flash a grin to the crowd, which only one grins back. I don't know if she was just being nice or something, but... Im quite confused.

"Welcome!! It's the reaping for the final hunger games! The 500th! Twelve year olds, look at how unlucky you guys are, only one year to have the ability to be reaped! And alas, eighteen year olds, this would have been your last year either way!" I giggle at my words, but nobody seems amused.

To break the awkwardness I continue, "so, we appeared to receive the 13th quarter quell twist. For those of you who do not know, it was the twist where parents were reaped and had to pick which of their children would enter the games."

Everyone's faces freeze. Terror is seen in everyone's eyes.

"Only two families have to choose which children are entered, don't worry," I attempt to soothe. My attempt was futile.

I reach into the bowl. There is only one, so there are a lot more slips than I would have anticipated.

I dig and dig around the bowl before selecting one. I had to choose one sooner or later, right?

I grip onto it with two solid fingers while pulling it out. I open it up and announce, "The Gaversan family!"

"I volunteer!" I hear an adult woman say from the back.

I was unsure if that was allowed, so I looked over to the nearest peacekeeper who shrugged.

"Come on up, with your entire family too!"

She approaches the stage with a man who looks to be in his thirties, and two children. One's a boy and ones a girl.

The boy seems noticeably terrified but the girl flashes a smile which seems relatively familiar.

"Family name?" I question.

"We're the Brenden's and we would like to nominate our daughter Madeline for the games," Mrs. Brenden speaks.

The little boy wipes sweat off his forehead and walks back down with his parents.

I look for the crooked smile that looked upon me earlier in the audience. The girl was undeniably missing, and I looked aside me to see the missing piece in the puzzle.

Was she excited to play?

I walk back to the bowl and place my fingers inside it. I whirl the slips around in a circle and pick one. I lift it up to viewpoint and open it.

"The Lucki family!"

A woman in her late forties approaches the stage and five children follow her up. I can't help but notice a lack of husband.

"You guys seemed to be very lucky today, aren't you!" I laugh.

The oldest child is a solemnly tough looking child. I think he's probably either seventeen or eighteen, probably the latter.

The second oldest seems to be a year younger, a girl with a feminine look to her face. Her hair was curled and she looked up with amber eyes.

The middle child was a blond boy who was probably nothing but trouble. He just had that sort of look to his face.

The second youngest was another boy, he looked about fourteen. He didn't look right in the head. He looked around frantically, as if trying to figure out what was going on. When he came on the stage, he had to be personally escorted up here.

The youngest is probably twelve. She was so pretty, with eyes as blue as the sea, and hair as golden as the sun. I personally don't want his child to be chosen just for the sake of seeing how she'll look when she's older.

"I'm Ginevra, and these are my kids Forrest, April, Sam, Fright, and Ember," Miss Lucki announces, pointing to each child.

She seems to announced them in age order.

"It pains me to do this, but I nominate Fright. He's merely too useless and confused, and is a huge burden to our family," Miss Lucki continues.

Forrest had stepped forward while she was speaking, probably expecting to be the nominated child.

"You didn't choose me?" Forrest asked.

"No, of course not. We wouldn't be able to survive without you. I wouldn't be able to force any other child except you to go hunt," Miss Lucki cackles, "I need my food!"

That's when she was shot. The bullet flew right through her head.

"Leaving the district boundaries is illegal. We would have naturally shot you, but she said she forced you. What did she mean?"

"I really never wanted to go outside the boundaries, especially since I have to walk 3 miles in order to find an area without the electricity flowing through the fence. My mother would always walk me to the fence, and corner me with a knife so the only place I could go was the woods. I was miserable. And that's why I'm taking Fright's place in the games. As the oldest person left alive in the Lucki family, I'm taking responsibility as the adult, so Im taking control of the nomination. And I nominate myself," Forrest announces.

The rest of Forrest's siblings walk off the stage. April personally takes Fright's hand and escorts him back to his aisle before retreating to hers.

"So here are our tributes! Forrest Lucki and Madeline Brenden!" I announce as Madeline cackles and Forrest glares straight into the camera. They shake hands and walk into the Justice Building so they can say their goodbyes.