At the Judicial Center (tributes, friends, family)

I’ve only ever been a part of three reapings, I think. I was taken when I was fourteen, and I haven’t been to any since. The 61st feels like a foreign thing to me. I haven’t been watching the Games, either, so I’m completely out of the loop as to all the new “toys” the Gamemakers are coming up with. They’re never any good, though – and by good I mean having good intentions. They’re always grotesque and built to maul and shred, so I can only imagine that they’ve since made the muttations more hellish.

I’m still extremely worried about being caught in District 10, so I linger on the outskirts of the crowd, staying hidden in the shadows and alleys of the Square. I’m still only eighteen – perfectly reapable – and I fear that people will see me and throw me into the pen that I haven’t stood in for years. No one notices me, though; I do feel bad for keeping out of the pen, though. As I look at all the eighteen year olds standing like cattle lined up outside a slaughterhouse, I can only imagine how desperate they are to be in my position: outside of the rope, hiding and tucked away in a safe haven. But what they don’t know won’t kill them, so I keep hidden, waiting.

As the mayor takes the stage, I feel the air thicken. My name isn’t even in the glass bowl, but I’m scared. My eyes watch the man as he reaches into the girl’s bowl and pulls out the name, reading it out loud.

It’s Nonnie.

The first thing I hear is Jack; he’s yelling her name and settles into a loud rant as to how it isn’t fair, and I’m completely stunned. Is it even legal to reap pregnant tributes? It can’t be legal. It’s immoral! A snarl escapes me without my acknowledgement, and I quickly slap a hand over my mouth to keep quiet and stay hidden.

There’s a commotion. I try to stand on my toes to see, but I can’t. I then turn to the big screens, and I see that Peacekeepers have got a hold of Jack and there’s another one taking Nonnie away – Nonnie, who’s pregnant with twins; Nonnie, who’s the love of Jack’s life; Nonnie, who didn’t look down at me the first time she saw me just because I’m an Avox.

My breath catches in my throat and I watch the screen as they take Jack away, throwing him out of the Square. Nonnie’s taken up on stage, but very soon after, she collapses. I grip the edge of the wall I’m behind, terrified, but people quickly go to her aid, thankfully.

Once all the commotion is over, I wait a few minutes and then weave through the crowd, going in the general direction that I think they threw Jack. Once I came to the outside of the group, I gathered my sense of direction and took off at a full run, heading toward Jack’s house. About halfway there, I see Jack walking in my direction with his parents behind him. I don’t stop running until I’m nearly right on top of him, my right hand grabbing onto the front of his shirt and my left wrist stub just resting against his chest. Breathing heavily, I stare into his eyes with my own wide and fearful ones, sending him a single and obvious message: what do we do?

As soon as I grab onto Jack, he shoves me away and I stumble, but I don't blame him; I must've startled him, and after all that's happened today, I should've expected it. I want to tell him that I don't care at the moment that he didn't recognize me, but I can't, so I just shrug and accept the hand he offers me.

Jack pulls me in between two houses. I hadn't realized that I was out in public, but at the moment I don't care. I know I'm not nearly as freaked out as Jack must be, though my mind is already racing in search of an answer. We can't just take Nonnie back because there'll be Peacekeepers swarming everywhere. I could distract them while Jack goes in and leads Nonnie away.... no, that'd never work. And I'd end up back in the DC and then in the Capitol. I grind my teeth together as I think. I look back up at Jack. They're not just killing her - they're killing three people at once. Nonnie's going to be such an easy target that I can't even fathom how the Gamemakers will view this as being fair. Sure, it'll make for some good Games drama, but they're going too far - way too far. It's ridiculous, really. Even though I've only known Nonnie for a few days, I know how much she means to Jack, who's my good friend, so I feel that it's my duty to help him get her back. But how?

There's no possible way that we can get Nonnie out. I wouldn't hesitate to charge in and get her since I despise everything associated with the Capitol - especially now since they're reaping a pregnant tribute and showing no humanity - but what can we do? We're just an Avox and a wrangler. Sure, we could do a little damage, but it wouldn't be enough to protect Nonnie. We can't save her, as much as I hate to admit it. This place is flooded with Peacekeepers - we won't get farther than the edge of the District Square.

I look up when Jack's mother speaks. She's right. I understand what he's going through with losing not only someone you love, but also your own flesh and blood. It hurts like hell, but at the same time you're willing to do whatever it takes for them to survive, even if it means staying out of it. I've had to partly do the latter; I want more than anything to find Colton and Lily, but what'll happen to them if I find them? Will Lily be punished for having an affair with an Avox? And I know for sure that poor Colton will be mocked and humiliated for having an Avox father. But for Jack, he could have a perfect life. He could have a normal family. But can we pull this off? Can we really "kidnap" Nonnie and bring her back to safety without being caught?

Jack's question throws me off. Weapons? I never have any weapons. I'd get in enough trouble just being caught out in public - but in public with weapons? I'd be executed. I shake my head, though I'm curious as to what his plan was with asking me for weapons.

I can't go inside the Justice Building. They're scanning fingers, and I just know that my name'll pop up as "AVOX," and frankly I don't want to risk being shipped off to the DC and the Capitol again. So I wait outside, sticking my hand and wrist stub in my pockets and kick around in the dirt, waiting patiently for Jack to return.

But he doesn't.

I venture back to the entrance of the building, looking at the entrance. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary... everything appears normal. I shrug and am about to turn around when I hear a gunshot. Instantly I stop, my body straightening up. What the...? There's a commotion sounding from within, too. My brows furrow in confusion and I shove past the Peacekeepers taking ID prints, entering into the building.

I'm not prepared to see what has happened: Jack is shot and bleeding, and there's a lady with a gun hovering over him. I suck in air quickly - a gasp - and then I spring into action. I take off my shirt and ball it up, darting over to Jack and setting it onto his wound. It's all I know to do with what little supplies there are available in this hallway. I set a hand on his shoulder, looking into his face briefly before whirling around to face the lady. She's intimidating, that's for sure; but it won't stop me. Jack needs to live - not only for Nonnie's sake, but for his unborn children. He can't do that with a bullet lodged in his belly. A scowl places itself on my face as I look at her. Without a second thought, I charge the lady, keeping low and trying to knock the gun from her hands. My thing, hunger-ravaged body against a well-trained, well-fed Peacekeeper. Hardly seems fair, but I can't let her hurt Jack anymore.

I really don't think anything through. Why, oh why, am I stupid enough to attack an armed Peacekeeper? I don't know. I really should consider consequences. When I met Lily, I didn't think of consequences, and look where that got me: the father of Colton. Not that it bothers me, but it just reinforces my not thinking things through.

The lady reacts faster than I had imagined. She grabs a hold of my arm and pulls it up behind my back so hard that I swear my shoulder's dislocated. I yelp as she then slams me up against the wall. I don't have much time to squirm and try to free myself before she turns me around and this time slams my back. Her fist connects with my face, knocking my head back into the wall and nailing my nose at the same time. Pain explodes in my face and I feel a warm, sticky liquid start running down over my mouth - blood. The lady hits me again and then jabs her arm up against my neck, not only pinning me, but cutting off my air supply.

My first instinct is to panic. I claw at her arm with my fingernails and try to kick her, but my main focus is on trying to breathe. I even go so far as trying to wedge my wrist stub up underneath her arm and push it away, but I'm too weak compared to her. Black blotches start appearing in my field of vision and the fear sinks into me. I can't breathe. I can't breathe! With the lack of oxygen comes weaker thrashes, and eventually I'm reduced to just hanging limp and doing everything I can to suck in a wisp of air.

She eases up on my neck and I suck in air greedily, coughing all the while. She then takes my hands and ties them up with some hard material - I don't know what - and completely immobilizes my hands. I try to wiggle them, but I can't even free my wrist stub. I don't have much time to worry about that, though; I can see that my nose is an an awkward angle and I know I'll have to put it back in place, but first I have to free my hand.

The man Peacekeeper comes and grabs a hold of me, taking me outside. I purposely make it difficult for him by dragging my feet and tripping over myself, falling into him or just tossing my weight around.

"It's your lucky day. You won't get away with this again. Get out!" And with that, he's gone.

I'm left outside, so I take this time to work as hard as I can with wriggling my stub free, and eventually it slides out of the zip tie, but not until I've pretty much rubbed the skin raw. I take my hand and then, taking a deep breath and bracing myself, I set my nose back into place with a sickening "crack," yelping and groaning from the pain, feeling new streams of blood running down my chin and neck, onto my chest.

I look over and see Jack being brought out, so I quickly go over to him. He looks pale, I think - or maybe it's the sunlight. His parents are carrying him away, and I want to help, but there isn't really a way that I can. So I just follow behind them, glancing back frequently to make sure the Peacekeepers aren't following us.


((Gahh sorry it's so short. D: Dunno what else to put...))