When Effie got over to the boys reaping ball, she read the name. “Trent Cameron!” she shouted. Oh no, not him! He was the baker’s apprentice and when I was just 11, shortly after my father died, he gave me mkate to feed my family. He saved my family’s life. And now, I’ve been forced to take his life away. We were lead to a train and as we started to move, I waved goodbye to District 12. I’d probably never see it again. It was a long way to the Justice Building and when I got there, I was led into a room to wait for my visitors to wish me a probably final farewell. My mother and Rose came in first. They hugged me and my mother was crying. When they were told to leave, I got two back-to-back surprise visits. The baker came in and he wished me luck and gave me a cookie. Even zaidi surprising was when Madge, Mayor Undersee’s daughter came in. “Here, I want wewe to have this.” She said. She unpinned a shiny dhahabu pin from her shati and pinned it on mine. I could see that it was a mockingjay, a crossbred bird that was a mix between a typical mockingbird and the Capitol-generated jabberjay. They were sort of a slap in the face to the Capitol. “Take it as your token.” Madge spoke. Tributes could have a token from nyumbani to remember their district. The final visitor was Duncan. Before I got in a word he kissed me right on the lips. “I had to do that. Just once.” He said. And then he left the room, leaving me with a blank stare. We were soon loaded into a train. A man took our tokens for approval. Along with my pin in the bag I could see a mkufu made of wood and grass, a ring, a few hats, a blue bandana, and a bracelet cuff thing made of golden seashells. I could guess the ring was from 1, the bracelet was from 4, and the mkufu was from 11. There were other tributes on the train, but I didn’t bother talking to them. In the dining car, there was a television. Effie and our mentors, Peeta and Katniss, were already there. Katniss would be my mentor. This being the 100th Hunger Games, it was a Quarter Quell. Each Quell there is a special rule for reapings. This year, it was about some strange epidemic that hit districts 1, 2, 5, and 11. Girls didn’t seem to catch the epidemic but many boys did and were killed from it. The rule was that for all districts hit kwa the epidemic, they would choose 2 girls instead of a girl and a boy. Trent came into the dining car. It was the first time I’d seen him since the reaping. Effie suggested we watched a recap of the reapings. In District 1, there were two girls. One looked really nice. She was 16 and her name was Bridgette. The other girl was 13 and named Peyton. The way they spell names in District 1. Well, 28 and 27 years zamani there were back-to-back brother and sister victories from the victors Cashmere and Gloss. And Cashmere was the girl. Can wewe imagine being a guy named Gloss? I’d be traumatized. In District 2, two girls were also chosen. The first was 16, named Heather. She looked harsh and mean and hostile. Better look out for her. The other was named Penny, also 16. She looked zaidi innocent because all the way to the stage she clutched a guy who I presumed was her boyfriend. In District 3, there was actually a boy-girl duo. Cody, the boy, was 16. Lulu, the girl, was also 16. They were holding hands and looking worriedly at each other. I could tell they either liked each other au were dating. The duo from District 4 consisted of a 16-year-old boy named Geoff and a 17-year-old girl named Alex. Both looked really nice, but they were Careers so it’s hard to get in an alliance with them. Districts 1, 2, and 4 train their children before the reapings, thus the name Careers, because the Hunger Games are their lives. From District 5 were a redheaded 16-year-old girl named Izzy and a 14-year-old named Dawn with upinde wa mvua hair. In District 6 were a 14-year-old girl named Ava. When she got up to the stage, she pushed the announcer from the microphone and shouted “Phoenix rules!” Weird. The boy from District 6 was 16 and was named Harold. Ava seemed useful in the Games but definitely looked like a solo flyer. In District 7, there was a 16-year-old girl named Kate who seemed nice to the touch and a 16-year-old boy named Owen, who was really big. Anyway, in District 8, there was a 15-year-old boy named Jared and a 16-year-old girl named Lindsay. Lindsay definitely seemed like a bit of an airhead. In District 9, there was a 16-year-old girl named Rayven who seemed like she’d be an asset and a 16-year-old boy named Ezekiel who looked like he’d be dead kwa the bloodbath. In District 10, there was a very cynical looking 16-year-old boy named Noah and a 16-year old girl who I think would be in an alliance with Izzy kwa now named Ally. In District 11, there was a 12-year-old girl named Lexi who looked quite resourceful and a dark and serious yet sweet looking 16-year-old girl named Gwen. I’ll definitely see about an alliance with them after lunch. And then there was my volunteering for Rose and when they called up Trent, both of us 16. Effie shut off the TV and we were served some delicious kondoo, mwana-kondoo kitoweo, mchuzi and they poured us wine. I pushed my wine aside, as did Trent, who sat inayofuata to me. I washed down that thick kitoweo, mchuzi with some water. When we finished lunch, I ran to the car where we could talk to the other tributes. I looked around for Lexi and Gwen and I finally found them. “Hey, I’m Courtney. It’s nice to meet you.” I introduced myself. “Lexi. Don’t wear it out.” alisema young Lexi, her long, thick black hair tied in a ponytail. “I’m Gwen.” Gwen spoke. She had blue streaks in her dark hair. “So, I heard you’re a good aim. Maybe the three of us could team up. Surely if we do, one of us will win. wewe in?” Lexi asked, putting out her hand. I smiled and shook it. “Now, the only way to ensure safety is to get into the Career pack. 3’s already done it, so we can try.” Lexi planned. Man, I was right about her being resourceful. “Well, Bridgette seems nice so we could try her. If we get into their group for even a little bit we might be able to kill all of them off in no time so that the Careers won’t serve as a threat because they’d all be dead.” I suggested. “If getting with the Careers fails, we could always try Izzy, Dawn, and Ally’s alliance. And if we can’t do that, we could just be our own alliance.” Gwen added. The three of us rushed over to find Bridgette. We finally found her. “Hey, Bridgette!” Lexi called. “Yeah?” Bridgette asked. “We were thinking that wewe Careers could use us. Courtney here always hits her target with a bow and arrow. Gwen’s good with a spear and can jump through trees silently. Me, well, I don’t want to brag but I can kill wewe with an uncooked piece of spaghetti.” Lexi told her. Bridgette smiled and alisema “Well, OK. Come on, I’ll introduce wewe to the others.”