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"Psst..." Jack heard shaking his eardrum. He tried to ignore it.
"Psst..." The voice rang again.

Jack shot up. His younger, eleven year old sister Courtney was by his bedside.

"What?" Jack asked in an angry, but whispering tone.

"Jack... There's a reaping tomorrow..." Courtney said with a worried look.
"Yeah, I know..." Jack responded. "You're still too young to be in the games and I'm already past the age requirement, so there's nothing to worry about."

Jack sat up from his bed and went over to his computer.

"It's not just any reaping!" Courtney said. "6 districts are going to be randomly chosen, and two well known people are gonna be chosen from those chosen districts."
"Well known?" Jack asked. "What do you mean?"
"Anybody who is known all around Panem." Courtney explained. "But they have to be regular people like us."

Jack's eyes widened. Besides working with weapons and other technology, he's pretty much an entertainer to all the other districts. Whoever has the proper technology pretty much watches him and other people who can actually do things online.

"So there's going to be a reaping... Of like, famous people within districts, basically?" Jack asked. Courtney nodded. "Why the hell would they do that?"

Courtney shrugged.

Jack became nervous. He went downstairs and immediately confronted his mom.

"Is it true?" Jack asked. "Tomorrow's reaping will be different? And I could possibly be one of those people chosen?"

His mom looked at him emotionally.

"No, Jack... You are going to be one of those people selected." His mom choked.
"What?" Jack asked. "But I'm above the age limit!"
"Age limit won't matter this time, Jack." His mom said.
"But what about the mayor?" Jack asked. "He's considered famous, right?"
"But he has Hierarchal power, and anybody who has Hierarchal power won't be included." His mom explained. "Seems that only you and the other boy Mark are going to be the ones participating... If our District is selected..."

Jack wanted to yell about it, he wanted to kick and scream and throw things to the wall, but he didn't do anything. He just stood there, not being able to say things any longer.

All he did was thrust his arms around his mother. His little sister joining in not too long after.
---
Mark was sitting at the small bar area in the district. He had a bottle of beer in his hands and took a big gulp out of it.

"Hey, can I have another one over here?" Mark asked the bartender.
"You know you can only have bottle, sir..." The bartender claimed.
"Well, I need all the ones I can get." Mark said. "Because tomorrow I'm gonna be reaped for these games."
"You don't know that yet." The bartender said. "No districts have been selected yet."
"Well, tonight they will be." Mark explained. "And first thing tomorrow, if we get chosen, me and my other friend Jack will be the ones having to go. I won't have time to say goodbye to friends, family... and I won't have time to get another beer and drink my troubles away..."
Mark was silent. Carefully playing with his beer bottle and looking at it before continuing to speak. "Not that it matters, my family doesn't give a damn anyway."

The bartender sighed and sneakily gave him a second bottle.

"Fine... But if I get fired, it's on you." The bartender stated.
Mark raised his glass. "Then I'll die in the games for you."

Just after taking a drink from his second bottle of beer, Jack stormed into the bar. He sat on the barstool next to him, putting his hands to his head.

"I'm not ready for this Mark..." Jack said.
"Neither am I." Mark agreed.
"I mean I know being in District 2, we've been trained and all before, but that was so many years ago." Jack said. "After my nineteenth birthday, they just stopped sending me to training. That was seven years ago."
"Yeah well, I barely remember it." Mark claimed. "Because I never really paid attention."

Jack looked at Mark for a second.

"Do you think our district will be chosen?" Jack asked. "Do you think we really will be going in these games?"
"You think I'm here drinking bottles of beer for no reason?" Mark asked.

Jack was silent before asking for his own bottle of whiskey. The two of them sat quietly there, not saying anything.
---
Later on that tonight, Mark was over Jack's house, watching in complete silence and terror as the Hunger Games logo came across their screen, followed by Caesar Flickerman on the screen.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen of all Districts, my name is Caesar Flickerman, host of the Hunger Games." Caesar began. "This year will be a very different version of the Hunger Games because this year, we have decided to include the 12 Districts' finest entertainers in the industry today. And this year, instead of all twelve districts being involved, a selected 6 districts will be selected."

Caesar was then shown on screen walking over to what looked like a black case.

"In this case hear are the twelve districts." Caesar explained. "I will be randomly selecting six districts from this case. When all six districts are selected, the next day, all entertainers, big and small, will gather for the reaping. Now without farther ado, let's begin."

A moment of silence filled the room. During that moment, Jack's mom and Courtney both held Jack's hand. Mark grabbed Jack's mom's hand as well. Everybody's heart began pounding out of their chest.

"The first district selected is..." Caesar said. "District 3."

A tiny amount of relief rushed through everybody's body followed by panic again as Caesar reached in the case for the second district.

"District 9 is the second chosen district." Caesar announced. He reached in and grabbed the third piece of paper from the case. "The third district competing will be, district six."

He continued to reach in and grab the next piece of paper.

"The fourth district being selected in this year's tournament is, district five."

Two more districts to go, they may have a chance.

"The fifth district being selected is... district four."

The last district was about to be selected. They may have a chance of not being selected. Hope finally began slowly but surely filling their bodies.

"The last district to be chosen for this year's hunger game is..." Caesar began.

He unfolded the paper aloud.

"... District two."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi guys! I hope you're enjoying this story. I really wanted to try something exciting and intense again and I decided to go for the Hunger Games, because why not!

More to come soon!
~Jackir30

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