To the Death

Ramona waited at the Reaping, her heart thumping. All around her were nervous faces and silent prayers. No one wanted this. Who would? District 12's tributes hardly ever won. And even if you did make it out of the games, you'd already changed. There's no going back. "It's okay. Only two more years and you name is out of that bowl forever," Ramona told herself. "Please don't be. Please don't make me leave Dad..." She pleaded in her head.

@ ToxicInsanity
Ryker was standing in the back of the boys' section, staring up at the large screens hanging in front of the Hall of Justice. The video was playing- the one that is purely propaganda and meant to scare everyone into thinking the games actually made sense when in reality it was just a cruel and fucked up presentation of power by the Capitol. He sighed, as they ended the video and the 'ceremony' began. The humongous orange cotton swab that was their associate from the Capitol began the reaping with the girls- as usual. In the meantime, though, Ryker was staring at the humongous bowl on the boys' side. It was stuffed with white slips of paper- each with the name of a boy in the district. But, Ryker had his name in there a whopping forty-seven times.

But, at this point, he didn't really care. Despite everything, his face seemed blank. He felt numb. But it actually wasn't because of the reaping...

The associate of the Capital threw her hands in the air. "Ladies first!" she declared as Ramona's stomach churned. "Not me, not me, not me." She whispered. The woman pulled a name out of the giant glass bowl, still grinning. She didn't know what it was like. How could she? Those lucky enough to be born in the capitol were so ignorant to what the games actually are. Murder. The woman cleared her throat and stood closer to the microphone. "Ramona Caraway!"

Ramona froze. She must have heard wrong. Her name wasn't picked, it wasn't. Everyone turned to face her, and as the peacekeepers approached, it became all too real.

@ ToxicInsanity
(Not sure if you knew this considering I thought I remembered you saying something about being new, but I figured I would remind even if you did. If you hover your mouse/trackpad over my post, a 'Reply' button comes up. If you hit that before typing your post, it will set it up so when you post that post, I will get a notification. It just lets me know when you did post so I can get back to you quicker, because it sends me an alert. )

Ryker sighed when they announced the girl. He had heard the girl's name before, and recognized her a little bit, but had never met the girl. That's when the woman was starting towards the boys' bowl. When she finally plucked a name from the depths, he looked to the boy next to him, and ruffled his hair, a fake, but warm smile on his face. When they announced his name, he knelt down and faced the boy.

"Listen. Whatever happens, you need to be strong. You hear me?" he said, making the now crying boy meet his eyes," You need to go to Mrs. Keeta's house. She said if this ever happened that she would keep an eye on you. Now, I need to go. But, I WILL be back. Don't you worry." His talking had been quick, because he was then pulled to his feet and out into the aisle by the Peacekeepers. He roughly pushed the Peacekeepers off of him, though- making one actually fall to the ground- before walking forcefully towards the stage. He climbed the stairs, and quickly met up with Ramona. He extended his hand to her took her's quickly before releasing and looking for his brother. What his eyes said for the brief moment they met, though, must have been terrifying.

He was pissed. Not at her, but at existence. And his brown eyes must have been nearing a frightening black in that brief moment before they were pulled back into the Hall, and meant to say their goodbyes.

@ Stage Doctor
Ramona watched as Ryker made it closer to the stage. She'd definitely seen him before, but didn't know much about him. After watching him with the peacekeepers, she became terrified. Not of him, mind you; Terrified of what this game can make a person. Ramona promised herself she would hide. Fight only if she needed to. If she ended up dying, so be it. Ramona would rather die than become a killer.

Ryker took her hand for a few seconds before letting go and turning to face the crowd. Ramona stared out at all the faces, and wondered how unlucky she must have been. They were soon marched into the Hall, and put in separate rooms. On the way, Ramona turned to face Ryker. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

@ ToxicInsanity
"I'm sorry that this happened to you too," Ryker whispered back as they were whisked inside. Once Ryker found himself in one of the rooms, he began pacing, quickly running through things. Soon they brought his brother in to say his goodbyes, and his brother quickly wrapped him in a hug. The peacekeeper said," Two minutes," before closing the door. Ryker quickly pulled his brother back to meet his eyes, and began talking quickly.

"Keegan, you have to be strong. I know that's going to be hard, but you have to be. Now, go stay with Mrs. Keeta. She said she would take care of you. Stay in school and work as hard as you can. If you are given the opportunity, do NOT put your name into that bowl more than it already is naturally. Find a job and work for your food. If you can't get a job that pays well enough, talk to Jacob Williams from my class. He knows how to hunt and will teach you if you ask. Just know how risky it is to do so- but it's riskier to put your name into that bowl. And Keegan, remember that I love you. You will come back from this. I might not, but you need to come to that realization quickly and start bringing yourself back despite this. I will try my damndest to win these games, but you have to make sure you are winning back here- because the odds are against you. Root for me, but don't watch the games. I might have to do a lot of things that I will not be proud of- but I will do anything to survive. I don't want you to see these things, Keegan. It isn't going to be your brother in that arena. Just remember that."

The Peacekeeper came back, then, and motioned for Keegan to leave. "I love you Keegan," Ryker said, kissing his brother's forehead," Now go find Mrs. Keeta and stay with her. Good luck." And with that, the one Peacekeeper pulled Keegan out of the room, and another came in to lead Ryker out, and directly onto the train...

@ Stage Doctor
Ramona waited in the room, until the doors burst open. "Dad!" She cried, running up to hug him. "I'm so sorry, I only wanted more food for you." She was crying at that point. "I don't think I'll make it. Please don't watch. Promise me won't. I don't want you to see it." Her father only nodded, and silently cried. "I love you, dad."

Ramona was soon led to the train, her heart racing. That was her final goodbye. But she told herself not to cry anymore. She wouldn't give the Capitol anything, especially not weakness. She didn't want anyone to see that.

@ ToxicInsanity
Once on the train, he went directly to the back of the caboose, and sat down, looking out of the back window at the District as the train began to roar to life. There was a ton of people outside of the train, looking on with sad, angry, and even pity-filled faces. He remained emotionless as the train began to slowly move off from the platform, and then picked up speed. As the District began to disappear into the distance behind them, he simply looked on with disdain, thinking that he might never see that District, or those people ever again.

@ Stage Doctor
Ramona walked to the back of the train and found Ryker. She just stood awkwardly for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. "What's your plan? For the games, I mean. I just plan on trying to keep away from all the fighting for as long as I can. Wait for the more powerful people to kill each other and then take their stuff. I'm not much of a fighter, so..."She realised at this point that she was starting to ramble and paused. "So that's my plan." She said quietly. Ramona knew that working with Ryker may be the best idea. She also knew that eventually, there'd be few left. She wondered if he would kill her, and then realised that the people in the arena would do anything to survive. To go home and see their families.

@ ToxicInsanity
Ryker didn't bother looking at her as they spoke. "I plan to survive. Whatever that means that I have to do," he said, before sighing. He then said," I'm going to try to stay out of it for as much as I can as well. But I'm not going to shy away from defending myself and narrowing down the field. I feel bad that everyone is in the same position we are, but I need to get out of here." He looked over at her, then, and said," I need to get back to my brother- just as I'm sure you need to do the same for your family. So, I'm going to suggest something. We should stick together no matter what. We should try and make other allies during the prep, but starting with at least one ally is better than none, correct? And then when the field gets terribly small, we can agree to split at a point and time. Then, we will set three hours before our alliance is off so we can get away from each other. Give each other a fighting chance. You know?"

(Thanks for telling me about the reply thing. Sorry, I didn't know if you were getting the alerts or not.)

@ Stage Doctor
"That's... A really good plan. That sounds great. If this helps at all, if it comes to a point where I know I won't get home... I'll make sure you will. I saw you with that boy before. Your brother, I'm guessing? I know my dad is sick, so he doesn't have much longer to live. A year, at most. But your brother has his whole life ahead of him." She sat down on the edge of the seat, making sure to give Ryker his space. "So you'll want to be there to help him." Ramona smiled. "And I'm glad I have at least someone on my side."

@ ToxicInsanity
Ryker nodded, and said," Let's not talk about the if's and but's with sacrificing. We both deserve to go back home. My brother and I had talked about this possibility for a long while. My name was in that bucket forty-seven times. But regardless of if I get back or not, my brother will be strong enough to survive. Mrs. Keeta is also looking after him. So, if worst comes to worst, I say we just both try to stay alive." There was a pause, then, before Ryker continued," And your father doesn't deserve to watch you go out like this if he's sick. He deserves to be with you for those final months... What is he ill with, by the way?"

@ Stage Doctor
"He has lung cancer. He smoked a lot and working in the mines didn't make things easier. They don't have very good treatment here, so it's unlikely he'll live for much longer. A year is probably too optimistic." Ramona looked at her hands, then back up at Ryker. "I told him not to watch." She looked out the window, watching the outside world zoom by. "I can't believe the capitol thinks this is entertaining. How can they watch? I tried to avoid it."

@ ToxicInsanity
Ryker sighed, and said," They don't find people killing each other entertaining. They find the power that the games gives them over the rest of the districts entertaining. Therefore, the more gruesome every bit of the games are, the more effective it is." He shook his head, and said,"It's completely disgusting. But, there's not really much that we can do about it, now is there?" He then paused, and said," Hold on, I worked down in the mines back in the district as well. What was your father's name? Because I might have actually known him from back in the mines."

@ Stage Doctor
"I guess not." Ramona looked at Ryker, slightly shocked. "You did? His name is Clay. Clay Caraway. I hope he was okay. I always worried about him, and he said he was fine. I know he was probably saying it for my benefit." Ramona paused, then shook her head. "He's a good man. Doesn't deserve the cancer. No one does, really."

@ ToxicInsanity
He chuckled, and said," My mother was the same way.... She passed just recently. She was ill as well- but not cancer. They couldn't pick out what she was ill with- but it didn't take long to kill her. My father ran away to the Capitol a few years back. What about your mother? I heard you talk about your father quite a bit, and your mother not at all. Not in the picture anymore?"

@ Stage Doctor
"She's still around. She just... Doesn't spend any time with us anymore. When dad got diagnosed, she shut down, you know? I get it, she was grieving, but it's a little selfish. She doesn't talk to us, she refuses to see my dad anymore. It was up to me to care for him. I haven't talked to her in months. She didn't even come in to say goodbye." Ramona let out a shaky breath, shut her eyes, and turned away. "I hope she takes care of him. I know the lady next door agreed to help out if I ever did leave, so I'm not too worried. And I'm sorry about your mother."

@ ToxicInsanity
Ryker frowned, and shook his head. "That makes no sense. To shut down like that as if the world and those close to you don't exist is so selfish I can't even comprehend it. Regardless, I hope she does as well... Thank you, and I'm sorry for your mother as well." He sighed, and then said," Well, considering we're going to be on this train for a while, care to see what kind of "heavenly Capitol food" they have on here?"