hi guys! this is my first story - a fanfic based on the hunger games. it's the 100th games (the 4th quarter quell) so we're going to assume that the events of the actual trilogy don't happen. thanks so much for reading and please vote & comment!

nine years ago

She crashed through the trees.

Her heart was racing, and the blood running through her veins burned so hot and fierce that she hardly felt the thorns scraping at her arms. What had she just seen? Who were they? What was going to happen to her?

Where did she go now?

Tears blinding her eyes, she slipped instinctively under the wire fence, too panicked to listen for that telltale buzz. Thankfully, it wasn't charged, but her momentary relief brought on the vivid memory of her mother's voice -- "Always remember to stop and check!" -- and she bit down on her lip so hard that it bled.

Seconds later, she found herself in front of a door. The only place that she could think of, the only place where she felt safe. Her fist rose and knocked, hesitantly at first, and then rushed, like she could feel the Peacekeepers on her tail, like the fire was coming and there was nothing she could do to stop it, like guns were pointed at her from all sides and there was nowhere left to run.

The door opened, throwing her off balance. A boy stood in the doorway, his dark brown hair a mess, his green eyes hazy with a veil of sleep that quickly snapped away. "Quinn?"

"Xan -- they took them. They took them and I just stood there and-- and--"

He made his way down the steps and wrapped his arms around her. His embrace meant everything. His silence was a blessing that warmed her up inside.

Xander held Quinn as she cried and cried, as the cold February wind beat against them, and as the first piece of ash crumbled down from their precariously constructed lives.

They were seven years old.