My eyes flutter open. Where am I? What's going on? I breathe heavily and smell smoke. I look up and see the sun every now and then. Where am I?
I hear someone running and quickly sit up. Maybe they'll help me.
"Hey! Hello!" I shout, running toward the footsteps. A boy who looks to be a bit older than me rushes out of the trees.
"Woah!" he shouts, suddenly taking out a sword.
"Don't hit me!" I shout, not sure why he has a sword. "I just was wondering if you could tell me where I was?"
The boy blinks and doesn't put the sword down.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"Where am I?" I repeat.
There's a boom from above and the boy quickly shoves me along the path.
"What's going on?" I ask after another boom sounds.
"Run!" the boy shouts. So I do. I don't know what from, exactly, but if someone tells you to run, you run.
"Okay, you can stop now," the boy says after we run for a while.
"What the heck is going on?" I ask, breathing heavily from the run.
"You honestly don't know?" he asks, staring at me with disbelief.
"Not a clue," I say. "I just woke up here a few minutes ago."
"You're in the Hunger Games," the boy says.
"Hunger Games? What's that?" I ask. "Like, are we supposed to eat something? 'Cause I'd gladly do so. I'm starving."
"No," the boy says. "It's a game where we have to kill each other."
I burst out laughing.
"Yeah, right," I said, laughing hard. "Like anybody would do that!"
"I'm serious," the boy says, his face hard.
I slowly stop laughing as I realize something: He's not joking.
"Why... why do we have to kill each other?" I ask.
"It's the way the Capitol shows us who's boss," the boy says.
"The Capitol?" I ask. "As in the Capitol building?"
"What?" the boy says, obviously confused.
"The Capitol building," I repeat.
"Where is it?"
"Uh... Washington D.C."
"Where?"
"Washington D.C. I thought I already said that..."
"What's Washington D.C.?" The boy blinks, confusion filling his face entirely.
"It's a... um... a state in America," I say. I look at the boy's face and see that he looks American. He should know what Washington D.C. is...
"America?" the boy asks.
"Honestly?" I say, awe filling me. "You honestly don't know what America is?"
He shakes his head slowly.
"Guess you've never heard of the President, either, have you?" I ask.
"President Snow? Yeah; I've heard of him," the boy says.
"Who?" I ask. Who the heck is President Snow?
"President Snow," the boy says.
"Never heard of him," I say. "I've heard of George Washington, though. And Abraham Lincoln."
"Who the heck are those dudes?" the boy says.
"They're practically world-famous!" I exclaim. Why do neither of us know what the other is talking about?
"How much do you remember?" the boy whispers.
"I..." I start to say, pondering what I remember from before I woke up. That's when I realize it: I remember nothing.
