I Can't Live Without You

by Hammsters

She was going to make damn sure he made it out. He'd never considered dying, but saving her made it seem worth it. Two best friends are being sent to the first Hunger Games, and they'll do anything to make sure the other one wins. Even die for them.

1. Chapter 1

Yea, I realized how poorly written this story really was, so I'm doing a little editing heare, some rewriting there, to bring you a much better of my Hunger Games story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Do I LOOK like Suzanne Collins to you?

The Dream:

I'm standing in an empty field. A river snakes around me in a loop on three sides. My worst nightmare. I hear voices in my head, calling me. Each one is a distant memory, each voice a friend who's just out of reach and calling for help. Images flash before my eyes. They're transparent like ghosts, the ghosts of my past haunting every decision I've made in this horrible place, every action I've taken to ensure he makes it out alive.

Then, it just comes to me. Sam's in danger, he needs my help. I run every way I can but it always ends in that awful black river. The cool spray traps me and the water burns like it's never burned before. It feels as though it's entered into my veins. I'm scared. I call for help, but no one answers. A sharp continuous pain in both my forearms that I've felt ever since I can remember sears hotter. I look down and there are hand-shaped burns on them. Only, I don't get burned. Fire's never hurt me, so what could possibly leave that kind of angry red mark. Boiling water pours out of cuts in my skin that I don't remember having, causing me to shriek. Then I hear a voice.

"MaddiGrace!" My best friend's voice calls out my name. I look around, but I can't see him anywhere. "MADDIGRACE!" he calls again, panic seeping into his voice. I try to call his name, but no sound escapes my mouth. Suddenly, I can't breathe. I fall to my knees, holding my stomach, gasping for breath. I hear cruel laughter. There's something familiar about it, something enticing. A false sense of security envelopes me as the source of the laughter grows closer and I see two glowing eyes surrounded completely by a large black mass. The wretched water on my skin turns hotter and I see that it's turned to blood. Somehow, I know it's not mine. The world around me spins and goes black.

I wake up with a start, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. I feel a sensation of fear and emptiness in the pit of my stomach but I can't figure out why. Then I remember. Today's the first reaping.

My name is MaddiGrace Moore, my best friend is "little Sammy" Holloway, and we are both sixteen years old. We live in District 12 in Panem. We haven't always lived here. Well, kind of. We've lived here all our lives, but up until 2012, it was the United States of America and District 12 was Appalachia. Then one week, my mom took my little brother Rocky and me and we hid in the basement.

That week, everything rumbled, the streets and the world outside burned. Sirens screamed so loud our ear drums threatened to burst, and all I could think about was my family and the Holloway's. Would we be able to make it through this, this- what would you call it? Disaster? Armageddon? Apocalypse? All of the above? Would anyone?

At the end of the week the rumbling ceased, The shrieking ended and the shrieks of the sirens stopped. We risked going out and- BAM! Hello Panem, hello Capitol. It was all there, their little utopia was waiting for us to come out. It almost seemed planned. Come to think of it, it probably was. The majority of the freedoms that our ancestors lived and died for were taken away, we were mostly left to starve, and hunting was punishable by death. The districts barely scraped by, but somehow they did. Only, our new lifestyles didn't settle well with anyone. We rebelled. For three long months that felt like years, we struggled against the Capitol and their far superior weaponry and armies. Obviously, we failed, or we wouldn't be in this mess and I wouldn't have a story to tell in the first place. We were punished and District 13 was destroyed altogether. It's 2013. It's been a long year.

Now for the big question. How are we being punished? Well, the Capitol may not be fair, but it sure is creative. Every year, starting this year, we have the Hunger Games. Two tributes- a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen- from each district are chosen to compete. They go to the Capitol, get all primped and primed and treated like kings, then off to the arena with you! We haven't been told much, but we know that only one of the 24 tributes will be allowed to return home. The rest will never see their families again. That's where the reaping day comes in. Two names are chosen from to giant glass bowls. One boy and one girl.

I'm from the Seam, the poorest part of section District 12 that was already in pretty bad shape before the Capitol came and made it worse. All my friends are from the Seam. We're all in desperate need of money and applied for tesserae- which gives you enough food and such to last about a year per person. We got grain, oil, and increased chances of being in the Hunger Games. I have my brother, my grandparents, and my mom who's pregnant with triplets- My father died of some disease a few months ago. I wouldn't let my brother apply for tesserae, that's too dangerous for him. No only I could risk that. My name is in that bowl 25 times. The odds are NOT in my favor.