Prologue (written before I saw the movie) :
Josiah Martin was just 16 when he won, now at age 42 that seemed a life time ago.
When Josiah won, he was not heralded as a hero or even a favorite- in fact the majority of people considered his victory to be dumb luck. He was not skilled or well trained, in fact he nearly died on several occasions. Perhaps it was pure luck that the top contenders managed to die off first.
He was only a child then- that is what he tells himself to calm the nightmares. He knew every face of every victim he killed or witnessed; not tributes- victims.
After his victory tour he returned to district 9 to live out his life as a farmer, abet with a larger plot of land then average. He married his childhood sweetheart; his best friend, the only person willing to stay by his side through physiological 'episodes'. Although she could not bear him a child, she managed all aspects of the farm and fields.
But more importantly, she gave comfort to Josiah's scarred body and soul.
Some people wondered why her husband would place such a burden on her, but she would reply that she lived only to love and support him; for all he had lived through he deserved at least that much.
As one of the few former winners from District 9, he was supposed to train the next generation of tributes, so that they might honor their district with a victory as well. He took on the mentor position only once- then after witnessing his students die horrifically mere hours in to the competition he vowed to never take the mentor job ever again.
Upon returning home he went out in to his fields and attempted to kill himself with a large knife.
This made a case for "mental instability" and since there were other living winners from dict 9, he was allowed to live his life un-bothered. until the "all star" event.
Yes he did it; what the rumors say; he slept with her. He betrayed his wife , his district, anyone who eher cared or believed in him; he had sex with the legendary beauty Johanna Mason.
And that was the reason he died.
Some might say he "fell for her" or "fell under her spell" but he will not play the innocent victim; he cheated on his kind, loyal, loving wife (who stood by him though all his tragedy and pain)- with a girl old enough to be his daughter.
At the gates of heaven or hell, he had plenty of time to reflect on how it all happened.
Round 1; the gym-
Instead of learning useful skills (what would happen if this was a regular Hunger Games even with randomly selected children), the competitors were showing off; well most of them anyway. There were a few who used this time to speak to allies about strategy. Josiah wished he had allies. Even his fellow District 9 representative was not really an ally or even a friend.
He also did not feel like practicing anything. He knew what he was going to do for the mandatory "performance" in front of the "judges" (who would then assign a ranking) for the entertainment of the fans and to give "odds" for gamblers.
So he sat in the corner and prayed. He carried with him a small cross. (He assumed he was allowed to keep it because at least it was not a mockingjay.) Holding it in the palm of his hand he closed his eyes and asked god for guidance. He knew he would never see District 9 again. But part of him hoped there was a chance he would not have to die.
As he opened his eyes he saw her. She locked eyes with him then quickly looked away. Johanna Mason, the dark haired angel practiced her weapon routine, until the star decided to show off. The entire gym came to a halt; everyone wanted to get a peek at the power and skill of Katniss; the last Hunger Games winner and overnight celebrity sensation.
But there was something about the guy from district 9; was he praying? How laughably innocent. But at 6'1" with a gorgeous face and hot muscular body he was at least nice to look at. And from what she could remember from history; he won his title in a similar way to her-by waiting for the majority of the competition to kill each other. The only difference was he appeared to have "survivor's guilt."
She made sure to shoot him a smile as they took their seats for the individual performances.
round 2; the individual performances
For his performance he did a bo staff routine. He was sure it was not most impressive thing they would see. He was self taught in hand to hand combat, adding skills with a bo staff because even though 99% of the time there was no bo staff offered, the skill of using a long stick-like object as a weapon could be useful for a wide variety of situations.
He had been training with a staff for over 10 years; even if he was never asked back to the competition, the movements gave him a sense of balance and tranquility- except for today. He managed to drop the staff. And to make things much worse, he could not seem to pick it back up. Was it lack of practice? or something else? He would ask to see a doctor, but for now all he could do was exit and accept his low rank score.
The district 9 team managers allowed him to see a doctor even though they really didn't care if he lived or died at this point; the low ranks score was already a very publicized embarrassment.
But the doctor did find something; for whatever reason Josiah had suffered a small stroke- his hands would never be stable enough to hold a weapon ever again. This was a death sentence.