Hey everyone! MC here!

This prologue tells the ending of our previous victor from the 38th Hunger Games Austin Hexson! Austin and other characters mentioned in this prologue are from the previous installment to the "Blood" series: "Bound By Blood." We have a link to this Fanfiction on our profile, so be sure to check it out and see the beginning of Austin's story!

~MC

Prologue: A Victor Shall Rise

Austin Hexson, 18 ~ District 5 Victor

MCPBN

Rift-the District 9 boy-meanders toward us, smirking, a glint in his eyes. "Well, well, if it isn't both of the District Fives," he says, idly twirling a knife between his fingers. "I didn't expect you to last this long."

"Next time, don't assume so much," Ampere calls. I almost tell her that there isn't going to be a next time, but keep my mouth shut.

Rift smiles, clearly amused. "So, which one of you wants to die first?" I instinctively push Ampere behind me. His gaze shifts to her, then back. "Ah, we have a volunteer."

I turn my head towards Ampere, and mumble under my breath, "Remember our plan." She nods reluctantly, pulling out her knife. I face Rift, steeling myself and gripping my electric whip tightly.

"That's right, say your goodbyes." Rift rolls his shoulders. His knife has stopped twirling.

"Now!" I yell. Ampere bolts to the right.

Rift's attention is diverted for only a split second, but in that time I am able to charge and swing my whip toward his torso. I have to let Ampere kill him, but wounding him will assist in that endeavor. I can't kill Rift; if I do, it'll be only Ampere and me left in the arena, and I would have to kill her.

He dodges, and I tackle him around his midsection. We both go down. My whip crackles as it comes in contact with the snow, and I smell burnt fabric; it must have touched one of us. We tumble, him trying to get on top of me, me trying to get my whip to make contact with him without electrocuting myself.

Or maybe, if I did, Ampere wouldn't have to kill him. With this new idea alight in my head, I begin trying to wrap it around both of us.

Then Rift finally pins me. He smiles as he raises his knife. The blade reflects sunlight, and I catch a glimpse of a wavy figure running towards us.

No! I cry in my head. Not yet; I'm not dead yet! But before I can relay this message to Ampere, I feel Rift's weight lift and roll off of me.

Damn, damn, damn! The word echoes, driving me to roll over and hop up. Ampere must have kicked him or tackled him to be able to knock him off me.

Ampere is standing over Rift, kicking him in the side. She's yelling something that I can't comprehend due to the blood pumping in my ears.

"Use the knife!" I scream at the top of my lungs.

I realize that I shouldn't have, because it means he may be dead, leaving only her and me.

Ampere raises her knife above her head.

But I notice that Rift has a knife tucked between his fingers.

The scene plays out in my mind two seconds before it happens-I can only get out "Look!" before Rift blocks Ampere's descending weapon and lodges his in her gut. Ampere gasps-I expect a loud scream or shout of pain, but only a gasp.

I, on the other hand, go crazy.

"NO!" I yell, until my voice dies.

Ampere turns toward me, face paling, the knife still in her abdomen. She takes a small, shaky step and then falls onto the snow.

I feel like the horror of seeing her stabbed might make me crumple. My vision blacks around the edges. My knees quake. My blood boils while Rift stands, grinning broadly, and the veins in my neck pop as I rush him. He throws a knife at me, but I dodge it, slinging my whip around his extended arm.

Rift convulses as electricity shoots through his system. He does have the sense to bring another knife around and cut my whip in half; he pulls it off his arm, which jumps back and forth, hair standing on end. His eyes twitch.

I jump and kick his chest. He stumbles back a few feet, and I bend to grab the other half of the whip in my left hand. Two smaller whips are better than one.

I lift my head, and feel a stinging, then burning pain crawl up my cheek as the sound of Rift's knife slices past my ear. Blood spills from the wound, pooling between my lips and trickling down my chin; I force myself not to reach for it. Rift must have recovered. But not completely, due to the angle and placement that the knife grazed me.

He wobbles slightly as he stands, but regains his balance. I push myself forward, barreling into him again.

We somersault over one another, and somehow he manages to prop me up onto his boots and throw me over his head. I land hard; though I shoot my hands out to catch myself, it doesn't work, and I end up flipping onto my back. Something pops in my neck. For a moment, I'm unable to move.

With all my strength, I twist my neck; the pain dulls as I hear another popping sound. I lift my head and see Rift charging at me; I roll to the side. One of his throwing knives is right within my reach.

Rift curses under his breath, and lunges at me once again.

I grab for the knife, but I'm pulled back before I can reach it.

Something cold and sharp sinks into my shoulder-I scream in pain. Rift twists a knife between my humerus and scapula bones. I hear an awful-sounding pop as my arm dislocates and goes completely numb.

He flips me over and sits on my stomach, his knees on my elbows. I groan. The pain from my arm shoots into my head, causing my vision to blur.

Rift unsheathes a final knife. I shift my head enough that the blade only nicks my ear. An arm slips out from under his knee, but it's my dead one, and I can't lift it.

I turn my head, and bite Rift's hand. He screams and falls off of me.

I grab my whip with my good hand, and wrap it around his arm. He immediately convulses, screaming at the top of his lungs. I make sure not to touch him, as I too would be electrocuted.

After a few more seconds, Rift falls to the ground, unconscious, still jumping from the surging electricity.

I get up slowly, making sure I don't put pressure on my dislocated arm. I haven't heard a cannon, so Rift's heart must still be beating.

I think of just stabbing him and ending it, but my need to run to Ampere is too great. As far as I know, there wasn't a cannon for her either...unless in the commotion, I didn't hear it.

I roll her onto her back. She looks like she's asleep, but I know she must be dead. For the first time in eighteen years, I cry. One of my tears falls on Ampere's cheek. If I didn't know better, I'd swear I saw her flinch ever so slightly.

No, it can't be possible.

I inspect her face closer. Her eyes flutter, and then open.

I sob in relief. "Ampere! Ampere!"

She smiles back at me. "Hey."

I am almost fooled into believing that she will actually be okay. But the knife must have damaged at least one organ, and she's probably bleeding internally.

This is our last conversation.

"Why? Why did you do that?" I ask.

"I couldn't just let you sacrifice yourself like that. I would have felt like a jerk for the rest of my life." She coughs. "It should be a fair game between the two of us-we both should have a chance to die. Pretty logical, right?"

It is logical, but I don't want this to happen. "I was supposed to protect you. I failed, Ampere, and I'm so sorry." I turn my face away from her in shame.

"Hey," she says, reaching to gently turn my head back, "we were supposed to protect each other. And we did."

"No. I didn't get you out of here."

"Yes, you did. I am getting out of this arena, Austin, and so...are you." Her voice breaks a little. "That's what I hoped for since we got in here. And now it's coming true. Maybe…maybe not how you planned, but it came true."

"I don't know if I can live, knowing that you died."

She coughs again, a little blood splattering onto my face. "You have Sally and Rick. You'll be fine. Just...just remember..."

I start to panic, thinking she may not be able to get it out. "Remember what?"

"I'll always be with you. I love you, brother. And...thank you." Her gaze turns glassy, and her hand slowly falls from my cheek.

There's a silent moment where I just stare at her.

Then I find my voice. "Ampere?" God, no. "Please, please don't leave me. Not yet. I love you too! Please hear me."

I grip her hand, and for a second her hand squeezes mine. She heard me! She must have.

The cannon fires.

I collapse on top of her, washing her face with my tears. I don't know how long I lay there, hugging Ampere as if she were alive. I whisper one last goodbye...then pull the knife from her abdomen, toss it as far away as I can, and reluctantly clear the area.

Rift's cannon booms a few moments later, and a hovercraft appears. Metal claws pick Ampere up first. For a moment, I think that the claws are going to crush her...but they lift her into the sky, and she's gone. Really, truly gone.

When the second hovercraft leaves, the booming voice of Lucio Tenorfield echoes around me. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victor of the Thirty-eighth Hunger Games, Austin Hexson-the boy from District Five!"

. . .

The crowd above me is making so much noise, laughing and pounding their feet, I can hear them through the floor. For a second, it sounds like the screams from the Cornucopia.

The horror. Hearing the gong go off. The pain in my side. Ampere helping me as people die all around us.

"Austin."

I start, coming back to reality. My mentor Shilo stands behind me, wearing a thin smile.

"Are you ready?"

I'm standing on a metal platform. Soon, it will lift me onto the stage, where I'll be crowned. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I nod.

My prep team, stylist, and Nero have already been introduced, and now there's just Shilo and me. Vanth was technically my mentor, but he's in such a drunken state that we decided to just roll with her.

It's been five days since I was lifted out of the arena, and I've spent most of that time hooked up to a machine. Every night, I woke from a nightmare and felt Ampere's presence in my room. I screamed, begging her to show herself. This should be enough to admit me to an asylum-but Shilo assured me that almost all victors feel this way.

"You look good," Shilo says. I'm wearing a navy-blue suit with gold buttons and cufflinks. "Now you have to act sociable. It'll be hard after the trauma, but Caesar should help bring some stuff out, and you don't really have to talk until tomorrow."

The last interview. Where Caesar asks about my feelings during my time in the arena. Terrific.

"I'll do my best," I respond.

"Okay. I'd better get up there." Shilo turns and walks away.

Only a few minutes later, I hear a slight whir, and then rise toward the stage. A flashback of rising into the arena hits me, and I almost scream in panic. Calm down, you're not going back. You're not going back.

The roof opens, and the anthem plays. The crowd goes crazy when I appear. I put a fake smile on. Caesar greets me with a firm handshake, and we walk over to two seats-one a high backed, ornate chair and the other a victorian-looking olive wood chair with plush red cushions.

"Austin, it's great to have you back," Caesar says.

"It's great to be back," I reply, with a toothy grin that probably doesn't reach my eyes. But the Capitolites seem to fall for it.

We converse about inconsequential nothings like my outfit, until it's time for the show to start. It's tradition to rewatch the Games. And I'm nervous because they put the victor's face in a tiny square in the corner of the screen; I can't cry.

The first half-hour goes over the reapings, chariot ride, and interviews.

Everyone laughs when Nero tips the ball of boys' names over, and he turns bright red. I smile with pleasure-I hate him. He made Ampere's last days hellish.

Since the Games, I've noticed that I'm able to show more emotion. And my Tourette's has gone quiet. I've heard that the ticks can subside with maturity.

The transition between Ampere and me at the chariot ride, and the first day of the Games, is amazing. Whereas we were stiff and detached, we emerge as best friends at the Bloodbath.

Seeing the Bloodbath sparks a pain in my side. The wound from the District 1 boy's spear is completely healed-there's not even a scar-but I remember the agony.

Ampere's arm is broken, and I cringe. I never really thought about how brave she was to fix me up and ignore her own wounds.

The first two days go kind of slow, since I'm feverish. Ampere faints after skinning a rabbit. I'm glad I never insisted she gut another animal.

Then my whole delirious act, which looks kind of dumb. But it prompted the Capitol to send medicine and keep me alive, so I'm not going to complain.

We get to Day 6, when Ampere and I kill Aelia and Maria-the District 2 and 4 females.

I watch Ampere, not paying attention to Aelia's death; I saw that firsthand. She saves me here too. I never thanked her.

On Day 10, we hear loud rumbling and break into a run. The final edit shows the scene from a frontal view, as if the camera is the avalanche. It was closer than I thought. If we hadn't found that boulder to scramble behind, we would have been buried alive.

Next comes the feast on Day 13. This isn't that hard to watch, since we got supplies and bolted while the rest fought. A knife flies between our heads, and I gasp, remembering my heart stopping.

The final battle is almost enough to make me run away. I can't watch this, I can't!

But I have to, I hear in my head.

I tackle Rift. No, don't show it!

Ampere kicks Rift in the face. He rolls off of me.

I close my eyes, refusing to see the rest.

I open them when Rift jabs the knife into her gut. Suddenly, I'm not watching-I'm in the arena. Ampere turns and reaches out to me. I reach out to her, but she falls to the ground.

When TV-me screams, so do I; I scream at the top of my lungs, tears falling.

Shilo is in my face. "Austin!"

"No, let me get to her!" I twist out of Shilo's grip. I can't keep my eyes off the screen, even though my fight with Rift has started.

"Austin! Look at me!" I finally shift my gaze to hers. "You're back in the Capitol, where it's warm and comfortable." I shake my head, because all I can feel is cold and terror. "You're the victor! You're out of the arena, do you hear me?!"

My gaze has shifted back to the screen. Ampere is talking to me; I have to listen. "I am getting out of this arena, Austin, and so...are you."

I slowly calm down. I stop hyperventilating.

Caesar stands over me, appearing concerned. Shilo smiles and squeezes my hand. I nod for her to go, then reassure Caesar that I'm better.

The Capitolites' attention is stuck on me. I redden with embarrassment.

The show ends, and I'm told to stand as President Snow himself walks up with a young girl holding a crown on a pillow. Snow grabs the crown and sets it on my head. "Congratulations, Austin," he says, "You've earned it." His eyes bore into mine.

"Thank you, sir," is all I say.

He leaves. I take a few bows, and the crowd cheers, then Caesar bids them good night.

-The Final Interview-

The next morning, my prep team gives me a flashy silver shirt and black denim pants, fixes my hair, and cleans my glass lenses. I frown. I am perfectly capable of doing that. . .but they feel like they're helping, so I let them.

After turning down the invite to breakfast, I sit on the edge of my bed, wringing my hands and trying to calm the butterflies in my stomach. I wonder why they say 'butterflies'-I feel more like a swarm of termites is eating my insides.

I resolve to walk around. I don't really know where I'm going until I find myself in Ampere's room. There's nothing here to show she existed. I can feel her, though.

But then, I feel her everywhere. In the morning sun. In the flowers that grow on the Capitol streets, their colors reminding me of the way Ampere's mind must have worked. The reds of her temper, the blues of her passion, the yellows of her smile.

If only she was here. How I long to talk to her again.

"Austin?" Nero calls. He comes to the open doorway. "Oh, there you are! Come now, it's time for the interview. And could you try to control yourself? We have a reputation to live up to."

"Reputation means nothing," I respond.

"Maybe not to you, but it means everything to me."

"Someone whose thoughts are only on themselves and their world will lose sight of what matters. They won't know until it's too late that their world has crumbled into a void," I say, glaring.

"Your mind works in such dark ways. Can't I ever get a happy thought out of you?"

"Oh, you do, Nero. Every time I see you topple over the reaping ball, a smile comes to my face." I smile at him; he turns pale and walks away.

I follow a few minutes later, entering the sitting room where the interview will take place. It has been readjusted a little for the cameras, and the chairs from last night has been brought in.

Caesar is talking to one of the film crew when I walk up.

"Ah! Austin, how are you this fine morning?" he asks, obviously wondering if we'll go through another episode. He extends his hand.

"I'm doing great. This should run smoothly, with no crowd and interruptions." I take his hand, and Caesar winks, catching my message.

I stand quietly as the crew and Caesar look for the best angle.

When Shilo finds out I haven't eaten, she insists, so I grab an orange and eat it as fast as possible. My prep team checks me over one more time, then I sit so the crew can get the right light.

There's a countdown from three, and 'Action!'

Caesar begins with the preliminary greeting and introduction, and then we begin the questions. "So, Austin. What were your thoughts when you heard your name called at the reaping?"

"Well, Caesar, other than 'what was that horrid crashing noise-'" I am cut off by his laughter. I smile. "All I thought about was how my siblings were going to survive while I was gone."

"You always knew you were coming back?"

"With all the talented tributes this year, I must say I didn't think so all the time."

This brings on a bunch of questions about how I felt during the train ride, and my first impression of the Capitol and the other tributes. We laugh, and I'm amazed at how well I'm doing. Of course, Caesar does a great deal of the talking.

Then come the harder questions. "What did you think when you first raised up into that cold arena?"

"I was happy to have a coat."

"Oh, yes, I get chills just thinking about it."

Yeah? Why don't you try it out, with twenty-three other people hunting you down?

"Now, I have to bring this up. When you and Ampere came out on that chariot, I thought you were going to split. You both were so. . .formal. When was the moment that you decided to become allies?"

That's tough. When did we stop acting as if the other didn't exist?

"During training-" Caesar nods. "-I was particularly nervous, and Ampere came up and told me that I would be OK. That I would get whatever I was trying to achieve."

I remember it like yesterday. Missing a target with my spear, and starting to 'tic'. Then someone tapped my shoulder, and I heard Ampere say, "Deep breaths, Austin. It'll go away soon."

"So you allied then."

"No, that happened the night before the Games."

"Oh. At the last minute."

"Yes, you know-knew-Ampere, always deciding at the last possible moment."

We go into the Games, and I become a little more distant as time progresses and we get closer to the last, worst question. He's saving it till the end, hoping to get the best rise out of me. I just hope it doesn't go all wrong. I could hardly bear to look at anyone during the banquet.

"OK. Before we wrap this up, I have a few more questions to ask."

Here we go.

"When you saw Ampere attacking Rift, what were your immediate thoughts?"

"It was so chaotic. It wasn't the right time. Ampere wasn't supposed to kill him yet-I hadn't died yet..." I trail off, flashbacks beginning.

I feel Caesar touch my shoulder, and it brings me back. "And what about when he stabbed her?"

"It was like. . .the world was collapsing around me. As if the avalanche had started again. Everything moved in slow motion. When Ampere-" My voice breaks. I close my eyes, and take three deep breaths. "When she reached out to me, I felt so helpless. Like I was watching it happen on a screen, rather than physically being there."

"Yes. Yes, indeed. I have one more question. When you were talking with her for the last time, she called you her 'brother'. Do you feel as though she was your sister?"

"Besides Sally and Rick, Ampere was. . .everything. She understood me, she trusted me. She's the first person to ever want to be my friend. I am so grateful for that. So yes, she was my sister. We may not be blood-related, but she was family in every other tie."

Caesar wipes a tear from his eye, and thanks me for sharing that personal information. He then signs us off of the show, and gives me a hug before he leaves.

Shilo walks over to me. "You did a good job."

"Thank you."

"Are you ready to go home?"

"Yes," I say. I've never meant anything more in my life.

-Homecoming-

The last trees faded about an hour ago, and now we're moving through a vast plain. District 5 is in the distance: a big, dull grey blotch with thick clouds of smoke rolling above it. Even so, my whole body shakes with anticipation. Five may be an ugly spot compared to the Capitol, but it's home, and I can't wait to be back in its streets and factories.

When we reach the station, I'll walk out first-then Shilo and Vanth, who's actually more sober than I've seen him in. . . ever. Nero will also make an appearance, but I couldn't care less.

The train halts, and I see reporters and cameras waiting outside. I glance, searching for familiar faces, before Shilo taps my shoulder. I walk to the door, stomach writhing. . .then the door opens, and a surge of sound hits me-cameras flash, reporters swarm, and the crowd cheers. I instinctively almost raise my hands to my ears, but instead I smile and wave.

The reporters push mics into my face, and ask questions I'm unable to respond to since Shilo is pushing me past them.

Sally and Rick stand to the side of the small platform that has been built for the occasion, smiling and waving. I can't restrain myself: I run to them, engulfing them in a hug. Sally gasps in surprise, and I can't blame her; only a month ago I was unwilling to pat her shoulder.

"It's so good to have you back!" Her voice breaks a little. When I pull back, she wipes her eyes with her sleeves.

"It's so good to be back," I respond.

"Austin, I missed you!" Rick says. "I thought you weren't going to come back."

I smile at him. The truth is, neither did I. I resolved the moment I was picked that I would never live to be nineteen. Rubbing my hand through his hair, I say, "I missed you too. I thought about you guys so many times. Were you both ok while I was gone? No problems?"

Sally laughs. "You were worried about us? How do you think we felt?"

"I just thought I'd ever see you both again. I thought I'd lost you guys like Am-...like…" I trail off.

Sally looks at me concerned. She puts her arm around my shoulder. "I'm sorry about Ampere. I remember her from school; she was always asking questions and annoying the teacher with her curiosity."

I smile. "Yes, she excelled at that." I avert my eyes to the cameras again, and then say, "I guess we better get this over with." I then take both their hands and lead them off of the stage.

-Six Months Later-

"Austin, help me!"

I see Ampere pinned under Rift, a knife to her throat. I try to run to her, but I can't move. I'm frozen for some reason, forced to watch as Ampere screams for me. Tears stream down her face. "Austin, please!" she cries.

Rift yells, "Shut up!" and then he slashes his knife across her throat and the world turns into one long, high-pitched scream.

I awaken with a start, cold sweat running down my cheek. Another nightmare. I thought I was rid of them since I hadn't had one in about a month. It must be my subconscious mind reawakening my memories of the arena because I am about to be thrust back into the fray again. The Victory Tour. Where I'll have to travel to each district and give a eulogy to their tributes. I'm less than thrilled, and have been nervous about being in front of a camera again for the whole week.

My prep team will show up in a few hours to get me ready for the big opening. I'll have to walk to the train and of course, I have to look like a Capitol clown. I can't stand how they have to put makeup on me.

Since I'm already awake, I decide to just get up and walk around. I'm still getting used to our new house in Victor's Village. It's three times the size of our old apartment and we had little to bring to it. So although it's been completely furnished by the Capitol, it looks rather empty, like a house that no one is living in. There are two pictures: one of our parents, and one of Ampere that her family gave to me upon my return.

Thank God her parents don't hold anything against me. Even her older brother, Isaac, seems to understand that I really couldn't have done anything more to help her (a point I constantly argue) and we have become very close to them.

Other than that, we haven't really put anything of our own in here. Sally has some stuff in her room, and I'm constantly tripping over Rick's toys, but it's still like living in someone else's house. Or maybe it's just me.

I walk into the kitchen and start brewing a cup of coffee, something I acquired a taste for after the Games. It calms me in the mornings, even though it's supposed to have the opposite effect. I stare out the window and into the dawn.

District Five looks rather eerie in the morning light, with no people out and about, like an abandoned city with papers and debris flowing across the street with the wind. The black and grey smoke clouds over the factories make it look like a never-ending overcast day. The sun hardly gets through, which is why the solar factories are further away from the other factories, all the way across the city in fact.

"Austin," I hear behind me. When I turn, Rick is standing in the doorway to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "How long will you be gone again?" He walks over and sits down at the dining room table, placing his little stuffed mouse on top of the table. It was the last gift Mom and Dad got him, and he's held onto it ever since they passed, sleeping with it and carrying it around the house. When he first got it, Sally asked him what he was going to call it, and he said, "Frake."

"Frank?" Sally said quizzically. "Why would you name it that?"

"No, not Frank, Frake." Rick had said sternly.

"Oh, where'd you get that name from?" Sally asked.

"I don't know, I just like it." Rick replied.

I smile at the memory; that was a happy time. "Only a week, then I'll be back for the big party."

Rick's eyes widen. "I can't wait for that."

I chuckle. "Neither can I." And it's true because it'll mean I have another six months before I have to think about the Games again. "You want some orange juice?"

"Yes, please."

As I'm pouring the glass for him, I hear a knock on the door. Could it be my prep team this early? I walk over to the door and open it to find Shilo standing in the doorway. "Hey, I figured you'd be up early. I came over to give you this." She hands me a envelope.

"What is this?" I ask, opening it.

"I figured you'd disregard Nero's speeches, so I made up a few for you. They're not much, but the Capitol should be appeased."

"I'm glad I don't have to make up my own because I didn't know any of the tributes, except for Ampere." A pity, really. Twenty-two people. Twenty-two different personalities that I'll never know. Twenty-two dead corpses with no one who was in the arena to remember them.

"Well, the only districts you have to worry about are 2 and 4 since you and Ampere killed the girls from there. I would think that District 9 shunned Rift for joining the Careers, but I don't know, so tread carefully in that district."

I nod. "When will my prep team be in?"

Shilo sighs. "Probably around 8:00, but you never know with them."

. . .

The departure went very well. My prep team and stylist dressed me up, and I said goodbye to Sally and Rick. Ampere's parents will look in on them while I'm away.

I relax when we finally get past all of the cameras and reporters, and I am able to step into the train. It looks about the same as it did six months ago. Same furniture, same chandelier, same food table. I walk over to the recliner and sit down, resting my head in my palms. Nero's already giving me a headache.

"I-I am so excited for this to-tour! As long as A-Austin doesn't make a fool of himself. I can only hope he's m-matured in the last six mon-months." Nero cast a withering glance at me; his orange feathered shirt practically blinds me.

"Don't hold your breath, chicken," I retort.

Shilo appears behind Nero and rolls her eyes at us. "Can the bantering hold for a while please?" She walks through the entrance and the door closes behind her.

"Vanth isn't coming?" I ask.

"No, he's holed himself up in his house now that he doesn't need to mentor anymore," Shilo responds.

"Like he mentored before," Nero says.

Shilo casts a cold glance at him. "He may be a drunken fool, but if you had gone through the same thing he did, you would never judge."

Nero whimpers and retreats to the next car.

I turn my attention back to Shilo when the door closes behind Nero. She gives me a weak smile and then says, "OK, so as you know, the Victory Tour is twelve days long. A day a district, and then the presidential banquet. Then you go home, give a speech, and live the next six months trying not to think about mentoring, understand?"

I nod. "I still don't understand the purpose of this tour."

"It's to keep alive the fear of the Games throughout the entire year," she replies.

"I don't really feel like the fear ever goes away."

Shilo nods and gives me a half smile. "It never does."

We start in District 12, which is layered in a blanket of coal dust. The moment I step out of the train, I start gagging on it. The Justice Building is just as cold and intimidating as the one in DIstrict 5, and two-thirds of the people here look to be starving to death.

District 11 is cleaner than 12, but still the people are a thin and frail looking. Here the perimeter is guarded at all times by Peacekeepers, and the walls are at least twenty feet high with barbed wire at the top.

Ten smells to high heavens of cow droppings. I don't know how the people can stand it day in and day out. The meat is probably the best I've ever had, though. Fresh and tender unlike the grizzly, tough meat we have in 5.

District 9 is the one i fear going to. I am afraid the people will be angry at me, but in reality, they seem to be fairly calm about the whole situation. It must be like Shilo said.

Eight reminds me of 5. It has many big factories where the people work to make cotton and then form it in shirts and other forms of fabric.

District 7 is a very beautiful district. It is surrounded on all sides by a huge evergreen forest, and has several running streams through it. All the people here look strong and hard-working.

District 6 is basically a whole bunch of parking garages. There's some for hovercrafts, cars, and trains.

Four is set up right on the beach, where the blue waves roll toward the sand. The people glare when I give my speech. Ampere killed their female tribute. It must be insulting to have a Career die from a non-career district.

District 3 is the most high-advanced looking district. Its people are all pale looking.

If I thought District 4 was bad, District 2 is ten times worse. Throughout my entire speech, I am shouted at, and one person actually throws a rock at me. Peacekeepers drag him away while he scream foul obscenities at me.

One is a very big district. People there wear fancy clothes and look very healthy and well-fed. At least one Career district doesn't hate me.

The banquet is rather uneventful. I am welcomed by President Snow, and then someone gives me a drink, but doesn't tell me it's for throwing up so you can eat more. I barely make it to the bathroom before I start throwing up my guts.

The next day, we start the trek back to District 5. I am very nervous about my speech. This is the only one that really matters, and I want to get it just right. Shilo tells me to just relax, and Nero says that I'll mess up anyway, but I ignore him.

When the train opens and I step back out into my district, I hear the loud sound of applause from my people. They finally have another victor. I walk up to the mic slowly and the crowd starts to simmer down.

I close my eyes and fight back the voice in my head saying I can't do this, I can't do this. Taking a deep breath, I open my eyes and begin.

I tell about Ampere. I describe our relationship and how it evolved from district partners to that of siblings. How Ampere thought I was going to kill her in the limousine because my hands were twitching as she bombarded me with questions. How we warmed up to each other during training to the point that we formed an alliance. How we had each other's backs and grew closer to each other. How we decided to stick together for as long as we could. And how Ampere sacrificed herself by distracting Rift. Here, I start crying for the girl who grew on me; whom I came to see as another little sister; who was headstrong and impulsive, yet caring and understanding; who ultimately is the reason I'm standing here right now.

"She was a fighter. She never let on how scared she really was, especially when she fought Maria and when she was about to die at Rift's hands. District 5, you should be proud of her, for few before us have been as…bold. Remember her, and remember how she made the... ultimate...sacrifice…" I take a deep, calming breath, then clear my throat, a trick I learned that would stop one from crying. "To bring a friend back home. Remember Ampere Henry."