Woof Walker
Growing up in District 8, Woof had had the luxury of a pleasant childhood something which the most people of Panem had to go without. District 8 was developed in comparison to the other districts and arguably one of the most productive districts in the nation. However, despite this unrest and occasional skirmishes were more frequent here than in any other district. The reason for this being that due to their comparatively higher standard of living, the locals of 8 did not see why the Capitol should be treated to privileges that the Districts were denied. In addition to this, 24 children would be reaped every year for the annual Hunger Games and for what purpose? Entertainment for the Capitol citizens who seemed to find pleasure in watching two dozen children struggling to survive and having to kill one another in order to live. No wonder District 8 had effectively begun the second revolution after the 74th Hunger Games with Katniss Everdeen as their symbol.
Woof's parents were among the more prominent and elite members of their society. His father, John Walker, owned a number of industrial units while his mother, Carrie Walker, worked as a school teacher. Their income was high and yes, Woof had it easy.
But even rich kids wanted freedom now and then and Woof would go to the woods and enjoy the serenity while carving. Carving, something he was skilled at and enjoyed doing to such an extent that their manor had a special store room reserved for his carvings. Yes, his love for carving was immense, but nothing in comparison to his love for chemicals.
Chemicals had always fascinated Woof. Ever since he was a child and had been gifted with his first chemistry kit, Woof had developed an obsession for chemicals. He would often conduct experiments and tests in the basement of their manor. If he was ever missing from home, one of his parents would simply have to visit the shops in the town centre where they would find him observing different types of solutions. Needless to say that there was never a science fair in his school that did not end with Woof securing first place.
Woof was popular in school. His handsome features, medium build and family status did catch the eye of many girls but Woof was not interested in a romantic relationship having stated on numerous occasions; "I don't care about meaningless infatuations." Friends were something that Woof didn't have simply because there was no one in his school with whom he shared common interests but that did not mean he was lonely, no. He was somewhat of a savior of the masses, confronting bullies, helping others and having a caring attitude towards his peers which earned him the adoration and support of many a child.
However insecurity was one of his major flaws. He had been born on the day the 1st Annual Hunger Games were held. Those who believed in superstition claimed that he was an incarnation of a bad omen. As a child, there were many who attempted to assassinate him before his parents managed to put a stop to it. But these events had scared Woof driving him to ensure that he was protected at all times. This was why Woof always had an abundance of knives and short daggers hidden on his figure. A knife underneath his boot, one strapped to his calf, hidden in his collar, his pockets, the inside of his shirt and his coat pocket to name a few. They had proven handy many a time whether the occasional stray animal or human being looking to cause harm.
He was a realist. Many people mistook this for pessimism but he did not care for their opinions nor did he bother correcting them. He convinced his parents to give him lessons in various fields including hunting, wrestling, tracking and most importantly weapons training. Woof was decent with a spear and could use an axe if his life depended on it but his choice of weapon was unusual. Woof loved the use of an iron staff as it gave him the luxury of freeing his arms while battling and could cause serious damage to his opponent. He also enjoyed the use of a mattock and was nearly perfect at throwing knives and daggers. So he was well prepared, Woof was well prepared when he needn't be, and this rose questions from many people. Why? Why was there a need to be so prepared? Woof had one answer: "You never know when you could get reaped. What's the harm in being prepared?"
So when the Hunger Games came, Woof was prepared.
Reaping Day was a grim prospect for all. This year was no different. The potential male tributes and female tributes stood in separate groups and watched as the District 8 escort Vivian Skylark took the stage and began sprouting praises of the Capitol. After hours of unnecessarily wasting her breath, she finally got to the point and drew a folded piece of paper and called out;
"The female tribute from District 8 for the 17th Annual Hunger Games is… Kate Rogers!"
A girl, no more than 14 years old slowly walked up to the stage. Even from his position, Woof could see the tears rolling down her cheeks. Next to him, a boy too was crying. Upon closer inspection, Woof saw that he was crippled. His left leg had been amputated and he wore a wooden one in its place. There were obvious physical similarities between this boy and that girl leading Woof to believe that he was her brother.
"And the male tribute from District 8 is… Mark Rogers!"
"NO!" Kate Rogers yelled. "He's crippled! He can't compete!"
Vivian closed her eyes upon hearing that Mark was crippled and sighed, "The rules have to be followed."
"I volunteer."
Every eye in the District turned to stare at the boy next to Mark Rogers who had spoken out.
"Name please," Vivian called.
"Woof Walker."
Smiling Vivian turned to the crowd and happily addressed them, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the District 8 tributes for the 17th Annual Hunger Games, Kate Rogers and Woof Walker!"
Mark and Kate Rogers had been staring at Woof in wonder while most of the others looked confused. Everyone knew of Woof but no one understood why he would volunteer for a kid who was probably going to die anyway. Of all those present, only his parents understood and his mother wept not because she felt that Woof would die, but because she knew that he would be a different person when he returned.
The peacekeepers began dispersing the crowd while Woof spoke to Vivian and after getting permission to say goodbye, he clambered off the stage and embraced his parents.
"Should we rout for you?" His mother asked.
"No," was Woof's reply, "You having confidence in my ability to survive will give me more encouragement and a purpose than open cheering, besides it wouldn't be fair to the other tributes," he ended with a wink causing his mother to give him an unamused look at the joke they had been sharing for years.
His father didn't speak but his eyes depicted all that he needed to. He was proud of his son and Woof was glad he didn't speak because if he did, Woof might lose it. It was taking every fiber of his willpower not to burst into tears and if he heard his father's voice, Woof knew it would slowly chip away at his heart.
Giving his parents one last hug Woof walked towards where Vivian Skylark was standing but his mother's voice caused him to turn around once more.
"Woof?" She called, "No matter what happens in that arena, stay my little baby for me, would you?"
Woof allowed a tear to escape his eyes at his mother's words and gave her a stiff nod. Woof Walker's will to live grew stronger by the minute.
Kate Rogers was pleasant company to have. Upon boarding the train she gave Woof a sudden hug which nearly resulted in him being bowled over. She then proceeded to cling to his feet, literally, and began begging for forgiveness at her carelessness before thanking him profoundly for saving her brother.
Woof saw innocence in her. It was innocence that needed to be preserved for the Districts to be liberated and Panem once more made a peaceful nation, one which did not live in the shadow of fear.
He learned of how her parents had been killed by a masked assailant who had a chainsaw. It was that day that her brother Mark lost his leg to that chainsaw and Kate had witnessed all this while hiding under the bed. Once the man had gone, she ran out of the house and screamed for help. The peacekeepers eventually caught the man and he was executed but that brought Kate and Mark no satisfaction and then they would become the Capitol charity and pity case.
Even Vivian had some stories of her own and to Woof's delight she also had a chemistry kit. He spent the rest of the ride showing Kate different kinds of reactions, exchanging stories and of course board games at which Kate proved to be invincible subjecting Woof, Vivian and occasionally a guard to utter humiliation and then having the audacity to brag about her superior game knowledge as compared to us 'narrow minded mortals'.
Needless to say, Woof had fun.
The Capitol was beautiful in its own right and while Woof had been looking forward to seeing forests, as they were sparse in 8, he could not say that he was disappointed as the Capitol was indeed impressive. Kate had no trouble making friends and had already befriended the tributes from 3, 5, 9 and 12 by the time they were being dressed for the chariot ride.
After they had been paraded around, which the Capitol citizens seemed to love, they were brought to a halt before a balcony where President Marcus Snow stood. The President of Panem stood and addressed the tributes;
"Tributes of the 17th Annual Hunger Games! Citizens of the Capitol! Citizens of Panem! I am pleased to announce the birth of my son Coriolanus Snow to whom this year's games are dedicated! Thank you."
Woof was flooded with different emotions. Firstly, he sympathized for the poor boy that had been born as Marcus Snow's spawn. Strangely, it had saddened Woof to learn the child's name. Who names their child Coriolanus? Poor, poor kid.
Just his luck that he was pitted against 23 others for the games that were dedicated to the fucking rats' spawn. But pushing his thoughts aside, Woof made his way to the Training centre to learn more of his opponents.
Woof was now the favorite to win.
Every single exercise in the Training Arena had ended with him outclassing the instructors, something even the Careers from 1, 2 and 4 couldn't do. Wrestling, spear throwing, axe training, you name it; Woof owned it much to the awe of the other tributes and jealousy of the Careers.
Individual assessment was no different with Woof scoring a 12 which no one managed to match. Kate had managed a lackluster 7 and her chances weren't looking too good.
The Careers from 1 seriously pissed Woof off. He had met the likes of Talia Hayden and Maxie Langer back in 8. The usual stuck up children of aristocrats who considered themselves superior over all others but unlike the kids in 8, these two had the skills to back it up.
Talia fought with dual swords and knocked off practically everything and anything the simulations threw at her while Maxie like most tributes excelled with a spear. However, what made him special was that he was able to launch multiple spears simultaneously with deadly accuracy. His only weakness? None really, but that didn't mean he was without flaws. Woof soon learned that Maxie only partook in confrontations that he was convinced he would win and so ran away from many things. Talia on the other hand just could not stay away from a fight and reacted to the smallest of things which Woof decided to use to his advantage.
Among the other Careers, Carter Smith was a talented axe wielder but unlike most beasts from 2, he had more of a lanky figure. The female tribute from 2 Michelle Tucker specialized with a mace. The Careers from 4 were nothing extraordinary but their weapon of choice was. Both Carl Hertman and Tara Richards used harpoons. But they were unlikely to ally with the other Careers since they were already butting heads.
Henry Davids and Lana Foster from 3 were intellectually gifted but lacked any prowess in areas that would help them survive once that canon went off. The tributes from 5 weren't even bothering to try and learn anything being either supremely overconfident or having already accepted their inevitable deaths.
The tributes from 6 were monsters. The male talked of how he would rip off the heads of any tribute foolish enough to cross his paths while the female bragged of how she would single handedly take down everyone at the bloodbath. Truth be told? Woof had a hard time NOT believing them. These guys were a pair to be avoided.
Unlike most tributes from 7, these ones didn't show the usual characteristics. In fact they couldn't even lift an axe which even Kate was able to do. The tributes from 9 and 10 were pretty similar in the sense that they were doomed while 11 had a bit more to offer. As always 12 was hopeless.
Victory was achievable.
Especially if the tougher tributes dug themselves into death traps such as fighting each other before the games began as Maxie from 1 and the male from 6 seemed intent on doing.
They argued, shoved each other and might have begun a fully fledged brawl had the peacekeepers (fitting isn't it?) separated them after which they turned their attention to Woof who had been carefully observing them.
"What are you looking at?" They both snarled at the same time.
Fixing his gaze on the male from 6, Woof spoke, "I was just thinking of how it would be in my best interest to avoid you when the games start if I want to have a painless death."
"Damn right," he replied with a smug smile.
Turning his attention to Maxie, Woof aware of everyone watching said, "I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" Maxie was clueless.
"Yes," Woof continued, "I wanted to thank you for being a conniving, slimy, disgusting excuse of a Career who backs down from fights, opting to go crying home. So thank you, Maxie for boosting my confidence and confirming that you're no threat."
Maxie's jaw had dropped sometime during Woof's little seminar and it took him a few moments to realize what Woof had said and naturally he went into a fury at the insults while the male from 6 guffawed loudly.
"Fucking asshole, like you're any better. In fact…" Maxie moved closer to Woof but peacekeepers seized him and pulled him away while Woof smiled innocently at him.
Considering it a job well done, Woof turned to return to his room only to find himself face to face with the other Careers with Talia Hayden standing at a distance from the rest. No alliances there Woof realized. Talia strode forward to speak with him, "Bold words."
"Pure truth," he replied.
"Tell me Woof, do you honestly believe that I don't see through this little attempt of yours to turn the other tributes against each other?"
Woof smiled, "Tell me Talia, do you honestly believe that I don't see through this protective barrier you've established? Why do you launch yourself into confrontations, hmm? I'll tell you why. It's because you're afraid to appear weak like you truly are so you hide behind this alternate personality. But let's face it; weakness is the very fabric of your repugnant existence. You lack all honor."
Talia sneered at him, refusing to take the bait, "Profound words there, Woof. But it's you who is the authority on lacking honor. Tell me when did you ever do something you can honorable? Honor is built on actions not a large vocabulary."
"And if you have possession of neither?" Was Woof's reply.
Talia was speechless for a count of 12 but before she could talk, Woof cut her off, "I'll tell you what. Then you spend 12 seconds thinking of something intelligent to say or something which sounds intelligent but is actually there to obfuscate. Obfuscate means to becloud, as in during communication," he ended with a grin.
Talia Hayden was furious. Her whole life she had been respected and feared and now this upstart from 8 came and embarrassed her in less than a minute? What's worse? The fact that the Careers with the exception of Maxie were laughing at her expense. Without a second thought, she snarled and launched herself at them, getting in a couple of good blows before the peacekeepers separated them. As they held her, she turned to face Woof who had an unreadable expression on his face but noticing her he smiled and said;
"You know Talia? The other tributes here might think you're brave or crazy to launch yourself at 4 Careers but I know better. You're pure and simple reckless. This little act was not a show of courage it was pure cowardice and your way of having to get out of fighting me. But guess what Talia? When we're in the arena there's nowhere for you to run and nowhere for you to hide and you will have to face me."
When the peacekeepers finally released them, she and Maxie made their way to Woof and with all the other tributes watching, they warned him, "We're going to kill you first."
"Likewise," was his only reply as he turned on his heel and left the Training Arena.
Woof smiled to himself. He had this in the bag.
Kate had stage fright. This would have been nice to know before they were ready to go out for their interview. So, it was no surprise that she was panicking and also annoying Woof.
"Kate could you please stop?"
"What if I embarrass myself, Woof? Will that lose me sponsors?"
Woof pursed his lips. He hadn't considered that but nonetheless he tried to reassure her, "I don't think so. Anyway it doesn't matter if you embarrass yourself. Those Capitol crowds don't care about us except for entertainment so even if you do that'll just please them."
It finally occurred to Woof that he might not be doing the best job of comforting her and thankfully Vivian took over while shooting him a cross look.
He waited as tribute after tribute had their interviews with Joshua Flickerman until finally his named was called.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I now present the male tribute from District 8, Woof Walker!"
Woof smiled and waved at the crowd remembering Kate's comment about sponsors not that he needed them, still some backup never hurt anyone.
"So Woof, I hear that you've been training with weapons throughout your life and when the opportunity came, you volunteered. Seems to me as if you've got it all planned out. A tactician ladies and gentlemen!"
The crowd went berserk at having Flickerman address them. Woof gave them another smile before replying to Flickerman, "It's true Joshua, that I do indeed have everything planned out," and he did.
"So Woof, that being said, there are a lot of similarities between you and a Career tribute, so should we know of you as the first ever Career tribute from District 8?"
Woof gave Joshua a small smile before replying, "No, you shouldn't. There is no similarity between a Career and myself. Careers spend their whole life training for WHEN they take part in the games while I spent my whole life training for IF I had to take part in the games. Secondly, yes I volunteered, but Careers volunteer for the glory of winning the games while I volunteered in order to save a crippled lad from going into a massacre."
Joshua was momentarily stunned by Woof's outburst but recovered quickly, "There have also been rumors about you having an altercation with other tributes. What do you have to say to that?"
"True."
Seeing that Woof was not going to elaborate, Joshua asked another question, "So Woof what is it that you have that will help you win these games?"
"A plan, a brain and a strategy," was all Woof said before he got up, waved to the crowd and left the interview leaving Joshua thrown at his sudden withdrawal. This interview had made him sick. Not Joshua's questions no, but the reactions of the crowd. Woof did not need to impress the Capitol; he did not need the sponsors so he took his leave.
The games were minutes away from starting. A pod elevated him into the arena which Woof saw was inspired by a mountain. Jagged rock lay between the tributes and Cornucopia with woods behind them. Slowly all the tributes were in place and the head gamekeepers voice called out;
"Let the 17th Annual Hunger Games begin!"
A canon boomed and all hell broke loose.
Nearly all the tributes made a dash for the Cornucopia except for three. Maxie Langer and Talia Hayden made a beeline for Woof who was expecting them. As they finally reached him, Woof broke into a run and slammed his shoulder into Talia's ribs, momentarily bringing her down. Maxie rushed at Woof but Woof raised his foot and kicked Maxie on the chest, effectively causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards until Woof intercepted his fall and brought his knee to Maxie's back until Maxie's neck was tilted and seeing his opportunity, Woof broke his neck.
A canon boomed.
Maxie Langer was dead.
Someone launched themselves at Woof from behind him. Cursing himself, Woof remembered that he still had Talia to deal with. He managed to fling her off him and as she came at him again, Woof ducked and placing one hand on her waist he lifted her up in a horizontal manner and dropped her on her back before bring his knee to her throat and killing her.
A canon boomed.
Talia Hayden was dead.
Ahead of him Woof saw the field littered with bodies. He identified the Careers from 4, the male from 5, both tributes from 7 and 9 among the dead. Woof began sprinting towards the Cornucopia where the fighting continued.
He saw Carter Smith from two dying to a spear thrown by the male from 6 who in turn was killed by Michelle Tucker. The tributes from 12 were hastily attempting to grab something from the Cornucopia while the female from 5 and both tributes from 11 and 10 fought some distance from them.
His gut wrenched when he saw Kate Roger's body at Michelle Tucker's feet. She was dead. The girl whose brother he had volunteered for was dead. The girl whom he almost considered a sister was dead, and Michelle Tucker was to blame. But before he could avenge Kate's death, a spear whizzed past him, having narrowly missed his head. Realizing that he was still unarmed, Woof leapt towards the supplies in the Cornucopia and was dealt a stroke of luck when his gaze fell upon an iron staff. He was certain that this was no coincidence. God was with him.
A canon boomed.
Gripping his staff, Woof rose from among the supplies and strode towards the District 6 female. She threw her spear at him, and he parried it away with his staff. She hefted another on and sent it whizzing his way but again he managed to deflect it. Realizing that her strategy wasn't working, she rushed at woof holding her spear like a sword when Woof calmly sidestepped her and used her momentum to push her headfirst into the wall of the Cornucopia. She impacted against the wall and turning around, the last thing she saw was Woof's staff coming towards her head. As it struck her temple, she fell to the ground motionless but alive. Woof sat on her back and arching her neck, he placed his staff under it and cut off her oxygen supply until her heart stopped pumping and a canon boomed. She was dead.
As he got to his feet, Woof noticed that the other tributes had either fled or had been killed but there was one who stood against him. Michelle Tucker stared back at Woof without a worry in the world which for some reason irked him.
Letting loose a cry, Woof ran towards her and swung his staff at her head but she blocked it with her sword and used her second one to graze his right leg. With a grunt of pain, Woof backed off and considered making a run for it. No, he finally decided he could still do this. As he once again swung his staff at her, she brought her swords towards his neck but he ducked underneath them and whacked her in the ribs allowing himself a satisfying smile when she yelped in pain. But before he could strike her again she brought both her swords down on him and he just about managed to block them before stumbling towards a backpack. Opening it he saw a couple of rocks, aluminum foil, a box of matches and toothpaste.
Perfect he thought to himself as he quickly applied the toothpaste to the foil, praying that it contained potassium nitrate and pouring a liquid chemical onto it. As Michelle had regrouped and was preparing to come at him again, he lit a matchstick and applied the fir to his foil. He knew well enough to look away when it exploded but she didn't and was staring right at it. When it went off, she was temporarily blinded and taking advantage of that he snuck up behind her and put a knife to her throat.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear before slitting her throat. He could have sworn that he heard her say 'I know' before he killed her.
A canon boomed.
Woof now occupied the Cornucopia and decided to use it. Scouring through the scattered supplies, he finally found some medicine and a roll of bandages which he bound to his leg.
He was now faced with the question of what now?
The sky flashed with the images of those who had fallen among whom were Maxie Langer and Talia Hayden from District 1.
Carter Smith and Michelle Tucker from District 2.
Lana Foster from District 3.
Both Careers from 4.
The male from 5.
Both tributes from 6.
Both tributes from 7.
He cried when Kate Rogers's face came up. She didn't deserve to die. But she had died. Woof needed to survive.
Both tributes from 9 were dead.
The tributes from 10 had fallen.
The male from 11.
The female from 12.
5 tributes remained. The bloodbath had seen the deaths of 19 tributes, the highest in the history of the games. Woof tried not to think on it, 'tried' being the key word there. Sighing, he got up and decided to take a quick nap, confident that no one would approach the Cornucopia.
When he woke up a few hours later, there were parachutes all around him. He picked up one and saw a note;
You're doing well – Vivian
He would have to hunt the other tributes down. Woof would have to leave the comforts of the Cornucopia and wander off into the unknown. Or he could wait for them to come to him or finish each other off. Maybe this was the safest way to end it.
Patience.
A canon boomed, followed by the sky showing the final image of the District 11 female.
Woof needed to bide his time but there were not many ways to do it. So he thought of what he could make with the supplies present.
He spent hours trying to find something useful but turns out that everything had either been taken or already used by him. Vivian kept on sending food but not enough to satisfy him. That is until a rabbit crossed his path. Cautiously, Woof drew a knife and threw it at the animal, impaling and killing it. He finally decided on skinning it and just as he was about to cook it, Woof felt a presence. He heard footsteps behind him and abruptly turned around to see the male tribute from 12 near the Cornucopia.
The boy stared petrified at Woof; no doubt expecting Woof to kill him but Woof was not heartless. The lad was no more than 13 and one look at him told you that he came from a family that did not have enough money on the table. The boy was famished while Woof had an abundance of food. So, Woof did the right thing and beckoned at the boy to come closer and even put his staff away to reassure him.
The boy inched closer and Woof patted the ground next to him, indicating that the boy sit down, and he reluctantly complied. Once he sat, Woof looked at him dead in the eye and asked, "You hungry?"
The boy's expression morphed into one of confusion. He studied Woof for a few minutes who stared right back at him, before nodding.
Woof gave the boy some of the rabbit he had cooked and he began devouring it. He was done with it in a few minutes and Woof kept on slipping him more until he'd eaten the whole rabbit. Woof was full, anyway. Once he was done, the boy began staring at Woof again until he broke the silence;
"You're not going to kill me?"
Woof cocked an eyebrow at him before replying, "Fine way to introduce yourself."
The boy blushed. "I... Ian Hawthorne. District 12."
"Woof Walker from 8."
"I know."
Woof looked at him questioningly and the boy elaborated, "You dropped quite a bomb by confronting the Careers and then taking 3 of them out. So you're really not going to kill me?"
"Do you want me to?"
"Yes."
Ian's response shocked him.
"Why?"
"I've got no one left in this world apart from my sisters. While they do love me and all, we all know that I was doomed when I was reaped. You've been the strongest tribute this year. Falling to you isn't the worst way to go. You were considerate enough to offer me a meal. So I'm confident that you'll honor my wish."
"A death wish."
"Still, I know that I'll die one way or another but I want for it to be painless. So I ask of you, Mr. Woof, will you kill me?"
Woof stared at Ian before giving him a curt nod. He didn't want to do this but any argument would be fruitless, "You know, Ian, the world is watching."
Ian narrowed his gaze, "Yes I do."
"Would you like to give yourself a national sendoff?"
"What?"
"Address your family, fool."
Having said that, Woof stood and walked away to give Ian some privacy. He pondered over whether he should do it or not but he'd agreed to it. Woof would honor his nod and so when Ian called him back Woof did not hesitate. He confidently strode towards Ian and kissed him on his forehead before looking at him one last time, "I wish you hadn't made me do this."
Ian smiled at him, the same smile that Kate Rogers had given him and Woof's stomach clenched. A tear escaped his eye and bringing his knife to Ian's throat he whispered, "Goodbye," before killing him. Woof waited for the gamekeepers to take Ian's body and once they had done so, Woof wept. He thought he knew what he was doing when the first canon had gone off but these emotions were something completely unexpected; sorrow, pain, guilt, heartbreak, responsibility.
A canon boomed and the District 5 female's image flashed in the sky followed by that of the District 11 female.
Only Henry Davids from District 3 remained. Hefting his staff, for the first time, Woof strode away from the Cornucopia and towards the forest. He searched for half an hour until the sound of labored breathing alerted him to the location of District 3 tribute.
Henry Davids lay at the base of a tree, severely injured, in pain and dying. Woof sat down next to him and quietly said, "If you want me to end the pain, I'll do it."
Henry looked at Woof, "I'm dying, aren't I?
"Yes," Woof confirmed.
Henry nodded and said, "Put me out my misery but before you do so, tell me something.
Woof gave him a sad smile before saying, "Close your eyes. Picture your loved ones. Remember your fondest memories. Forget about your pain. Forget about your worries. Remember the good things in life. Repent for your sins. Die a happy man, Henry."
Woof kept on talking until Henry Davids drew his last breath and Woof hadn't moved. He had let Henry die himself while doing his best to console him. He prayed for him. He prayed for them all. Even the Careers. Woof prayed to God asking him to open the gates of Heaven to the 23 tributes that had lost their lives in the games. He kept on praying until the Head Gamekeepers voice brought him back to reality.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the winner of the 17th Annual Hunger Games, Woof Walker!"
His plan had worked but he would never be the same. His mother had asked him to stay her baby but he didn't think he could.
Woof was interviewed, praised and even loved. Sometimes the families of the tributes hated the ones who killed their relative but no one hated Woof. His victory tour had ended with him breaking down in tears in every District when they chanted his name along with the fallen tributes. This chemical loving, strategist from District 8 had touched the hearts of all in the nation.
Needless to say, Woof was a hero.
His parents welcomed him home in 8 but all he could do was weep in their arms. Woof invited Mark Rogers to live with him in the Victors village and he agreed.
Nightmares plagued him occasionally but he often sought refuge in his dreams where he would see all 23 tributes standing together in heaven, looking down at him and whispering just 3 words. 3 words that helped Woof live. 3 words that kept him going all day, every day. 3 words that he thought on when he decided to support the rebellion decades later.
At a victors party he met Mags Slate who told him of how she had always been alone. But Woof was never alone. He had people by his side and people in his heart. His parents and Mark stood by him while Ian Hawthorne, Henry Davids, Maxie Langer, Talia Hayden, Michelle Tucker and all other tributes lived on within him.
He still loved his chemicals. But an experiment went wrong and Woof lost some of his hearing ability which would worsen as the years rolled on but those 3 words kept him from losing hope.
He became a mentor and would try to help his tributes get through their games. Some of them did, most of them didn't and whenever one went, a piece of Woof's heart went with them.
Woof might have been crowned the winner of the 17th Annual Hunger Games, but in reality he was a survivor.
Those 3 words that kept him going? Those 3 words he heard his fellow tributes saying:
We forgive you
Woof was a survivor not a victor and those 3 words helped.
Authors note: I hope you enjoyed it.
Please review!