Epilogue

With one action, Sam had taken back her life from the government and had given it to me, saving my life. Sam was my protagonist, the true heroine of my story.

When the Presidential Guards asked for the two redheaded Avoxes from the twelfth floor, Sam who had dyed her hair red on Bacchus night stood from her seat in the cafeteria, surrendering herself in my stead. She and Darius were taken into custody and hastily taken from the TrainingCenter. Before the Presidential Guards bound her hands, Sam gestured a last message for me to the cafeteria of Avoxes: My turn to save you. Love always.

Sam must have known what ultimately awaited her by taking my place. Had I been in the cafeteria, I would not have let her.

Perhaps she was repaying me for resuscitating her heart during Avox training. She had indicated to me that she had felt guilty when I bore her punishments and had nearly lost my hand, but I had kept reminding her that I would keep doing so despite her protests.

When they tortured Darius and Sam in front of Peeta, the government thought it would aid them with their brainwashing of him. Peeta had been beaten, tortured, sleep deprived, and drugged with morphling before presented the two Avoxes. The broken young man had looked upon the redheaded Avox girl before him and assumed her identity to be me, an easy mistake under those circumstances.

Besides, Peeta Mellark did not know me. He knew Darius from District Twelve and even recognized him during the run up to the Quarter Quell, but he did not see me run through the woods in his District. Peeta never gave me an order, never locked eyes with me. I never turned down his bed or cleaned his room. Peeta Mellark could not have picked me out of a room with multiple redheaded Avoxes.

Peeta reported that, "she was lucky", having seen Sam die immediately. He reported that Sam's heart had stopped on the first electric shock.

Darius was not so fortunate according to Peeta's recollections.

I imagined Sam displaying a smug smile to her torturers when she saw the electric probe, knowing that she would be denying the government once again of their objectives by dying prematurely. This rebellious girl, whose entire family had fought against the cruelty of the government, becoming an Avox after her family's execution, had fought the government to her very end.

The government's torturers have never been brought to justice. As the chaos unfolded around the Capitol, these monsters slipped back into the shadows of everyday life. If they did not die in the street battles at the end, it has been assumed that they returned to their private lives, in everyday homes, in generic neighborhoods, next to common citizens. Only guilt could bring these torturers to justice. Unfortunately, guilt has not been an attribute often found in a monster.

Under the new government, the Avoxes were set free. Some concerned citizens worried that a few of us were actual murders or other violent ilk, but that could not be proven since President Snow's government did not keep Avox records, and what they did document was destroyed by them before their fall.

Less than a five hundred Avoxes remained when the unrest ended. The new government apologized to the survivors and awarded us reparations that would be paid out monthly in perpetuity. For many Avoxes, apologizes and financial compensations came too late since nothing could ever undo the years of suffering

The Foundation of the Solemn was created to decipher the truth of what happened to the Avoxes. Citizens who believed that their missing loved ones had been turned into Avoxes began to submit photographs. Former Avoxes and family members began to visit the foundation to look through the pictures in an attempt to put names to faces, but the task has been daunting and has only brought closure to a few.

I have been looking periodically for the tall gangly man who went through Avox training with Sam and me, but I have yet to find him. With his strength and youth, I have been hoping that he survived his enslavement. Regardless, I have never stopped looking for him.

I did put a name to my young friend Five's face. His name was Tiberius. His surviving uncle did not know why his nephew and family were taken, but he was grateful to know that his nephew had friends who had cared for him throughout his ordeal.

The new government eventually arrested Julia for her participation as a handler. Many of the handlers were found guilty of cruelty and charged with crimes against humanity. Most received lengthy prison sentences. A few were executed.

It turned out that no Avox had ever been killed by Julia or by a Training Center Peacekeeper. Denied healthcare by governmental decree, disease and time was what killed most of Julia's Avoxes. At Julia's trial, it became a media sensation when the TrainingCenter's activities were revealed. The spectacle grew when many of Julia's Avoxes came to her defense, including me. Based on Avox testimony, the jury nullified the charges of her being a handler, but she was found guilty of the charges of forced prostitution and illicit drug distribution.

Sentenced to five years in prison, the government released Julia in nine months for good behavior. It gave her time to write a tell-all book that rocketed to the top of the bestseller list when she was released. Her salacious story revealed many of the secrets of President Snow and other high-ranking politicians from his administration. However, some of the politicians of the new administration were conspicuously absent from her memoirs. This I knew from experience since I had personally delivered water to a few of them. Julia told me, "You don't cash in all your chips when there are players still at the table."

After her release from prison, Julia visited every one of her Avoxes and apologized for her role as a handler. She even made an effort to visit surviving family members when they could be found.

Julia and I became good friends, meeting often for tea or dinner. In addition, Julia and I have met each year for a special dinner in honor of Sam to celebrate her birthday. Julia, and her friend George, have always been welcomed guests in our house.

People do not understand how I could befriend my former handler. Those who are not Avox could never truly understand our relationship. When asked, I have often explained it as a friendship forged over fire.

Reinforced by Avox testimony, George and his Peacekeepers were not charged with any crimes, as they should not have been. The Head Peacekeeper had risked his life when he took me to a safe house after the arrest of Darius and Sam. Later, George had risked his life again to bring Lucius to the same safe house. One might think it remarkable that he and his Peacekeepers had never abused us, but he was a true man of honor whose men had admired and followed in his lead. Needless to say, I have given him a daughterly hug each time he and Julia have come to visit.

When Lucius returned to his normal life, he opened a designer boutique. He has made an effort to stay out of the lime light and has rarely gone to fashion shows. He frequently visits me at the house, which has always brightened my day since I have been his guinea pig for new clothing designs.

Effie spent the entire period of unrest in a prison cell. She was not abused, but the solitude and the fearful uncertainties of what might happen had left her with severe depression. Lucius and I kept a vigil and she soon regained much of her vigor, aided by outpatient therapy. When Lucius and I invested in her rare wood antique furniture store, she again became the Effie we grew to love. Moving on with the next chapter of her life, Effie took our advice and ditched her wigs, letting her natural hair grow out, though she dyed it the color of mahogany.

The most prominent hero that rose out of the TrainingCenter was Garum. When the public learned of his dedication to feeding Avoxes in honor of his fallen Avox brother, he became an instant celebrity. He opened a restaurant that became the number one draw in the city. Some of the kitchen Avoxes, which Garum had trained to be Sous-Chefs, opened associated restaurants that share his name. One little known fact of Garum's restaurant, which has always held true, has been that Avoxes always dine for free.

Once the dust had settled, the biggest surprise came when Cinna appeared at our door. People had assumed that he was dead since they had executed Portia on television; however, no one had actually seen him die, nor did they find his body. Cinna told me of his miraculous escape, but I have promised not to share his story until he feels comfortable enough to come out of hiding.

Katniss and I were able to strike up a regular correspondence once the new country stabilized. I have yet to return to District Twelve, and Katniss feels no rush to return to the Capitol, but our regular correspondence is cathartic and therapeutic.

Though the reparations have been sufficient with which to retire from work, most of us lost ourselves in things we enjoy.

Cheekbones (Cornelia) and Pincushion (Freddie) opened a vibrant nightclub as business partners in the center of town.

Freckles (Tina) opened a hair salon, which she named Samantha's.

Despite the fact that no money can be found in books, Brown Eyes (Athena) has opened an antique bookstore where one can find old classics or have modern stories printed onto paper for nostalgia purposes.

I have opened a flower shop to feed my passion for what I call living art. My shop has done well and has provided me plenty of flowers for my personal garden at home. In the backyard, I have created a circular garden with a single lilac tree in the center, similar to the one from my dreams.

For our third anniversary, Brown Eyes (who she will always be to me) bought me a piano. She also has hired a professional music instructor who comes to the house weekly. I will never be good enough to perform in public, but I have tremendous fun channeling my desire to sing through my fingers.

Besides what Brown Eyes and I have with each other, we have been blessed by the endless amount of joy that our two children have given us.

The doctors could not reverse the vaccine sterilizations that the males and females received in Avox training; however, after psychology screenings, we were found to be desired parent candidates for adopting children with communicating difficulties.

We first adopted our daughter Atia when she was a year old. We were blessed three years later with our second adoption of our son Lukas.

Our children were discovered to have speech problems shortly after their births. Physically, they have always looked and played like other children, but both continue to have trouble communicating. Diagnosed with speech delays, speech therapists have worked with them at school and in our home, and everyone has remained optimistic that they will grow out of it.

Atia and Lukas have naturally found ways to communicate in their own special ways. We have understood our children's subtle and unique forms of communications, which the therapists are unable to distinguish. Showering our children with love every day, Brown Eyes and I have never worried for their futures.

When we inquired with the doctors as to why they allowed two muted Avoxes to adopt special needs children, they told us that these special children need special parents, and if there was anyone who can endeavor through extreme adversity, it's an Avox.

THE END

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to give a big, big, big thank you to everyone who followed me through this experience. I deeply appreciated the encouraging reviews that I received as the chapters progressed. I was going to quit on chapter 15, worried that the "water/thirst" metaphor would anger too many people, but your responses kept me going. This story could not have been completed without your positive feedback.

This was originally outlined to be a short story that would have ended with the tongue resection, but as soon as I began to think about the average day for an Avox, I knew that this tale was big enough to be novel. Moreover, it was fun giving Effie and Johanna more character and depth.

This story was mostly inspired by the couple of pages where Katniss told Peeta about her first encounter with the girl in the woods. (First book, end of chapter 6) When Katniss told the story on the roof of the Training Center, I wanted to know more details about Lavinia, and I wanted to know why there was a garden located on the roof of a building, which was empty 11 months out of the year. I get hung up on the small unusual details in stories.

See you in the next story,

Stu