I do not own 'The Hunger Games' or anything related.


Me and Effie rushed back to the control room. The Arena wasn't on fire, but it might as well have been. Huge swathes of land were burning, and it was spreading to where the tributes were. I understood its intent. All of the tributes were spread out, and this was meant to round them back towards each other. I watched both of my tributes flee from the approaching inferno. And if that wasn't bad enough then came the fireballs and the pillars of fire! Once the fire died down, the boy was safe, and so was the girl, but she had been hit on the calf by one of the fireballs. She made it to a pool, though, and doused her hands in it. The calf was another story. Bright red, covered with blisters, the burn was the size of a hand. The girl almost fainted at the sight of it. She was surprisingly squeamish for a daughter of a healer. I would have thought she would have been used to burns, from the patients brought to Pheena whenever they suffered accidents from the mines, and the doctor couldn't do anything. Nevertheless, she did her best to hide her reaction. After tending to her calf, she rested, taking water from the pool and eating some of her supplies as well as nearby resources. Eventually, however, the careers tracked her down, and she was off. She took refuge in a tree. A couple of the careers tried to go after her, but were unable to. The District 1 girl tried to shoot her with her bow and arrows, but she missed. The careers then discussed what to do about the girl when the boy said they'll deal with her in the morning.

I then noticed that the girl from District 11 was nearby, in a neighbouring tree, obscured from the careers but not from the girl. She was pointing at something above her head, and the girl saw that she was pointing to a tracker jacker nest. I realised what she was suggesting. That she could drop it on the careers. The best way to do it would be to saw off the branch, and she can do that with her knife, but can her burnt hands manage the task? She would also need to get out of there as fast as she could, which she couldn't do with the state her calf was currently in. I checked the menu, and found a pot of medicine. It was somewhat expensive, but it was necessary. I decided to send it during the anthem, to conceal my actions from the careers. The girl was already sawing at the branch during the anthem too, realising that this was the best time to do it, and I could see that the way the blisters burst on her right hand that I knew I made the right choice. I knew that by helping her drop the tracker jacker nest on the careers that I was risking the boy's life. But then I had already condemned him to death when I chose to save the girl. When the anthem ended, she noticed the parachute, and opened the package, realising that it was medicine.

"Oh, Haymitch," I heard her whisper, "Thank you."

I couldn't help but smile.

"You're welcome, Sweetheart."

"See, you do care after all!" Effie told me.

"Of course I care!" I replied, "It'd be nice to have a tribute become a victor for once!"

Effie smiled. I could tell she knew I didn't mean that. Something had snapped between us when I attacked her, but it was nice we were still able to tease and joke like this. After she applied the medicine to her burnt wounds, the girl settled for sleep, as did the careers. As I got up to return to my room, I was surprised to find Effie joining me.

"Aren't you going to stay to keep an eye on the girl?" I asked.

"No need. Peeta's already doing that."

What? Checking the monitors, I could see that whereas the careers had gone to sleep along with the girl, the boy was wide awake, keeping an eye on her. Oh you poor love sick fool! Of course, that kind of foolness is what I was counting on to keep giving us sponsors. If only the girl knew how so hopelessly in love with her he was. But then, maybe it was for the best that she never knew. Better not to miss a traitor than to mourn a boy who only wanted to do everything he could to protect her.

"Why do you sleep with a knife, Haymitch?" Effie asked me.

I was startled by the question.

"You're not in the arena anymore, there's no risk of muttations after you."

That's right. People wouldn't have thought it, but there were only a handful of years between us. Effie would have been among those who would have watched the 50th hunger games. Would have known that I nearly always slept with a knife. I was surprised she still remembered that little detail. I wondered. Who did she route for in the games? Did she enjoy the fights, get sucked into the drama? Was she upset when her favourite died? Was her favourite killed by me? I've never asked any of those questions. I try not to think of my experiences in the games. She only ever brought it up twice. Once when trying to encourage me of the chance of another victor from District 12. The other time was earlier, when she first started with us.

"You know, I thought you were rather clever. The way you won the games."

I stopped in my tracks and I turned to her.

"Don't. Don't ever compliment my victory in the games again. Don't even bring up the 50th games again."

Effie was surprised at my reaction.

"Why? I was only trying to-"

"Yes I know what you were trying to do, but if you ever bring it up again you can forget working with me, understand?"

Effie still looked confused, even angry, but eventually she nodded.

Yes, the way I won the games was definitely clever. Too clever. Too clever for my own good. I know Effie was only trying to be nice. And she wouldn't have known why I reacted the way I did. It was never reported who was responsible, but pretty much everyone knew who was responsible. Me.

Had I known the consequences of what I had done, I wouldn't have dared to do it in the first place. I would have rather died.

In the present, I shrugged.

"I just can't sleep without one," I told her.

"Oh, I see," A shrewd smile appeared on Effie's face, "It's your Mr Floppy Ears, isn't it?"

"My what?"

"When I was a little girl, I couldn't sleep without my stuffed bunny Mr Floppy Ears with me. To tell you the truth," She blushed, "I still couldn't sleep without him until I was fourteen."

I scowled.

"I wouldn't know. Stuffed animals aren't exactly a common commodity in District 12."

Effie's smile vanished. I know she was only trying to make conversation, but the way she talked about as if it was normal for a child to have a stuffed animal stung me. It was a reminder that even though we were on the same team, she was Capitol, and I was District 12. She grew up without any lack of need or want whereas I had to struggle for 16 years for even the most basic needs.

"Night," I reply.

"Night."


After having another nightmare of the careers torturing and killing Katniss, but this time Peeta being helpless to watch as he was next, I returned to the control room. The boy had fallen asleep at the end, while the girl was busy sawing off the branch with the tracker jacker nest. A few jackers had stung her, and I knew that she had been injected with enough venom to give her frightening hallucinations, even unconsciousness, but once the nest fell down and burst it would target the careers. "To the lake! To the lake!" A couple of them cried. Most were able to run for it, but the District 4 and 1 girls were not so lucky. I was glad, especially the 1, who had tried to kill my tribute!

The girl got down and made a run for it.

No no no, Sweetheart, get the bow and arrows, the bow and arrows! I know it was risky, but the bow and arrows were the only way to assure her survival. However, she had already left for the pool, and I despaired that she missed her one chance to survive. She may have been able to escape the careers this long, but she can't do it forever. Then she stopped, as if she had just realised something, and headed back to the direction of the nest. Yes! She just realised that she needs to get the bow and arrows!

When she got back, and the canon fired, the District 1 girl was unrecognisable, her features eradicated, her limbs three times their normal size. Even though I took pleasure in her dying, I took no pleasure in her death. The girl managed to break the bow free from her hands, and rolled her over on her back to get to the sheath. She suddenly staggered back, as if she saw something terrifying, and that's when I knew the hallucinations had begun. Hearing the hovercraft come, she flung herself over the District 1 girl's body as if to protect her, but really because she needed to get the sheath. However, the craft only came for the District 4 girl first, and the girl was able to get the sheath. She drew her bow, and the boy appeared, demanding to know what she was still doing here, screaming at her to run. The District 2 boy came crashing through. The boy again told her to run, and she did, while the boy fought the District 2 tribute. My focus should have remained on the girl, but instead I watched the boy's monitor. He held his own pretty well for someone who only had a couple weeks of training against someone who had been trained all his life, but that didn't stop him from getting slashed on the leg, but he did manage to escape and hide himself from the district 2. When that happened, I turned my attention to the girl, to find that she had already collapsed from the tracker jacker venom coursing through her body. I've only ever heard of the effects of the venom, thankfully never experiencing it myself. Mind you, I did have a similar experience in my own games.


It was after I had climbed a tree, to get a better view of the landscape, to find a clean source of water. A butterfly landed on my hand. I was admiring its patterns when I suddenly remembered that ever animal in this arena no matter how beautiful was a killing machine. I froze, trying to decide how to get rid of the thing when I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I screamed as I let go of the tree, crashing through several branches before hitting the forest floor. I didn't care for any injuries I had received from the fall as I was too preoccupied with my hand. It was as if it was on fire. I knew that I shouldn't be screaming but I couldn't help it. I checked my backpack for anything useful but there was nothing! I just had to bear with the pain, to let the venom pass through my body. Eventually I could feel the pain lessening. I felt tired. So tired. Some bell went in my head warning this wasn't natural tiredness, but I didn't care. I collapsed on the ground. A voice in my head kept screaming at me to stay awake, but I felt so relaxed that I couldn't help but close my eyes.


I was in District 12, but it was completely empty. Where was everyone? I checked my home, but my family weren't there. Eventually I found a crowd.

"Good riddance to him. He was nothing but trouble," One of them muttered to another.

"Yeah," Said another, "District 12 is better off without him."

It sounded like someone had died, but whoever it was sounded like they were pretty unpopular. I got through the crowd to see the coffin. What confused me was that everyone I knew and cared about was in front of it. Ma, Larie, Rachelle, Mel. All of them crying profusely. Who could have possibly died to make all of my loved ones grieve this much, someone who the rest of the district had no love for?

I looked into the coffin, and saw a 16-year-old boy who looked like me. Who looked exactly like me. But it couldn't be me. I was right here! I wasn't dead!

"Haymitch!" Larie cried, "What am I supposed to do without you, Haymitch?"

"Oh Haymitch!" My Ma cried, "If only I wasn't so angry with you for all these years! If only I had forgiven you sooner!"

"Haymitch!" Rachelle cried, "HAYMITCH!"

"It's all my fault," Mel sobbed, "If only I volunteered in his place, then Mitch would still be alive!"

This was going too far, as I refused to let Mel feel responsible for my death.

"Mel! MEL, I'm not dead! I'M NOT DEAD!"

I shouted at him, I even punched him, but he continued to ignore me. I tried to get anyone's attention, but I might as well have been…

"That's not me lying in the coffin! That's not me! Because I'm not dead!"

The coffin was being lowered into the ground, and already was being buried.

"No!"

I jumped into the grave, clawed off the coffin lid and tried to shake me awake, but I was unresponsive.

"Come on, Haymitch, you're not dead! You're not dead! You can't be dead! I refuse to let you be dead! Can't you hear them? Can't you feel their tears?"

I could see my eyes start to twitch.

"wake up!"

Wake up!

OPEN YOUR EYES!

My eyes snapped open. I was still in the arena. It was night time as the rain poured on me.

Rain! Water!

I instantly rolled on my back, and tried to spit out any rain water that I must have swallowed.

Wait. How long had it been raining for? With the amount I must have accidentally drank I should be dead by now. Sure enough, I could see the golden squirrels and other mutts come out of their homes to open their mouths and let the rain water fall into their mouths.

The rain water. The rain water is safe to drink! That's the clean source!

With all of my remaining strength and will, I took out all of my containers to collect the water, aside from the 2 litre bottle, which I was sure was still contaminated with the poisoned water I poured in earlier, but I had more than enough containers to make up for it. I squeezed the drops of iodine necessary for decontamination. Even though during the wait for the purification I tended to any injuries I received from my fall earlier, the time waiting was excruciating, but once it had passed I drank, refilled, purified, waited, and drank again. By the time the rain had stopped I had had my fill and my numerous containers filled with water. Placing them back in my backpack I stood up. I looked up at the sky. I felt a new sense of determination to live. Raybearta had questioned me as to whether I had a good reason to survive. For them. I would live for them. For my younger brother, who would be lost without me. For my mother, whom I still needed to make up for the time we lost. For my girl, who would be heartbroken over my death. And for my best friend, who I loved as much as a brother, who would only end up blaming himself for my death.