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Peetawillalwaysbemine: I'm glad the story is enjoyable!

Mikey Jacquez: Don't worry about it! We will still have our Hunger Games party! (Eventually...) You are a VIP in this chapter as well, though I'm not sure if you actually read it... Oh well!

MeaganOneDirection: I am very glad you enjoy it! I hope you continue to do so!

Chapter 3- Broken

Katniss

Annie was heartbroken when Finnick left. The first day on our own was awful. Not only was it the first day without Finnick, it was the first day of the games. Annie was in a constant, broken state; her hands were always covering her ears and she would whisper incomprehensible words, her eyes becoming pale and lifeless staring at nothing. Gale would coax her out of this state but the sound of a cannon would send her back. The bloodbath was another Hunger Games in itself. Prim ran away. She grabbed nothing and headed into the woods, where she met up with the girl from 11 and Peeta.

I remember this Peeta. He helped me in my darkest moment. Eleven years old I was starving, digging through trashcans, hoping to find a scrap someone had thrown away. I had no such luck. The woman at the bakery saw me and told me to scram. Her son saw me. He burned some bread, on purpose, I don't know, but he gave two loaves to me. That night, we survived. I hope he takes care of my sister. I am already eternally indebted to him, but if it his life or Prim's then I hope she lives. That night the 73rd Hunger Games aired on the television. I couldn't part with the screen. I kept watching the twelve year olds in the games try to beat the odds. The one twelve year old, the girl from three, died in the blood bath. The victor was Metro Hansley, the sixteen year old boy from 6.

The second day is better. There was only one death, the girl from 8. She tried to light a fire that led the career pack to her like a beacon. The girl from two was the one who finished her off. The worst part about the day was the best part of the day. Part of Annie came back. We saw a little bit of who she used to be. She grabbed her fishing pole and went to the dock outside the house and sat there catching fish. She used gloves to bait the hook -I've noticed Annie's hands are always clean- and dropped her hook into the water, landing giant tropical fish. That afternoon she would put the fish into the freezer and get dressed. Her attire were dark gray shorts, a light gray hoodie and brown fur lined boots that went halfway up her shins. Her hair would lay down, flowing softly past her shoulders. The shorts were cotton material, soft and casual. The sweatshirt was made of the same material as most shirts back in the Seam. It was comfortable to see her like this. She then grabbed the fish out of the freezer and put them into a cooler to take to the market. The entire time, she was usually singing. She had a lovely voice, but it only came out when she wasn't thinking of the games. Gale went with Annie to the market, where she apparently gave the fish away for free to a vendor who looked like he had nothing. That night the 72nd Hunger Games came on the air. There were no twelve year olds reaped this game, which I'm glad. In fact, the entire pool was made up of sixteen to eighteen year olds. I'm convinced by this that the reapings are not always completely random. Still, I'm glad there are no young contestants. The arena was in a icy mountain range. The mountains were all active volcanos. The games were over in three days. The victor was Mikey Jacquez, the boy from 11.

The third day was uneventful. No one died in the 74th Hunger Games. Prim's life was secured for another day. Annie surprised us all by watching the 71st Hunger Games. The games centered on a cowering girl, eighteen years of age, with a score of one in the training center. No one expected for her to become a victor. "Johanna is Finnick's best friend. They both won their games because they were underestimated. She acted like she couldn't do anything. She was a ruthless killer. Finnick was only fourteen when he won, making him the youngest ever to win. Katniss, don't count your sister out. She could still win this." She paused and looked out the window to the ocean. "I wish I was strong, like her, Johanna, I mean. I didn't want to become insane. I didn't even want to win. I killed no one in my games, yet I suffer the consequences of being a killer." Annie went to bed on her own that night. She had no nightmares. She seemed sane, for once.

The fourth day was the worst though. The careers went on a killing spree, killing three tributes, the girl from 11. Rue. The boy from 12. Peeta. The girl from 12. Prim. Three cannons went off back to back to back. It was three in the afternoon. Prim and Rue were looking for food among the plants. Peeta was standing guard with a large branch. "Prim, Rue! Look-" He was cut off, a animalistic gargling coming from him choking on his own blood. A large crimson slit decorated his throat. Boom. A cannon went off. The girls screamed and tried to run, but the boy from 1 grabbed Rue. The boy from 2 grabbed Prim. The two career girls were nowhere to be found. They tortured the girls, dragging knives across their innocent bodies, giving them awful scars. The girls were both crying, their tears making a path through the blood and dirt on their faces. Their last act was them grabbing hands, promising to go through this together. They died like Peeta, a slit through their throat. Not a single tear escaped me. I didn't move. I did nothing. My eyes never left the television.

That night was the 70th Hunger Games. Annie's Hunger Games. Very little bloodshed occurred. The worst was the decapitation of Annie's district partner. It was the worst thing I had ever seen. He was tortured as well, but his torture made the hell that Prim and Rue went through seem like child's play. Annie was tied up, forced to watch. They told her they weren't going to kill her. She was doomed the moment she set foot in the arena. She'd manage to find some way to kill herself. They killed her District partner slowly, though, by drawing lines into his skin, around his neck, always missing his throat. At one point, they stuck a knife in his eye and left it there. Crimson blood poured out of him and stained seventeen year old Annie's pants red. She was crying, screaming, but they ignored it. The moment they did decide to kill him, they held him down while a sharpened rock was used as a saw to dig into him. He was screaming for another hour before he finally died. After he did die, they took an axe and chopped the head off quickly and threw it at Annie. They left her there, laughing at her suffering. Then there was the earthquake. The dam in the arena broke, causing water to flood the arena. Annie had to grab her district partner's hair and drag his head close to her, close enough to dig the knife out of his eye and cut herself free. She swam, floated and rested on floating materials for the rest of the games, but she wasn't really there anymore. She was broken.

That night I didn't go to sleep.

Gale

"Katniss, are you going to go to bed?" I looked in the living room where the television was showing some Capital makeup advertisement. I had been in my room ever since Prim was killed. I was crying. Annie had done the same, but she just stared blankly at walls. "I'm sorry about Prim. I loved her, too. She was like a sister to me." Katniss wasn't in the living room, on the couch. She was no where to be found. "Katniss?" I saw the open door to the beach. "Katniss!" I ran out there and saw the door to the bait house, on the dock, open. "Ah, shit. Katniss!" I go in there and she is tying a noose. "Katniss!" I take the rope from her and take her in my arms.

"Let me go, Gale! She's dead! She suffered and died!" Tears finally started to come from her. "It's all my fault! If we hadn't run away she would be alive and I would be the dead one instead."

I keep holding her, kicking and screaming, crying rivers, in my arms. "Do you think Prim would want you to do this to yourself? Huh, Katniss? Would she?" Katniss stopped kicking and fell silent. "Katniss, running away was my idea. I feel guilty as hell. It was all my fault." Tears were falling from my eyes as well.

There was a moment when we stopped and looked at one another, my gray eyes staring into her stormy ones. In that moment everything stopped. Then I felt her lips against mine. I don't know who started the kiss, but I do know it was a long time before we stopped.

Don't hate me. Don't hate me. Don't hate me. Oh dear gosh, some of you hate me! Please don't. I'm trying to make the story realistic and the chances of Prim, Rue or Peeta actually winning the games without Katniss? Like, none. Sorry amigos! Please, pretty pretty please, leave a review and tell me your thoughts!

Thanks to my 7 favoriters and 7 followers!

-Juliet