I made Manda sleep next to me in the Community Home. I'd lost my father, I'd lost Elissa, I'd lost Becky, I'd lost my mom, and now I'd lost Lance. Manda was the only loved one that I had left.
I never told her what happened to Lance. I didn't want her to know that her brother was dead. I didn't want her to know that both of her sisters were dead, or that her father was dead, or that her mother was probably dead. I didn't want her to know that every move I made might cost her her life.
"Melany?" Manda whispered to me one night in the Community Home. "I'm hungry."
I could tell she'd been hungry before, but she'd never said anything about it until then.
"I know," I said, leaning over and kissing her on the forehead. "It'll be okay."
Those words, "it'll be okay", were everywhere it seemed. They were full of comfort... and lies.
I couldn't stand to watch Manda starve, so one night I snuck out of the Community Home and past the peacekeepers. I headed outside and to the woods. I slipped under the fence, got to the woods, and pulled my bow and quiver of arrows out of the log. It would be hard to hunt in the night, but at least then Manda wouldn't starve.
I knocked and arrow and walked quietly through the woods, looking for any kind of animal. There were probably still some people left at the Hob, and they wouldn't tell anybody that I was out of the Community Home.
I heard leaves rustle and turned around quickly, bowstring already pulled back. I heard leaves rustle to my left and quickly whirled my bow around to face that direction. I shot an arrow blindly and heard some sort of screech. I put my bow down and carefully walked over in the direction of the animal. I looked down and saw that I'd struck a squirrel with an arrow. I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd thought it was a bear...
I picked up the dead squirrel and took my arrow out of it. It was only one squirrel, but I didn't want to stay out in the woods in the dark for too long. I ran out of the woods and swung under the fence, then headed for the Hob. I carefully avoided the peacekeepers as I walked through the Hob. I walked over to the man that sold me bread frequently and handed him the squirrel. He looked at me as if wondering what I was doing out so late, but didn't say a word. He took the squirrel from me and handed me a loaf of bread.
"Thank you," I whispered, taking the loaf.
"Thank you," the man said, grinning. "You best be getting on now. The peacekeepers are going to come around her at any minute."
"Thanks," I said, nodding at him and taking off. Just as I slipped out of the Hob a hand seized my arm. Without even looking, I swung my elbow up and knocked the person who had grabbed me in the face. The person let go of my arm and I ran, not letting them get a view of my face. I had to get the bread to Manda and I had to keep her safe.
I ran to the Community Home and slipped back in, then ran to the room where Manda and I slept. I lightly shook her awake and handed her the bread.
"Eat it fast," I whispered, not wanting anybody to smell it and wonder what was going on. Manda's eyes grew large and she scarfed the bread down.
"Where'd you get it?" she whispered.
"Where I usually do," I said, not wanting to tell her the specifics. "Now get to bed."

First thing next morning we were sent out to school. Manda and I always walked together, mostly because I wanted to keep her safe. When we were about halfway there, a peacekeeper stepped in front of us. I immediately grabbed Manda's arm and pulled her behind me.
"What do you want?" I asked, trying not to let my panic seep through my voice.
"You were out late last night," the peacekeeper said. "Past curfew."
I looked at his face and saw a large bruise on his cheek. I recalled the night before when I'd whacked someone in the face. This was him.
"No I wasn't," I said, trying to look as confused as I could.
"Don't play that game with me," the peacekeeper said. "You were out late. I saw you. And you punched me."
"Elbowed, not punched," I said before I could stop myself. The peacekeeper's eyes widened and I swallowed the knot that had formed in my throat.
"If you weren't there," the peacekeeper started to say. "Then how do you know that you elbowed me?"
Idiot, idiot, idiot! I thought angrily to myself. I bit my lip.
"Melany, what's going on?" Manda's voice said behind me. I turned to look at her.
"It'll be okay," I said, leaning down as if to kiss her on the cheek. But instead I leaned into her ear and whispered. "When I touch your arm, you run to the fence and into the woods. Wait for someone to come and get you." I pulled away from her and smiled as if I'd told her nothing. I turned back to the peacekeeper and looked at him sternly.
"The reason I know if I elbowed you or not," I started to say pacing around Manda as if I were bored. "Is because I've elbowed you before."
The peacekeeper blinked, obviously not believing me.
"However," I continued. "The reason I snuck out is because I was doing something for you."
"Me?" the peacekeeper asked.
"Yes," I said. "I snuck into the Hob to get you this."
I reached into my bag and pulled out my English book. I handed it to him and smiled, as if I were truly giving him something. He flipped open the book and began reading. I lightly touched Manda on the arm and she immediately took off. I blocked her view from the peacekeeper as much as I could and tried to keep him interested in the book.
"This looks like a school book," he said, snapping it shut and giving me a glare.
"It is," I said, still trying to block his view of Manda running away. "I wanted to give it to you."
"You have to keep your school book," the peacekeeper said, slamming the book into my hands. "For school."
"Yup, that's what schoolbooks are for," I said. The peacekeeper's eyes suddenly widened and he started to run.
"Hey!" he shouted. "Come back here!"
I quickly chased after him, knowing he'd spotted Manda. I saw Manda in the distance, running for the fence. I dropped my bag and ran faster than I'd ever thought I'd run before. I caught up with the peacekeeper and jumped onto him. We both fell to the ground, him more stunned than me. I clawed his face and started punching him. He would not take my sister, the only family I had left. He grabbed my fist just as I was about to throw another punch and twisted it. I let out a scream and he pinned me to the ground. My wrist hurt like heck, and I assumed he'd broken it.
"You're more trouble than you're worth," the peacekeeper said, punching me in the face. Blood ran down his nose from me punching him and his cheek was split open from my nails. He punched my face harder, and I felt blood run out of it and into my mouth. I spit it out and into his face, and that only made him madder. He picked me up and threw me against a wall hard, my head ramming against it. My ears rang from the impact but soon cleared. He punched me over and over again and it felt like someone was hitting me with a brick every time. I heard a commotion and focused on that, not wanting to focus on the man hitting me. Behind the peacekeeper were two or three peacekeepers, who were running over to us. They pulled the peacekeeper that was punching me away and I collapsed to the ground, my face bloody and hurting like heck. But, ignoring the pain in my face, I immediately got up and started running. Before I could get far, however, a peacekeeper grabbed me and pulled me back. I elbowed him in the stomach and kicked him but he wouldn't let go.
"No!" I screamed as he dragged me away.
As I was dragged through the streets I noticed Katniss staring at me. Maybe I couldn't go and find Manda, but Katniss could...
"Katniss!" I screamed, trying to run toward her but unable to because of the peacekeeper. She looked at me with sadness in her eyes. I knew she couldn't help me and she knew it too... but she could help Manda.
"The woods!" I screamed at her. "THE WOODS!"
I couldn't tell her the specifics because than the peacekeepers would know, but I hoped and prayed she'd go to the woods and find Manda.
Katniss looked at me confusedly, but then nodded her head slowly. The peacekeeper dragged me into the justice building and locked me in the familiar cell. I banged my head against the bars and pulled on them, but, just like before, they wouldn't break. I sat down and leaned against the wall and cried, but quickly tried to stop. I was acting as if Manda was dead, but she wasn't. She'll live, I tried to reassure myself. She'll be okay.
I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep. Sleep was the only place where I didn't have to worry. But sleep never came; I was too worried. I knew that as long as I laid there worrying, I would never be able to protect Manda. I looked over at the bars of the cage and grabbed two of the bars with my hands. I breathed in deeply and then rammed my head hard against the bars. My head buzzed and I collapsed to the ground, everything fading to black.

My eyes opened slowly. My ears rang and my head hurt like heck (not to mention my face). Peacekeepers were staring at me. I recognized them from the few nights before. They were the ones that had killed Lance.
"She knocked herself out?" one of the peacekeepers whispered.
"I know; we didn't have to do anything," the other one whispered.
"I can hear you, you know," I said, sitting up and rubbing my head.
"That girl you were talking to," the peacekeeper started to say, ignoring my statement. "The one with the braid? She came back a few minutes later with a girl."
She found Manda! I thought, relief filling me.
"But, of course, we had to take the girl," the peacekeeper said. The relief disappeared and was replaced with absolute horror. Two other peacekeepers burst into the room, Manda wriggling around in their arms.
"Let me go!" she screamed, pulling and yanking. She wasn't strong enough.
"Manda!" I exclaimed, running to the front of the cage and reaching my hands through, trying to touch her. I couldn't reach far enough.
"You're quite the troublemaker, aren't you, Melany?" the peacekeeper said, pacing around the room. "President Snow warned you; he told you what would happen to your family if you didn't keep things low. I'm afraid that fight with the peacekeeper you had wasn't keeping things low, nor was sneaking out in the middle of the night."
The peacekeepers forced Manda to the ground and my mouth went dry. Each peacekeeper took out clubs and I stared at Manda, who had tears running down her cheeks.
"Melany," she whispered.
"Do it," the peacekeeper said. The peacekeepers started beating Manda with their clubs, and I let out a scream.
"No!" I screamed, shaking the bars of my cage. "Let her go! Leave her alone!"
The peacekeepers beat on little Manda and she writhed and screamed, trying to escape but couldn't.
"Let her go!" I shouted, yanking as hard as I could on the cage's bars. But they didn't let her go. I watched in horror as they beat on her multiple times. I heard her screaming my names multiple times, but I could do nothing but watch. Her screams finally died down and the peacekeepers stopped beating her. They dragged her bloody and mutilated body out of the room and the peacekeeper motioned for someone to come in. Tears streamed down my cheeks and the smell of blood filled the room. President Snow walked in and looked me in the eye.
"I warned you," he said, shaking his head.
"You killed them," I said, my voice no more than a whisper. "You killed them all."
"Not all of them," Snow said. "Your father's death was just an accident, as was Elissa's."
"You killed them all," I said, my teeth gritted. "If you weren't so stupid none of this would have ever happened!"
"Be careful what you say, girl," Snow said, eyes full of fury.
"You can't hurt me anymore!" I shouted at him, my whispering voice gone. "You've killed everything I love! You can't do anything to me anymore!"
"Ah, but I can," Snow said. "However, I won't. Killing you would just create a martyr."
The peacekeeper unlocked my cage and dragged me out.
"So instead I'll send you someplace where nobody will listen to you," Snow said. "Where you can create a new life."
The peacekeeper started to drag me out of the room.
"The Capitol," were the last words I heard Snow say before I was dragged out of the Justice Building with tears still running down my cheeks.