After Prim and I have recovered enough from our injuries from the bomb explosions to be cleared, Haymitch and Peeta are charged with bringing us home. To what's left of District 12.
I'm glad to be away from it all. I've learned that Coin was assassinated with President Snow, so Paylor is the new president. She's likely the better choice, if I'm to be honest.
Prim wants to continue to study to be a doctor, but after she nearly died, I won't let her out of my sight. I've told her that she can study from books in District 12, and help our mother with the sick and wounded. She doesn't put up a fight. Perhaps her nearly dying on the field has made her cautious. I still can't imagine why they would send a thirteen year old to the Capitol to help care for the injured.
Haymitch has begun drinking again, only not to the extent that he'd been before. At least, he seems sober enough when I see him, even though there are empty bottles in his house.
Even though I'm not sure if I want to marry Peeta yet, when he suggests moving into my house, I agree. After all, with his family all dead from the Capitol destroying most of District 12, his house must feel even larger and emptier than mine. He takes a bedroom across the hall from me, but most nights, we sleep together, protecting each other from the nightmares.
Six months after we've returned home, Haymitch stops by one day with a large box that he can hardly carry. He drops it on the floor near our TV, and I swear a layer of dust flies out from under the box.
Peeta, my mother, Prim, and I all exchange looks. First at each other, then at Haymitch, who just grins at us.
"You won't believe what I tracked down from the Archives!" Haymitch brags. "I've heard rumors of this from the other victors, and some of the others from the Capitol, but we all thought it was some sort of a joke."
Peeta walks a few feet towards the box, but Haymitch steps in front of him, blocking his view.
I admit it, I'm intrigued. The Archives is this secret collection of items that existed before Panem began, unearthed during excavations while being built, but also uncovered from these odd things the people before us called "time capsules". We don't know very much about the people before us, since the disasters destroyed so much of what they built, but what does remain was taken by the Capitol and stored in a secret building-or perhaps many buildings-called The Archives. If you're high enough in the Capitol world, I suppose you can look inside, but I've never been remotely curious.
"They let you have them?" I ask.
"Don't be daft, Katniss. They're on loan for the next five months." His smile widens. "It'll take that long to get through all of these tapes. There are hundreds of them!"
"Tapes of what?" My mother wonders.
"Well, you see, there's been rumors that before the Hunger Games began, back before Panem, there were people who would volunteer to compete in something similar," Haymitch begins.
"They volunteer to be in an arena and kill their competitors?" Peeta demands, anger in his voice.
Haymitch waves a hand. "No killing, back then. I don't know very much about it, having only heard the rumors. We might be the first ones to watch this show since before Panem started."
I hide a sigh. "What's it called?"
"Survivor."
"Survivor?" I echo. "You just said there's no killing!"
"There's not!" Haymitch laughs. "That's how it was back then. Give TV shows an overly dramatic name."
Having been told what's in the box, Haymitch steps aside to reveal tapes that have clearly been made over by Capitol technology, because there's no way they would have lasted that long otherwise. I see numbers along each of the tapes, but there must be over a hundred. Even so, based on the labels, it appears that the collection doesn't have every one there.
I'm glad. If Haymitch is going to make us watch every episode of this prehistoric TV show containing hundreds of hours of footage...well, at least it's not thousands.
Prim settles in next to me, and I put an arm around her shoulder.
"There's hundreds of hours of episodes," Haymitch continues, putting in a tape that reads "season one" on the top. "We don't have to watch all the seasons, but we ought to start the beginning."
Author's note:
First things first: This is an AU in which Prim lives and Katniss' mom remains in District 12. The ending of Mockingjay is depressing enough without killing off Katniss' little sister. So, in this universe, she lives.
As a fan of "Survivor" as well as "The Hunger Games," I thought it would be cool to see how Katniss and the others would react to watching this TV show. We know that some pieces of technology were preserved by the Capitol before the first war, and I rather suspect that pop culture would remain a part of their "time capsule." Why not episodes of this popular reality TV show?
This chapter isn't a one-shot, and I'd love feedback from any fans of Survivor what to include. Naturally, Katniss and the others will watch the first season. "All Stars" will be featured, in part because it's my favorite season, and also because it's a slight nod to Katniss and Peeta. Most of the seasons, though, I haven't seen more than once-so if you think there are any that would be monumental to someone like Katniss and Peeta, let me know with your reasoning, and I'll consider it.
As always, constructive feedback would be highly appreciated!