I climb for hours. I climb until my arms go numb, and lips are chapped. As I've climbed, the temperature lowers, and its all I have not to collapse from exhaustion. That's when I see her. It's Lucy, and she's hurt. In her hand is her left ear, and I rush to her as quickly as possible. But she holds out her hand. "Don't. Wait till it's gone." I suddenly see what she means, a giant bear like beast stands before us, but it stand incredibly tall, and I am shocked the only injury she has garnered is a lost ear. I pull my spear head from my belt, and attach it to the staff, all very slowly, in the creatures eye sight. When I throw it, the beast is hit in the center of its head, and it falls forward, unmoving. I rush toward Lucy, and she wraps her arms around my neck, and something comes over me. I lose myself for a quarter of a second, and when I come too, my final spear head rests in Lucy's neck. She is cold, and I hold her close to me. I now instantly why I did what I did, that my will to survive, my need to live for my family had to be my driving force, now that I lost Geni. But suddenly, Lucy stirs, and speaks like she has liquid in her mouth. "Noble, take me back. Please. They won't find me here. Please." And the cannon fires. By now, I've almost succumbed to frostbite. I wrap my hands tighter around the body of what was once my ally. She's frozen solid, but I can't let go. I promised I would take her back. I promised. I know I'm going to die, that much is obvious. But will I die without having been the person I promised my mother I
would be? Would I live up to my namesake? I hope so. But, only time will tell. And there isn't much of that left. Finally I pull myself from my frozen stupor, and carry Lucy's body until I see the weather start to change. I leave her where I left Geni, and then begin my hunt for Hugo.
Needless to say, it doesn't take long. He's huddled in a cavern, eating a bat mutt. He picks up his sword, and at that moment I realize what he's holding. Somehow, he's lowered a tin flask into the toxic liquid that surrounds us. He runs forward, and I toss a knife, catching his stomach. At the same moment, he throws the flask, and it spills onto my face, and I blackout from the pain. I hear a loud bang, and determine that I have died.
When I come to I am submerged in a bath of sweet smelling liquid, and I realize my face is bandaged, my eyes covered.
"He's just in here." A woman's voice says, and suddenly, light bleeds through my bandages. The nurse removes them, and, while blurry, I can see fairly well. She goes on to tell me how my face had to be completely reconstructed, as the acid Hugo threw at me destroyed skin and nerve. They thought I was going to die, but I've made a very remarkable recovery. The skin on my face is pristine, pale and fresh. I realize my leg, below the knee, has been replaced with an artificial limb, but I don't have much trouble adjusting. They couldn't even remotely salvage my foot. After Geni gave me medicine, it prolonged the destruction for a few days, but it was already begging again when I was announced the victor.
I am kept in the hospital for a few more days, before Ludo greets me to dress for my interview. It's hugs and kisses from him and the twins, as they tell me they won big by betting on my winning. My final interview seems like it will never end, and I am forced to watch the recap of the games. I turn my eyes from Geni's death, as well as when I kill Lucy. Finally, I am on a train to district 2, and my family greets me on the platform. My mother's anger has faded and she offers hugs and kisses. I am proud, not of what I have done, but what my siblings will never have to do. They will never have to quit school to work, nor will they have to take tesserae. Wonderful odds now rest in their favor.
Epilogue
On my sixty seventh birthday, they conduct the reaping. My granddaughter stands eagerly awaiting her turn to volunteer, but I pull her close to me. "Promise, promise that you will stay silent. Do not volunteer for anything. I beg of you." She loses her smile, but agrees. The reaping goes without a hitch, and the seventy fourth hunger games are set to begin. I avoid mentoring for the eighth time, and Elizabetta is too old now anyway. She kisses our granddaughter on the cheek as we walk to the victors village together, our hands intertwined.