More information is drilled into me, mostly from Troy. He tells me more details of how exactly they got us out, and how they plan to keep us alive.

"Anyone under sixteen is being sent to foster families after their reconstructions. Anyone older is being supplied with a job and an apartment, in addition to their ID card after the reconstruction. Its the best we can do for now." Troy tells me as Cassius walks out for a minute.

"What do you mean reconstructions?" I ask him. He pauses for a moment before he stands and takes a few steps over to a curtain I hadn't see earlier. I feel much stronger now, the drugs they've been injecting into my veins has done wonders. I take a second to inspect my stomach and raise my white shirt just above the area where the knife would have pierced my abdomen, killing me. I think I'm still in denial. This must be some sort of post-death dream.

There is no sign of there ever being any sort of injury where it should be, apart from a faint scar I wouldn't have seen if I wasn't looking for it. I lower the fabric of my shirt once more and slowly swing my legs over the edge of the bed.

I look up and see Troy has pulled aside the white curtain just enough to peek out. I slowly edge off the bed, gradually applying more of my weight to my legs, until I find myself standing on shaky legs. Every step feels like walking through mud, but I eventually cross the eight feet to the curtain. Troy turns slightly and sees me standing behind him. A grin crosses his face.

"Yeah, you're still you." He says, pulling the curtain across so I can see outside.

"Takes more than a knife to kill me." I say. This causes his smile to fade away quickly. He looks back out the window and steps to the side. I take his place and look out.

Its almost dusk. The sun is just beginning to disappear behind the many buildings of what I recognize to be the Capitol. I took a step back from the window, immediately fearing being seen.

"They know who I am." I tell Troy. He nods.

"That's what the reconstructions are for. We're taking every one of the survivors in and essentially reconstructing them." I nod slowly as he speaks.

"What exactly do you mean by reconstruct?" I ask, an image of myself with mismatched limbs replacing my own. Troy chuckles.

"The reconstructions won't be too invasive, don't worry." I nod slowly and look back out the window.

"You say it's been three days since the games ended?" I ask, not turning back to face Troy. He steps over to stand next to me looking out the window.

"Yeah."

The words take a long time to formulate in my head, and even longer to actually say. My throat is dry and I taste something metallic in my throat.

"How's Rye?"

Troy takes an equally long time to speak. I see his head fall in defeat.

"I think you know." He says. I lean my head against the window frame and watch the lights of billboard and buildings flicker as music plays in the square at the base of the buildings.

I look down and see we're likely twenty stories up, much too high to be seen from below. By the look of the windows I imagine they're one way as well. I can't imagine how the public, let alone the government would react if they figured out we survived the games.

A part of me wonders what they think of me. Do they hate me for loving Cassius? Do they think I'm a hero for helping Rye? The voice in my head tells me I'll find out soon enough, especially if we're to integrate ourselves into the Capitol lifestyle.

The silence between Troy and I is broken suddenly when Cassius enters the room again.

"Everyone is out there. I told them you're awake." I turn and look at Cassius. He looks like he did on the night of the parade. His blonde hair is slightly duller but his eyes and skin still show me he's okay. I get the overwhelming urge to hug him.

I cross the small room in a few strides, feeling much stronger now. I nearly run into Cassius, hugging him tightly when we meet. Even though he was there when I woke, I feel like he could disappear at any time.

Cassius hugs me back and I hear Troy walk up behind us. I removed my arms from Cassius and run a hand through my hair. It's obviously been washed since I died.

Troy softly places a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm not going to lie to you, it's going to be hard seeing everyone. Just remember you, and everyone else, was just fringe to stay alive. Nothing was anyone's fault." Troy tells me. I imagine the faces of the children I killed and a pang of guilt and regret fills me. Then I imagine the scene of Athena next to Cassius. I then see Dale throwing his knife. The knife that killed me.

I know I should forgive them, but I don't. Athena murdered my best friend. Dale murdered me. But I murdered as well.

"You okay?" Cassius asks me. I nod slowly.

"Let's go." I say. Troy steps ahead and opens the door that leads into a narrow hallway. He walks down quickly, I imagine to tell the others in coming.

"What's it like?" I ask Cassius. He turns to look at me. I can tell he doesn't quite understand what I mean.

"seeing them all alive again. I mean we killed them, we saw them die. And now we're just supposed to be okay? I just don't think I can forgive everyone." I say. Cassius nods. He pauses for a moment before he replies.

"You won't forgive everyone. I haven't. But you'll see, everything works itself out." He takes a step out of the doorway before he adds one last comment.

"I almost knocked out Dale when I saw him."

I smile at this and begin to follow Cassius out. My heart is beating in my throat, the beat being the only thing I hear. The hallway reaches a door and Cassius looks back at me as he places his hand on the knob.

"Ready?" He asks. I swallow and nod. He pushes the door open and enters a room. I step in behind him

Hey everyone, I'm really sorry this chapter was up so late. I was going to post last week, but with the events in Ottawa on October 22, I had my mind elsewhere. I'm also really busy with school since midterms are coming up.

Another quick thing, I'll be participating in NANOWRIMO this year, so that will be drastically reducing my amount of free time in November, so unfortunately, updates may be even more infrequent. For those who don't know, NANOWRIMO is a project to encourage people of all ages to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I won last year and I really encourage all of you to do it! Its a challenge, but a lot of fun and really rewarding!

Alright, that's enough rambling for today. Sorry again!

-Alicia