*DISTRICT 5*

*SADIE JOHANAST*
*FOURTEEN*

With one finger, Sadie traces the curly velour design on her shirt, over and over, tensing her stomach, trying to block out the absolute agony in her heart.

Her teeth cut into her fleshy bottom lip, her nails dig into her ribs, and swallowing is painful. But focusing on that takes her mind away from thinking about what is going to happen to her.

She is going to die. There is no way at all that she will able to survive the Hunger Games. None. Not compared to monsters with knives and spears and tridents like Finnick Odair. Not against Gamemakers with evil plots and quiet laughter and smug ideas.

And not without her family.

Sadie has rarely been anywhere without at least one close blood relative.

Her older brother, Dave, attends the same school as she does, and her older sister, Georgia, goes to camp with her in the summers. Other than that, she stays in her house, once in a while walking around town with her friends.

But never this far, and never this long.

And this is an infinity anyway, because she will never be back in District 5.

The door swings open with a creak.

"I'm so sorry," Mrs. Johanast whispers. Her face is covered in tears of shock. The true grief has yet to come.

::

"Annabel?" Sadie asks, surprised enough that the word actually escapes her mouth.

"I'm here." The girl grins. She's a lot like Sadie is in public: quiet, reserved, always with a polite smile to spare. But today Annabel knows she needs to overcompensate for her friend's horrific fate. "I know we haven't seen a lot of each other lately, what with my internship at the lab and all."

"I'm glad you came." Sadie tries to smile. Even now, during her last moments, she's kind and polite, always seeking to put others at ease. Plus, it would be an embarrassment to just start crying on Annabel's shoulder now.

"You'll do really well," Annabel assures Sadie. "Just be yourself. You're such a sweetheart, Sadie. You can get a lot of sponsors."

"The problem is that I can't just do well," Sadie responds. "I have to win. There's no second or third place. There's only a winner and 23 losers."

There's no arguing with that.

::

The Sayfields come in next. Well, not the Sayfields. Just their two children, Vicky and Briony. Mr. and Mrs. Sayfield were killed years ago in a bull stampede.

"Hey, Sadie," Vicky murmurs, laying a comforting hand on Sadie's shoulder, the same gesture she made when Briony cried after hearing about their mother and father.

"Hi." Sadie smiles tightly, not knowing what to say. Just because Vicky and Briony have brushed close to death doesn't mean they know what it's like to go to their certain peril.

"I'll miss you lots, Sadie," Briony says next. He's a little thick, not too bright, and more like a giant than a person, but he still cares for his friends, and he's always loved Sadie. His support means a lot to her.

"Thanks, Briony," she says. "I'll miss you too. I'll think of you."

"Think of my snares," he instructs.

"Huh?" Sadie questions.

"My snares," Briony repeats. "Remember the traps I make in the fields, where I catch the coyote pups?"

Sadie sighs. As a vegetarian, she tries not to eat meat, unless there's honestly nothing else in the house, which happens sometimes. It hurts her to hear about innocent animals being murdered, but there really is no other way for kids like the Sayfields to survive. Not without parents to work.

Taking her sound as agreement, Briony rattles on. "And I taught you? A couple of years ago?"

Sadie nods. She hadn't paid attention, of course. She was too young for the Reaping back then, too young to really worry, but not too young to feel indignant on behalf of those coyotes. She hadn't listened to any of Briony's explanations. "Okay," she says dubiously.

"Well, you can use those for humans too. Just a couple of tweaks, some rope in the latch, and that can easily hold a person in place. Even a trip wire. Whatever they give you. You can . . . " And he launches into yet another complicated list of instructions, as he had the first time he'd told Sadie about his snares. "Does that make sense?"

He's only trying to keep me alive, Sadie thinks, exhaling. "Okay, Briony. Thank you."

"Time!" calls the Peacekeeper outside her door.

"Bye," says Vicky with a wave. "Good luck. Of course we're pulling for you." But the relief in her face, her gratefulness that she herself hadn't gotten Reaped, is too easy to see.

"I'll see you around, Sadie. You'll be back." Briony smiles at her.

"Thanks. Bye." Sadie waits until they leave, then curls into the fetal position on her couch.

::

"Sadie!" It's Georgia, beautiful, happy Georgia, who can always cheer Sadie up. Being the oldest sibling, she is like a second mother to her brothers and sisters, and she is a born comforter.

"Oh, Georgie," Sadie moans, getting up to wrap her arms around Georgia. "Where were you? Mom and Dad came in by themselves, and they left really quickly. And they didn't . . . " Do a good job helping me at all.

"I know, sweetie." Georgia tightly squeezes her little sister. Her little sister. Her sweet, naive, perfect little sister. Her 14-year-old little sister. Is going into the Hunger Games to fight to the death. Jesus Fucking Christ. She can't stand for this. She won't. Her nails dig into Sadie's back, and she squeals, backing away.

"I'll be thinking about you," admits Sadie. "You're . . . "

"I'll be thinking about you, too," says Georgia immediately. "You don't know how much I care about you, Sadie. I'll be watching that TV day and night. I don't care about anything else except you."

"Don't give up your life for me, Georgie. Promise."

"I can't, Sadie, I'm sorry. You're most of my world, Sadie. You'll just win. That's it!" Georgia tries to be free and knowing.

"But I'm a tiny girl from District 5. I can't win."

"You can damn well try, Sadie. Do everything you can," Georgia orders, giving Sadie one last bear hug before exiting.

::

More visitors.

Dave, with Sadie's younger sister, Jessie.

"See, I told you not to make bad karma for yourself this morning, Sadie," he teases. "See what happens?"

"Shut up," Sadie answers in a monotone, not sure whether she's angry or kidding. "Goddammit, Dave, I'm going into the Hunger Games!"

Guess she's angry.

Dave sucks in a breath. "I'm so sorry. You know I didn't mean it that way."

But Sadie desperately needs to get her feelings out. "I love you both, and I'll miss you so much, but can't you be nice? I'm gonna die in a few days and I'll never see either of you again; just be nice to me! Give me something good to remember, can't you?" She collapses onto the soft chair. "Goddammit!"

"God, Sadie, that's not what I meant at all." He takes her into his arms, and Jessie follows suit, squirming in between them so as to hug both of her older siblings at the same time.

"This isn't fair!" Sadie shouts.

"Lower your voice," Dave hisses. "The Peacekeeper."

"I don't care!" Sadie screeches. "Jessie is only five years younger than me, and she still gets to be taken care of. I'll never be okay again, never see my mother or father again, never see anyone. Ever! I'm . . . I'm so scared. I'm so trapped. There's no way to get out of this. I can't do anything. Anything at all. I'm going to die, D-Dave. And there's nothing I can do. Nothing. Nothing." Her lips flatten into a line. "Nothing at all."

He hugs her again, and then their time is over and they both have to go.

Sadie knows that her younger sister will never remember her in the same way, but she just can't bring herself to care.

::

"There has to be something," are Alexander Len's first words as he bursts into Sadie's room. "I've been waiting in line to see you, Sadie. Thank God I came in time. We have to be fast; your escort said you guys need to get to the train in four minutes. But - "

"Just come here," says Sadie, pulling her boyfriend in. She's never kissed him, never even really wanted to, but now he means everything to her and she will make out with him if it's the last thing she does. And it will be. So this is what she will remember when she dies. This is it.

With a gasp, Alex pulls away. "Sadie, I love you," he whispers hoarsely. "More than anything, I swear to God."

"Are you telling me you'll remember me forever when I die? You'll never marry? You'll mourn me until you die?"

There are so many answers he wants to give, so many things he needs to make clear, but he has to pick. First, he shoves a stone into Sadie's hand. "Please use this as your token," he says quickly.

"Alright." Sadie is taken aback by the urgency in his tone.

"Now, there must be something. It's so sick that they make such young people compete. I mean, face it, Sadie, we might think we're so big, but we're young. And they're sending you to your death. That's not fair. There must be someone to talk to, something you can say, to convince them. They can send anyone else, but not you, Sadie. I love you."

"I love you, too," she mumbles.

"Just listen. I will never forget you. I'll love you. I might marry and have kids, but I'll name them all after you. I've always wanted a family, and I want it to be with you. Please get back here so we can. But if we can't . . . "

"I know." Her anger has been spent. She just wants him to be happy.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

They cling to each other for nine seconds, until Alex is dismissed and Sadie has to go.

*GRIFFITH NAVA*
*SEVENTEEN*

Men don't cry. Griffith never has, not in his life, at least not that he can recall. But this seems like a good time to start. Screwing up his eyes, he tries to force the tears out. They don't come. He guesses that he's just turned off his weeping muscle by this point.

He hopes that Angel will visit him in the tiny room, so that he can tell her how much he loves her, to beg her to get better, to let her know that if he dies, it's because he couldn't save her. She's the one real thing he has to live for.

Fortunately, someone answers his prayer.

A soft knock, and then Angel walks in. She stumbles slowly. The Navas can't afford a wheelchair for her, so she has to move awkwardly, lopsidedly, with a makeshift cane, crafted by Mrs. Nava's twin sister, Larkin.

"Hi, sweetie," Griffith whispers, bending down to hug his perfect sister. Then he picks her up and sets her down on the couch. "How are you?"

"Okay," she replies with a characteristic smile. "What about you, Griffith?"

"Eh, I'll be fine," he answers indifferently. "I'm doing this for you, Angel."

"No, you're doing this for you," she insists kindly. "You can win, Griffith."

"But why win if not for you?" He knows, somewhere deep down, that it's wrong to put so much of this burden on his nine-year-old sister, but he can't help it. She needs to know how far down his love for her goes.

"Because why would you want to die?"

"Because I live for you." Why doesn't she get it? He doesn't care. He hates the Capitol, hates Panem, hates everything about his life. He would have killed himself (an average of four people die each day of suicide in District 5) long ago if it weren't for Angel.

"What about Mom? If you die, and I die, what will she do?"

"Die, probably," Griffith says honestly. He knows how much his mom loves him and his sister, but he devotes himself to Angel. And the way he's wired lets him put this much affection towards only one person at a time. That's why he's never had real friends or a girlfriend. He cares too much about Angel.

"That's a horrible thing to say, Griffith."

"Why? I'm about to die."

"So you know what it's like! Why would you wish that on our mother?"

"Okay, okay, I get your point. Fine, I'll try to win. I will, Angel." Besides, if he does, maybe the Capitol will deign to save his sister.

::

"Hi, Griffith," says Mrs. Nava quietly. "Angel wanted to come in by herself first, so I figured that was the least I could do, right?"

"Yeah, Mom," Griffith replies tiredly.

It's awkward. He barely even talks to his mother anymore, and now he just has nothing to say. And neither, apparently, does she. After a quick embrace, she departs, leaving him at the mercy of whoever takes it from here.

*DISTRICT 5 TRAIN*

Sharp clicks sound at the doors of the tributes' rooms, and their doors swing open, the locks dangling from the smudged metal handles.

Jayla Moxford stands very tall, directly between where Sadie and Griffith stand, truly seeing each other for the first time.

"Well, it's time!" she proclaims, strolling towards the open train doors. "Come in!" She extends an arm to Sadie, helping her on, then lets Griffith follow after. "I know this must be quite a stressful time, but I'm sure that you'll find this trip to be quite pleasant." As though they're taking a vacation.

The ride to the Capitol is thankfully short, so they don't have to make much conversation. The gorgeous, sleek building slowly come into view, complete with waterfalls and prisms of light reflecting off the ground, and it looks like a land from a fairytale.

It's almost easy to forget that there's a 99% chance that they're both a week or so away from their deaths.

God, is this is a long chapter or what? Review and tell me what you think!