A/N: I do not own The Hunger Games or recognized characters.
Chapter 1 – Last Resort
Slash. Dodge. Block. Breathe. Breathe. BREATHE
Shit
"What do you do now?" my father screams in my ear as he pins me face down on the padded floor with a knee in the middle of my upper back. I try to turn, but he pushes his knee hard into my spine. "USE YOUR HEAD OR DIE GIRL". My father shifts above me and I feel the cool metal of my knife in the waistband of my jeans. "Fuck you" I yell as I reach my right hand backwards towards my waist band. Success. As my fingers close around the cool metal hilt, I take a breath and in one motion I pull my knife from my waist and stab it into my father's outer thigh. "YOU SHIT" he yells as I roll and pin him to the mat using my knife embedded in his thigh as leverage. I can feel his blood running down my hand and I allow a smirk to settle onto my mouth. Knowing the fight is done I let go of the knife and rise to my feet standing tall over my father. "I bet you are proud of yourself aren't you" he asks me, but I know better than to respond or to remove the knife, after all compassion shows weakness, and I am not weak. I turn to walk away and as I am starting up the stairs, I hear him to yell for me to get medicine for his leg. As I make my way upstairs my head begins to feel heavy and my vision starts to close in. Taking a breath, I reach the kitchen sink to wash my hands of my father's blood. As I observe the water washing the blood from my hands and swirling down the drain my vision fades into black and I am thrown into a distant memory.
Sounds mix and rush around me as I come to and find my father pinning me to the wall with an arm across my shoulder and a knife at my neck. I feel my father press the knife further into my neck as droplets of blood start to roll down my neck. "Use your head or die girl" he speaks in a low twisted voice. Tears stream down my face and he sneers at how useless I am. After what feels like forever, he pulls the knife away and punches me in the gut before pushing me to the ground on my side. Curling into a ball of blood, tears, and failure, I can't help but think Happy 10th Birthday Zea.
Suddenly my eyes open and I am gasping for breath, as though the air had been sucked from my lungs. Gripping the edge of the sink with my eyes closed I can feel tears running down my face. Breathe, just breathe. No. RUN, JUST RUN. In the back of my mind, I hear footsteps and then a door slam. "Where the hell is that medicine girl". Silently I reach towards the cupboard and look inside, "we are out, I will run to the market and get more" I blankly state. My father grabs my arm, turns me towards him and whispers "you do that girl, and when you get back, I expect those tears to be gone". Taking a deep breath, I turn the water off and head towards the back door to grab shoes and a jacket. Bending down I slip my feet into my brown combat boots and grab my green army jacket.
Walking towards the market I observe my surroundings. Grain, grain everywhere, golden fields and gravel roads leading who knows where. Being midday, the sun is high and beating down with incredible strength. Kicking stones as I walk, I keep my head high soaking in the sun as much as possible before I reach the dark cold market. In District 9 there are several markets, most are outside due to the consistent warm weather. However, the market which sells the medicine my father keeps in our home is not exactly… legal. Underneath the main storage facility in town is a small black market where all types of goods can be found, so long as you are willing to pay the price. As I reach the market stairs, I notice a group of five teen boys harassing citizens as they pass. Rolling my eyes I continue forward; the tension becomes palpable once they notice me. I simply raise an eyebrow and they start to back away. One of the boys I don't recognize starts to walk towards me but another boy holds him back before whispering in his ear. The boy goes pale and the group turns and runs off. Weak, shaking my head I make my way down the stairs and into the market.
For such a small market it is quite loud, however as I walk by a distinct sound of silence follows and I can feel the stares from all directions. Making my way to the medicine supply stand, I receive a nod in greeting from the elderly man running the booth. "Same as usual Zea" he asks, I simply nod and hand him my money as he passes me 2 silver canisters full of an orange gel. I give the man a brief smile and turn to leave the market. As I leave, the whispers start, I try to drown out their words but some slip through. I heard he killed his wife, I heard he made his daughter kill her, I heard he is training her to become a killer. My stride quickens and I can feel my chest start to tighten. Darkness crowds my vision as I all but run out of the market, trying to maintain some dignity. Breathe, just breathe.
The night after I returned from the market and gave my father the medicine for his leg, we sit down and watch the recap for the 74th Hunger Games. For as long as I could remember my father had me memorising the victors and reviewing how they won and what I would do differently, this will be no different. As we watch the star-crossed lovers from District 12 reunite on live TV, I can't help but wonder how they found each other in the games and trusted one another. Breaking through my thoughts I hear my father speak, "This is why connection is poison Zea, they look weak and everyone sees them as weak". All I can do is nod, and think they don't look weak to me. After the recap and yelling from my father I head to bed for the night, wondering if I will sleep through the night for the first time in 12 years.
I shudder as I feel the cool edge of a knife being dragged across my check bone and a familiar voice whisper in my ear "I told you connection is a weakness. What? You thought that I wouldn't kill you". Suddenly I am turned around and I feel a sharp object pierce my stomach and another hand cup my chin. My father turns my face towards his and whispers a single word into my ear "useless". As he pulls both his hands away, I collapse onto the ground on my back and feel my will to live leave my body. My eyes fall closed and the last thing I hear is my father laughing as a cannon sounds.
Frantically, I sit up in my bed with sweat beading on my forehead. I hastily wipe it off, noticing my shaking hands and heavy chest. Breathe, just breathe. I swing my feet to the floor and place my elbows on my knees with my head in my hands. I can feel my tears dripping down my arms. Suddenly, almost unexpected, I stand up and make my way to the basement where my father trains me. Narrowing my eyes I zoom in on the punching bag in the corner of the room. I practically run over, desperate to get this feeling out of my chest. The more the sounds of flesh hitting the bag fills the room the more I can breathe and the more my knuckles bleed the more numb I feel. Fight, just fight.
FLASHFORWARD SEVERAL MONTHS
"Girl get your ass over here to watch the quarter quell announcement". I slowly make my way from the kitchen to the family room dreading whatever plot has been set for this year's hunger games. Sitting on a chair beside my father our attention is pulled to President Snow on our projector.
"On the 75th anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be doubled and reaped from not only their existing pool of victors, but from the citizens of the districts."
From the corner of my eye, I see my father's jaw go slack then tense up as I school my expression into a state of blankness. The screen flashes to Caesar Flickerman who explains this Quarter Quell in more detail. With double the number of tributes, half will be reaped from the citizens of each district while the other half from existing victors. In addition, this year there will be three arenas in total. The first two will split the tributes into tributes and previous victors. Once twelve remain in each arena they will be pulled out and paired with someone from the other arena in a random lottery then placed in the final arena. The pairs have the ability to win together and are encouraged to as if they win alone, they will only receive half of the victory earnings.
As if sensing my apprehension my father stands and wraps one of his hands around my bicep pulling me into the basement training space. Suddenly he throws a punch at me. Thankfully I notice his fist before it makes contact and step back away from him. "This changes everything and you need to be ready to kill killers not just kids" I feel the blood drain from my face as my father walks towards the weapons wall and grabs a large sword. He turns back towards me and points his sword at me before charging at me with a warrior yell. At the last moment I duck to the ground and side roll out of this way as he slashes the sword down directly where I had been. He whips his head towards me and with a sneer he swings his sword again this time catching my arm as I try to dodge him. I can feel the blood running down my arm but I have no time to react before he is swinging at me again. As we fight, he manages to kick my feet out from under me and as I land on my back he stabs his sword beside my head into the mat below. "Get up and fight girl, the real training starts now".
Papa Roach – Last Resort
'Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine
Losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine
I never realized I was spread too thin
'Til it was too late, and I was empty within
Hungry, feeding on chaos and living in sin
Downward spiral, where do I begin?
It all started when I lost my mother
No love for myself and no love for another
Searching to find a love upon a higher level
Finding nothing but questions and devils
'Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine
Losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine
Nothing's alright, nothing is fine
I'm running and I'm crying
I'm crying, I'm crying
I'm crying, I'm crying
I can't go on living this way
