The End of Innocence: The 72nd Annual Hunger Games

The Truth

The first thing they teach you when someone dies is that you have to get on with your life. Grieve if you must, but leave that for when you're alone, to make sure you do not keep it bottled up. You would think when someone passes away that you'll stick with them rules, but it's not true at all. In fact, it gets more worse as the days go by. You have to go day by day thinking they're watching over you protecting you, which is bullshit by the way.

I open my eyes, properly this time. My brain tries to make out where I am but nothing is clear. I feel a rope around the middle of my body, restraining me. I begin to cough loudly and try shake about but I can barely move, both of my hands by my side. Slowly my surrounding begin to come back. Outlines of branches and the colour green come up first. I only notice now I'm in a tree, I'm not ridiculously high up, I was higher when I fell from the last tree. The sun is beginning its descent down the hills. I look down at my belt, my four remaining knives aren't there anymore. My brain hurts to bad and it makes me let out a moan.

"Max?" A voice calls from below me. "You're awake, finally." My whining stops and I try look down. It's Lesa. She has a fire going with something cooking over it, the smoke isn't thick. I can't see Ion. Why can't I see Ion? 

"I'll get you down now, hold on." She says again. She drops a weird stick she was holding in her hand and almost like a monkey she climbs up and slices the rope off me. She holds my hand gently and guides me down the tree. I feel fine... But... Confusion is the only emotion I can comprehend right now.

The ground is sludgy again, we actually aren't that far from the lake. I look around me, an unfamiliar setting but we're definitely near the place where I fell out of the tree. I shake my hair and bits of dried in mud and leafs come out. I feel like an old book when you blow on it and dust comes off.

"How long have I been out for?" I ask slowly. Everything's coming back slowly.

"Two days on and off." She smiles fakely, not taking her eyes off the fire. I can now see she's cooking a rabbit. Two, in fact. She twists them over the makeshift podium thing above the fire. They sizzle and they look absolutely delicious.

"Many die?" I ask. Dreading for an answer but really wanting a reply. 

She takes her focus off the fire and looks at me. She looks much older. She looks sad, almostyas if she isn't happy to see me. For a second I feel like she's lying I've been out for two days, maybe I've been in here two weeks instead, but I would have probably died of dehydration or hunger by then. "The boy from Four, the boys from Five and Seven and the girl from Eight. Both of them from 12 are alive, surprisingly. The Gamemakers seem to be killing us off." She recites, picking at the embers on the floor.

"How did I not die?" I ask myself out loud. I look up at where I was tied up, my body stiff from the lack of movement. I rub my fingers through my body like a massage to find a spot for proper pain but nothing hurts at all.

"How didn't you die is right." A voice says from behind me. It's Ion, I turn around, she has two water bottles full of water in her hands. I limp straight over to her and hug her. "Woah. Haha. This is shocking, I thought we were going to lose you, bud." Her words are comforting but I don't get a good feeling from either of them.

Tears form in my eyes. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I whisper.

Ion takes me off her and walks over to Lesa, she hands her a water bottle and she takes a gulp of it, she hands me the same one and I take tiny sips from it. I sit on the sludgy ground and pop my hands on my knees. "What happened?" I ask.

"You fell, the gas took you out before pain did. It was almost like a painkiller so thank the Gamemakers for that. We were gagging on preserved precious air to save you. When we went back on the floor, the gas only started to clear. We were both thinking that we were going to die, and to be honest I accepted it. You were dead Max, I thought I lost you. You were dead." Lesa cries out but remains emotionless.