A Whole New Game: A Hunger Games Story

Chapter 17: A Plan

Athena

My eyes feel like they are glued shut. At first it seems like it is physically impossible for me to open them, but soon I have managed to pry them apart.

I'm in a different room then before. I try to sit up to get a better look, but find that impossible. Every single muscle feels like they have a dead weight on them. I feel exactly like I did the first day I woke up after the arena; drowsy, confused, and in pain. Only now the pain is dull, and instead of waking up with a bloodied stump, a shiny new arm has taken its place.

I manage to lift my head to get a better look at it. It's my skin tone, a bit tan, even with detailed freckles,. The detail was incredible. All the lines and wrinkles of my knuckles showed, I even had nails.

I touch it with my left hand. I am surprised at the texture. I thought it would feel like metal, however, as I touch it I feel a texture like soft rubber, almost human like. Amazed, I try to move it, however it remains as lifeless as a pipe.

"You can't move it yet."

I nearly jump out of my skin. I look over and see Gale over by a counter, topped with different charts and files.

"How long have you been there?" I demand.

He suddenly blushes. "I, er, all day and night." He clears his throat. "Well I wanted to-I mean I was supposed to check in and see how the procedure was going when Volts wasn't there. But I didn't want to leave just, you know, to make sure the didn't attach it to your head or something."

"Well darn, I always wanted an arm attached to my head," I kid, but truthfully I was grateful that he stayed and made sure everything went okay. "So why can't I move it yet?"

He sighs, and averts the question. "I should probably wait for Beetee, but got called to some emergency meeting. I might as well just start the training without him."

I cringe at the word 'training'. "Training, what training?"

"Oh don't worry, it's nothing like the training you've had before, it's more like...physical therapy."

I just nod.

"See if you can try to lift it again," he says expectantly, gliding over to my side.

Try as I might, I can't figure out where it is. I mean, I know where my arm is, but my brain doesn't seem to realize the fact that it is a part of me.

"I can't," I say defeated. "Am I supposed to be able to move it?" I ask, worried that it might not work.

"No, but it was worth a shot. This is the first time this has ever been done as far as I know, so we really don't know what to expect." From his pocket he takes out some sort of remote and presses it to my arm. I feel it begin to hum.

"This," he holds up the little remote, "is what turns it on. Right now it's just a crutch, soon you should be able to move it as you would any other muscle in your body. Here, let me help you out of the bed."

He pulls down the metal railings so I can swing my legs over. I slide off the bed and stand up quickly, too quickly. Unstable and dizzy, I would have fallen over if Gale hadn't caught me. He sets me up straight and I try to blink the black stars out of my eyes.

"Thanks." I look up and see him staring at me with curious eyes, but his expression quickly changes and he chuckles.

Rrrrrrrrrr.

"Looks like someone hasn't eaten," he chuckles as my stomach growls once more. "But let's do a little training first." Back in 5, I was used to being hungry all the time, but it was easy to get used to the three course meals everyday (even if they were on the more inedible side) here in 13.