I Will Survive (english)

VI Martin

It felt like an eternity until I got on stage. Stina stood there and just looked at me.

- What's your name? Alicia Tornek asked me.

"Martin Moore," I replied.

"Now you can shake him with each other," Alicia said in a buttery tone. Stina and I shook hands. Her handshake was hard and probably wanted to show that she was not afraid. We went into the courthouse and into a smaller room with beautiful curtains and furniture. I sat down in a red velvet armchair near the window. I tapped it lightly, nothing was heard. The window was so hard that it was impossible for anyone to smash. My father and mother came in the door. My mother came forward and hugged me.

- You can win this, you know, she just said and went out. That was the last thing my mother said to me but I'm not mad at her. I understand that she knew my father had told me to sign up as a volunteer but my mother has always been a sensitive woman and she does not want to cry in front of people, especially not peacekeepers.

- Your mother, father began but interrupted. You know she can 't handle this. I nodded in response but I really wanted to say: No, it's clear! She only saw her daughter die in these games a few years ago! My big sister Laia participated in the games a few years ago when she participated in the careerists but they killed her in the end, and I have a hard time not putting that blame on my father because he was the one who persuaded her to volunteer. As if Dad knew I was thinking of him, he said:

- Participate in the games as a careerist, do not eat something you do not know what it is, do not trust anyone and ...

Father still gave me information but I no longer listened. I had heard something from the room next door where Stina Hardbreak was talking to her family and friends. It sounded like she was crying.

- And ... Martin! Are you listening to me? asked father suddenly.

- Oh, yes, I said hastily.

- I asked if you knew anything about the black poisonous berries? he said again.

- Yes, uh, they are very poisonous and they are called ... Uh ... I started confused.

- Night tax, finished father. Half of the careerists died last year because of them.

A peacekeeper came in and told Dad to go and he walked to the door slowly while saying:

- Do not forget that we are ...

- Constantly victorious, I finished for him and he gave me a smile before the peacekeeper fired him out of sight. After Dad, some of my classmates came in and they chatted a bit about what luck I had and that I should be proud and such, but they went pretty fast, then came Sarah, my girlfriend. She walked over and hugged me.

- I would have been a volunteer, I promise it was just because ... she started.

- That Stina Hardbreak wanted the place, I know, I replied.

"Good luck, Martin," she said, hugging me.

When Sarah had left, a peacekeeper came in.

- You have no more visitors, she said in a quick cold voice. I went with peacekeepers out to the train station and there were a lot of cameras that immediately when I went out started flashing. I turned to Stina but I could not see her because the cameras were paralyzed by her and when we got on the train she was still blinking. I also saw that she had put on a little stronger make-up, probably by her father to hide her red-gray cheeks.

Corn Hardbreak and Alicia Tornek followed us into the high-speed train that was from the capital. As soon as we got on the train far enough from the cameras, Corn Hardbreak started giving his sister instructions. But I did not bother to listen in secret, I just went into the compartment that Alicia Tornek showed me and closed the door. I lay down in bed and closed my eyes as the capital's tall skyscrapers rose over the valley.