Avox - The True Story Behind The Hunger Games

Part One: The Games

The countdown has started, and I am shaking on my podium. On my neck is my token, a small locket containing a picture of my best friend, Ethan, who is standing on the podium two people over, and myself. On the front is a drawing of a piece of wheat, which is what District 9 farms. And on the back, Ethan engraved our final words into the metal; "Till death do we part."

10. My hands won't stop fiddling with my token. My eyes flick around the arena, trying to assess the situation. There's a woods to my left. And right. Pretty much everywhere. In the center, of course, is the Cornucopia. Ethan looks at me. I look at him. We nod.

9. I finally put my hands down, shoving them into my pockets to keep them warm. It's not freezing cold here, but I'm used to conditions in District 9, not conditions in the middle of the arena. I thank the Gamemakers silently for not setting the Games in the artic again.

8. Adrenaline pulses through my veins. Am I going to survive? What's going to happen? Will Ethan and I be the last ones left? What will happen then?

7. I won't be able to kill him. I will have to die so he can live.

6. 5. 4. My breath has started to go faster. I'm posed and ready to run when that counter has reached the end. I will follow Ethan to the cornucopia, we will grab a backpack, and then we will run into the forest. And win.

3. 2. 1.

My feet burst into action, bolting towards Ethan, who is already grabbing onto a bag. Unfortunately, someone else is also holding onto it. I recognize them as Katniss, the girl from District 12 who got an 11 on her personal training score, and I hold my breath while making my way towards him. Before I can make it to him, a knife enters his back, and I scream. Every part of me has frozen, and I no longer know how to move.

Clove. Clove killed Ethan while he was struggling to get the bag. I take deep breaths, trying to calm down enough for me to move, but I can't. Katniss grabs the bag and runs, completely ignoring the murder in front of her.

Anger suddenly releases me from my prison of shock, and I bound towards Clove, who is with the other careers and searching through the cornucopia. I have to dodge several limp bodies and fights in order to get to them. When I do, they give me a smirking look. Glimmer moves closer to me, a sword in her hands. I mouth "go ahead" and smile. My locket says "till death do we part," but I can make it so we never leave each other.

Glimmer throws the sword at me, and it slices right into my stomach. I just stand there, and she gives me a confused look. My face gives no expression. My hands wrap around the sword, and I know that I will die with it inside of me, so she will not get it back. Suddenly, I collapse to the floor, frozen, and I know I have reached my final seconds of life.

I close my eyes, ready to embrace my fate. The cannon sounds. Wait a second... I hear the cannon sound. If it sounds, shouldn't I be dead? But unless I'm a ghost, how would I hear it? I can't be a ghost, because the pain of the sword in my stomach still pulses through me. The whir of the Capitol hovercraft shakes my body as it decends.  Now I really know that I'm still alive, because I feel it lift me up into the air.

Every ounce of me want to scream "Wait! I'm not dead!" But my body is frozen, just like it was when I saw Ethan die, and I can't move my mouth or any other part of me. I'm helpless as they lift me into the hovercraft.

Once I'm up (well, I assume I'm up, because I've stopped moving upwards), someone picks me up and then lies me down on what feels like a bed. Then there's a sharp pain in my arm before everything dissolves to darkness.

And the last thing I hear is Ethan whisper "Sage?"