Victors Support Group

Year Six- Johanna

Another year, another victor 'party' by Effie Trinket.

Here in District 7, Victor's Village is more like a cabin retreat than a neighborhood, made of the finest cedar. Wood has always smelled incredible to me. With a blizzard arriving later, everybody will have to stay the night. Haha. But luckily for them, there are extra rooms. All the other houses are occupied. That's one thing I like about my post- Hunger Games life: We've given shelter to dozens of poor people, at least until they build up their incomes. I hosted a few guests over the years, but they moved out.

You should see my backyard. There's so much space, I've built two targets side by side, with a protective iron wall behind them. My ideal axe range. Throwing is a fabulous stress reliever- something I desperately needed once I came of reaping age. Katniss likes to shoot whenever she comes over, and she's taught me, too. I still like axes better.

At the moment, Enobaria and I are going head-to-head, testing our axe-throwing abilities. We've managed to tolerate each other enough to work out our differences. This is our equivalent of girl time. Effie, Beetee and Annie watch from a safe distance. They don't seem to mind the freezing cold. None of the District 12 victors are here yet, which is bizarre. They make up a third of our group.

Enobaria's axe buries itself in the bullseye of her target. I just executed a perfect throw myself, so we're both feeling confident.

"Yes!" she cheers. "I told you I wasn't losing my skills. Middle age can suck it!"

I scoff. "Please. You've only thrown once. Could you do that every single time?"

"Seriously, Mason? You said it yourself; I only threw once. You know, I think you might be Andrea incarnate. Without the red hair."

"That District One girl you killed who loved the axe?" I ask. "What an honor. I seem to remember throwing an axe at your head."

"You missed."

Six years after this incident, we're actually laughing about it. A victor thing, I guess. She's grown on me. You might even say that we've become friends. I could definitely use friends.

"I mentioned Andrea," Enobaria says. "I guess you would've been too little to see my Games when they happened?"

"Yeah. I caught highlights once, though, but I hardly remember it. I'd rather not watch another one of those for as long as I live."

She nods. "You and me both. I worked my butt off to get every single copy of the video destroyed. Nothing you don't know about."

Speaking of Enobaria, guess who she recruited for the Peacekeeper Union? This crazy axe girl! To that, I said, heck yes!

I know what you're thinking: Jo, are you insane? Okay, yes I am, but Peacekeepers are good now. They've become like, uh, what is it they were called before? Oh, right. Police officers. They still train in District 2. Once you're a genuine Peacekeeper, you get to decide your work location. I chose District 7. What can I say? Home breathes life into me. Even after my whole family was slaughtered there, I never dreamed of leaving.

It was the only thing Snow couldn't take away from me.

So, that's what I've been up to- aside from the whole Gale thing (don't ask).

Enobaria and I continue our battle, but we're evenly matched. For every bullseye I get, she does the same. She has herself a nice blacksmith shop back at her house. Name your weapon and she can build it. Apparently, though, her first job was making axes.

As we retrieve them from the targets, Annie comes over to ask, "Can you teach me, Jo? It looks kind of fun."

"Sure, Red," I say.

Fun isn't the word I'd use. Not when you throw to kill. My dreams still conjure up images of a gorgeous blonde woman, falling backwards, with my axe protruding from her chest. Don't even get me started on the damage I inflicted during my first round in the arena. But Annie's a hard girl to say no to. We won The Hunger Games back to back, and we were born just a few months apart. Everybody likes her. Let me tell you, popularity goes a long way as a tribute. Not that I would know.

I teach Annie the proper way to hold her axe, where to position herself for better aim, and, of course, throwing technique. She does pretty well for her first try. Other people will miss the target completely, but she doesn't. The blade lands near the center, actually. Annie's cheeks widen to form a proud smile.

"Not bad," I say, nodding in approval. She's got quite the aim.

Snowflakes have begun to float down, and Annie opens her palms up to catch some on her gloves.

"You don't ever see this in Four," she says, giggling. "I only experienced real winter for the first time on my Victory Tour. You guys talk about how much fun it can be... Oh, hey! When there's enough snow, we should go skiing or sledding."

"I'm up for that," Enobaria agrees.

Beetee shakes his head, grinning. "I wish, but my condition isn't the best."

"You could always borrow my snowshoes," I suggest. "They're one size fits all. Or, there's my snowmobile."

"I'd much rather sit by the fireplace," Effie comments, pulling up the hood of her coat.

Figures. She's the only person here annoyed by snow. Which is hilarious. The Capitol gets tons of it every year.

I roll my eyes. "Fine, lady. We can go in for a while, until our coal friends decide to show."

Two hours pass before I hear a knock on my door. By then, we're all freaking impatient.

"I'm sure you've got a good excuse, brainless," I tease as I turn the knob. "Not making out with the bread boy, are you..."

When I take in the sight before me, whatever snarky thing I might usually say disappears from my lips. Peeta and Katniss cling to each other. Their eyes are puffy and stained with tears. Something terrible has occurred. Did her mother die? Someone else they loved?

"What happened?" I ask, using a gentler voice.

"There was an emergency, so we took a later train," Peeta says.

We all gather around to say hello, but what alarms me further is the way they embrace us individually. Like they may never see us again. Only then do I realize who isn't beside them- and my stomach drops.

"Haymitch," Katniss chokes out. "He's dead."