The 130th Hunger Games

Chapter Thirty-Three

Cassandra Hudgens stares, dumbfounded, at the TV screen.

No victor? How could it be?

The second Leonard Addelson finishes his announcement, the TV goes black. Then the Capitol emblem appears and the anthem begins to play.

Cassandra pauses, staring at the screen for a moment. Then she grabs the remote and rewinds, watching the scene before the crumbling disaster began.

Cassandra studies the TV as a young girl with frizzy brown hair creeps through the forest, a nervous expression on her face. She stops when she reaches the Cornucopia, and carefully bends down right next to the large metal structure. With careful hands she digs up the area, and then cautiously inserts a few things into the hole.

Landmines.

After setting up the explosives, she covers up the hole again with fragile hands, until it looks as ordinary as the rest of the grass. And then, silently, she gets back up and darts away.

And that’s when the ground starts to crumble, and the screaming begins, and Jane runs straight into the Career pack.

How did she know?

Sighing, Cassandra switches off the TV. The Capitol will obviously be dealing with some problems now. After what Sandi said just before she died, and the fact that there is no victor of the Games, the districts must be enraged. But, of course, the Capitol will never broadcast that kind of thing on national TV.  It would only inspire more people to fight.

Cassandra walks over to the chair in front of her laptop and sits down. There is a large hole in the side of the laptop where she took out its tracking device.

For the millionth time since the year she became a “happy” mentor, Cassandra researches the word “Mellarks”—the family name used for the many generations after Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. She has always been curious about the family. Do they know about New Panem? Are they in hiding?

Cassandra has always had the feeling that ever since New Panem was founded, Capitol soldiers have been searching for the Mellark family. She feels terrible for them, because when they finally reached peace after so many hard years, they are finding themselves being hunted by very thing that caused them nightmares.

But Panem’s cruel culture is one that should never live on.

And she’s going to need their help to prove it to the entire country.

Cassandra silently gets up from her chair and opens her closet. She reaches behind her rack of clothes and her hands find the secret compartment. Cautiously, she opens it and grabs the backpack from inside. She pulls the zipper down and reaches into the backpack’s contents. There she finds a tattered piece of paper, and, after pulling it out of the backpack, she studies it. Across the top reads the words NORTH AMERICA. She shoves it back into the backpack and reaches in for something else. When her hands touch the familiar feeling of steel, she yanks the object out of the bag. Her hands begin to tremble as she puts the knife by her right arm. Gritting her teeth, she drives the knife into her skin. Moving the blade around under her skin, she finds something metal and pulls it out.

The tracking device they put inside of her after her rebellion in the 109th Hunger Games, so if she ever tries something crazy, they will find her and put her in prison. Where she “belongs”.

But little did they know about the knife she had snuck into her room.

The tracking device slips off the knife’s surface and drops on the carpet. Cassandra quickly picks it up, but her arm drips blood onto the plush flooring, staining it. Cursing, she rolls her sleeve back up to cover the wound and deposits the tracker into the secret compartment in her closet. After wiping off the knife with a towel, she hastily shoves it into her backpack, along with her laptop. Then she zips it up, throws the straps over her shoulders, and opens the door to her room.

After a quick look around for Archie Taylor or the other mentor, who are not seen, Cassandra dashes out to the elevator. Quickly she presses the button reading LOBBY. It shoots down, dings, and then the elevator doors slide open. Cassandra walks swiftly out the door, and is greeted by a huge crowd, screaming and crying about the disastrous ending of the Games. Annoyed, Cassandra shoves her way through the crowd, trying to get as far away from them as possible.

She keeps walking until she is in a quiet, abandoned street. In the distance lies greenery and a mass amount of trees. The woods.

That’s when she breaks into a run, heading towards it. These woods will lead to a part of the Capitol that is thought to never have existed.

And from there, her journey will finally begin.

Here I come, North America, Cassandra thinks to herself.

Here I come.

END OF BOOK ONE

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A/N): Hello, dear readers! I hope you have enjoyed the past few chapters. I didn't put any author's notes in because I thought that would ruin the dramatic/cliffhanger moment...but since this is the ending, I figured it could work. ANYWAY! I don't really have much to say here...except that I hope you ENJOYED!!! The reason I'm not putting much news into this little note is because I'm going to put a big, long author's note later describing everything that I want to say about you guys and about...*ahem*...my upcoming works...hehe :). Also, there IS going to be a little something after this (and before the Author's Note), so...keep on reading guys! AND DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT, VOTE, AND FOLLOW ME!!! :D

~candysmart5