The Hunger Games- What If's (Fan Fiction)

Chapter Thirteen

   I woke up in a small white room with tubes in my arm. It was excruciatingly bright in the room, so I kept my eyes closed for a few more minutes. I yawned and felt an odd sensation I hadn't  for a long time.

   When I yawned, I heard my ears pop. Both of them.

   My eyes flew open and I put my fingers in both of my ears. Yes, they both worked. I smile to myself and sat up. Where am I? I must be in the hovercraft on my way back to District 12. Or maybe the Capitol. . . I forget which one comes first.

   I actually won the Hunger Games. I did it. I did it for Prim, especially, but I also did it for my mom, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Rue, and maybe even Thresh. Saying Thresh might not really have any true meaning, considering I killed him to win, but I think that I won for him too. Even though I won, I didn't feel like I actually won anything. Great for me, I got to sleep in a larger house that wasn't in the Seam. Would people look at me the same? Who was I kidding, those 'people' weren't people anymore. They hadn't been for some time. Right around seventy-four years, I'd say.

   The Capitol created the Hunger Games as a way to keep all of the Districts in check. I remembered when Gale came and visited me before I left for the arena, he said that killing those people would be just like killing animals. Maybe he was right. In the Hunger Games, in District Twelve, in all of Panem, you can't trust. If you do, you'll get hurt, mostly physically. You can't critizise the government or you'll get whipped where everyone can see or worse, be an Avox for the Capitol.

   Nobody in District Twelve is who they were or who they would be because of the Hunger Games. Everybody looks out for themselves and themselves alone. Thus, we're all animals. We get lined up and pushed into almost certain death for the Capitol to enjoy. President Snow is, was, and ever shall be horrible. I doubt he'll ever understand what love is. Not just the emotional kind, but the powerful kind that is seen consistently in family, friendship, trust, and simply helping someone. It takes love to have passion and joy, but also to have pain and sorrow. There never was anything for President Snow to love.

   At that moment, the red haired Avox girl came in. I smiled to myself at the sight of her. She was carrying a tray of some of the most delicious things I'd ever seen. When she saw that I was sitting up on my own, she set the tray down and gently pushed me back into a laying position. Then she pressed a button that moved the small bed into a sitting position. She set the tray on my lap and handed me a spoon and a fork.

   "Thanks," I whispered.

   She nodded her head and left.

   Maybe she thought I was only saying thank you for the meal. But no, I was saying thank you for being there, since day one. Thank you for giving me some small light of hope. I think she knew that's what I was thanking her for, and that's why her response was so simple. I smiled to myself and stared at the food.

   On the right side of my plate was this green-ish rice with little pieces of asparagus that looked really good . . . . I was sure there was only sauce on the rice. . .

   On the left was a huge mound of mashed potatoes that looked simply wonderful. In between the two, there was a huge slab of what looked like venison meat. I dug into that first and let the fantastic flavors roll across my tongue. I took a sip of  water from a glass and then decided to try the rice.  I was right, it was delicious and so were the potatoes. I still had half of the venison left when I'd finished. It just didn't feel right, eating food that was so readily given to you.

   I wanted to get out of there, but I didn't remember where I was supposed to  go. Don't I go back to my District right away? No, that wouldn't make sense. And then I remembered that I had to go back to the Capitol for the overview of everything. I sigh and yank the tubes from my right arm. I sling my feet over the side of the bed, wondering where I could go. I'm confident that I'm under heavy surveillance, so I probably shouldn't do anything stupid. If anyone caught me, I could just say that I was looking for Effie. In fact, that's where I was going all along.