The 50th hunger games - throwing fate.

Chapter 3

Haymitch jolts awake, the clock illuminating the cabin says 4.08am, through silent tears and the tremors of his body he had managed to sleep the whole of 50 minutes, he can hear the sobs of all the other tributes, Anaya's laboured breathing and crackling lungs make his stomach swim with anxiety, she sounds the same as granmar-mar when she died, it wasn't long but remembers the slow deep breaths she took before finally taking her last.

black lung was rife in the seam where most families relied on coal mining as a income, even the youngsters started sometimes around 12, either not attending school or doing a half time table, From the look of Anaya, he assumes she has spent a few hours down in the pit thats probably how he knows Maysilee, most merchant families get coal deliveries twice weekly and he can imagine they would build up a relationship.

The hours pass and Haymitch stares up at the red and gold velvet curtain above his bed, he had pulled it around for privacy from the other tributes hoping he might sleep, but it seems that has gone out of the window, slowly the sun rises and the peace keeper arrives to walk them to the breakfast carriage, they all slowly form a line in the doorway and all towards the smell of cooked food.

The table is filled to the brim with all kinds of delicious looking things, toasted bread with different types of jams, some strange looking pastries, fried meats and even eggs, he fills his plate, even though his stomach is still flipping with fear he's absolutely starving - as his other would say "a growing boy with hollow legs like a mockingjay".

Anaya stands up shakily and heads to the fruit basket, she takes no more than three steps before her legs give out from under her and her head meets the table with a loud crack, the blood stained rag she had been coughing into sailing to the ground like a red and white feather, it almost feels like slow motion, everyone around him jumps up and runs towards her, he is pushed to the side by the peace keeper.

"Back to the bedrooms now", the man exclaims before holding a small device to his mouth and repeating "code five, code five, we have a fatality".

The group rush back to the bedroom and sit in silence for a good five minutes before Maysilee cries out "do you think shes really dead?".

"Well she definitely hit her head pretty hard", Asper says matter-of-factly, his voice un-quavering but his face as white as a sheet.