The Hunger Games - PRIM EDITION

Chapter 17 - Anger Sadness and Grief

Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to update, but here we are! Final Chapter!! I hope you enjoy it, and thank you to everyone who has read up until this point!

*Katniss' POV*

Anger. Sadness. Grief. I don't even know how I feel. But for the moment I don't want to know how I feel. I don't even want to feel. My eyes are no longer on the big screen outside the Justice Building, but are slammed shut as my legs give way and I fall to the floor.

NO. I think. No, no, no, this isn't happening. It can't be. I hear another cry nearby, and recognise it as my mother's. I feel strong arms try to lift me up, and the distinct smell of the forest that I match with Gale, but I refuse to stand, because I can't. Everything is in slow motion to me, and I can hear nothing but the two bangs of the cannon and Ceasar Flickerman's voice.

"And there we have it, Ladies and Gentlemen." He says, an odd mixture of excitement and sorrow in his voice. "That is the end of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, and we have our victor! Admittedly, he isn't in the greatest condition, but here we have him, the winner of this year's Huger Games, from district 2, Cato!"

I feel a hard lump form in the back of my throat, and suddenly I feel very sick. This is real, and there is nothing I can do about it. My sister is dead, and all I have done is watch in on a big screen. As if it is miles away, I hear the Capitol anthem playing as the screen shows every single tribute's death.

Suddenly I am on my feet and running. I don't know where I am going, but I have to get away. As I push through the dense crowd, I catch a glance of Prim on the screen. I stop in my tracks, taking in the sight of my sister, blood trickling down her young face, which is snow white. She was too young, too gentle.

Sharp pain shoots through my knees, and I realise that I am on the floor again. I try to slow down my breathing, which has been reduced to small gasps, by taking deep breaths, but it is no use. I hear the kind voice of a woman above me, asking if I am okay, but I ignore her, staggering to my feet and continuing to storm away. Of course I'm not okay, my sister just died.

I figure that if I keep saying it in my head, then when I hear other people say it I won't feel so bad. But I am wrong, because when I overhear an old lady discussing the games with her husband, I am forced to run faster.

"It's a shame about that Primrose girl." She had said. "She was only young, twelve I think." I didn't stay long enough to hear his reply. My shaking legs carried me to my house and before I knew it I was wearing my hunting jacket and heading towards the broken fence that led to the forest outside of district twelve.

I slither through the gap and start to run into the trees where I will be concealed from any peacekeepers. Or so I think. Just as I reach the trees there is a bellowing voice - a man's voice. I drop to the floor, petrified, but not entirely sure if he's seen me. He has. My father's words ring I my ears. 'Never get caught out here, Katniss. Being out of bounds is punishable by death.'

A thousand thoughts fly through my mind, none of which being an escape. Instead, when two pairs of strong arms grab me, I do nothing. I am too weak to fight them, and too hopeless to want to fight. Let them take me. Let them kill me if they want. Anything is better than this heartache.

I half walk and am half dragged to the Justice Building, where my wrists are tied securely to a wooden post, the tight rope making my wrists sore. One peacekeeper stands by me, while the other storms inside, probably to ask permission to kill me.

I shut my eyes tight, concentrating on the pain spreading through my arms, because it takes my mind away from Prim. I don't even know how long I am there, but I presume it is a long time, because when I open my eyes, the Town Square is full of people again, and a Peacekeeper stands before them.

"People of District 12!" he shouts out into the crowd. "Here," he gestures to me, "you see something that we don't usually see in District 12. This is Katniss Everdeen," I hear a cry that sounds like my mother's, "and this afternoon, she was caught over the fence, trying to run away." If it wasn't for the extreme pain in my wrists and back, I would find this funny. I've managed to get away with it for five years. "We, as peacekeepers, have always stressed the rules in this district, and it seems that Katniss here, has forgotten that being out of bounds is punishable by death." Get on with it then I think to myself.

"So, here we have Katniss to teach you all a little... lesson." He walks steadily behind me, and my whole body tenses. "This is what happens to people who try to escape District 12." I hear him load the gun.

I desperately think of Prim, and my mother, and Gale, and my father, wanting any one of my loved ones to be my last thought. Goodbye.

There's a bang in the distance, and a million memories flash before my eyes. Good memories, bad memories, the briefest moment of pain In my temple, and then black.

The pain is gone.

~~THE END~~