The 25th Hunger Games (fanfic)

Chapter 2: Saying Goodbye

My heart stops as I see her, clinging to my mother. My mother is screaming now, but all I can make out is Crystal standing there, being forced on stage by a Peacekeepers. I hear the gasps and cries from the audience, and I know they understand. But they don't. My mother is fighting with the Peacekeepers, trying to save her two kids. This is not fair. That's all I can think.

My sister is carried on stage and strapped down. My mother screams bloody murder and tries to leap towards the stage. I fight to remain calm. But when I see a Peacekeeper punch my mother in the face, that's when I turn from crazy to psycho. I struggle with the chair, kicking and hitting it, biting, trying to get out of its grasp. I finally just pick up the chair and run with it, still strapped to me, to my mother. I snarl as heads turn to me. The Peacekeepers are astonished. It must weigh about 2,000 pounds, but adrenaline is coursing through my bones from all this. My mother punched, Crystal to fight to the death, me going in with her, knowing at least one won't survive.

I get to Mom and turn around and smack a Peacekeeper with my chair. I run to protect her, but the Peacekeepers shove a needle in my arm, knocking me out. I yell and reach for her, but the town square goes lopsided, and I slump to the ground. The last thing I see is Mom getting beat by three Peacekeepers.

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I wake up to a room in the Justice Building I've seen often. It's where tributes are aloud the last few goodbyes. Crystal must be in the other room. The room is filled with luxurious items. Fancy couches with the softest materials, elegant drinking glasses, even a wardrobe adorns the back wall. And it pains me to sit here. I am a tribute in the Games. And I have no friends to cry with. I have none. Nobody to say goodbye to. So I'm not surprised when the first visitor is Dad. His brown, medium-length hair is combed back, showing his forehead. He sits next to me. No tears in his eyes, green and glowing, none in mine. We just stare at each other. Seconds pass. A minute. Then, he just hugs me. We stay like this for a while before he talks.

"Zac, we need to talk. Your sister's going in, and all, and she's only 13. She hasn't been able to live as long, she doesn't have any protection. I guess what I'm saying is, make sure you protect her, even if it involves risking your own life. I guess, just make sure she wins."

Then he leaves. Just like that. And instead of sobbing, I feel hatred run through my blood, followed by anger. That's it? He just told me he would rather Crystal win than me. That's what my strategy would have been anyway, but coming from Dad's mouth, it's as if any hope of my survival got flushed down the drain.

I want to scream, but I'm still dizzy from the medicine. My next visitor is Mom. She's got a cast on one arm and a black eye. She has cuts and bruises all over her body and when she opens her mouth, I see she's broken a tooth. A drizzle of blood is stained to her chin, but she doesn't say anything about her struggle with the Peacekeepers. In fact, if it wasn't for her beat up condition, I wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. She quickly scoops me up and embraces me. We hug for a short while, then we talk.

"Zac, sweety, I'm so sorry...."

"It's alright mom," I spurt out. "Dad already told me, I need to let Crystal live."

"Zac, that's not it at all. I want you both to try. Together. Do whatever it takes to get home."

"I know mom, but we're so weak and fragile, and everyone else is so strong..."

"I didn't ask you your opinion. Promise me that you're going to do whatever it takes to come home, you and your sister. Make friends. Kill people, I don't care what."

"Yes Mom, I promise."

"And honey, one more thing..."

But I'll never know what she was going to say because a Peacekeeper comes up behind her and ushers her out. She screams I love you, I scream back, and then get one, final look at my mother. I don't expect any visitors. No tears come. I don't talk. Just sit there. So I'm shocked when someone comes in. And then I let out a little gasp.

"Gliss..." I sputter out. My true love stands in front of me, wearing a beautiful dress. Her blond hair falls past her shoulders. But she does something that takes my breath away.

"Keep her alive, OK? I believe in you. And if... you know, she doesn't make it, we still need a victor. Try your hardest." And then she leans down and kisses me, smack on the lips. It feels so warm and so good, and I can't help but ask for a second. And when a Peacekeeper comes in to see us kissing, you wouldn't believe his expression. He takes her out, and I stutter one last line.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

And she says, "No."