PART II THE GAMES For a moment, the cameras hold on Peetas downcast eyes as what he says sinks in. Then I can see my face, mouth half open in a mix of surprise and protest, magnified on every screen as I realize, Me! He means me! I press my lips toge...
What did you think of that costume? Cinna raises one eyebrow at me. Be honest. You mean after I got over my fear of being burned alive? I ask. Big laugh. A real one from the audience. Yes. Start then, says Caesar. Cinna, my friend, I should tell him...
A large balcony off a building to the right has been reserved for the Gamemakers.Television crews have claimed most of the other balconies. But the City Circle and the avenues that feed into it are completely packed with people. Standing room only. A...
The creature standing before me in the full-length mirror has come from another world. Where skin shimmers and eyes flash and apparently they make their clothes from jewels. Because my dress, oh, my dress is entirely covered in reflective precious ge...
until Im literally spitting out answers at him. All right, enough, he says. Weve got to find another angle. Not only are you hostile, I dont know anything about you. Ive asked you fifty questions and still have no sense of your life, your family, wha...
Chapter 9 Betrayal. Thats the first thing I feel, which is ludicrous. For there to be betrayal, there would have had to been trust first. Between Peeta and me. And trust has not been part of the agreement. Were tributes. But the boy who risked a beat...
My fingers were just on the wire above one of the rabbits when a voice rang out. Thats dangerous. I jumped back several feet as Gale materialized from behind a tree. He must have been watching me the whole time. He was only fourteen, but he cleared s...
What about my family? I say. Will they punish them? Dont think so. Wouldnt make much sense. See theyd have to reveal what happened in the Training Center for it to have any worthwhile effect on the population. People would need to know what you did....
Chapter 8 As I stride toward the elevator, I fling my bow to one side and my quiver to the other. I brush past the gaping Avoxes who guard the elevators and hit the number twelve button with my fist. The doors slide together and I zip upward. I actua...
Its impossible not to think of a bird. I pick up another spear while Peeta throws. I think her names Rue, he says softly. I bite my lip. Rue is a small yellow flower that grows in the Meadow. Rue. Primrose. Neither of them could tip the scale at seve...
When he realizes I know something about snares, he shows us a simple, excellent trap that will leave a human competitor dangling by a leg from a tree. We concentrate on this one skill for an hour until both of us have mastered it. Then we move on to...
I sit on the bed, hating Haymitch, hating Peeta, hating myself for mentioning that day long ago in the rain. Its such a joke! Peeta and I going along pretending to be friends! Talking up each others strengths, insisting the other take credit for thei...
And youre good? asks Haymitch. I have to think about it. Ive been putting food on the table for four years. Thats no small task. Im not as good as my father was, but hed had more practice. Ive better aim than Gale, but Ive had more practice. Hes a ge...
Chapter 7 My slumbers are filled with disturbing dreams. The face of the redheaded girl intertwines with gory images from earlier Hunger Games, with my mother withdrawn and unreachable, with Prim emaciated and terrified. I bolt up screaming for my fa...
They shot some sort of spear through the boy. It was attached to a cable and they hauled him up as well. But Im certain he was dead. We heard the girl scream once. The boys name, I think. Then it was gone, the hovercraft. Vanished into thin air. And...
