Chapter 5: The Day the Smiles Died

December 29th, 69 ADD

Finally, that arrogant fuck from District 2 has gotten on the train and, God willing, I'll never have to look at his smug face again. As the first stop for all victory tours it falls on us to be the ones to 'ensure the victors feel welcomed' when they begin their journey across the country. Most of the time we either have to deal with pompous Careers looking down their noses at us and complaining about our home, or a broken kid with no more energy or life left in them. This year we were given the 'honor' of hosting Petrov, a 18 year old who wouldn't shut up about how he managed to volunteer before anyone else and that there was no real competition this year. He was the one who killed our female tribute in the bloodbath.

A tribute from District 12 dying in the bloodbath is nothing new. Come to think of it, I don't think we have had a tribute survive the first 2 hours for as long as I've been alive so I'm not sure what he's so fucking proud of. 

Anyways, now that he and the extra peacekeepers are gone we can finally go hunting again. This winter has been brutal and we've had a lot of deaths in the Seam. Mostly starvation and hypothermia. Gale, Katniss, and I are going to do one last hunt before the new year to see if we can find ANYTHING! 

In the months since we discovered the hole in the fence we have made multiple trips into the forest. Usually going once or twice a week in the summer, we took our time getting familiar with the surrounding landscape and trying to figure out the best place to put our snares. 

Our luck seems to not be improving because all of our snares are empty. A couple even looked like they had been chewed through so we probably need to get better at making them or maybe learn some new techniques. 

As we are headed back to the fence with our heads hung low I feel like every cell in my body lights up at once. A sudden feeling of electricity at the base of my skull and I swear the world froze for a couple of seconds. I feel my head turning before I can even register what is happening and my eyes immediately narrow in on a small doe approximately 100 feet (30.48 meters) away, gnawing on some grass without a care in the world. I freeze in place. Both because of the deer but also because of the strange sensation I just experienced. It takes me longer than I care to admit to realize that this was the spider sense I was promised from ROB. It had never gone off before in the 10 months of me being in this world. I may or may not have forgotten about it a little bit. I was totally focused on my new physical abilities that I forgot about possibly my greatest boon.

Good thing I can't train it because I'd be kicking myself if I wasted 10 months not doing so. Still, now that I know about it, I wonder if there are other uses for it?

As I stop in my tracks, Gale and Katniss look at me but before they could say anything motion for them to be quiet and point to where I noticed the doe. They look and don't see anything at first, growing tense in case it was a patrol hovercraft or something, but they both quickly see it through the trees. Their eyes light up and, while being as quiet as possible, we communicate with hand gestures about what we should do. We don't have a bow and there's no way in hell we can sneak up on it. We can't seem to come up with anything truly helpful so I do what my great, great, great, great, great (x200) grandfathers would do and pick up a large rock.

Both of them look at me like I'm insane but I ignore them as I take my undershirt off and place the rock inside. Their expressions only seem to become more confused but we've got nothing better so I'm committing!

I start spinning the shirt with the rock still inside and as I'm getting ready to release, I feel a faint buzz before it cuts off. There it is again. Again. And again. I'm not sure what it is but I have a hunch. I trust my instincts, and when the sensation hits me again I let go of one end of the shirt.

*CRACK* 

With a loud whipping sound, the rock shoots out in a beeline for the deer. It looked startled by the loud and sudden noise but it had no chance of reacting quick enough. Sadly, its faint movement altered where the rock hit. What was intended to be a clean kill shot to the head turned into a gruesome scene accompanied by the most pitiful whining noise an animal could make. 

Right in the neck. Instead of an instant clean death, it turned into what looked like a crime scene. The neck bent in an unnatural direction, blood gushing out of the large hole from the rock, and the dying cries of an innocent animal. It dies in only a moment, but it's time right before death is… unpleasant.

Gale and Katniss slowly turn their heads towards me with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Now that's how it's done." I say with supreme smugness. I mean yeah, it didn't go 100% according to plan, but I think taking down anything with an improvised sling from 100 feet away deserves some congratulations. 

"H-ho-how did you do that?!" "What was that?!" They both instantly yell at me. Filled with both awe and confusion.

"That my friends, is a sling. Or at least a really really crappy one. I read about it in one of Mr. Greg's weapons catalogues." 

"You gotta teach me how to make one of those! We could bring back so much more food with something like that!" Gale seems over the moon at the possibility of making something so useful out of seemingly nothing. 

"I can show you both but they're not very accurate at all. I just got really lucky just now." I say not wanting to give them false hope. I'm near 100% certain that that buzzing was my spider sense.

'Spider sense doesn't really work for me. I'm not a damn spider. From now on I'll call it my 6th sense (original I know, leave me alone).'

"Who cares? Anything is better than nothing!" He replies as Katniss nods along in agreement.

"Ok, looks like we'll be slinging rocks like arrows soon. Let's go clean that deer and get back home." Katniss says. It's close to getting dark so she's probably right.

We spent the next hour cleaning the deer carcass. Well, they did. I spent my time showing them the correct form for using a sling and what an actual properly made one should look like. We make the trek back home after splitting the meat evenly and I go to bed that night thrilled at how surprisingly useful my 6th sense actually was. 

—VERY SMALL TIMEJUMP—

January 20th 70ADD

I was sitting in my 'Geology of Panem' class when I was suddenly overwhelmed by my 6th sense. Like my entire body was lighting up and my spine was being electrocuted while my vision turned white almost like I just got flash-banged! It didn't stop for a couple minutes.

'Holy fuck… what was that?! I've never felt my senses react like that!'

It wasn't long before I would find out why they did.

A group of teachers and peacekeepers rounded up all the children room by room and once we were all gathered outside, the news I had been dreading ever since I came to this world was given.

There had been an accident in the mines. 

What happened next was a blur of action. We were marched down with the other residents of District 12 to the entrance of the mine. Watching. Waiting. Hoping to see anyone come up again. The other mining crews and shifts had already evacuated their sections.

After what felt like days we see a few bodies dragging themselves from the cave entrance. No one was allowed to step foot inside because it might not be stable. As the small group of men stepped into the light, it was hard to tell who was who because they were covered head to toe, literally, in coal dust. 

People in the crowd start yelling names in the hopes one of the men would react. Some did, but before any reunions could occur, the peacekeepers took the men into custody. Standard welfare check and questioning about the accident they said. Despite this, no one moved from the entrance of the mine. Either waiting for more men to come up, for news on the men that already had, or just to gossip and grieve. 

Hours of standing with the Everdeens and Hawthornes led us to running out of conversation fast. We were just too tense and full of dread. We had no clue what to do. It took me motioning for Katniss to look at her mom and sister for us to decide to gently get our families home for the night. We weren't going to be getting any answers tonight it seems. Why did they haul everyone out here if they weren't going to let us see the survivors or go in ourselves? Was it just cruelty for cruelty's sake or did they think we were in need of fucking entertainment? 

I felt like I was walking through water as I had to lead my mom by the hand to our house. It looks like she's shut down completely, just like Mrs. Everdeen will soon in the future. Lila on the other hand cried until she could cry no more. Exhausting herself to the point of falling asleep on my shoulder as soon as I picked her up. 

When we got to the cross section where the families would have to split up to go home, us 3 eldest children looked at each other. Something unspoken passed between all of us. Grief first and foremost but also a steel-like glint that didn't exist there today. A determination and an acceptance that life is about to get a whole lot harder and it will be our responsibility to provide for our families from now on. We'd seen other kids go through the same thing after similar accidents occurred in the past. They either sank under the pressure or came out on top. No inbetween.

We don't speak. There will be time for that tomorrow. We all just give each other a solemn nod and go our separate ways.

I put mom to bed in her's and dad's bed and gave her as tight a hug as she could take. Hopefully to remind her of where she was. There was a flicker of recognition and sadness but it went away just as fast. I'll have to keep an eye out and make sure she doesn't do anything horrible in the future. 

I feel like I'm about to collapse as I put Lila down in her bed. As I get myself under my covers I immediately drift off to sleep hoping, praying, that it was all just a big misunderstanding. But I know that's not the case. 

This is the first moment I've regretted picking this world to reincarnate in. I didn't expect to care so much for my family and my friends but I do. This isn't a book or a movie anymore. This is my life, and I need to step up.