There's no district 12 to escape from now, no Peacekeepers to trick, no hungry mouths to feed. The Capitol took away all of that, and I'm on the verge of losing Gale as well. The glue of mutual needs that bonded us so tightly together for all those years is melting away.

They're betting on how long I'll live!' I burst out. 'They're not my friends!

My words hang in the air. I look to the screen, hoping to see them recording some wave of reconciliation going through the crowd. Instead I watch myself get shot on television.

He frosted under heavy guard.

Yes. I killed him. And buried her in flowers," I say. "And I sang her to sleep.

I'm not good at talking about myself.

Knowing it and seeing it are two different things.