My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

Yes, they have to have a victor. Without a victor, the whole thing would blow up in the Gamemakers' faces. They'd have failed the Capitol. Might possibly even be executed, slowly and painfully, while the cameras broadcast it to every screen in the country.

At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead.The hard thing is finding the courage to do it.

Katniss, I don't think President Snow will kill Peeta. If he does, he won't have any way to hurt you." "So, what do you think they'll do to him?" I ask. "Whatever it takes to break you.

Then he smiles as if he'd be happy to lie there and gaze at me forever.

But just the fact that he was sparkling leads me to doubt everything that happened.

In really bad times, the hungriest would gather at his door at nightfall, vying for the chance to earn a few coins to feed their families by selling their bodies. Had I been older when my father died, I might have been among them. Instead I learned to hunt.