I come to my senses a half a second before just about everyone else. I rush toward the cornucopia and collect every knife I can find. A giant boy, who stand a whole foot taller than me, and weighs twice what I weigh, rushes forward, and before I can think, he's got a knife in his chest. I pull it out, and find a piece of an organ attached. I decide to drop it. The other tributes are here by now, so I find every knife I missed, and grab the nearest bag. I run down the city street, to find my old house. I walk for what feels like miles before I get there, and I swiftly enter, and lock every door and window. The apartment isn't spacious, but its home, and in this situation, it's nice to have a familiar place. Deconstructing some of the cabinets, I board the windows as best I can, using tacks and other things found around. They have missed no detail, and it's hard to miss the hand of the gamemakers. This place is designed to get into my head, to trick me into thinking I'm safe. Fat chance.

I explore the closets and find them stocked with clothes, so I pull a few cloaks and then go through my bag. I find a bottle of water, an apple, and a can of chicken stew. I put that away for later, and slice the apple with a survival knife. I eat half, and then tuck the rest away in a torn piece of cloth. I wander aimlessly for another hour, before deciding I should try the shower. I push open the bathroom door, and press the panel on the wall. I should know right away that something is wrong when the buzzing begins. It isn't loud, like a plane, but it's hidden somewhere beneath the silence I find deafening. When I finally look to the actual shower itself, I come unhinged. I barely have enough to scream before the mutt is on me, ripping my flesh.

I come to covered in bile. Finlay is sitting next to me, picking at a bag of grapes.

"When I came in," he says, between chews, "You were rolling on the floor tearing at your eyes. It was all I could do to stop you from ripping them out." He pops another grape in his mouth and I feel my stomach crawl. "There is no water in any building here, except the president's mansion. What you got was a gas of some sort." It all seemed so real, but I reach up to find the cuts under my eyes match the shape of my nails. Fin offers me a grape, but I turn him down. "I guess we're allies?" As if I ever wondered. Without hesitation, we both get up and go to the master suite, and I lay down, and am off before I even hit the pillow.

When the sun sets, we both watch it from the roof of the building. We look at the president's mansion, standing high above the city. We know this has to be our target, and we develop our plan with extreme care. We dismount the building, bringing every piece of food we could find in the home. Dozens of canned food now fills our bags, and chicken stew with rice fills our stomachs. The moon hovers nearly dead center of the sky by the time we are halfway there, but we find it hard to ignore a loud shaking.

Very suddenly, the sky goes blue, but it's a bright, unnatural color. The ground, the buildings, all become a grid, and slowly begin to pixelate, and both Fin and I lose our footing. Then, the world around us becomes a shapeless mass, before falling away to reveal something we have never seen before. But, from the factories surrounding us, and the fancy fabrics, diamonds and velvet curtains, I know.

I immediately recognize District 1.