The Hunger Games Complete Trilogy

by Suzanne Collins

“I volunteer!” I gasp. “I volunteer as tribute!”

At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means goodbye to someone you love.

Prim’s in the public market, but there were no takers. Although I had

clear, then, his attention back on the pig, he threw a loaf of bread in my direction. The second quickly followed, and he sloshed back to the bakery, closing the kitchen door tightly behind him. I stared at the loaves in disbelief. They were fine, perfect really, except for the burned areas. Did he mean for me to have

lips. The crowd has fallen silent now,

fresh in my ears, it fills me with dread. What

could live a hundred lifetimes and not deserve him, you know,” Haymitch says.

My stomach and head still feel rocky, but much better than they did earlier.

says Peeta. This seems to jolt Haymitch out of

If that fog leaches out of the jungle, or the monkeys return… “Get up,” I order,

enormous plate-glass window. Inside is the first

Well, I have one for him. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground, but do you see that?” One of the cameras follows as I point to the planes burning on the roof of the warehouse across from us. The Capitol seal on a wing glows clearly through the flames. “Fire is catching!” I am shouting now, determined that he will not miss a word. “And if we burn, you burn with us!”

“Are you, are you Coming to the tree Where they strung up a man they say murdered three. Strange things did happen here No stranger would it be If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.” The mockingjays begin to alter

now.” “You don’t know Finnick if you think he’d love

“Friend. Lover. Victor. Enemy. Fiancée. Target. Mutt. Neighbour. Hunter. Tribute. Ally. I’ll add it to the list of words I use to try to figure you out.” He weaves the rope in and out of his fingers.

world. Are you, are you Coming to the tree Wear a necklace

him behind?” “We can make the argument that he’ll endanger us,” I say. “He might stay here, if we’re convincing.” Peeta’s fairly rational about our suggestion. He readily agrees that his company could put the other four of us at risk. I’m thinking this may all work out, that he can just sit out the war in Tigris’s cellar, when he announces he’s going out on his own. “To do what?” asks Cressida. “I’m not sure exactly. The one

off. I fight them at first, until they convince me they’re trying to help, peel away the choking garments, and escort me back to my room. On the way, we pass a window and I see a grey, snowy dawn spreading across the Capitol. A very hungover Haymitch waits with a handful of pills and a tray of food that neither of us has the stomach for. He makes a feeble attempt to get me to talk again but, seeing it’s pointless, sends me to a bath someone has drawn. The tub’s deep, with three steps to the bottom. I ease down into the warm water and sit, up to my neck in suds, hoping the medicines kick in soon. My eyes focus on the rose that has spread its petals overnight, filling the steamy