Authors Note:Hi, I`m kcmyers. I`m always looking for feedback on how to improve my writing and ideas on where my story should go so feel free. Please keep in mind that the first 10 chapters are already written. I just have to read them over for errors. Please tell me if I`m writing weird or introducing characters too fast! I had been concerned I was when I was writing, but I`ll let you guys decide.Every other chapter will be a flashback to help you get to know what happened between a few of the characters that formed their... relationships. Enjoy & review, Kcmyers

In the ruins of a place called America, the great nation of Panem arose. What was North America like right after the collapse of the United States? And the rise of Panem? This is the story of a teenage girl who lived through the event.

Skyla Leigh woke up, wanting so badly to sleep in. No, she thought to herself. I need to get up and get to work. She sat up quietly,carefully. She did not want to wake her cousin and bunk-mate, Kami. Of course, with Kami, this was an impossible feat. Skyla winced visibly as Kami`s eyes flew opened.

Kami wanted so badly to be in training to be a warrior. She was in training to be a house-keeper, to learn the skills of a wife. Of course, Skyla was taught these skills as well, but she was going to be trained as a warrior as well. Kami`s size and lack of endurance was what made the ultimate decision regarding her training. Kami was taught a little bit of what the warrior`s apprentices were taught so that she had the ability to fend for herself if ever necessary. And she practiced what she was taught over and over again. She savored every minute of it.

" Where are you headed, Skyla?" Kami asked tiredly. She already knew, but she had a point to make.

" Hunting, go to sleep! You have two hours before you have to wake up to help your mentor get breakfast. Sleep in, Kami." Skyla almost begged. She was tired of this.

" I can`t sleep with you out there and you know it! You should sleep every now and then. You`re up til eleven most nights and then your up at four. It isn`t good for you Skyla!" Kami argued. This was getting too loud for this early in the morning. If they woke anyone, they`d be dead meat. Kami quietly swung her legs out from under the covers and onto the floor. She walked out of the crowded room with a silent gracefulness flowing through her limbs. Skyla followed her out into the hall. They continued their argument until Skyla proposed a compromise.

" How about I work with you on edible plants tonight? I`ll collect what I can find and I`ll teach you about them before I give them to the kitchen." Skyla bargained.

" Throw in twenty minutes of self-defense practice and you have a deal!" Kami shrieked excitedly.

" Done. Are you free at eight tonight?" Skyla asked, relived. Kami`s pale little head bobbed up and down excitedly.

" Meet me in the training room, then. Eight sharp! Now get to sleep." ordered Skyla.

" Okay. Eight, got it!" Kami`s blond hair bounced up and down as she hopped through the maze of people back to their bunk. She jumped eagerly underneath the heavy covers, knowing that Skyla would follow through on her promise. She always did.

Skyla followed Kami back into the girls room. She silently walked into the girl`s storage area, a closet. Her clothes and hunting pack lay on the third shelf from the bottom. They were stacked neatly on top of her box of special stuff. Each person that lived in her home had a pair of pajamas,three pairs of underclothes, some socks, two pairs of pants, two shirts and two sweatshirts. There are also other clothes that everyone shares, just in case.

She picked up her well-worn jeans. On the inside of the waistband, were her initials. S.L.The orange embroidery sturdy and bright against the denim. She changed into them and a long-sleeved gray shirt. She slipped a thick gray hoodie over her shirt.

Skyla quietly took her hunting pack off of the shelf. She slung the long strap of the black bag over her head and on to her shoulder so that the black bag hung directly over her hip. She crept quietly out into the hall,into the great room, and down a set of stairs. The basement floor was cold, even on her socked feet. I can`t wait to put on my boots, she thought to herself. She turned to the right and quietly crept down the short hall to a door. The training room.

She crept in and selected the bow that sat in her weapon storage area. It was a modern bow with a fifty pound draw. There was a notepad laying beside it. Everyone had one, but hers had never before had writing on it. The deal with the notepads was so that people could plan and communicate their plans efficiently. They needed to if they wanted to eat. No one had really ever given her any kind of job but she worked anyway. She didn`t have a mentor yet. But according to her notepad, she would tonight. The note said:

Get back to the house by ten this morning for your mentor assignment. From, Dad

Finally! She would be trained officially! Beneath her Dad`s message was a message from Archer.

So proud of you Sky! Do your best! I love you little cousin! Archer

Archer didn`t really act like Skyla`s older cousin, he was more like an older sibling. She glanced over at Archer`s bow. It wasn`t gone, so he still wasn`t up yet. He must have come in late last night after Skyla`s father had written that note. She slung her bow and her quiver of arrows over her shoulder. She took the knife beside her notepad and slipped it into her bag. She went over to her black boots and slipped them on. They were rubber, but held heat and came to her knees. She put up her hood, tossed on some gloves and walked out the door. She crossed the large clearing that was her yard and slipped into the woods. She entered the woods alone, but was soon joined by her faithful companion, a wolf-dog she called Ran.

" Hey Ran, come on girl, let`s go hunting." Skyla gently bent down beside her hunting partner to scratch her behind the ears.

Skyla was extremely attached to her wolf- dog. After the government collapsed, many people released their pets because they couldn`t feed their kids, much less their dogs. So now, they`ve interbred with the few wild dogs in Ohio and filled the woods. When Skyla had first seen Ran, she had an arrow pointed at Ran`s head and was ready to shoot. Instead of attacking Skyla, Ran sat down and looked at Skyla. This was the one thing that made Skyla sure that Ran had been different than the other wolf- dogs that were dangerous. So, gradually, their relationship had formed.

Skyla walked off to where she planned to hunt from. She and Ran had a place that they always started off hunting at for the first hour of their time out together. She sat down beside Ran at the base of a large tree. She sat in a small snow fort that she`d built for hunting from, but she knew that Ran also used it for a den.

Almost immediately, a young buck crossed Skyla`s path. Silently, she loaded her bow and pointed the tip of her arrow at it`s head. She let her arrow fly. Ran recognized the signal and took off after the wounded deer. Skyla ran after them as Ran brought the deer to the ground. It was still alive.

" Back Ran." Skyla commanded quietly. Ran silently obeyed. Skyla walked over to the animal and finished it off quickly with a quick swipe of her knife. As she looked up, she noticed something. A dark splotch against the snow. The damp remains of a fire. It was about four yards from... a person?

She crept over to where the figure lay and saw that there were four more. This boy must have been their guard, Skyla realized with a jolt. She looked closer at his sleeping body. It was hard to tell who he was through the grime, exhaustion and how skinny he`d become...

" Blake?"

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