broadcast the boom boom b o o m [Annie: Day 1-3 reaction]

She doesn’t miss the feeling of being in the arena.

She watches from the sidelines, trying her hardest not to scream at the TV as the bloodbath happens before her eyes.

She is watching, looking, trying to figure out what is going to happen next. She watches tributes, the looks on their faces seem to mirror Annie’s when she was in the arena.

She stood there, realizing that she was against 23 people who wanted the same thing she did. They wanted to go home.

And when the gong went off, she thought about how she ran off her pedestal, how her hand formed around the knife that she used to slash at the girl from three. How she lost her hand. How she ran.

No one died in her bloodbath, but that wasn’t the case for theirs. The girl from 1, the one with the highest score in her training session, met her end at the end of a horseshoe. Her impaled skull pushed in by the girl from three.

That could have been Annie, the girl from three, who she has come to learn that her name is Auto, could have stuck her sword into her face, and showed her the same kindness that the girl from three had showed the girl from one.

Berlin survived.

Finely survived.

Just like Annie and Wander did as well.

---

It was her time to try to help.

She was now a mentor. Something she earned, that she did not want at the end of the story, but here she was, in the apartment that was provided by the capitol. A pittance to try to make amends for what they had put her through.

Annie did not want it, but there was no way for her to give it back. Everyone she talked to told her that she did not have to let this ruin her, but it did. It always would ruin her, no matter what she thought or did.

Anatalia Morrisen would never understand what it meant to be innocent.

But being the current victor did have its perks. She had money now, money that she had no clue what to do with. She set out on a mission, discussing with people that she had been introduced too and getting what she could.

Before she knew, she was able to send out a care package to Finley, a girl who she thought could do it all over again. She wasn’t sure what she was good at, but that was something that Annie could work with. Berlin had never tried to have a conversation with Annie was kept him in her mind. He was a career, she knew that Berlin could handle himself.

She hand wrote a letter, and sent it to where it needed to go. Leon had done the same for her, and so she had to make sure that she did the same for her tributes.

She ended that day with a long shower, waiting in front of the TV trying to get a glimpse of her hard work appearing in front of her.

And it did, and the look on Finely’s face was more than enough to make her think that she was doing enough.

She knocked back a glass of wine, realizing that the games was just kicking off.

---

Day two, Annie was on edge. She could feel the sting of the day. Fights, breaking out everywhere, but mutts were even more prevalent. She couldn’t help but think about the jellyfish that she had to face with Angel, Parson, and Hellion.

They were fierce, cutting into their skin and slicing against the armor that they had been sponsored the day before.

She watched as Finley’s alliance had been paired against the people who won the wealth. Throw in a couple mutts and the girl from six, and Annie knew that it would be a recipe for disaster.

Berlin’s alliance had been wrapped up in snares, which turned into snakes and horses, that slashed into the boy from seven’s neck. His blood looked thick on the screen, and Annie couldn’t help but think about animated it looked. She felt like there wasn’t as much coverage on that fight as there was when she went through hell with the jellyfish.

That was until their alliance made a grave miscalculation and all of the sudden Berlin was all alone. Annie knew what was coming next. A violent montage of Berlin getting obliterated by the mutt that had broke his leg.

Watching the super cut of her games taught her that those were the moments the Game makers were looking for. The moment Annie lost her hand, all she could remember seeing was a graphic close up of her hand flying in the air. She didn’t know what to expect, because she was not in charge of what the game makers had focused on, and day to day it changed. She wanted to hate Glamour for what he picked and chose, but at the same time, they were trying to sell the success of such a games that would rock the very core of what the games meant.

Needless to say, both Finely and Berlin made it out alive, Berlin bleeding worse then she could even imagine, while Finely had escaped unharmed, shying away from a fight that Annie wasn’t sure if she could get behind. Witnessing it did turn her stomach sideways, but Annie knew that they would get what was coming to them.

Unfortunately.

---

Day three, a day that she didn’t think she could stomach because she watched the games closely. Both of her tributes were up against other alliances, as they found their paths meeting. Of course, Annie was able to watch this closely, but the others in the games did not see them coming.

Blindsided by the arena, a facet that Annie had never faced when she was in her games.

She watched as Finley had attacked the boy from three. Her attacks only did so much though, Annie could at least find solace in the fact that Finely was not their target, the girl from nine and the boy from eight both meeting the ends of their weapons, a feeling that Annie never experienced on day three.

”Come on Finely, you got this.” Annie spoke quietly into her third glass of wine, and she realized that she did have it, but what she had wasn’t enough to topple over the tributes who clearly had the upper hand.

When it came down to it, Finley ended the life of one of her allies, and Annie could at least find a little respect in that. She tipped her glass to the TV, watching as Finley O’Hara steals a kill from the walking apocalypse.

---

Berlin on the other hand was not so lucky. Meeting the ends of a glaive and knives that he could not keep up with. He was damaged already, but to make it even worse, he was in pain.

He did not look comfortable one bit.

At least his fight seemed a little more even, each of the tributes present seemed to be a little worse for wear, especially the boy from twelve who was missing limbs. She could feel his pain, her hand slightly radiating in light pain as she watched the boy with one arm attack the girl from seven.

Annie had no clue what to expect at this point, and she was waiting for them to take out one of the other, and see Berlin make it out alive, but he wasn’t so lucky.

The girl from two showed him what it meant to die, and Annie dropped the glass from her hand. A shattering sound cracked across the room, but she could not move. Breath. Speak. Feel.

She watched as Berlin Batalanto met his end.

She couldn’t believe it was real, but it was. There was no coming back from this.

Berlin would not return to her, none of them would.

She looked up at the screen, catching a glimpse of the boy from five scattering flowers over Berlin’s body and Annie couldn’t help but feel a tear streaming down her eye.

He was gone.

Cast away into a void that he would never come back from.

And that just meant that Annie was going to have to cherish what was left for her in this arena.

She had to pray that Finley would do enough to make it out.

Or get used to the fact that this would be history repeating itself again and again.

After all, there was no such thing as second chances.

Except for her.

A broken exception.