I would like to start this chapter like I start all my chapters, by thanking my new followers: @Sandstealer and @Deathbringer4ever86. I hope you enjoy this chapter!  Sorry I was AWOL for the last little while, I went on vacation.  Also, please comment, it would be really helpful to get some feedback!  starting either this chapter or one of the ones that are coming up soon (I won't tell you which one) I will do a little fore-shadowing!  see if you can guess what will happen!  By the way, this chapter is almost two years after the last one.

~Zoey

Seventy-two.  That was how many of us were left.  Over the last two years, eleven of us had died. Two had tried to run away, but they were caught.  Four of them died of an illness or wounds that were not treated properly.  The other five refused to eat until they died of hunger, because they thought that death would be better than this, and they may have been correct.  the beatings, the starvation, the things that were called beds!  But it was about to end.  Soon, we would be treated better, though we all new that we weren't going to be any happier.

"9275044048"  the speakers droned. "and 9275044729.  You will be joining troop 385"  I had heard these speakers every two months, but today, when the first numbers were called, they sent a trail of cold down my spine.  since two groups were called at the same time, I knew that they must be some of the groups who lost the most people.  I waited for my group to be called, knowing that we would be called soon.

"9275044845"  My eyes widened as I turned to my friends.  Mary looked strong, but I could see that she was faking it.  Ben looked so scared that I wanted to say that everything would be alright, but we promised not to lie to each other so I stayed quiet.  Marcus's eyebrows were knit together and I could see that his eyes were glittering dangerously, but he knew that it was a bad idea to cry when people were watching and hit bit back his tears. "you will be joining troop 861"  the speaker finished as we stood up and walked towards our destination.