It's a while before I can answer him, because it feels like I've been in this exact position before, with Gale's voice here. Except this time, it's even harder to keep everything together. I take deep breaths, tugging at my braid in hopes that the pain will orient everything like it often does. "This is it," I tell him, breathing in ash. "This is District 12. What's left of it."

There is no District 12. It doesn't exist anymore.

I can't stand up. My knee hits the floor but there's no moisture left in the earth anymore. Just flakes of ash that flutter upwards now that they've been disturbed. I take care not to breathe them in as well.