Callie Hadley: District 2

The Aftermath

We all immediately spit out the berries.

"Cato, did you swallow them?" I ask worriedly.

"No, but some juice got in, I hope that-" and he faints.

"Cato! CATO! YOU IDIOT!" I cry. He can't do this. He can't leave me now.

I see the Capitol hovercraft assembling over us. Peeta and Katniss are frozen in place with the ladders, and another one and a claw is being sent down for us. I grab the ladder that immediately freezes me into place, and pulls me up.

At the same time, the claw grabbed him, and pulled him up speedily.

I enter the hovercraft, and am escorted into a room.

"Cato! Cato!" I thrash and try to get to him.

I only have minor injuries, and though they do hurt, I know what is going to happen now. They will give me plastic surgery, like they do to all the victors after their wounds are tended to.

They push me down into the chair, and shoot some sedations in my arm before I black out.

Katniss POV:

I bang against the glass and scream for Peeta as I see the doctors furrow their eyebrows in concentration. I scream, and scream, and eventually something is pushed into my arm and I black out.

When I wake up, there are tubes coming out of my arms. I forget where I am for a second, and then realize I am in a hospital bed.

     I look at myself closely and realize all my scars are gone. Not just the ones from the Games, but everything that accumulated over the years from hunting.

     This is what they do to make the victors look presentable.

     I suddenly feel my left ear, and realize that they have repaired that as well. I am relieved. Very relieved.

     But then I remember Peeta's situation and am extremely worried.

     The redheaded avox girl comes in with a hospital meal and sets it down on my table.

     I know I'm not supposed to be talking to her, an that could result in her severe punishment, but I have to know so I blurt, "Is he alive? Is Peeta alive?"

The avox girl gives a small nod.

I lean back and sigh in relief.

Yes. Yes. He is there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time lapse until interviews~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Callie POV:

     I stand in my purple frilly dress, next to my brother. The four victors will share two couches. One for Cato and I, and one for Katniss and Peeta.

     When we go out there, I sit down and next to Cato, in his light blue suit and tie, and the star crossed lovers in matching clothes.

     Since there are four of us, we get extra time.

     Caesar asks questions to the District Twelve couple first, and Katniss claims she was so in love, that she could not bear to live without him.

     Of course, the crowd ate this up, and then he moved on to us.

     "Callie, what was your thought process while running away from your alliance? It sure had a big impact on us at home!" And at that, the Capitol crowd howled and cheered.

     I spoke carefully.

     "Honestly, I just couldn't take it anymore. All the pressure was building up, and I wanted to be my own person. Chase was the last straw." I choked at his name.

     "Yes, I'm sorry for him. You two were adorable together."

     "Yeah," I replied and gulped. I didn't want to show vulnerability, but that was what the crowd wanted and needed to see from me. And I needed to see it for myself. Something that made me believe I was still human.

Katniss turns, slightly confused and raises an eyebrow.

I glare at her, and she gets the message.

     "And what made you go back to your brother?"

     I gave Cato a side eye before saying, "well, he's my brother; we share the same blood. His blood spills and my blood spills. And that's not going to happen."

     The crowd whooped and awed.

"Alright then. Cato! That's was quite a show you and your sister put up for the Capitol. So how much did you lie?"

"Actually, we hardly lied about anything. A small white lie here and there, but I believe the proper term would be bending the truth. In our interviews, we were talking about different parts of our victor family. It's not lying if we don't mention it or mention it in a different way."

"That's very smart of you. So you talked about your mom and brother while Callie talked about others in your family?"

"Yes Caesar."

"But what about in the interview when I talked about last names?"

"Notice how I only talked about how common it is for people to have the same last name in our district? Technically I didn't answer the question, just changed the subject."

"Well, that was very smart wordplay. Back to Callie. What was your thought process while running knives out to wild wolf mutations? How did you feel?"

"Well, my only thoughts were to protect my brother, even if that was not my job. My only thought were if he dies, I die. No matter what. Whether it's in here," I say pointing to my heart and head, "or out out here. I needed to keep my priorities straight, once I had finally straightened them out. But it was hard to kill them, even if I didn't show it. It was like killing a friend of mine. I hate killing," my voice broke at the end to make this sob story More believable, but then I remembered Chase's death, and it didn't have to be.

He saves his breath and puts the TV of reels on.

I turn my head in Cato's shoulder for the gruesome parts like killings. It's not that I can't take it, I can. I'm from District Two, one of the toughest there is. But I don't want to. I don't want to have to watch these people die all over again. I don't need to relive my living nightmare.

And not to mention it will make my sob story more believable.

A/N: Hi guys! So sorry for not updating sooner. My next chapter is the last chapter of this book, but there will be a sequel! Just like all the Hunger Games books, and it will be called: Callie Hadley: Catching Fire