Under the Moon

Chapter Thirty One

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

I looked at him, as the whole situation struck me. Shayne was right. We would deliver the note, spread the disease, and be killed by the people of District Thirteen. I knew that Copper hated Shayne, but why me? Did Snow really despise us so much, that he was just looking for an easy way to kill us? What would the public be told happened to Athena? I didn't know what to think of this. Last night, when I said I didn't want a life where I was forced to marry Copper, I didn't mean that I would rather die! And that was exactly what was going to happen to me now. Genia walked back towards us and placed some containers beside us. "The food in these containers is enough for your trip to District Thirteen and back. Though the total trip will take only about three hours, it is good to be prepared. The bottom of the craft will have nozzles to sprinkle the virus below. You just need to press the correct button. You will send the note in a parachute container like the ones in the used in the games. You just have to press this button," she showed me a button on the craft. I nodded numbly. She thought that we would be able to return. I guess it was a possibility, but I was sure that we would be automatically detected. Shayne and I took our seats inside the hovercraft. "Good luck," shouted Genia and the other Capitol scientists as they waved goodbye to us. They left the craft, and the roof of the lab opened as the door of our craft closed. It started to slowly rise into the air. The craft raised higher and higher, until the buildings in the Capitol looked tiny enough to be toy blocks. We whooshed past the intricate roofs of the Capitol's buildings. We flew above the beautiful river that surrounded the Capitol, separating it from the rest of Panem. Past the river, there was some wildlife and a large electric fence, and then the bright pink roofs of the larger homes in District One appeared. Past those roofs, there were tiny shacks, belonging to those who lived in the poorer part of the district. The reason why I was looking so eagerly out the window, was because I didn't want to miss the sight of District Three. I glanced out the window again. At the edge of District One, there was another electric fence and miles of shrubbery. A few minutes later, I saw the glittering golden roofs of District Two, then the smaller houses and giant quarries and mines. At the end of District Two, there was also a fence, but unlike District One, it was a mountain that separated District Two from District Three. A few minutes later, my heart leapt. I saw the metallic blue roofs of the grander homes of District Three. I noticed my own house, along with Belle's, Liz's, and Shayne's. I wondered what was happening to my house now that everyone was gone. Were Belle and Liz alright? I hoped that Snow hadn't harmed Liz because she was Coin's daughter. If I survived entering District Thirteen, but was taken prisoner by District Thirteen, I would definitely tell Coin about her children if she bothered listening to me before she killed me. I had a little tinge of hope that she would recognize us and spare our lives. We flew past the center of the District, where the school, lab, university, and markets were located. Past that was the Taze. I looked at the tiny, old homes, trying to remember which one was Tiff's. After passing my district, I saw a strip of ocean, something I had never seem before, and realized that we were at the outskirts of District Four. I began to feel slightly sick and terribly sleepy. I forced myself to stay awake, when I heard Shayne's voice say, "It's alright, Zeze, you can sleep." I reclined my hover-craft seat and slowly reclined my chair. A moment later my eyes shut and a drifted off into a restless sleep full of terrified thoughts.

"We are almost there!" Shayne's voice awakened me. He was eating something from the parcel's of food they had provided us. "Hey, give me some of that!" I said as I took some food. "So, where are we now?" I wondered.

"Look out the window; we're just about to pass District Twelve," Shayne said. I glanced out my window and saw the terrible landscape that was supposed to be a district. The larger homes looked nice enough, but they were uneven. Some were larger than others, and they were different colors and made of different materials. The homes in the worst part of the town were an awful eyesore. Everything seemed to be decaying. The only organized place was the block of the matching, white homes if their Victor's Village. The buildings were all covered in black soot. This was probably due to the coal they mined. After District Twelve, we encountered a dense forest. It was full of trees and extended for miles. We finally started seeing the land flatten out.

My mouth dropped open at the sight beside me. Was this really where all the people of District Thirteen lived? The buildings were all one story high and windowless. How did people live here? I heard a mechanical voice say, "Activate the nozzles now," and Shayne began pressing the buttons to sprinkle down the horrible, deadly virus. Shayne gasped, "That's it! I was wondering why it looked like this! But that's so smart! All their homes are built underground." Oh, that was the reason their homes looked like this. After nearly all of the virus ran out, I realized that many of the people of District Thirteen had come outside, fully armed with strong weapons. I pushed the button that controlled the dropping of Snow's message. As it slowly drifted down, somebody activated a rocket, which sped toward our craft, which was not designed for dodging missiles. Shayne leapt forward, took the wheel, and steered the hovercraft away, barely dodging the bomb. They fired another set of bombs. To my surprise, a protective shell covered most of the hovercraft, and the bombs bounced off. The only place left unprotected was a spot directly on the bottom of our craft. One of the bomb shooters, a dark girl with blonde highlights in her dark hair, shot a rocket directly at the spot. I felt the hover craft heat up and heard the loud explosion. I heard Shayne scream as the hovercraft broke in two and we tumbled down the sky, toward the ground. I got closer and closer to the ground, and the last thing I remember us the sharp pain and sickening this I heard when my half limp body hit the ground.