The Reaper | F. Odair

Twenty-one

    "They'll be dead the second he finishes on air."

"Seriously? What happens to the three downstairs afterwards?"

"...From my guess, they'll be executed."

Executed. Aaron shudders at the thought. She wasn't supposed to overhear that conversation, she wasn't supposed to know anything. While Johanna was knocked out from sleep, Peeta and Aaron were wide awake, muttering to each other to keep the silence away. Something they began to do once their memories began to change, when their hatred for Johanna started to grow as the girl still kept them in the dark. They muttered and whispered, vented and said ideas to lessen the pain they'd get -- but they had both frozen at the sound of the door opening and not shutting properly just to overhear that conversation. The two shared the same thoughts and the same look of terror. They were going to die. Death was just about to come and take them away.

Aaron's eyes slowly lurk up towards the camera as Peeta begins to speak -- Snow was making an appearance to show his control and power -- Aaron, Peeta and Johanna all sat together, covered in bruises and cuts. The two girls weren't supposed to speak, instead just sit there and look pretty, (if you could define beaten up as pretty). Peeta was supposed to ask for more ceasefire, the two then to add onto it and 'guilt' the rebels somehow. This was just Snow showing his control though, showing the tight grip he had around their necks to have the rebels back down. Just a nasty trick to play with them.
Peeta's prosthetic leg was tapping in an odd rhythm against the metal chair, loud enough for the microphones to faintly pick it up in the background. Aaron's eyes continued to drift. She wasn't able to focus, the anxiety just growing. She could see one of the screens showing themselves -- she was covered in bruises. Bruises even the makeup couldn't cover up, damage that not even a glove could hide on her damaged hand. If anything the camera's seemed to make the damage on all their bodies more clear if anything.

"--derailed trains, of granaries on fire, and of a savage attack on hydroelectric dam in district 5." Peeta says, his voice shaky and painful. Aaron could see the look in his eye, he was struggling to focus, his pupils were shaky and shrunk and constantly darting from the camera to the peacekeepers in the room. His eyes drift to Aaron's feet as he takes a deep breath, "f-for restraint and decency, we--"

Peeta freezes. The screen the three could all see no longer had them on it, instead the imagery was replaced with Katniss Everdeen standing in a destroyed shop from the bombings. Aaron's eyes grew wide with Johanna's as a broken gasp slipped past Peeta's lips.

"Peeta, continue." Snow orders, the boy looks over and nods as his lip quivers.

"W-we--"

Aaron gasps as everyone else looks at her next. The girl's heart could only sink at the sight of Finnick odair on the screen now -- he was alive -- talking about little Rue from the 74th. The three are silent and in shock. Peeta's weak attempts at speaking are broken from more images and clips. The boy's face starts to drop at the sound of Katniss singing, tears swelling in his eyes. He sucks in a painful breath as Snow starts to speak about how the rebels are trying to disrupt the broadcast and spread propaganda -- to not listen and all that.

"Peeta!" Snow barks, the three both flinch. "Do you have any thoughts on those rebels? Thoughts on Katniss Everdeen?"

The boy's eyes drift to the camera as he shakes. "Katniss... how do you think this will end? What will be left? No one is safe. Not in the Capitol... N-Not in the districts. And you... in 13..." Peeta looks at Aaron as her own lip quivers -- she wants to scream it out. A sharp breath and he looks back with an insane look, "dead by morning!"

"END IT!" Snow bellows, his head snapping towards the peacekeepers.

"YOU'LL BE DEAD BY MORNING KATNISS!" Peeta shouts as peacekeepers come on screen, grabbing the boy and covering his mouth.