Hijacked

Hanging Tree

Cressida and her crew were excited. They couldn't wait to see the remains of our District. It made me sick to my stomach. A hand touched my shoulder lightly as I gripped the bottom of my seat, turning my knuckles white. Katniss was giving me a small smile. I didn't return it but was comforted at least a tiny bit. Releasing my grip on the seat, I sat up and leaned back. I just had to relax. They were only doing their job. I couldn't be mad at them for that.

"We'll be landing soon." Gale said walking towards Katniss and I. He sat next to Katniss and took her hand, looking towards Cressida. I was confused by the handholding. Every time the two of them did anything that was even the slightest bit affectionate I became confused. Last I heard from Catora, Katniss was madly in love with Gale and Gale was otherwise indifferent to her feelings. A lot has changed since then though. I knew I should stop dwelling on them but I wanted to know if Gale was finally over Catora. If he would leave us alone. It was selfish. "Look at them.. It's sick." Gale muttered.

"They just want to see the District Gale." Katniss said softly.

"What's left of it you mean. It's not a pretty site. They shouldn't be excited to see it." He pauses. "Not that it looked much better before but.." He stops. Yeah.. Dead bodies really ruin the atmosphere of a place.

"Let's just go in, get out.. Be done with it." I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "And.. We should pick up some of Catora's things." I added. "It might help her remember her life from before." I said softly. Her pin, the pearl and locket in my pocket felt heavier than usual. I had been carrying them around since I found them at my house. I was waiting to give them back to her but.. If she didn't remember the significance behind them then there was no point.

"Yeah, some clothes and..." She paused. "A picture of her family. I know they had one in her home but.. I don't know if that got destroyed. Maybe it's at her house." I thought upon that carefully. Was there a picture of her and her family in her house? I remember seeing one but I couldn't place where.

"I'll check it out." I murmured.

"Peeta!" Someone called out. I looked up to see Cressida tapping her foot. "We're landing." She said as the sound of grinding gears and whooshing air filled the cabin. Gale, Katniss and I stood up, walking towards the lowering docking bay carefully.

The sunlight was a bit blinding. The District was exactly as I had seen it last. Smelled the same too. As the aircraft slowly powered down, everyone had a look around. Rubble still littered the streets and the stench of dead bodies seemed to have gotten worse. Cressida gasped a little when a mangy dog ran by with a human leg in its mouth.

"Come on, you'll want to get shots of us over here." I muttered marching towards the destroyed Justice Building. Gale and Katniss followed close behind me.

We start off with a shot of the three of us, staring up at the open sky, the space the Justice Building used to occupy. Then we move on to walking through the rubble. They even start a fire or two, trying to show that District 12 is still burning. There's no one left to care about the fire and neither, Katniss, Gale or I object.

We move to the Merchant square. I step inside my old home adjoined to the bakery. I leave with an ash covered photo of my entire family. The edges are a little burnt and I had to sift through some rubble to get to it but there it was, knocked from the wall from the bombs. I'll give it to my brother, show him I still have some sort of heart in my chest. Everything else is too destroyed to take back.