Hijacked

Fighting Fire With Fire

District 11. I hadn't been here since the Victory Tour. It looked way different now.

The grooves of trees Catora and I had seen when we first came here were either cut down or burning to ash. Some of the fires were still raging even as we landed. "Should we.. Put those out?" I asked as we breathed in the sweet smelling smoke. I couldn't tell what was burning. What made the air smell so sweet despite the burning wood?

"We don't have enough water too." A voice said from behind. A tall lanky man with dark hair and wary eyes was walking towards us. "The names Mavis. I was once mayor of this dump." He looked me up and down and then his eyes glided over to Katniss. "Where's the Girl On Fire?"

"Sorry to disappoint." I muttered.

"Haven't you been watching the Capitol's broadcasts?" Katniss asked, confused.

"No, destroyed those once the rebellion hit. We know where we stand but I didn't want anyone getting any second thoughts from all the Capitol propaganda."

"Smart move." Gale said, scanning the District slowly.

"Thanks." He turned back to me. "So it's just lover boy then?"

"My names Peeta."

"I know, I know. Don't get all twisted up. I respect you Mr. Mellark, a lot of people here do but.. They loved her is all I'm saying." I looked away.

"So do I." Nobody says anything. Cressida clears her throat.

"Well, Castor, Pollux I think we could get some good shots of them over by the burning trees don't you think? Then we move to the destroyed building over here and.." I roll my eyes as she speaks. Cressida, Messalla, Castor and Pollux are all part of the camera crew that's been assigned to me thanks to President Coin.

The four of them are all from the Capitol and fled to join District 13 and the rebellion. Pollux is an Avox and Castor is his brother. I had a feeling sometimes that Catora would like the two of them. Messalla was sort of a distant guy. Who was not only Cressida's assistant but supposed to help with makeup, though I insisted that we weren't going to need fake dirt streaks. If there was going to be any dirt on my face, it wasn't going to be because someone put it there.

"Peeta?" I looked up over at my team, the camera crew and Katniss and Gale. They were all waiting for me. "Ready to film?" I sighed.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." I turned to the man who had greeted us up in coming here. "Thank you for letting us come here."

"No problem Peeta. I would just like you to say a few words to District 11. You know, get them riled up and ready for war." I pursed my lips. War. Something I never wanted.

"Yeah, of course."

"We can get some great shots of you talking to them Peeta, lifting their spirits." Cressida says. She sounds almost excited by the notion.

"What am I supposed to say?" I ask.

"I'm sure it will come to you." Is Gale's reply. I can't tell if he means it in a demeaning way or not. He's right though. The words usually come to me.

We film a couple shots of Gale, Katniss and I walking through lines of burning trees. Cressida looks happy with them so I assume we look good. Then there's shots of us avoiding gunfire with some other civilians behind some destroyed building in the square. The gunfire isn't real though, the shots being fired are blanks.