Hijacked

Catching Fire

Boggs gets to me faster than I can react. He tackles me to the ground behind some fallen beams. I don't even see where everyone else goes. I'm too stunned and disoriented as the bombs hit the ground. The explosions make my ears ring and I clench my hands around a metal bar as the ground shakes and shakes. When there's nothing but a low rumble and white noise in my head, I begin to look up. Boggs shoves my head down though and shouts something that I can't hear.

"Where's Gale and Katniss!" I shout back.

"Never mind about them Peeta. We have to get you somewhere safe." I stand up though, disobeying his orders.

"I'm not your Mockingjay and they're my friends!" I snap at him, surprising myself. "Gale! Katniss!" Cressida is nearby with Messalla and I'm glad to see that they're okay too but as I look around wildly for Katniss and Gale, they're nowhere in sight. The ground where they were standing is nothing but rubble and dust. "Katniss!" 

"Over here! We're fine." I breath a sigh of relief as she appears in the doorway of a broken building. I move towards her but Boggs grabs my shirt collar and risk me down to the ground.

"Are you listening to me? To Haymitch?" I touch my ear. The earpiece has fallen out. When I look at the ground, I notice I've smashed it underfoot. Boggs rolls his eyes. "They don't know you're here. It's a scheduled bombing but if they find out you're here.."

"Then they'll kill everyone." I curse several times under my breath.

"There's a bunker about two blocks down from here." Someone shouts, running towards us. It's Commander Paylor. "Get there, get underground and for gods sakes don't die on the way there." She commands pointing to the east.

"Come on everyone move." Boggs commands. The guards huddle up my camera crew and pull Katniss and Gale from the  building. Their hair is covered in ash and dirt and they look enthralled and scared at the same time. I feel the same.

"Why don't we help them?" I demand, watching Paylor run in the other direction.

"There's nothing we can do. They can handle this." Boggs says shoving me forward. "Now go!" I move to catch up with Katniss and Gale. I don't want to hide in some bunker like a coward. This is my only chance at some real action. I want to help, take down those damn bomber planes. I just need them to help me.

"Gale.." I begin.

"I know. Us too." He says lowly.

"On my signal?"

"We're right behind you." Katniss whispers.

"Then now." Together, the three of us take off running, chasing after Commander Paylor. Boggs is cussing us out.

"Get the hell back here!" But we're running at top speed away from the group and nobody can stop us.

"We need to get to higher ground!" I shout as we disappear into a maze of rubble and metal.

"There!" Gale shouts, pointing to a building with a set of stairs running along the outside. Gunfire can be heard coming from the top of the building. Together, the three of us take the stairs three at a time. Paylor and several men are on top of the building trying to bring down the planes with their machine guns and rifles but they're not close enough. It's never going to work.