ʀᴇᴅ ᴅᴀᴡɴ (ɢ. ʜᴀᴡᴛʜᴏʀɴᴇ)

ғɪғᴛᴇᴇɴ

We got down in the little cellar Tigris had showed us. I got down and immediately went to sit somewhere on the ground. I was followed by Gale who landed on the spot next to me in a thud. I furrowed my eyebrows and worry overtook me; I had never seen him that weak before. I take of his jacket and look over his body for injuries. I eventually found one on his neck.

"Gale's gonna need stiches." I informed the rest of the team still examining Gale's wound. I was starting to get more and more worried about him, but he took my hand in his and looked at me with a look, just as if he was telling me not to worry, that everything was gonna be alright. Affection filled my heart and I pulled his head to mine and kissed his forehead, still caressing his head.

"I made it up. All of it." Katniss started confessing, ignoring my comment completely. "There is no special mission from Coin. There's only my plan. Everyone who's dead is dead because of me. I-" she stopped, taking a breath. "I lied." Well, she didn't have to confess that; we already knew.

"We know. We all knew." Cressida responds.

"The soldiers from 13?" Katniss asked surprised and confused.

"They did too." Cressida answered. "Do you really believe that Jackson thought you had orders from Coin? She trusted Boggs and he clearly wanted you to go on."

"I never meant for this to happen." Katniss said after a moment. "I failed, I-. I killed them. I killed Finnick. I'm sorry Pollux. I'm so sorry." I looked over at Pollux who hadn't stopped crying since we stepped foot inside this cellar but who could blame him? He had lost a brother.

"Glimmer, Marvel, Mags, Clove, Wiress, Rue." Peeta started, reminding us the names of the people that had died. "What do all those deaths mean?" He pauses. "They mean that our lives were never ours. There was no real life because we never had a choice. Our lives belong to Snow and our deaths do, too. But if you kill him Katniss, if you end all of this, all those deaths, they mean something. Cinna, Boggs, Castor, Jackson, Finnick. They chose this. They chose you."

"Okay, here you go, nice and clean." I told Gale as I finished treating his wound he looked down at me and thanked me. I was about to leave when he held my hand. I looked at him with a questioning look in my eyes. "What is it?"

"Let me treat yours." He told me, nodding to my wound.

"It's okay, I'll do it myself. You've been through enough today and you have done enough for me already." I told him. He put a little pressure on my hand but not in a violent way, on the contrary, in a soft and caring way, making me sit back down next to him. He put one hand on the left side of my face.

"I could never do enough for you, Heather Winters." he told me looking at me in the eyes with such a soft look. I couldn't resist  the urge building up inside of me and slowly moved my head toward him only for him to do the same. The kiss was soft, caring, loving. Once we broke apart he started treating my wound for the second time in a few days since the wound had reopened. After he finished, we lied down on the mat and drifted off to sleep, one next to each other.

I woke up abruptly to the sound of artillery exploding in the distance, Gale following after me beside me.

"Mortal shells." He figured as he shifted next to me and stood up. "Not ours. Peacekeepers  must be shellin' the rebels outside the city."

"That's not outside the city." Cressida remarked. Without further word, we started getting ready to go outside. We all gathered together and started preparing. I loaded my guns and cleaned up my suit.

"Sun's coming up." Gale came downstairs after a few minutes. "There's some small-arms fire. Could be Paylor, maybe Lime. Rebels are close."

"This is it."Cressida told us. Suddenly, we hear the fanfare playing on a nearby tv. MANDATORY VIEWING. Everyone turned their attention to it, only to reveal the face of President Snow.

"To all Capitol citizens more than a half mile outside the City Circle, I am announcing a mandatory evacuation." Katniss and I shared a look and turned our attention back to our beloved president. "Come to the mansion. I am promising you shelter and sanctuary. All refugees, come to my home. There you will be provided with food, medicine, safety for your children, and you will have my solemn oath to protect you until my dying breath."

"Wich he'd hurry up with that last part." Cressida interrupted making me smirk.

"Our  enemy is not like us, they do not share our values. They have never known comfort and our sophistication. And they despise us for it. Make no mistake. They are not coming to liberate us. They are coming to destroy our way of life. They are coming to bury us." Snow finishes, making me scoff.

"Is he still in the mansion?" Katniss asks. "Peeta?"

"Yeah I recognize the room."

"Where is that?" Katniss asked.

"About five blocks away." Cressida answered. "We're right here, off the avenues." she continued, pointing on a map. "Mansion's here."

"What about the pods?" Katniss asked her.

"They'll probably deactivate the pods around here for the resident's safety." I answered, pointing around on the map to which Cressida nodded.

"That could work. I could get close enough." Katniss said looking at Gale.

"Every peacekeeper's gonna be waiting." Gale responded.

"Next to our faces on every billboard." I added.

"Snow's offering shelter to all refugees." Katniss trailed off and I knew exactly where she was going with this.