The Hunger Games: Book Four - How it Might Have Been ... Gale.

Page Fifty-Two

Gale

Once I hear the first bomb go off, I burst out the door immediately, knowing I'm safe. My bomb has gone off perfectly. For a moment I am stunned at the destruction I have caused. The hovercraft is almost reduced to nothing now, a skeleton of metal and flames, and the rubble of Thirteen has been blackened. I see workers helping the Tributes, and hope none have been killed by my bomb. 

I wasn't expecting the hovercraft to fall. The bomb's co-ordinates meant it would drop where the craft had been hovering, not where it had landed. This means I couldn't possibly have killed all the Capitol.

Which is perfect.

I rush towards the flaming craft, screaming at the workers and Tributes to get underground - now!

For some reason, they listen, and I am relieved.

I see figures emerging from the rubble of the craft, but they're too far away for me to shoot them, and I only have 3 bullets. Not many materials were left after the Nut had been demolished, and they had to be dispersed among all the workers of Thirteen. So I only have three bullets. But that's ok - I only have to kill Snow. My back-up plan will wipe out the rest.

And possibly me.

The craft is further away from me than I think. I fall over the rocks and wish the landscape was flat. I don't even know if I'll make it in time. I need to kill Snow myself, my dying promise to myself.

The workers of Thirteen have nearly all gone underground now, ushering each other, carrying injured Tributes. Suddenly, to my left, I see Katniss.

My heart stops.

She is holding Oenothera, who is bloody - but moving.

And Peeta is there. His head is craned over Oeno, touching foreheads with his wife. They are re-united as a family, apart from Ku, who I have assured is locked inside, safely. I am ecstatic - Peeta has defeated the Capitol and is re-united with his family, and they are all happy. But it's a bittersweet feeling, because I can't deny the envy I feel. This was my mission, to re-unite them, to save Peeta, for Katniss. My mission is complete, and I have no purpose now.

But that's not why my heart has stopped.

Coming up behind Peeta, silently, is a white-haired man I an certain is Snow. He holds a piece of metal, jagged, bloodied, and a malicious, insane smile. He's going to kill them all.

But not before my bomb does.

When Meld got here, I ordered him and the team to find the chemical, to find the rare Hetiueocapholyl of District Thirteen. The chemical found in the Hunter-Rescuer bomb. My plan was to crash the hovercraft, give the workers of Thirteen a chance to save the Tributes and escape underground, and then for myself to kill Snow, then wait for the second bomb to wipe out the rest of the Capitol, and myself. It was a secret suicide mission I was adamant to complete.

But now, Katniss, Peeta and Oenothera are in danger. I should have known Peeta would be on the ship, should have known Katniss would go to save her daughter and ignore my orders to go back inside. I should have known Snow wouldn't die.

Snow's head is split open, and I can see wires hanging out. He has built himself like a machine, like someone indestructible, with the Capitol's technology. A bullet won't kill him. So I drop my gun and sprint towards him.

He is thirty yards away from Peeta now, gaining slowly. "RUN!" I scream to them. Snow sees me, and I'm afraid he will speed up to attack them before I can get any nearer. Instead, he changes his direction and rushes towards me.

"Run, Katniss!" I call again. In my peripheral vision, I see her pale, her mouth drop open momentarily. I see Peeta carry Oeno and grab his wife's hand, pulling them indoors. I pray they make it before the second bomb.

"Gale!" I hear Katniss cry, but I can't acknowledge her. The pain in her voice is evident, and for some reason, it warms my heart. She cares, even with her husband back. She cares about me.

A sharp whistling fills the sky, and I know I only have seconds. I am staring into the eye's of the manic Snow, and he throws the jagged metal straight towards my heart. I dodge it, but he is on top of me now. Katniss cries out again, as does Oeno, but then a door slams, and I know they are safe.

The last thing I see is Snow's eyes, his blood, his dead rose, and I wonder if this is how Prim felt. This is different, though - I know my fate is coming, I know there is a second bomb. I know the rescuers will be killed - that's why I evacuated them. This time, we are the Hunters, and the Capitol takes place of the Rescuers. They will die in the second explosion.

And so will I.

I wonder if I'll meet Prim. I wonder if she'll forgive me when I explain to her I never knew my bomb would be used for what it was used for. That this is how it should be used. That I didn't want her to be a hummingbird. That I didn't want to lose her sister forever and turn her skin into patchwork.

I wonder if I'll survive, and have matching patchwork skin. But I don't need to survive. I love Katniss Everdeen, and she loves me, but we can never have one another. She has a family now with a man who cannot hunt, but he can provide for them in a way I never could. He can talk to Katniss when she remembers the Games, comfort her, empathise with her. He can raise his kids to be as brave as he was in the Hunger Games years ago.

And I'm happy. I will die happy. I've had my chance to have Katniss, to save Panem, to redeem myself for what I did during the Rebellion. I could have died in District Two, overdosing on drugs that blocked out the pain. Meld could have taken over Mockingjay Firearms, delivered the news to Katniss, to my siblings. Oenothera and Kuwai would have never have met me.

But I have been redeemed. And I'm happy. Katniss and I didn't end that day, standing in the room, facing the mirror, with no real ending.

This was a real ending. Our love was brief, but it was real.

The world goes as black as the Mockingjay.