||ODDS|| Newt x Reader In The Hunger Games

31. Fireproof

Once we neared district 8, Cressida looked at the spear rested beside my leg and nodded towards it. "You might want to leave the spear here, it might be difficult to carry around."

"Alright." I mumbled before leaving it in the corner of the hovercraft.

Once we landed, the eight of us got down from the plane and we quickly made our way towards the buildings and away from the open ground. Dust and smoke filled the air, as rubbles scattered around the ground. A group of people awaited us in one of the clearings.

One of them, a lady with a scarf covering her head and a machine gun in her hand, walked up to Katniss. "You're alive then? We weren't sure."

"Katniss, Commander Paylor, district 8." Boggs introduced her before turning to talk to the commander. "Katniss has been recovering, but she insisted on coming out and seeing some of your wounded."

Paylor's eyes shifted towards me for a second before returning back to Katniss. "Well we've got plenty of those." She turned around and walked towards one of the buildings, and we followed suit.

The moment we walked through the doors to one of the buildings, I was hit with a terrible stench. My hand flew to my face to cover my nose, as I looked around the room with widened eyes. Bodies of the victims during the attack were lined up the sides of the wall in stretchers, one over another, literally in piles.

"We have a mass grave a few blocks west, but, I can't spare the manpower to move them yet." She explained. "The hospital's past that curtain. Any hope you can give them, it's worth it. The Capitol's done everything they can to break us."

"Aren't you worried about having all the wounded in one place?" Gale questioned.

"I think it's better than leaving them to die. It's right through here." Paylor said, pushing past the curtains at the end of the room. The sight inside was far worse. Hundreds of people, bleeding and injured, crowding the room up entirely. Some had bandages wrapped around their hands, or some had their legs in make-shift casts. Some people were running about, trying to find supplies, while others tended to the wounded.

I didn't bother trying to hide my horrified expressions. Pollux placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to whip my head around to look at him, my eyes glistening with tears.

"Don't film me in there. I can't help them." Katniss said, her voice shaky.

"Just let them see your face." Cressida reassured.

Katniss nodded numbly before walking into the hospital. As she made her way down the path, that led to the front of the room, the camera followed. I lingered behind, not sure if I wanted to go in. Seeing people in pain, was not something I was used to growing up. Back at 4, we had efficient medical facilities for those who needed it, in case of emergencies. I had never seen so many people suffering this badly, all at once. It made me think how the poorer districts of Panem, like 11 and 12, managed to survive without even a proper hospital. Katniss's mother was apparently one of the only people in her district with medical knowledge.

Commander Paylor noticed my hesitation and walked towards me. "(Y/n) (l/n), I was surprised to see you here. We were expecting only one victor today."

"I'm not fit to be a victor." I said, my voice cracking.

"What do you mean?" She asked in a kind voice.

"I should have been out here helping as many people as I could with all the money that I had. Yet I chose to stay at home, too afraid to face the cameras outside."

She smiled before taking a step closer towards me. "When Katniss Everdeen won, she won even against the ruthless Career pack. Here in 8, the Careers are despised. But when the people saw you and Finnick Odair, former Careers yourselves, risk your lives in the arena to defy the Capitol, believe me when I say that you've earned their respect. Now come along, be the brave young woman a lot of people in here know you to be."