Oh my god. My ears ring as I gather myself, trying to get my bearings. I look up to see Bogs lying on the ground, bleeding. Jackson and Katniss surround him as the rest of our group try to get our shit together.
Katniss talks to him, quickly running over and grabbing the holo. Bogs says something into it while Jackson ties a tourniquet on both of his legs, trying desperately to stop the flow of blood. They're soaked within seconds.
Finnick stumbles over and helps me up, making sure I'm not injured. I stand and look over to Bogs. He's not moving. He's gone.
One of the other soldiers that was closer to the blast grunts in pain, holding her leg. Who I assume to be her sister starts making her way over but stops when she steps on something. She looks down and one of the tiles slowly sinks to the ground.
The openings around the small area we are in begin to close, caging us inside.
Before we even have time to question it, some kind of black liquid- tar or oil- comes rushing out of the alleyways. We all begin running, Finnick grabbing Peeta and dragging him along.
I run beside him, everyone in the squad trying to get into one of the apartment complexes. "Get to higher ground! Let's go!" One of the soldiers says. We keep running, trying to live another day.
But I hear Katniss grunt. I turn back and see Peeta on top of her, trying to hit her with his gun. One of the soldiers, Mitchell I think, grabs the boy. Peeta is stronger though, he pushes him into the rushing liquid. Chains or barbed wire immediately kill the soldier.
Finnick being the closest grabs him, restraining Peeta so he can't hurt anyone else. "Come on! Let's go!"
We all make our way to one apartment building, choosing it as our refuge. I throw one of my knives at the door, shattering the already damaged glass. "Get inside! Move it!" Jackson commands. I head inside after Finnick and Peeta, trying to make sure we all make it in time.
The entire squad rushes up the first flight of stairs and then stops. I don't understand why until I get there, seeing that the second flight has been broken. We're sitting ducks here.
Finnick pins Peeta in the corner as he struggles. I pull out the sedation pen I was given and use it, causing Peeta to go limp.
We all watch helplessly as the liquid advances, praying some miracle will take place.
"It's slowing down." Cressida comments. I watch closely and realize she's right. The liquid makes it all the way up and spills over some, but before it gets to us it makes a sucking sound and slowly starts receding to the ground level. We'll live to fight another day
"The peacekeepers are still putting on quite a show," Cressida says again, watching as the horrific substance slowly leaks out.
"Hey, we better move. If peacekeepers didn't know where we are, they sure do now." I comment, relaying my thoughts. They'll know where to find us and in this building, we're toast.
"Those surveillance cameras caught us." One of the camera crew says while our commander, Jackson, tries to radio back into base.
"This is a bad spot. We need to move, now." Gale states, also agreeing about leaving.
Jackson finally gives up. "I can't get a signal." While putting her radio back in her pocket. "But I can get us back to base. Everdeen, give me the holo." She says. But Katniss doesn't. She stares out the window, contemplating.
"Everdeen, what did I just say? The holo. Give it to me." Jackson says again, putting on a more aggressive tone.
"Bogs gave it to me." Katniss retorts, defending her right to keep the holo.
"What are you talking about?" Jackson asks, confused.
"He did. He transferred security clearance to her. I saw him." One of the other soldier's comments.
"And why would he do that?" Jackson says, poking for more information.
"I'm on specialty orders from Coin," Katniss replies simply.
"To do what?" Jackson questions, crossing her arms in a defensive stance.
"To assassinate President Snow." That's bullshit. But it's good bullshit. I'll take that mission.
"I don't believe that for one second and as your new unit commander, I order you to transfer security clearance to me, now," Jackson says in a tone that is non-arguing. But Katniss doesn't listen.
"I can't do that." The girl challenges. Jackson, getting tired of the nonsense, goes for her gun. I subconsciously put my hand on my knives.
She pulls it out and Gale gets in her way. Both Finnick and I pull out our weapons, he opts for his gun.
"Let's not lose our heads here." Gale tries to reason, holding up his crossbow.
"I'm not asking again, Everdeen. Give me that holo." Jackson says seriously, unfazed by the guns around her.
I quickly step in front of the gun. "It's true. I overheard Plutarch speaking about it while I was up late. He wants it televised." I say, looking to Cressida.
She seems to get the hint. "Yes. He thinks if we can get the Mockingjay to kill snow live, it will make the capitol surrender before the casualties get too high." Nice touch, Cressida.
"While we're arguing, there are a hundred peacekeepers on their way here," Gale says. Katniss grabs the crossbow and pulls it down.
"Bogs promised me that when the time came, you would help," Katniss says, pulling on the guilt strings.
Jackson stares at her a second before putting her gun away and nodding. "Alright, soldier. Holo's yours."
Gale moves over to the stairs, taking a step down, then lifting his foot. "I don't think we'll leave any footprints. We should leave, now." He says, surveying us all. I hear a cry from the corner and look over.
"She can't move forward like this, her leg is too bad. We have to evacuate her, I'm sorry." The soldier comments closest to the injured girl.
"I'll stay with her." The girl's sister promises, her face full of fury.
"As soon as we make contact, we will send somebody back, I promise," Jackson says, looking at the pair with pity.
"Alright everybody, move out!" Jackson commands, beginning the trek down. Finnick pulls Peeta up, helping him walk.
When we first get outside, Gale checks the security cameras. Just as we'd suspected, they've been covered in the oil. The capitol won't know where we're going.
I stay back with Finnick and Peeta, choosing to ignore the body that is stuck in the air.
We all follow Gale, making our way to a different apartment building, taking cover.
Gale leads the way, heading up the stairs and into a luxury apartment, the carpet made from high-end fabric, there's capitol dresses everywhere.
"Get these curtains closed!" Jackson commands, we follow the order. I pull one side and Finnick pulls the other, effectively hiding.
Before any of us have time to relax, we hear truck engines pulling up outside. They were fast.
We peek outside, careful not to open the curtains too far. There seem to be hundreds of peacekeepers outside, they really outdid themselves.
When they get in position, shots are fired from the apartment, instantly killing the closest soldier. "It's the Leegs," Finnick says, watching the entire scene unfold.
One of the peacekeepers climbs up onto the truck and shoots a rocket at the building. It immediately crumbles to the ground, killing both of the sisters.
I let go of the curtain and we crouch, unable to comprehend what happened. They're dead, just like that. We were supposed to come back for them.
Not even a minute later a loud siren comes from the TV and the emergency capitol logo flashes on and a familiar face appears.
"Good afternoon. I'm Caesar Flickerman, here with the continuous coverage of the defence of the capital." He remains serious as he speaks. Caesar might be as bad as everybody, he knew what was happening to us while we were in the capitol and he said nothing.
"Today, as our peacekeepers valiantly hold off the rebels, our story takes a surprising twist." He's even spewing this bullshit like those monsters are some heroes.
"Katniss Everdeen, our once favourite daughter, has infiltrated the city with some of the victors, their names all too familiar. Finnick Odair, Peeta Mellark, and another one of our once favourite darlings, Rose Brightfall. But as you see here, some alliances don't last forever." Caesar says as the clip of Peeta trying to kill Katniss plays. Are they still playing the innocent darling angle? God.
"Take a look at what happened just moments ago when our peacekeepers cornered Katniss Everdeen and her band of foolish rebels." The man throws some sass in that word, seeming truly angry.
"Whatever arrogance brought this treacherous girl back to us, you are about to witness a great victory not only for the capital but for Panem." Caesar finishes, letting the clip from moments ago begin to play. Wow, people really hate Katniss here.
We watch as the soldiers fire the rocket, destroying the refuge for the Leeg sisters. It cuts back to Caesar. "So there you have it. Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, a girl who inspired so much violence, seems to have met a violent end herself. Stay tuned for more information. Caesar Flickerman. Thank you." The screen cuts back to the original screen and the room is left in uneasy silence.
"So now that we're dead, what's our next move?" Gale asks, looking around.
"Isn't it obvious? Our next move is to kill me." Peeta says right after, looking blankly ahead. We all stare at him in confusion.
"I murdered one of our squad members. Katniss is right. I'm a mutt." Peeta elaborates, sounding so broken. I feel pity and guilt for him, he was never supposed to go through that. Now he's here, feeling like this.
"It's only a matter of time before I snap again. I'm not in control. I need a nightlock pill so I can die when I need to." He continues. Gale cuts him off almost immediately.
"If it gets to that point I'll kill you myself." Okay... don't really know if that's comforting but I guess we'll roll with it.
—
We manage to find some gourmet food in the pantry and begin eating. It's almost ironic, to eat this food when we have nothing like this in the districts.
I lean my head on Finnicks shoulder while I plop another chocolate into my mouth, thinking about what we're going to do next. "You know, I've never understood the capitol until now. You eat like this, you'll believe anything." Gale says aloud, analyzing the food.
A few seconds later the anthem starts playing on the TV. We look up and a memorial starts playing. It shows the entire crew, they're all from the capitol. Then it shows Finnick like it would in the arena. He smiles, thinking it's ironic.
Then my name and picture show up, with district four as a subtitle, it's a picture from before the quarter quell. I chuckle a little too, it is funny, seeing ourselves like that. Peeta and Katniss come next, showing tribute.
The screen changes and president snow comes on, I guess he would come on to say something at some point.
"So, Katniss Everdeen. A poor, unstable girl with nothing but a small talent with a bow and arrow, dead." Ouch, he could at least speak kindly of the dead.
"Not a thinker, not a leader. Simply a face plucked from the masses. Was she valuable? She was extremely valuable to your rebellion because you have no vision, no true leader among you." The president says monotone. Man, he's really laying in.
"You call yourselves an alliance. But we saw what that means. Your soldiers are at each other's throats-" he's cut off when the holo flashes to static- he's being interrupted.
Who comes on next shocks me. It's president Coin.
"Good evening. For those of you who don't know me, please allow me to introduce myself. I am President Alma Coin, leader of the rebellion. I have interrupted a broadcast from your president in which he attempted to defame a brave young woman. "A face picked from the masses" he called her. As if a leader- a true leader, could be anything else." Coin says, sounding very sincere.
"I had the privilege of knowing a small-town girl from the Seam in District 12, who survived the hunger games and the quarter quell and rose up and turned a nation of slaves into an army!" She gets louder when she says the last part, sounding passionate.
"Dead or alive Katniss Everdeen will remain the face of this revolution. She and the other victors will not have died for nothing." Coin talks about Katniss tearfully.
"I had no idea I meant so much to her." Katniss comments, unimpressed.
"You didn't, until now," I say, knowing it's what everybody was thinking.
"Her vision and ours will be realized. A free Panem, with self-determination for all. And in her memory, we will all find the strength to rid Panem of its oppressors. Thank you. And be safe." She finishes and the screen cuts off once again.
Immediately after Katniss stands up, taking out the holo. "Snow is in his mansion, where is that?" She asks, putting the small device down on the table. I sigh, standing up with the help of Finnick and making my way over to the discussion.
Cressida kneels down on the other side, looking at the holo. "That's us, that's the city circle." She points both out on the map. "It's at least 70, 75 blocks north." That's far, really far. Especially if we travel on the streets.
"75 blocks?" Finnick asks, confirming.
"Uh Huh" Cressida confirms, studying the map.
"Nobody knows we're alive, this is our chance," Katniss states, looking at us all.
"These buildings, do they overlook Snow's garden?" She asks quickly, pointing to some apartments close to his house. Suddenly I feel nauseous, like, terribly sick. But I keep it down, not wanting to miss anything. I shift slightly and grimace a bit, Finnick gives me a concerned look.
"I..." Cressida trails off, not knowing the answer.
"They do." One of her crew answers confidently.
"If he goes outside at all, I could get a clear shot at him." Katniss theorizes, probably envisioning his head on a stick.
"We're getting ahead of ourselves here. Whether they are looking for us or not, we are pinned down. Hit that button, scan for pods." Jackson commands, pointing to a small ridge on the edge of the device. Katniss hits it and the entire thing lights up.
"Just about every ten steps," I say, ignoring the rising bile in my throat.
"Yeah, and that doesn't even show the new ones," Gale adds, looking at the screen, discouraged.
"So we can't go anywhere in the streets," Finnick concludes.
"And the rooftops are just as bad," Jackson assures. It looks like any option we go with will end up with us dead.
The man without a tongue hits his partner on the shoulder and points down. "There might be another way." Before he can say anything else I jump up and sprint to the nearest trash can, throwing up the gourmet food into it.
I feel a hand on my back and Finnicks voice in my ear, whispering reassuring words. Once I finish I wipe my mouth and he hands me some water. "Are you okay?" He asks, alarmed.
"Yeah, I guess it was just from the stress," I answer plainly, a bit concerned myself.
—
The other option was under the city. The underground tunnels the capitol uses for transportation among other things. When we finish climbing the ladder, the man from before speaks. "My brother knows these tunnels well. He worked sanitation down here right after they turned him into an Avox." God, I've always felt sorry for them.
The said Avox starts breathing heavy, obviously having a panic attack. His brother goes up and comforts him, helping him to breathe through it.
He comes back to us. "It took us five years to buy his way outta here. He didn't see the sunlight once." The capitol is awful. As much as they claim to be glamour and classy, no one knows who they exploit to make it all work.
We walk until we come out to an underground road- it seems abandoned. Katniss leads with the holo and when we hear a vehicle we sprint, using the wall ahead of us as cover so we can stay dead for the meantime.
Once the vehicle passes, I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding. We creep forward and Katniss looks back. "We're too exposed here." The Avox nods and takes us to the other side of the tunnel, where there's a door. He points to it.
The group makes it inside and down another ladder, leading to another tunnel, there's no sunlight here.
Katniss pulls out the holo and takes a quick scan. "Looks clear." She comment, continuing on forward.
The first room we enter is very large, but the farther we go, the smaller it gets.
We enter a small hallway, one filled with pipes. As we walk along, one pipe shoots out hot exhaust. All of us drop, some gasping. When it stops, I tentatively stand. "Everybody okay?" Jackson questions. I put my thumbs up and wipe down my hair.
"Yeah." Katniss yells from the front.
—
Soon we're walking in chest-high water. I have to reach my free arm back to grasp Finnicks hand, this water causing panic to rise in my chest, the fear it could turn electric evident. He squeezes my hand in a silent reassuring act.
After walking in the water for a bit, we climb over a barrier and are finally introduced to dry floor. I thank god for that.
We keep walking until Jackson spots a small opening in the wall- leading to a room with some light. "Alright, we're gonna stop here everybody. Get some rest, yeah?"
Finnick goes in first, taking my hand and leading me in after. He finds us a spot and sits down, pulling me with him. I haven't realized how tired I am until now, my legs and arms tired from all the exertion. All I want is to sleep.
Peeta comes in and I see he looks confused. "Peeta, just tuck in there," I say while pointing to a corner where he can rest. He nods and follows, sitting down.
"Alright, settle in everybody. I'll take first watch." Jackson states, taking off her pack. I lean my head on Finnicks shoulder, grateful for this moment of rest.
—
I'm awoken to the sound of Peeta's voice and a distant rumbling and hissing noise. I open my eyes and look towards the entrance, seeing Katniss standing there, dumbfounded.
"We gotta go, now! They released mutts!"
Peeta exclaims, pulling on his restraints.
"Come on, up! Let's go!" Jackson says, awaking all of the soldiers.
"Pollux, what's the fastest way out?" Katniss asks quickly. Pollux jumps up and gets out, leading the way for us to leave so we aren't trapped here.
Gale takes the lead, shooting one of his fire arrows at the end of the tunnel, making sure there is nothing in the darkness. When it comes back clear, he starts walking- slowly.
When we get to another crossroads, Gale shoots another arrow, ensuring we're clear. As all of us cross, we use our flashlights to double-check, staying alert.
As we approach the end of the tunnel, I see that there's a small opening. About wide enough that one person can crawl through at a time. Pollux goes first, checking to make sure it's clear. She goes around the corner and comes back a few seconds later and gives us a thumbs up. Gale heads through next.
Then Katniss goes through, Peeta and Finnick let me crawl through first, following after I step into the next small room.
After we've all made, Jackson turns around and starts to head through. But before she does, she turns her light around one last time.
Creatures come out of the darkness. They have huge teeth and no eyes, their skin is all white.
Jackson gets tackled and mauled immediately. "It's mutts! Go!" I throw one of my exploding knives at them, trying to slow their advance.
"Pollux, lead us outta here!" Holmes yells, sprinting forward. We follow, not knowing what else to do.
Before we can turn one of the crew gets mauled. The things are coming from every direction. I'm pushed to one side with Cressida and Finnick, while the others are across from us. The monsters just keep coming, so we're forced to abandon the rest of the group, running in the opposite direction.
We take every twist and turn possible, trying to lose them. But they keep coming. Every turn there seems to be more.
Finally, after running for a couple of minutes, we hear gunfire. I lead the way and follow the sound, going into a small pipe and coming out into a room, seeing the others. There's a mutt about to get Katniss, so I use my knife and stab it, helping to kill others in the path as well.
"Go!" Cressida yells, grabbing Peeta and shoving him up the ladder. The other group members are going there too, so it's time we took our leave.
"Katniss, go!" I yell, taking out another mutt.
"No, you go first!" She protests, shooting one of them with her bow.
I give Finnick a look and he grabs her, dragging her to the ladder.
I follow them closely, defending them from any mutts that get too close.
One is about to grab Finnick, so I use one of my throwing knives, but it's my last one. Then a mutt comes out of nowhere and tackles me into the water.
I take out my bigger knife and stab it. But I hear more snarling. Looking around, I see there's too many of them. It's time to go.
Making my way back to the ladder, I climb up onto the platform, stabbing another ghastly creature in my way.
I grab the first rung of the ladder but one of the mutts bite my shoulder. I cry out and stab it pushing it away from me.
Again, I go to climb the ladder, getting up a few steps before one of the creatures grabs my waist and pulls me down for good. "No!" I yell, falling back into the water.
They all swarm me, all on top of me. Biting and scratching, desperate for any skin they can get. "Rose!" Finnick yells, the desperation is evident.
The pain is awful. They're gonna eat me alive. I just want it to end. "Finnick! Help me, please!" I cry out, hoping he'll do it.
I wait for a few seconds before an explosion sounds.