At half past seven, leaders, commanders and soldiers file silently into the Command room. I've been here for nearly half an hour, going over my plan over and over again in my head, getting it word perfect and making slight last-minute adjustments.
Soon, everyone has taken their positions and I stand up and address the glum faces of the room. I pick up my papers containing my plan and clear the lump my throat.
Breath in, breath out. Speak slowly. Cleary. Don't mess this up. You got this.
"I'll get straight to the point. I want to bring down the Capitol and I have a plan. We send people to the districts where they will from an underground group and spy for us. We send people to the Capitol to recruit as many rebels as we can. The people we send out will fake identities- they will be given backstories. We get as many rebels as we can and together we will overthrow the Capitol."
This is met by a stunned silence. Perhaps this is a first. Maybe no one in the history of 13 has suggested something as ridiculous as this.
"I'm sick of them treating us like slaves," I continue. "People are starving in the districts. Suffering is all some people know. They have the Hunger Games, sick, twisted, forcing district children to fight to the death. They see it as form entertainment. We can't sit back and let the Capitol do this. And don't forget what they did to you. Sentencing as underground. Cutting off all forms of communication. Bombing us and letting us slowly starve to death. We can't sit back and let them enslave Panem. We need to take action and we take action now!"
My voice has risen to a yell and my heart is hammering furiously in my ribcage, sending waves of hatred coursing through my bloodstream. With each breath I take, I breath anger and I spew out the words I associate with the Capitol in vegeneance. I sit back down.
"I agree we need to take action," I look at the ageing face of President Ashbrook, my face lit up with hope. It's no denying- with all the stress of running a District, he's getting older and older although his voice rumbles clear and powerful, filling the whole room. "But to be at war now? I don't think we can take it. I agree that the districts aren't happy and would overthrow the capital at any chance they get, although we have to remember that they're hungry and suffering. They don't have a military like us all the weapons. All of them have to rebel or none of them."
"Why can't it just be us against Capitol?" I counter. "We have nuclear weapons, we can flatten them in an instant. Force the Capitol to surrender."
"The districts rely on the Capitol for food. If we bomb the Capitol, we cannot provide Panem with a food supply. We simply do not have the resources. Some districts, particularly 2 are Capitol loyalists. They were loyal to the Capitol during the Dark Days. It was hard getting them to join our cause." President Ashbrook finishes.
I'm intrigued. The dark days. They were started by District 13, I know that. But how did they incite the first rebellion? That knowledge would mean everything to me.
"How did the dark days start?" I ask innocently.
I notice that people in the room are avoiding eye contact, others are shifting around uncomfortably. I turn my attention to President Ashbrook. His lips are pressed together in a tight line, his forehead creased.
"That is a matter I do not wish to discuss," he replies in a clipped voice.
"But-"
"Moving on!" President Ashbrook exclaims with such ferocity, startling me.
"We sent people out. Persuade him to repel. Make them see their horrors of their Capitol."
"Say you persuaded them. Then what? How do you know it's time?" A husky voiced middle-aged man with dark skin and tightly coiled hair who works in education speaks up.
"We need a spark. Panem, the Capitol, it's a fragile system. A spark can grow to an inferno that sets the whole thing alight," I inform the group, reciting the words that my mama taught me. "It could be years of waiting until one comes. It could be our only chance so we need to prepare and rebel. Send word out."
"What about the Capitol? Are you going to send people there?" he persists.
"I don't see why not," my fingers start tracing the edge of my papers and I bite my lip. "I bet some people know the difference between right and wrong."
Really? They didn't seem to mind about the Games. Or the way they treated us. They didn't say anything when we kill each other but the minute a tribute turns on a Capitol citizen... An image from my past life burns past my barricades and surfaces to my head. Arachne's slit throat. Gunshots. Brandy falling backwards. And the breadcrumbs slipping out her mouth and soaking in the pool of blood around them. I remember resisting the urge to throw up. Gagging. Clutching Jessup. Catching Coriolanus's eye through the bars of the monkey house. Hearing the whimpers of the frightened tributes around me. The stench of blood hanging thick and heavy in the air. And then Arachne's funeral. When they dangled Brandy's dead body and chained us below her and paraded us around the streets like something to be marveled upon. Singing. Speeches. Celebrating her life. Fear. Fear. Fear into the districts. Misery. Misery. Misery for Panem. Each one of those tributes deserved so much better. They deserved a funeral just as grand as Arachne's. For their courage. For their strength. For their bravery. Instead, they got nothing. All dead and gone and passed. And nothing but memory to remember them by for Panem.
There has to be someone. Surely? Hope is all I have now. I blink away the tears and feel the heaviness in my heart "There won't be many but we can make them see how corrupt the Capitol is. The Capitol rebels will be important. We need them as spies in the inner circle."
"Travel between the districts is forbidden. How will you get around that?" Soldier Taliss asks me. "There's bound to be people who will inform the authorities is a group of people appear in the districts."
"Easy. Peacekeepers." It's true. I got the idea from Coriolanus.
"But people will never trust Peacekeepers. They're disliked and people tend to avoid them. Stay out of trouble," an older woman with greying hair objects.
"Peacekeepers will know what's going on in their district. All forms of illegal activity will be reported to them. If there are any forms of... dissent, they will know about it," I explain. "Ask some more questions and you will find out who started it. Talk to that person and start a rebel group. Start a rebel base in the Capitol too. It will take time but I'm willing to wait." I finish.
"It's risky and there's chance your plan will collapse but I agree. It's better than nothing. The Capitol is getting stronger, who knows what they might be capable of in the future," a shrewed faced woman with copper hair studies me carefully. She's part of the military and works in weaponry- Soldier Avlov, who trained Edel.
I feel a smile spread on my face.
"It's dangerous and I know this can take a long time for your plan to be set in motion but do we really want another war? We're safe here. We have weapons and a military. I say no," a tall man with a big moustache says.
This is the exact thinking that is leading to the downfall of the districts! If we do nothing... We cannot do nothing! We need to take action to stop all the corruption!
"But-" I open my mouth to object but someone cuts across me.
"I also say no," I find the person who interrupted me and I glare at him. His name is Leader Galli. "We need to focus on our own district first before we go barreling into another war. What happens if we lose? I don't think the Capitol will be so lenient this time."
"If you let me finish, you wouldn't have wasted your breath," I growl. "We won't lose! We have nuclear weapons. And we're not just doing this for ourselves. We're doing this for our children, our grandchildren and their grandchildren! This plan could take years and we'll have plenty of time to focus on our district."
"I say we do it in the future. We'll be more powerful, we can bring them down!" A middle-aged woman with bright red hair calls down the table.
Their voices blur in my head.
"Yes..."
"No..."
"We cannot..."
"We're capable of this..."
"No way..."
"Fine..."
"I agree..."
"This is ridiculous..."
"Worth a try..."
Finally, President Ashbrook stands up. "Silence!" he starts. "Those in favour please raise your hands."
One. Two. Three. Ten. Twelve. Fifteen.
"The majority rules!" He calls. "Obviously, we need further discussion before your plan is put in place and we need to factor in the population, environment, et cetera. One last thing: what do you plan for communicate between the spies and us once they have been sent to the districts?"
"Find all the people originally from District 3. They can help us set up a private communication channel. Once that cannot be intercepted," I inform him.
"Well, you've thought of everything have you not? Would you like to lead the rebel cause with our guidance?"
"I would love to."
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