Gloria et Gore

Glory and Gore- Slightly AU- District 12 is destroyed and Katniss barely survives. She finds herself in District 4 trying to adapt to their culture and avoid being sent to the Capitol where her destiny as an Avox is certain. She trains at the Career Academy and is put under the instructor of Finnick Odair who is frustrated with her lack of abilities native to the District. President Snow is becoming more and more unstable and with the 75th Hunger Games coming up who knows what will happen?

Katniss's body ached. She forced herself to roll over onto her stomach and she struggled to push herself up. She looked around briefly before turning quickly to empty the few contents of her stomach. Bodies. The bodies were burnt to the skeleton. The charred bones contained some flesh that made the air smell putrid. The heavy smoke in the air made her eyes water and she coughed. "Prim?"

She coughed, as she started frantically lifting debris near where her home was. "Primrose?"

Bits of ash swirled in the cold wind and piles created chimneys. Dust bunnies filled the roads that once were filled with people and corpses laid everywhere. Katniss lifted one more piece of wood before she saw the body. Her heart pounded against her ribcage painfully and her sense of dread filled her. She screamed as she pulled Prim's lifeless body against her holding her close. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she held her little sister close. The Mockingjays mocked her cries of agony into an almost beautiful song. Katniss stayed there for what felt like hours. The thought of leaving Prim was too much for her. She knew that she was now alone. Her mother was an empty shell for years. Countless times Katniss had to pull the knife or berries away from her mother to keep her alive. She almost contemplated letting her kill herself, if it were not for Prim. It seemed cruel, but at the point where both parents seemed to die when would it even matter anymore?

For what felt like hours Katniss sat and she held her little sister close. When she could finally control her tears she completely pulled her sister's body from the rubble and carried her. A bit of light hit her face, the light reflecting off a spade that lay forgotten. Katniss grabbed the spade while holding Prim and carried them both out to the valley in the middle of the vast forest. The forest was seemingly unharmed minus a couple of trees that lost all of their leaves in the wake of the bomb's blasting force. The creatures Katniss hunted for years were nowhere to find and there was an eerie silence besides the Mockingjays. In the valley where this woman had spent so much time she laid Prim down in a soft bed of grass while she dug her sister's grave inch by inch. Every time the spade hit the patch of earth, a tear fell and it felt almost cruel to disturb such a striking place, but the world wasn't really that beautiful. Not really. Katniss filled the grave with sweet wild flowers and she even found Primroses. She kissed her sister's forehead one more time setting her down into the grave. Shaking she placed her thumb over her pinky and kissed her three fingers before saluting her baby sister farewell. Taking one hasty glance at her Katniss ultimately started burying her sister, which without a doubt, would be the hardest thing she would ever do. Burying the last bit of her family without any care of anything else. At the point Katniss didn't realize it, but she was cursed to end up as just of a broken shell of a human being as her mother. The madness that plagued her mother would invade every single one of her cells twisting them into something unrecognizable. Something so lost that even the brightest of lights couldn't lead her through the depths of obscurity that afflicted her.

13 Hours Before -

The people at the Capitol say that every seven years, the cells in our bodies completely replace themselves and suddenly you find that you are now a new person. But you don't ever feel like a new person or at least I haven't. I have always felt like me, but I don't know how to describe that me is. But if you aren't me, the glorious Capitol has invented countless ways to change a person from skin color to their superficial voice. The people in the Capitol found ways to modify their bodies so much that you could be a girl one day and wake up as an animal another. That wasn't my reality though. Reality was harsh for my District and it was no secret that children were hungry despite any tesserae promises, if you could even count that. Most of the grain arrived moldy or infested with rats meaning that the Capitol left people to starve. My father saw this happening from the day I was born and as soon as I was old enough he took me to the woods showing me ways to always find something to survive on. He helped me craft a bow and arrows and soon as I shooting as well as him. His untimely death was sudden, yet he left me with a gift and a duty to protect my sister Primrose and mother. For many years I had kept them safe from starvation and the Peacekeepers. Despite my efforts and record proving the success I have had for years, but even I couldn't anticipate the bombs. A quiet Sunday morning the aircrafts came one by one dropping small, but lethal bombs all over my former home. The first blast sent a wave of force throughout the forest making me drop the squirrel entangled in one of the snares and fall back onto the ground. The bombs fell like the leaves that fell every autumn. There were so many of them that fell silently. Time stopped as the explosion ripped the Seam apart. The putrid smell of burned flesh filled the air along with the malicious smoke that hide the truth. Splinters of wood seemed to dance around me and all this happened within moments. Cries of agony brought me back to reality and I ran through the rumble screaming my sister's name. "Prim!

"Katniss!"

"Prim!"

I ran through the hordes of people towards the end of the Seam where I have lived for eighteen years. I was only ten feet away when the bomb fell on it. The blast blew me back into the road where crowds of people continued to run. I tried to move, but my limbs felt heavy. A large pair of boots kicked my head and my eyes felt heavy. I tried to scream, but no sound escaped my mouth as darkness consumed me. The last sight I saw was more feet running past me. The last thing I heard was Prim screaming my name.

Presently—

I wiped my dirty face with the end of my shirt. I had to leave and it was dark. I could hear the rare, but unforgettable hum of the aircrafts that often would carry rushes of Peacekeepers. Standing from where I was I could see the white suits carrying flamethrowers torching everything that did manage to survive, along with any evidence that we were here. Staying in the woods where there were sweeps were not an option anymore. It was not something that could prevent me from being an Avox forever and with that I quietly crouched as I moved through the shadows. I went to Gale's log where he hid his arrows and one long dagger that he stole from a rookie Peacekeeper. It was actually kind of funny how Gale managed to get the young man drunk and even better how he managed to get him to gamble down at the Seam. Obviously we didn't see the Peacekeeper for a while, but Gale got a very useful dagger from it that served him well when we used to hunt game together. I reached further into the log and frowned. His bow was missing and in its place was a leather bag. My stomach fluttered and a bit of optimism filled me. Maybe he was still alive… If anyone could get out it would have been Gale. He was always so strong and clever in everything he did. My lips pulled up into a small smile and I got a feeling that he would be all right. I filled the brown satchel with the bows and bits of wild strawberries I found as I went a long. Suddenly there was a gust of wind and I could hear the patrol units scouting the forests. I hid behind a large tree, gripping the bark as I shut my eyes attempting to steady my breathing. If I get caught I would be sentenced to death by a firing squad. I quick sprinted to the creek and I threw myself into the murky water. The idea behind the mud covering me would be to prevent the Capitol from identifying me elsewhere. I heard two Peacekeepers walking through, chatting about how District 12 didn't have enough output and that they could no longer afford to "feed" those.

"The Capitol is running messages now about how they are switching to renewable energy."

"Really? Will the people know about the bombing?"

"Maybe, but the only people close enough are in District 11 and no one cares about them."

"Right. But what about the Games?"

I flinched. The Hunger Games were the favorite tradition of the Capitol as a way of reminding us to be in deep gratitude of their love for us, by only murdering twenty- three children a year.

"We will tell the people of District 12 are being relocated to other districts so that the industries will thrive. District 11 will be the last district."

"Did anyone survive?"

"I'm sure a few did. It doesn't matter. Snow says that if we do find them we are to kill them on sight. There is no way to assure we killed everyone, but I doubt anyone would want to help someone from District 12. There is no benefit from doing that besides starving yourself."

The two Peacekeepers walked right past me. I guess they couldn't tell the difference in the lumps of mud with me just sitting there. I waited a bit longer pondering the new thoughts I had. The Capitol was going to lie again. They didn't care that they murdered countless people. I was a fugitive if anyone would know about me. I had to move. Now. Hearing the aircraft take off I started sprinting to the woods. There was no way I was simply going to let them capture me without a fight. I wasn't going to let them. I jumped off some rocks and landed quietly. A large beam of light landed on me and I felt beads of cold sweat drench my face. I heard loud voices projecting, but I only had one thing on my mind. Run. I ran quickly weaving through trees and scrubs, picking areas with lots of trees to interfere with the aircrafts vision. It wasn't going to be enough. The mighty motors of the machine were so strong and easily blasted away the foliage that may have obscured their sight. The Peacekeepers sprayed paralyzing spray, but I was lucky to have missed it. Claws appeared and attempted to snatch me mid run and I tripped. Tripping was enough to make the mechanical arm avoid me. The machine started shooting darts at me, many piercing my skin. Crying out I intricately pulled out the dart, only to realize the familiar feeling of Tracker Jack venom. The stuff would kill me in minutes so I ran faster; starting to already lose coherent vision as more darts entered my back. I tripped again and this time stayed down, unable to feel my body anymore. I felt trapped in my body as the claw scooped me up as if I was a prize. My eyes were met with bright light and as soon as I was aboard the Peacekeepers grabbed me and threw me in room with a single elderly Peacekeeper. He had a gruff appearance with dark black eyes and thin white hair. The man was tall and lean, but looked as if he was a fair fighter. His face had a cruel smile on and he pointed to a chair. "Sit," he barked out.

I sat quickly, still trying to regain feeling consciousness in my extremities. "Who are you?"

Everything he said had a menacing growl to it and it reminded me of a rabid dog. I nearly glared at him, but I found my voice. "Katniss Everdeen."
"Did you come from District 12."

"You already know I do."

A deep pain rose in my cheek and I quickly held it letting out a small yelp. I hadn't even realized he hit me.

"Do." "Not." "Sass." "Me." The growling was back and he gritted his yellow teeth at me.

Finding his eyes I swallowed and spoke out. "I apologize."

He whipped out a long bar and hit it in his hand. Where are you going?"

"No idea. Somewhere."

"How did you survive?"

"I don't know."

"Where are the others?"

"I don't know."

"You are lying!" Another slap. Tears burned at my eyes, but I refused to give him the satisfaction.

"I didn't see any one else out here. Only me."

He growled and grabbed me by my throat lifting me up. "You are lying to me." My lungs started to burn and my hand clamped over his trying to pry it off. I shook my head and clawed at his hand. My attempts only made him tighten his grip and I knew I was going to die. I raised my knee up with as much force as I could and kneed him in the gut. Surprised he let go and I reached for the knife in my boot. The man laughed as he recovered from his weak position. "Kitten got claws." I twirled the knife so that the handle was in my hand and I stabbed him in the thigh quickly pushing him back into the wall. He cried out and tried to pry the knife out as I stole his access card from his coat pocket. I quickly swiped it and locked him in the room. He pounded on the door screaming and it was my cue to run. I glanced out the window and could tell we were mid-water. I could jump… Another annoying alarm went off and I went to the holding area where my bow was being kept. It was just on the table and an easy grab. As soon as the quiver was on my back and the bow secure the door opened with three Peacekeepers advancing on me. I used the keycard to open to aircraft door, as they got closer. "Prisoner step away from the door!"

"You fool you will die!"

"Let her jump she can't swim. She would be one less problem for us."

"No. We already said she would be an Avox."

"We said she would join me in bed."

"Shut up Thomas."

While they bickered I jumped from the aircraft. The force of the fall was so strong I couldn't even hear my screams as I hit the dark deep blue salty water hard. The pressure of the water crashed against my gentle skin and the waters force was pulling me around like a limp doll. I could hear the aircraft flying away, but it didn't matter. My body fell slowly in the water and as I looked above I thought of Prim who had always wanted to see the ocean. As my body seemingly fell deeper there was a flash of something in the water. My eyes were closing as my lungs burned in protest, but suddenly it felt like something was pulling me out the water. Something strong and warm held me to its chest moving quickly through the water like a fish. The warm air hit the water on my skin creating Goosebumps as whatever pulled me out of the water and laid me on the sunbaked sand. Hands. Strong hands placed over my ribcage pressing hard. One. Two. Three times, all the way to twenty before a pair of lips touched mine and attempted to breath life into me. I heard a deep melodic voice murmur the same things over and over. "Breathe."

As my consciousness faded I felt the compressions become harder and the beautiful voice become increasingly more frantic. "Breathe!"

Suddenly I jolted up, coughing up seawater and inhaling deep gasps of air. A pair of beautiful sea-green eyes met mine with a crooked smile. The beautiful man raised a hand slowly as if I was some wild animal and he gently caressed my face, moving a couple of stray hairs out of way of my face. " Now that's better."