"And that's when the rest of the parachutes go off."
~ Parachutes ~
Before you read this, be warned that there are major Mockingjay spoilers here! This is a oneshot of a rewritten version of the climax of the war, you know, when Katniss and Gale are together disguised as Capitol citizens...
There will be some slight changes, but you have to read to find out what they are :3
I hope you enjoy it!
"All citizens must work their way through block A6 to the presidential mansion immediately."
The static sentence buzzes in my ears every few seconds, continuing to repeat from the blaring speakers atop the buildings without any mercy. The cold air nibbles at my soft hands and I immediately place them into the pockets of my cyan jacket.
Gale squeezes closer to me, cautiously glaring at everyone who passes by him. Peacekeepers roam the streets, some hiding in balconies and some on top of big, grey trucks.
I look on ahead and catch a glimpse of Pollux disguised as a citizen of the Capitol - his hair and his beard tied into countless braids - and I manage to see Cressida just a few feet behind him wearing a fluffy pink jacket, her hood pulled over her head.
I quickly spin on my heels and look for Peeta. Nowhere to be found. All I can do is hope he is tagging along still. So far we've been walking for minutes, going through various alleyways and swarmed streets in groups: Cressida and Pollux, Gale and I while Peeta strays on his own.
"All citizens must work their way through block A6 to the presidential mansion immediately."
I look up and watch as gigantic projections come to life on the side of buildings, all showing the same image of him. His beard as white as snow, his snake green eyes, wrinkled skin. He stares into the eyes of the camera recording him and he opens his mouth, showcasing his forked-tongue.
"Citizens, it has come to my attention that radicals of the rebel squads have invaded our homeland, including the girl that has started this all."
I watch as an image of myself along with the others appear. Finnick, Messalla, Castor, Jackson, Homes, Mitchell and Leeg 1 all still alive. A short clip of us marching through the streets filled with the black goo substance that made us flee into an apartment block.
"Katniss Everdeen, the criminal who has brainwashed the nation is among us. Any sightings must be reported, and I recommend that you take action into your own hands if anyone is spotted. Justice will be served, and Panem will be restored sooner than later. Goodbye."
Snow signs off but the video of us still remains, the citizens around us watching carefully.
"Get to the right!" a Peacekeeper yells, Gale and I scurrying diagonally with a bunch of others.
"All citizens must work their way through block A6 to the presidential mansion immediately."
The sentence is brought back up and it begins to play on loop again.
"All citizens must work their way thro- must- all- the-"
Static fills the air and I watch as everyone covers their ears with their hands, Gale and I doing the same.
"Are you, are you, coming to the tree..."
I don't know if I'm going crazy, or if I'm really hearing this.
"They strung up a man, they say who murdered three."
I recognize it. It's my voice. Without hesitation, I glance up at the projections on the buildings and I watch as the video of us marching through the Capitol is replaced with me singing in District 12, Pollux and Castor recording me. Back beside the lake. Where I met my first Mockingjay.
"I want the rebels to know that I'm alive. I'm in District 8, where the Capitol just bombed a hospital..." my voice changes while the Hanging Tree continues to play without me singing.
"If you think for one second that the Capitol will ever treat us fairly, you are lying to yourself!"
All I can guess is that this a work of Beetee and his crew, especially the moment I hear screams of "the rebels!"
Within seconds, Gale is tugging on my arm, dragging me away from the crowds. Gunshots bring down tons of citizens and I watch as the Peacekeepers begin to fire at us. Gale drags me down behind a bargain-bin outside a furniture store and we duck our heads down. He slowly peers up over the bin and instantly lowers back down.
"The Peacekeepers are dropping like flies. They're shooting from the roofs above. It must be the rebels."
"Well who are we going to be when we walk back out there?" I ask.
"Citizens of the Capitol in a fluster just dying for safety."
I'm about to say how ironic it is to say "dying for safety," but we both hear boots marching behind us. I quickly glance back and watch as the white suits walk towards us.
"Get somewhere safe!" one of the Peacekeepers roars at us, Gale and I both nodding.
We both watch as the group storm out onto the tarmac and get shot at from rebels above, dead within seconds.
"We know who they are and what they do, and we must fight back!"
"We need to get to Snow now. The rebels will have more interesting targets than us."
We squash ourselves up against the wall, walking step by step down the street. Except these walls are mostly shop windows. We end up staring in at grocery stores, fashion stores, even a toy store. And that's when I see Snow's face again: behind a glass frame propped up on the wall behind the counter.
We walk up against the walls for moments before we reach the left corner of the street, leading into an intersection with three roads to take and where an injured Peacekeeper sits. He begs for help, but Gale kicks him in the stomach and grabs his gun.
"You still got your bow?" he asks.
I nod, still feeling it up against my stomach inside my coat.
"I have a message for President Snow..."
I look up through the left street and watch as bursts of steam spray out from holes in side of buildings, instantly boiling the Capitol citizens, Peacekeepers and a few people wearing black coats.
"They're here," I say. "The rebels are here."
But the steam doesn't stop. That's when I see more holes hidden in the buildings closer to us, and even the one we're standing right next to. I hear a hissing sound from inside the walls and I pull Gale forward.
"You can torture us, bomb us..."
The gas explodes from the holes and we barely miss it. We flee down into the street on the right of the intersection into a crowd of rebels and Peacekeepers, a few citizens running around frantically.
"...burn our districts to the ground..."
Within seconds, I see a shaft of purple light, a beam of some sort shoot through the air towards us. I yank Gale down to the ground with me, just barely missing getting caught in its tracks and I watch as everyone ahead screams in pain. The beam vanishes and blood begins to leak from their orifices - eyes, noses, mouths, ears.
"But fire is catching..."
Explosions set off just meters behind, chunks of buildings ripping into pieces. I immediately pull Gale up with me and we stomp through the piles of blood and mushy body parts.
"And if we burn,"
I catch a glimpse of white suits chasing from behind, and when Gale begins to fire his gun I decide it's time to whip out my bow. I open up my jacket, pull it out and pluck an arrow from my quiver. I draw back on the string, aim upwards and watch as the Peacekeepers come to a halt.
"You burn with us!"
My arrow shoots through the air, the red tip shinning in the sunlight. Upon impact, my arrow explodes sending ash and helmets into the air. The Peacekeepers drop to the ground, Gale and I beginning to sprint down the street, around a corner where we meet eyes with Snow's mansion. But where we meet eyes with thousands of citizens and rebels.
"We all have one enemy!" my voice from the speakers changing to the time I was in District 2.
We rush forward into the crowds and a rumble shoots through the ground. Instantly, I watch as a crack splits through the street, the road lowering downwards in two flaps, dropping anyone in the middle into a pit below. I rush towards the left side and I watch as helpless citizens drop like flies into the depths and are mauled by some sort of angry, wolf mutt. But that's when I see Gale on the other side. Both of us split up. He's dragged into a swarm of citizens, and his last word before he vanishes is my name.
"Katniss!"
"He corrupts everyone and everything!"
I march forward, whipping out another explosive arrow which takes out the hordes of citizens in front of me. And that's when I spot a little girl fit with a yellow coat, just like a yellow duck.
"Move!" I hear people yell, and I'm suddenly shoved from behind into the crowds. I see I'm approaching the mansion quickly, and within seconds I'm out into the City Circle. The bridge I passed under merely moments ago collapses, most of it falling into the pit killing anyone down there who is still alive.
"He turns the best of us against each other!"
I see the girl again, this time meters ahead. I push through the crowds and wrap my arm around a lamp post, pulling myself up to get a better view. I see her, her hair split into two braids, tending to an injured rebel with her first-aid kit, him covered in blood.
That's when I see a hovercraft floating in from behind the mansion, fit with the Capitol seal on the base.
I'm already seeing visions of everyone and being blown to pieces, but that's not the case.
It's not until I see a flap open up beneath the hovercraft which drops out hundreds of parachutes do I see what's behind the gates of Snow's mansion: tons of Capitol children in their multi-colored coats bundled together, shivering in the cold breeze.
They act like protection to Snow. If any of the rebels want to pass through, we'll have to take down innocent, precious children.
The snow in the sky begins to thicken, layers building up on the parachutes themselves. But these are familiar. Sponsors. The same little bundles used to treat tributes with gifts. Haymitch sent me a few back in the Games.
I watch as the parachutes land inside the gates where the children sit and they squeal with excitement, desperately trying to open them up expecting some sort of gift inside. Food, medicine, anything. Then I watch as nearly half of the parachutes blow up, blood splashing up against the gates and the surviving kids looking in horror.
Confused and guillable, the children who still remain continue to try and open up their 'gifts.'
That's when I see her again, her yellow jacket forming a duck's tail at the back.
"Tonight," my voice continues to blare from the speakers.
I watch as she runs away from the injured rebel and towards the gates. I barely hear her scream "let me in" to the Peacekeepers guarding. The Peacekeepers themselves look surprised and shocked, desperately pulling open the gates in horror at what has just happened.
"Turn your weapons..."
The gates are open fully and I watch as she staggers inside with a few other rebel medics following just behind her, immediately running over to the wounded children.
"...to the Capitol!"
I leap forward from the pole, dashing through the crowds that push me back and forth. I already know who she is, and of course she would be peaceful enough to aid the wounded Capitol children. Of course she would. She has a heart of gold.
"Turn your weapons..."
I'm nearly at the bars, pushing past everyone without mercy. I'm screaming her name at full force and I've got her attention. She spins around, stares at me with her deep blue eyes, her blonde hair blowing in the snowy, harsh wind.
Her lips form my name and she barely lifts one leg forward before my mind goes blank.
"...to Snow!"
And that's when the rest of the parachutes go off.
Author's Note:
Hello!
I hope you all enjoyed this oneshot! Whether you did or didn't, please leave a review! I'd love to know your thoughts on this! :3
Stay tuned because I'll be doing more oneshots like these in the future!
Thank you so much for reading, byeeeee! :)
