Primrose: Flames

I follow the tightly packed line. I really shouldn't be here. But I am. I didn't tell Katniss because I know that Katniss wouldn't let me. She'd make me go back. After all, I am her sister. Rushing down the Capitol streets, I clutch my medical pack close to me. The weather is frigid with fat, lazy snowflakes drifting down. Even though the weather is splendid, the air is stale and smells of blood. I hear agonized screams in the air. The cold cuts through my coat in strait to my bone, I shiver and give a puff of air. I keep running, walking in the footsteps of the people ahead. It's very hard to keep going; every breath of this disgusting air makes me want to vomit. The Capitol streets are barren and deserted, so unlike that I have seen on the television.

But as I near the City Circle, wails of despair fill the empty air. Blood stains the snow covered ground. Children scream and wail. I bite my lip. We are not that far, I can see the leader of this medic group a bit further ahead of me. I look up at the grey sky in time to see a hovercraft wearing the Capitol's seal appear. Raining down from above, packages floating down on silver parachutes, I know what is in them. Food and medicine, I frown, feeling that something is not quite right. As the packages drift earthward, people eagerly grasp and dive for them, clutching packages with iced up fingers. The fumble with the strings and work them off as fast as their almost unresponsive fingers will allow them, the hovercraft disappears. I try to shake off the feeling of unrest. The feeling you get when you have a premonition about something awful. I see the barricades ahead of us. No problem. We will climb over them or something. I count the seconds while I run.

One…the leader is getting close.

Two…almost there, with shouts of "The rebels! The rebels!" ringing in the air.

Three…I'm about to rush into the Circle.

Four…I've decided to try and push off the feeling, nothing's happened yet.

By the time I say "Five" in my head, my world is spinning; I'm on the ground, struggling to get up. Flames have engulfed part of the City Circle, and assorted body parts rain down from the sky. Blood spurts into the air. There is screaming and wailing as the packages explode. Some people don't die immediately, they lie on the ground, bleeding and dying silently. Some packages still lie unexploded. The barricades swing open and our group charges into the Circle.

I knew there was something wrong with those packages. Explosively rigged. I'm not surprised. I stoop down low and take off my coat to cover a screaming child. I mute out the sounds of despair and grief around me; I pretend I don't see the limp and bloody hand lying in the snow. I can't.

"Prim! Prim! Prim!"

I hear a voice call over the crowd. Then, for one horrifying moment, time freezes. I catch Katniss's eye. We stare at each other. I open my mouth and prepare to call out "Katniss!"

I never get the chance because right then, the rest of the packages explode. The ground shakes, I'm flung into the air, and flames shoot into the skies. Blood sprays over me. I think it's my blood. Shrapnel dart through the air, cutting through flesh and bone. The heat, it's almost too much to bear. My ears are ringing. Fireballs enlighten the skies. People scream and are blown apart, splattering assorted parts on the streets.

Just like me…