The Bombing
I sit drinking my tea, waiting for Gale to come home. He's been watching the Quell at the Everdeen's and would come home absolutely heartbroken. I feel bad. I don't even look at the screen, but I know the snare. Gale used to set it all the time around the house before my husband, Ash, yelled at him.
Chaos erupts on the screen, but I try not to look. I don't want to see who's being killed this time. An explosion rings from the screen. The lights go out. I try to keep my nerves down. The power doesn't go out during the Games. Never does. It shouldn't.
I sit in the dark, waiting for the lights to flicker back on, but they never do. I look out the window when I see the first plane. I lunge backward, covering my head. The explosion blasts through the district, the windows breaking. Posy screams.
They scramble out of their rooms. "Get back!" I shriek. Rory grabs Vick and Posy, dragging them back. I open the door, braving the three more bombs that fall. People are running and screaming, not knowing where to go.
"Ma!" I hear someone shout. I turn, Gale racing home, a look of confusion and fear in his face. He glances back at the bomb falling behind him. He barely reaches me before it hits. "Where are the kids?" he asks frantically, looking around everywhere. I motion inside. "Get them out, now! I've seen too many kids die already. Get them out of there!" Rory must've heard because he brings both kids out. Gale kisses Rory's head, taking his sister into his arms. "Let's go!"
We run through the district, carefully weaving through the fire. I took Posy after a minute or two when Gale couldn't move something out of the way. Along the journey, he kicks down doors, helping other people out. We reach the mess of people by the fence.
"Shit," I hear him mutter. He kisses Rory, Vick, then me, before telling me, "Stay right here, don't move." Then he runs off.
"Mommy, where is Gale going?" Vick asks, his voice shaking. I ruffle his hair, praying to myself that wasn't the last time I ever saw him.
It's seven bombs later. "Hey, Keller!" shouts a miner next to me. "That Hawthorne kid says we need to push the fence down!" He takes a place next to an endless line of miners and other men at the fence. A chorus of miners count to three, and just like that, the fence is gone. We all pour into the forest.
I hold all three kids to me, holding them close, hoping that one more is coming. Rory goes to pick berries from the tree he and Gale usually pick from, Posy falls asleep and Vick's not far behind. I look around anxiously for Gale. But I can't find him.
Gale pushes through the woods, terror in his eyes. I bring him into my arms. He winces, almost squirming but trying to conceal it. I pull away and look at him. His right arm reaches at his left shoulder. A nasty burn runs up his neck and down his arm. He glances at his home; right through the rubble and to the place he grew up. And all at once is a glimpse of devastation. And just as quickly, he clenches his jaw and goes after Rory, trying to be strong for him. Just like Gale. Even after everything.