Title: Cannon After Cannon

Fandom: Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Author: rising-balloons

Words: 1519

Summary: "The bombs have become continuous now, cannon after cannon after cannon booming, screams cutting off sharply in reply. The Capitol is bombing innocents. We did nothing to them, and in return they bomb us." Madge watches her home attacked by the Capitol. Set during the end of Catching Fire.

Disclaimer: I am not Suzanne Collins. I did not write the Hunger Games. I own nothing.

I sit, bored by the lesson Ms. Grimwald is attempting to teach. I rather pity the lady; no one in this class really cares about what she's saying, even less the grade they end up with. After all, this is a literacy class, and no one needs to know the inner depths of grammar to mine. This is District Twelve, not District Three or Five or Six. I glance at the clock, willing the second hand to move faster, faster. This fails, so I turn my attention out the window to the puffy white clouds outside, breezing along without a care in the world.

Sometimes I wish I was a cloud. Then I wouldn't have to worry about school, and being the only heir to my father, and the people of Twelve sending me the looks. The hate, the disgust, the ridicule, because I'm better off than they are. Earth to Twelve citizens; we don't choose our parents, our lives. It's all a lottery, like the Games. I sigh and inevitably begin to think about Katniss and Peeta, if they're okay. Last time I checked the standings, they were both alive. The shortened classes are intended to give us extra time to watch the Games, but I know for a fact most of my peers blow it off. I have to watch, being the Mayor's daughter.

I eventually return to gazing out the window, and have pleasantly been watching a blue jay perched in a tree for some time when my line of thought is interrupted. Are those Capitol airships?

I squint at the gray shapes in the sky, many hidden by the clouds. Without a doubt, it's Panem's fleet of bombers. Why are they coming here? I wonder, watching them intently. Ms. Grimwald notices my nonexistent attention and raps her knuckles on her desk. "Miss Undersee, would you please return your attention to the classroom?" she orders. Not asks, but orders.

"But Ms. Grimwald, look!" I interject, still peering out the window. "It's Capitol-"

"It's nothing, that's what it is," Ms. Grimwald cuts me off. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes, before you so rudely diverted your attention, we were talking about pronouns. Pronouns-"

The gray bombers are unavoidably, noticeably low now. And, to my horror, gray circles are plummeting from the bottom. "Ms. Grimwald! We're being bombed!" I scream, unable to suppress my panic. Other students beside me dash to the window to see if I'm telling the truth.

"Miss Undersee! I've had quite enough of your-"

We never got to find out what Ms. Grimwald had had enough of, because my peers then saw we were really and truly being bombed. Naturally, they respond as most humans do- they scream and run for the door. Ms. Grimwald tries to blockade the door, but the adrenaline of the students overwhelms her, and she's convinced with the rest of them. They fling the door open and stampede down the hallway, shouting warnings as they go.

Me, I stay by the window. I feel numb all over. My heart is beating too quickly, too loudly. The Capitol is bombing us. The Capitol is bombing us.

But why?

The Games. Katniss. Peeta. Oh, God, no. After last year, surely they wouldn't do something rebellious again… would they?

In my heart, I know the answer. Snapping out of my haze, I run for the door and sprint to the 'mansion' (and I use quotation marks because it's only a mansion by Twelve standards, which are set pretty low to begin with), shouting warnings as I go. As I run, someone grabs my wrist, forcing me to stop.

I turn towards the person attached to the arm, and I find it to be Gale Hawthorne. Gale… I attempt to wrench free, but it's no use; he's much stronger than I am. Gale immediately sees my panicked expression. "What's going on?" he asks breathlessly. His face is filled with panic, and some part of my brain notes he was headed towards the Seam. For his family.

We all have someone to take care of.

"The Capitol is bombing us," I choke out. "Katniss and Peeta…"

Gale understands- it's evident in his eyes. "We have to run for the forest, get beyond the fence," he tells me forcefully. "Herd as many as you can. Now!"

I nod and continue my sprint to the mansion, shouting once more as I go. "Run for the fence! We're being bombed!" I yell.

Soon enough, the Mayor's Mansion soon looms before me. I throw open the doors and dart inside, not caring about the slam behind me. Nothing like manners matters now.

"Father!" I scream. "Father, where are you?"

I find him in his study. "Yes, Madge?" he asks politely. How can he be so calm right now?

"The Capitol's bombers are coming to Twelve," I tell him. As though President Snow has heard me, a sound rings out. It sounds remarkably like the cannons they use in the Games, only much louder and with many more screams. A bomb has been dropped. "Father, we have to go! Now!"

My father pushes his chair back, fear alight in his eyes. "Abree…" he mutters, then dashes out behind me. I chase after him.

When the chase has ended, we find ourselves in Mother's room. She's in her bed, staring at the ceiling, breathing heavily.

"Abree!" My father shouts at the sight of his wife. "No time to explain, just come on with us…" He runs to her bed and scoops her up. Another bomb drops, shrieks and crying ringing out just outside the window. Together we head for the door when the mansion quakes violently. A bomb has hit my home. My house. I can hear stone crumbling. They attacked the Mayor of Twelve, I think somewhat numbly. This is really happening.

In the force the bomb has caused, my father almost drops my mother, who moans. She must be trapped in another migraine. I try to push the door open, but it's jammed. I yank and push and pull, tears running down my cheeks.

We're trapped. I spin around, looking for windows, air ducts, something. Anything.

But the windows too have rubble piled up against them, and it's not like we'd be able to get Mother out that way anyway. The air ducts are impossible to reach, even with my decent climbing skills.

I sink to the floor, shoulders shaking silently in defeat. The bombs have become continuous now, cannon after cannon after cannon booming, screams cutting off sharply in reply. The Capitol is bombing innocents. My hatred for them only grows. We did nothing to them, and in return they bomb us.

Father walks back to the bed with Mother, myself trailing behind. He sets her back in bed, where she stares at him wordlessly. And then she speaks her first words in weeks. "I love you, Max," she murmurs, lifting her frail hand to touch my father's face. Tears are falling freely from his eyes now, now that he knows we are going to die. "And you too, Madge," my mother says, caressing my cheek. There are tears in her eyes. "I love you both so, so much…" she trails off.

I take her hand, and my father takes my other. Then my mother takes my father's hand, so we form a tentative little circle. The roars of the cannons are louder than ever now.

"Maysilee, I'm coming back to you," my mother says, her smile radiant. At first, I've no idea what she's talking about. Then I remember her sister, her twin, who died in the Games… and now they'll get to see one another again, after twenty-five years. She's been dead twenty-five years, and soon my mother will be too. And so will I.

My father nods and closes his eyes. My mother closes hers, listening to the carnage outside. I think of Gale, and Katniss, and Peeta. I hope they all survive. I hope as many people survive this bombing as possible.

My last thought is of that mockingjay pin, the one that belonged to Maysilee, and me, and now Katniss, gleaming golden in the sun, before I hear a crack above my head that indicates the roof can't take it anymore, and the world- the screams, the cannons, my prayers, my parent's hands holding mine- is all gone.