I scream, almost sliding off the roof. August is already moving.
"Where are you going?" I yell, terrified. He's already shimmying down the drain pipe.
"Be careful!" He yells, running off towards the square. An enormous mushroom cloud of smoke blooms over the square. I stare, horror-struck, as orange flames lick the once-pristine sky.
Then it hits me: my parents were still there.
"NO!" I scream, and I'm moving. I scramble down the drainpipe and jump half of it, sprint across my yard to the front of the house.
"Asher!" I scream. He appears, wide-eyes and pale, down the hall.
"Run to the neighbour's. You'll be safer there," I yell. It's not the Mockingjay's house, at least. It's the only thing I can think of.
"What about you?" His voice is so small. I grab my bow and sling my sheath over my shoulder.
"I'm going to fight. Listen to me, Asher," I demand, grabbing his shoulders. "You. Need. To. Get. Out. Of. Here. Run, as fast as you can. They'll come after you."
"Not without you," he says instantly. He picks now to be brotherly!
"Not happening. Stay safe, little brother." I shove him onto the steps and yell at him to run.
I sprint towards the square, desperate to get to my parents, to whoever attacked the square. I can't believe this happened so fast! War the day after we hear about it!
The square is a mess of smoke, gunfire and bodies. People dressed in the old Peacekeeper uniforms battle against the military boys, exchanging gunfire over the heads of four of five bodies. People are huddled in alleyways and screaming. Buildings rimming the square are in flames.
A bullet whizzes my ear and I dive to the side. Vantage point. That's all I can think. I scramble up the fire escape next to the tailor's, finding myself on the flat gravel roof. I yank an arrow from the sheath and fit it into the bowstring. I can see everybody now, including the bodies. I swallow hard, fingers trembling slightly.
I find a target, moving as fast as a deer through the woods. This is nothing. This is a million moments in one, all alike, all safe, all familiar.
I let the arrow fly.
The peacekeeper hits the ground just as I let another one fly. I move as fast as I can, mind over matter, heart pounding. Two down. Three. Five. Nine.
I take down almost a dozen before they realize where the arrows are coming from and start returning fire. I hit the ground, my heart in my mouth, bullets whizzing past me. The soldiers take the opportunity to start opening fire on the distracted guards.
I stare up at the sky, gasping for air, unable to move for a second. What did I just do?
A bullet whizzes by my ear. I can't stay here. They still need help.
I start moving, scuttling towards the back of the roof and down towards the street. August is on his way up.
"Daie, you IDIOT!" He yells over the sounds of war, gripping my shoulders. "What the HELL are you THINKING?"
"What was I supposed to do?" I snap, suddenly furious. I just took down a dozen Peacekeepers, I have zero idea if my parents are even still alive, and I may or may not just have murdered someone. "Watch 12 burn?"
"Where's Asher?"
"Hiding."
An explosion rocks the square, and I hit the grounds, holding my arms over my head. August throws himself over me.
"This is the worst possible place for you to be! They want to kill the Mockingjay and her family!" He shouts angrily.
"Which is why exactly why I need to be here!" I snap. "If they're scared of us, they'll think twice before hurting us!"
Gunfire fills the air, smoke causing my eyes to tear up. But I'm in this for better or worse now.
"I'm going to run into that fight whether or not you help me!" I yell.
August swears angrily. I've never seen this side of him, but it's like the fire burning within me, fuelling me and filling me with fight.
"Fine!" He yells. "Can you throw a knife?"
Of course I can. I hunt, don't I? I nod and he pulls a knife from his jacket, slaps it into my palm, and orders, "If you don't stay behind me, I swear I will throw you over my back and drag you home kicking and screaming. Got that?"
"Got it," I snap, hating to be babied.
An explosion throws debris around the side of the building and August starts to move. I sprint after him, around the corner and into the gunfire and bodies and smoke.
I don't think. I just move. Every ounce of my being is concentrating on staying alive. I keep shooting until the arrows have all found their marks. Peacekeepers and soldiers alike rush past August and I, who are moving almost back to back through the mass of people with the sole purpose of taking down as many Peacekeepers as possible.
"I thought there was more military than this," I shout at August.
"Down!" he yells, and I hit the ground so hard it knocks the winds out of me. I find myself face to face with a body, the helmet of a dead Peacekeeper reflecting my wide eyes and sooty face. I scramble to my feet and away.
"Daie!" August yells. I whirl, face to face with a live Peacekeeper this time. Without thinking, I grab my knife and hurl it into his chest. He slumps to the ground with a thud.
Time stands still as I stare at his body.
Suddenly August appears, yanks the knife out of the Peacekeeper's body and decks me.
I hit the ground and yell. "What the hell, August?"
"Be. Careful," he snaps through gritted teeth, rolling off of me and yanking me to my feet.
Suddenly there's a huge rumbling sound. I whirl to see what looks like a solid wall of soldiers dash into the square. The rest of the military has arrived.
"Hand where I can see them," says an icy voice. I whip my head around. A Peacekeeper has levelled a gun at me. My breath catches in my throat. August has a gun on him, too, the Peacekeeper's got one in each hand.
"You the Mockingjay?" the Peacekeeper snarls angrily. "These your arrows?"
I think to raise my chin. "They're mine."
"You gonna die for what you did," he snarls.
"No," says a voice behind him. "You are."
The Peacekeeper doesn't have a chance to move before the gun goes off and he slumps to the ground. A young man with light brown hair and freckles stands there, grim-faced and sooty, a gun barrel still smoking in his hand.
"Blake," August pants. "You just saved my ass."
"Watch your back, Hawthorne," Blake says stiffly, holstering his gun. He nods his head at me. "You're the daughter, aren't you?"
I nod, speechless.
"Watch your back, then, Everdeen. Don't run into war unprepared."
"Didn't have much of an option," I pant, suddenly breathless.
The Peacekeepers have retreated. Soldiers rush by us in pursuit.
"Is it over?" I manage, feeling as if I've been hit by a truck.
"The battle, not the war," Blake says gravely, looking after the soldiers.
"What does that mean?"
"It means this was meant to scare us," August says in a monotone. "This isn't a battle, just a warning."
Blake nods. I feel like I may throw up at the thought of going through that again, only worse. I don't know where my family is. I don't know if they're alive. I don't know who else may be dead. In one instant, everything I've ever known has changed.
"My parents," I say in a small voice.
"If you mean the Mockingjay and her husband, they were in the Justice Building at the time of the attack." Blake says.
I whip my head around. The Justice Building is surrounded by soldiers and bodies, but it's unscathed.
"HEY!" Someone yells.
I turn to see a general running up to us. August and Blake immediately stand at attention.
"Who fired the arrows?" The general demands.
Since I'm the one with an empty quiver strapped to my back, a bow over my shoulder, and no gun, I'm going to assume that's me.
"Huh," the general says, eyeing me. "If you aren't the spitting image of her. Same archery skills, too."
"She's amazing, sir," August pipes up.
"Untrained," the general says, arching an eyebrow. "And a target. Yet you ran into battle anyway."
"Runs in the family," I quip weakly.
"Well, your parents are in the Justice Building asking for you." The general says gruffly.
Could've led with that.
I sprint off towards the Justice Building. The door bangs open as I reach the steps, and my mother flies out with a face the colour of paper.
"Daie!" She screams, throwing her arms around me. I wrap my arms around her, gripping her so tightly I may cut off circulation. I never want to let go. She makes me feel safe. My dad joins us, his arms encircling both of us easily.
"You terrified me," my mother gasps. "You're okay?"
I nod.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" She explodes, shaking me by the shoulders. "If you ever do that again I'll kill you myself!"
"I took down half the Peacekeepers!" I explode, completely fed up with being asked what I was thinking. Isn't it obvious what I was thinking? War. Run. Help. That's the essential thought process. "Would somebody please cut me some slack!"
"You scared me within an inch of my life!" My mother is shrieking now too, shaking like a leaf. "I thought you were dead, Daie! I thought I'd watched somebody I loved die! Again!"
"I'm sorry," I whisper. I grip her shoulders now. "I'm okay. I promise."
"Where's Asher?"
Oh crap.