CHAPTER 6

SEPARATION


PEETA

Katniss' frail body remains curled in front of me as she finally drifts off to sleep. I know this will not last long, though; Katniss has been dozing on and off for the past few hours, but she always ends up waking with screams and shivers, and a very terrified look on her face. Earlier, she even scrambled out of my embrace, fearing that I am one of those bastards who raped her. When her disoriented state has finally passed, I was able to coax her to settle back into my arms. After what had happened, I do not feel comfortable letting her even an arm's length away from me again.

The thing is, I've never seen Katniss so vulnerable, not even when we were fighting for our life in the Hunger Games. The scared look in her eyes seems to be a constant reminder of what had been done to her, and of what can still happen while we're still here. But how can I stop that from happening again?

The answer is plain and obvious, yet it's very much complicated. How do we successfully escape this hell that Snow put us in? I rest my head on top of hers, inhaling her scent and focusing on her steady breathing. I can't sleep; I keep on remembering. As badly as I want to remove it from my head, I can't. And I knew right then and there that someday, somehow, Snow will pay for what he has done. I was never a revengeful type of person, but this situation triggers the deep-rooted anger in me. I will never forgive him for the pain he has caused Katniss, and for damaging her that way.

I feel Katniss's body twitch and hear her sharp intake of breath. I clutch her tighter in my arms and stroke her hair soothingly, already sensing that she's having another nightmare. Her body easily responds to my touch, and I let myself smile momentarily at this.

I'll do everything I can to make you safe, Katniss. I swear I will.


It could be minutes or hours, but I remain awake until I am alerted by the sound of approaching footsteps. I look warily at our cell door and at Katniss - who is now also fully awake - and gently bring both of us in a standing position so that I can put myself between her and the approaching danger. Her trembling hands clutch tightly on my arm, her eyes wide with terror.

They have damaged her so much already, I will not let them do it again.

The three men from yesterday stands outside our cell with an amused look on their faces. My eyes easily note the presence of a whip that the green-eyed one is holding. The Peacekeeper with blonde hair smiles cockily, saying "Good morning. Did you have a good night's sleep?" as he puts the key in the lock. The other two laughs in response. I don't. My muscles tense in reaction, bracing myself for action. I can feel the anger pulsing through me; I don't care if I'm outnumbered, I'll fight to the death to protect her if I have to. I may last long enough to disable them all, after all, I'm better in close combat after all those wrestling training that I had to undergo with my brothers.

"Mellark, I know what you're thinking and I'm telling you now how stupid it is." The one with green eyes says.

I don't respond, instead choosing to remain stoic as they approach, allowing them to come near me. I subtly angle my body forward so that Katniss is well behind me. Blondie eyes the movement and stalks closer to us, smiling as he does so. I keep my breathing calm, my muscles tensing in anticipation just like it always does in an upcoming fight. A few more steps...

He stands two feet away from me, and for a moment remains there, looking at me in the eye. I stare back, and we remain this way - sizing each other up - until he becomes convinced that I won't make any move to attack him. He moves forward again, and I lock my jaw in response. This is it.

As Blondie reaches out to touch Katniss, I grab his arm and exert all my strength to throw him on the ground. He grunts painfully as his back slams on the floor; and I do not give him time to recover as I kick him hard in the groin. The other two Peacekeepers gape at him in surprise. They remain standing there for a few seconds more before finally moving into action, but by then, it's already too late. I slam into the muscular one and punch him hard in the solar plexus, making him wince and drop to his knees. Green Eyes, however, slams into me and punches me hard in the face - but my body is pulsing with adrenaline, and I barely notice the blood trickling from my face. I shove my elbow into his face, catching him off-guard, before delivering another punch into his body. I allow myself to smile tentatively at my small bit of success, but I don't dare waste any time. I grab the whip from Green Eyes' hands and steal the set of keys from Blondie.

Katniss hurries to my side, and we are almost out of the cell when Muscle Man hits me hard at the nape of my neck, causing me to stumble blindly forward. The other two take this opportunity to get back at me; repeatedly hitting me in whatever body part they can come in contact with. I struggle to fight back, punching whoever and whatever I can get into, but I am easily outnumbered.

If only we have weapons. But we don't, and in this case, it's easy to see what the outcome will be.

"Run!" I shout to Katniss, knowing that this is the only chance that we'll get.

But instead of escaping, she runs back to my side and joins in the fight. It is out of character for her to do that; the Katniss I knew would try to find a weapon first so that we'll have a chance to fight back. She is not built for strength, but rather for speed, accuracy, and endurance. I regain my composure, solidly hitting Muscle Man in the abdomen, but Blondie clutches Katniss' arms and drags her backward with a knife pointed at her throat.

"Move again, Mellark, and I'll slit her throat." He says through gritted teeth.

I freeze immediately, trying to think of how to get around this situation. The two Peacekeepers take advantage of this and grips me by the arms. I am focused on Katniss that I didn't even realize that one of them is holding an injection, only realizing it when I feel the pain shoot through my arms before spreading through my body. Her scream is the last thing I register before going completely numb.

And then I can't move. Even blinking is impossible, though my mind's still fully alert. I have been paralyzed.

"Move into action. We don't have much time." Blondie says.

The two of them carry my still body to the entrance of our cell, while Blondie throws Katniss into the opposite wall. Through my peripheral vision, I see the whip materialize in Muscle Man's hands.

I know what they're about to do, and I try to stop them. I exert all my effort to try to move my arms and feet, but those efforts are futile. I make an attempt to shout, but all to no avail.


I have failed Katniss yet again.

The whip comes into contact with her skin over and over again. The three Peacekeepers laugh maniacally as they take turns doing it; and I am there, standing stiffly, seeing it all but not able to do anything. Just like yesterday. Even tears don't come, and the only thing that happens is the pain inside me grows deeper and deeper until I feel like it has consumed all of me. The only woman I have loved all my life is being whipped and bleeding to death right in front me, and the only thing I can do is stare and try to move.

Later on, when she is already crumpled on the ground, they finally stop. Her shirt is torn from where the whip repeatedly hit her, and there's a small pool of blood around her. I fear that they have killed her, and the only thing that assures me she's alive is the small movement of her shoulders. But this doesn't do anything to make me feel better; if anything, my despair to bring her out of this place has grown tenfold. I feel another prick on my arm but I can't see what it is. Blondie leans in to my ear and says, "Take that as a reminder to the rebels that President Snow is still powerful."

My mind racks through all possible explanations for his words. I didn't have much time to dwell on it, though, because I feel them lift me off the ground and brings me out of the cell.

I panic immediately. Where are they taking me? His reminder for the rebels... does that mean that they're taking me away from here, back to the rebel camp?

That can't be. If all three of them are with me, that means they left Katniss in the cell, which in turn means that she'll be left here. Alone.

Once again, I try to trash and move my body or to even make a sound. The invisible binds - caused by whatever they injected me with - are still fully in effect. My mind panics again, surprised by these unexpected turn of events.

I can't leave Katniss here. Not with these monsters, because who knows what else they'll do to her? I can't leave, I can't.

How do I make the impossible, possible?


I gain back full use of all my senses a short while after we got into the hovercraft. By then, my arms are strapped to the chair, my legs are pinned together, and my mouth is gagged. All the windows are turned shut, preventing me from seeing where we're coming from.

I should be happy to leave that hellhole, but I'm not. Not without Katniss beside me, and the knowledge that they're damaging her at every chance possible, in any way that they can. I try to think of a positive thing to make out of this situation, but the only thing I can conjure is that I'll rescue Katniss, this time, hopefully with the help of the rebels. I'm pretty sure that Gale will be a hundred percent in on that, and while an alliance with him is the last thing I ever thought would happen, Katniss' safety is my number one priority.

"You're awake." A Peacekeeper states as he comes up to the seat beside me. I don't try to answer anymore as I know how pointless it is. I don't even respond or try to fight back when I see him fish out another injection from his pocket and insert whatever serum is inside through my arm.

"Sleep well, Mellark."


GALE

One week turned out to be a very short amount of time for our rescue mission. The entire team was up to it - after all, most of the "soldiers" are former victors of the Hunger Games and/or huge supporters of the star-crossed lovers - but there was just never any leads. The group scoured all the Districts in Panem, but by the end of the one week allotted to us by President Coin, Snow's whereabouts is still unknown to us. District 2 remains to be a problem, but I refuse to admit that to Coin as she would use that as leverage to stop the search. And we can't afford to waste any more time.

I am beyond frustrated. How difficult should it be to find one man, when all the Districts are almost completely in the new government's control? How impossible is it to find a man with his own army and equipment? Why aren't we gaining any new leads?

She should be here by now. Safe, away from Snow's grasp. I know what he could be doing to them, especially to Katniss. From our last conversation in District 12, Katniss had warned me how much Snow hates her. Given those facts, we don't have much time before she's terribly damaged - physically, emotionally, and psychologically.

Giving up is not an option. I would pursue this search no matter how long it takes, and no matter what Coin says about it.

The tactical side of my brain keeps on thinking for all possible options of Snow's whereabouts. In the one week allotted to us, we've come up with nothing. We've searched District 2 through useful insiders and aerial inspections, but also came up empty-handed. Snow has nowhere else to go, except underground: the one place we haven't searched yet. But that would be tricky and requires so much time, particularly because we don't have even a single clue where that underground camp might be. There's a huge possibility that it is in his ally districts, but how long would it take to search each of those for the opening of his underground world?

"We need more time to identify their location." I tell Coin as soon as I got back in the President's mansion that the new regime is now occupying. "One week is not enough."

She looks at me calmly, seeming unperturbed by my usual lack of respect and hot-headed nature. "I believe we all agreed to this, Mr. Hawthorne. One week and you're done. I do not welcome any changes. I think I've been very graceful already."

"You want to get to Snow too. And the way to get to him is through them. They are where he is. And I have a suspicion that they're underground."

"Interesting. But we have no time for a mere 'hunch'. At the moment, it's more critical to pacify the districts first, and make sure that everything is stable."

"I know you don't care about Katniss, especially now that you're already in power. But don't you see? Katniss is influential! You know you can't control the Capitol citizens forever - you'll need her influence over them. We need to find her."

"I can't help but notice the way you totally ignored Mr. Mellark in that statement, Soldier Hawthorne. You do know that Katniss' influence is driven mostly by their star-crossed lovers act, right? Between the two of them, we're well aware that Mr. Mellark is the more influential one."

I keep my jaw clenched as I feel the hate burning inside me. The mere mention of his name...

"Would you really want to save them both from Snow? Can you leave with the idea of seeing them together, all cozied up for the people of Panem? I don't think you do, Soldier." She adds tauntingly.

"The difference between us is that I know my priorities, and what would do well in the long run."

Coin arches her eyebrow, as though challenging me to admit my bluff. I was about to force another argument at her when the door opened and Finnick came in, looking shocked. One look at him is enough to know that something big has happened, but I can't pinpoint what exactly.

"The guards wanted to alert you that a hovercraft has entered the Capitol. It's not one of ours. But they were warned not to shoot because according to them, they have a hostage. We think it's Peeta or Katniss."

Could it really be her? What are the chances that Snow will give them up willingly?

"Where are the troops?" Coin asks.

"Outside, on standby. They're waiting for your orders, President." Finnick answers.

"We can't just let Snow's hovercraft leave. Tell them to shoot. For all -"

"No!" I shout as soon I heard her say the word. "You can't just shoot! You heard what Finnick said - they may have hostages!"

"But they could be bluffing." She retorts.

"There could be other ways to gain access to the hovercraft." I say hurriedly.

I don't wait for her to speak, because based on experience, arguing with Coin is pointless. I rush out of the room before she could say another word, not really caring whether Finnick was ordered to follow me or not because I know that he also supports me when it comes to saving Katniss and Peeta. I rush through the long corridors inside the mansion, ignoring the heavy pounding of my heart and allowing the adrenaline to control my movements. It could be her. I hope it's her.

When I finally arrive outside the President's mansion, troops are on alert and staring at a hovercraft not fifty feet away from the ground, where a black bag the size of a person is being lowered towards us. I stare at it in nervous anticipation, all the while thinking of ways to reach that hovercraft without being noticed by whoever is inside it. As though hearing my thoughts, a deep voice says through a megaphone: "Try to do anything stupid, and we shoot this other one."

Instinctively, I look up and see another black bag in the open door of the hovercraft. Katniss could be the one held hostage, or the one being lowered to the ground. Either way, it's still unsafe for us to do anything.

Rage pulses through my veins again. Snow is deadly, and he is even more so now that he's holding a person important to the cause. The people's Mockingjay. Which leads me to believe the Katniss is the one on that hovercraft.

"President Coin said shoot at it!" Boggs says.

"Don't do anything!" I shout to the troops. "We can't risk whoever is in it. You know how important it is to keep them alive."

"We can't just ignore the President's order, Soldier Hawthorne." Boggs replies firmly.

"No!" I answer defiantly, marching up to him so that I can effectively stop him in case he decides to shoot. "Coin is blindsided by her desire to know Snow's whereabouts. But the life of those two hostages are just as important - if not more - important to our cause. You know that."

There was no time to argue after that as the body had finally been lowered to the ground and the hovercraft began speeding away in the opposite direction. I hear Boggs mutter a profanity under his breath and order the troops to get on another hovercraft to follow it. I keep my eyes focused on the black bag as I run towards it, not really caring anymore what the others are doing.

I reach the bag a few seconds before Finnick did. By that time, I have already (eagerly) opened the zip to reveal who's inside.

What I see disappoints me and leads me sinking to the ground. Out of my desperation that it's Katniss who they chose to let go, I let myself be naive - leading me to lose the only chance we could probably get at rescuing her from Snow's grip.

The person in the bag is Peeta.