Effie
She tried to avoid him through the entire meeting. She didn't want to see the betrayal in his eyes. She didn't want to lose herself in his eyes. She could feel his eyes tracing her every movement while she gave her report. She did her best to not look at him; each time her eyes caught his, she would bring eyes back to her report in her hands.
After twenty agonizing minutes, she finally finished her report. When she thought this was going to be over soon, Plutarch explained the reason why Haymitch and Katniss joined the meeting was to discuss their plans for the upcoming propos. Her priority now is Katniss and the Rebellion. He was trying to avoid talking to her too. He directed all his comments regarding her ideas to the others in the room. Well, two can play this. At least it was obvious that both of them were avoiding each other, this wouldn't be that hard. It lasted for another hour before the meeting finally ended. She took one last glance at him before she ended the video.
She couldn't sleep that night. She laid on her bed for an hour tossing around before giving up. Every time she tried to shut her mind off, her mind wandered to him. All she could think of was him. Haymitch. His eyes, his arms around her, his stubble nuzzling against her skin. She wondered if he was missing her too. She pictured him in Thirteen, trying to imagine what he would be doing. He was safe. He survived his withdrawal. This avoidance would help him get over her. If she dies here, he wouldn't hurt so bad.
That was when her communicator went off.
Attack on Thirteen.
She felt bile rose up her throat as she rushed to the toilet and emptied her stomach. A message she never wanted to see but she expected it. It was bound to happen. But she never expected it to be so soon. There were no signs that today was the day.
She rested her head against the cold ceramic cover and flushed the toilet. As much as she wanted to make contact with Thirteen to check on their status, she knew they would be too occupied with the attack. After a few minutes, she got up and brushed her teeth. Looking into the mirror, she could see her bloodshot eyes and tear stained cheeks. Gathering her hair up into a messy bun, she splashed her face with cold water.
Sleep was impossible now.
No use worrying about them now until all this was over. Might as well stay up while she wait for any updates.
She glued herself to the screens for the whole night. Occasionally, she would catch an update regarding the attack. It was almost nine when fatigue finally caught up with her. She slept through the day and woke up at in the evening to continue her routine. The updates she got didn't reveal much about the attack, just that it has been going on for almost 20 hours and there is no indication that it would stop anytime soon. This meant two things: this could last a few days and they were not trying to wipe out the district or they did not know what they were hitting.
It was nearly four days before the reports of attacks started to die down. She barely clocked in two hours of sleep each day since the attack started. Each time she woke up from her nightmares covered in sweat, out of breath. She spent every single moment she had awake recording and listening back to every conversation to try to catch any indication of the Capitol's next step.
By the end of the day, it finally stopped. The reports stopped coming in from her contacts. She waited for a few more hours before she concluded that it had ended when the Capitol broadcasted another interview with Peeta. Poor Peeta. What had they done to him. He wasn't himself anymore. They need to get him out of there. The map.
Everyone had been so caught up with the attack for the past few days that she had completely forgotten to get a update from her contact regarding the mapping device. With everything that has happened in the past few days, she hoped that they could get another chance to have their hands on a working device.
Stepping into the shower, she felt all the tension she had build up in her for the past few days leave her. This was her safe heaven. Where she let herself go. Where everything else don't matter but herself. Where she let herself catch up with her feelings. Where there isn't the rebellion to worry about. She just wanted to curl up on the floor but thinking of the last time she scrubbed the floor she ditched the idea. Compared to the icy cold water from the shower, her tears were burning their way down her cheeks.
Peeta is still being tortured. Who knows about Johanna and Annie. Thirteen was attacked. Katniss, Haymitch and the others were almost buried alive. And here she was helpless and useless to any of them. Maybe the rebellion was a mistake. Maybe if they didn't -
No. This is war and sacrifices are needed. They are still alive.
That was the sign to get out of the shower. When her feelings started to knock down her determination and faith. When she started feeling small.
We are going to be fine.
Three days later, she finally got an update from Thirteen. Everyone was alive. The east wing was badly damaged. But they managed to transfer everyone out before it got bad. They were planning to have the rescue mission in the coming week even if it meant going in blind.
She need that map fast. It was too much of a risk going in without knowing what they were dealing with.
She had four days before next week. If she could get it by then, they could have a better chance. Luck was on her side when she received a message from her contact two days later that they had secured another device and a meeting was scheduled. Same time, same place.
She arrived at the meeting place a few minutes late even though she memorized the surveillance routes of the guards, she had a hard time trying to avoid them on the way.
She waited for a while before concluding that her contact must have left when she didn't show up on time. She turned to leave when she walked into a shade of white. She felt a prick and everything faded to black.
