Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 18

Chaper 10

As we reach the outskirts of the town we are relieved to see people going about their daily business, no one seems to have a care in the world. Obviously Joanus hasn't communicated with them like he has Panem and they have no idea of his intentions.

Some of the town's people stop and look over to us before carrying on with what they are doing, perhaps that isn't that strange though, a group of people all entering the back end of the town from the forests. "We need to split up; we don't want to attract any unwanted attention to ourselves. If we all walk through here like this people will get suspicious" Gale says. "Break up into three's, but make sure we are all within sight of each other" I reply talking to the group.

The buildings here have the feeling of the capitol, not in the sense that they look expensive nor large for that matter but they look grand. They remind me of pictures I saw of places many years ago. We begin walking down what looks like the main road leading through the town, the houses packed closely together on either side. At the bottom of the road is a large church like building complete with spire and a clock.

Each house has its own border; some have small gardens others have a stone like area with chairs and tables outside. This is where I would love to grow old. Perhaps after this is all over me, Peeta and the Children can move here.

I look over the road and see the others walking trying to keep the same pace as us. As we reach the church the road splits off around it in two directions. I want to grab my holo and check it to see which route we should take but taking out such technology in public would be a huge mistake. "We just need to ask someone, you know, how people find places without three dimensional maps" Peeta says.

Gale stands looking at the others "I'll wait outside, you two go in there and speak to someone" he says crossing his arms. We both walk into the church, I am taken back by its beauty inside the ceiling is high and wooden beams go up on either side to support the roof. At the bottom a long row of candles lights up a small wooden doorway.

Peeta knocks on the door, after a few seconds it opens and an old lady comes out. "Hello dear, how can I help you?" she asks. "We are sorry to bother you but we have gotten a little lost on our way to the city, could you perhaps give us some directions?" Peeta says. The women's face changes from joy at her visitors to a frown. "Why do you want to go there, it's not a good place" she replies. I look at Peeta not knowing how to respond to what she said; it could be the people here are putting on a brave face trying to let things go over their heads as if nothing was wrong. "Our brother went there early last year and we have come to visit him, he's not very good with maps" Peeta says.

"If he's in Precia' city he's not the person you think he is, well not now anyway. If you find him get him out of there and quickly" she says picking up a cup of water. "Where are you from anyway, this is a small island it's very hard to get lost" she adds.

I begin to feel uncomfortable about the way the questions are going and I nudge Peeta in the back with my arm. "Oh we are from the north of Precia we seem to have come too far south" Peeta says trying to keep the made up story going. "Hmmm, well you need to take the left here and follow the path round, you will see a long road with stores and workshops, follow that down for around 2 kilometres; you will come to the edge of the city, don't worry you can't miss it, but I strongly advise not to go there". She walks away from us shaking her head back into the little room. "Thank you" I shout back.

Outside Gale is stood with Johanna and Stipar "So, which way do we go then" he says. "This way but I think she knows we are not from around here, she told us not to go to the city" I reply. "That can't be good news" Stipar says leaning against the building. I know what we will be facing but what's more worrying is people who live on the cities doorstep are telling us not to go there.

We take the left as directed onto the road; the surface has changed from grit to cobblestone. As we walk past one particular shop we hear an argument taking place outside, between what looks like the shopkeeper and a guard. Whilst keeping our distance I get a flashback to when Celestia came to our house back in 12. The guard was wearing the same black coats and long boots. I feel a shiver go up and down my body then I make out what the shopkeeper is saying.

"I am telling you, someone broke into my shop during the night and took all our clothes" the man says waving his arms at the guard. I look across to the shop, through the window there are 6 mannequins all completely nude. I can't help myself and begin to giggle. Peeta returns the nudge I gave him in the church in the attempt to stop my uncontrollable laughter. As we get further away, far enough for them not to hear we all break out in laughter. "Now we know why Orivan said not to ask where he got the clothes from" Peeta chuckles.

The sun is beginning to set above the buildings in front of us as we continue the walk to the city. As we turn a corner the sound of a hovercraft rattles above us going in the direction we are. My holo begins beeping; I wave my hand at Gale and Peeta and run over to a gap between two buildings before switching it on. It's Haymitch; "Katniss, how are you doing out there?" he says. "Good, we are making good ground just about to enter the city" I reply.

"I've got a bit of good news and bad news for you; I'm going to give you the bad first." he says before pausing. "Marcus, Johanna's boyfriend was one of the people taken from 7, he's in the city. We don't know where but my guess is he's with the others, we are hoping you can find them. It's on your call if you tell her or not" he adds. She needs to know, I would want to know if it was Peeta, it was the one thing that kept me going as the Mockingjay knowing I was helping to get him liberated. At the same time though I know how horrible it feels when someone you love is being held and you probably won't see them again. "The good news is both Effie and myself have moved down into 13, Paylor says it's a precautionary measure and she has ordered everyone up top to do the same. Effie is helping your mother with your children" he says.

Just then I hear a banging sound as though Haymitch had dropped his head set "Katniss my darling, don't you worry I am caring for your children whist you mother has duties in the medical bay, they are lovely" Effie says in her joyous voice. "Thank you Effie I really appreciate your help, how are they shaping up" I reply. "There fine, I have even been able to make them some new clothes, nothing special but the clothes down here are so drab, I've just given them a bit of colour that's all" she says.

The sound goes muffled again and I can make out Haymitch trying to tell Effie off for taking the microphone. "Ahem, Beetee has managed to survey the footage from the drones some more. The main building has some kind of force field round it, that's why it was showing up black on the screen. Some kind of defence I think, anyway Peeta's gadget will get you through that. A word of warning though Beetee says that he only has enough charge to create an opening twice, one in one out, you must remember that". He says in a stern voice. "Ok Haymitch I will make sure he's aware; anything else we should know about before we enter the city?" I reply.

"Katniss, you know as much as we do I'm afraid, just look after yourself and Peeta— good luck" the holo beeps and the line goes silent. I explain the situation to Gale and Peeta, they both agree that I should tell Johanna, if anything it might make her more determined to get into the building. Johanna is sat down on the floor with Frostine, Gauis and Fergus over the road waiting for the signal to carry on. I slowly walk over trying to think of the best way to break the news to her.

"Johanna, I have news from 7" I say. "He's dead isn't he, I know it; another member of the Snow family is here to ruin my life". She replies back already getting angry. "No, he's not dead, he's been taken with the others, Johanna he's in the city". I explain trying to calm the situation. "What are we waiting for then, it's just like when Peeta and me were in the Capitol, we get them out" she says raising her voice.

"We will, I will make sure of it" I say taking her hand.

The sun has set now and we can see a white glow in the distance over the last remaining buildings of the town. A brick wall that must be 20 feet high running as far as we can see in both directions is blocking our path "There must be a gate somewhere" Tenney says. "There will be but we can't go through that way" Gale replies "If we can get up over this wall we will be within the city boundary but I don't know what's directly on the other side" Fergus says. Whilst we are still thinking of a way up, Peeta steps back and drops the box off his back.

He leans back and charges forward, hissing noises begin to sound from his legs, with one leap he jumps up and grasps onto the top of the wall. We all watch as he peers over the other side waiting for the outcome. "Just a moat, maybe 4 or 5 feet deep, 3 or 4 feet wide, throw me some wire and I will secure it on the other side.

Gale launches a coil of wire up to Peeta and he disappears over the wall, the tension on the wire becomes tight. "You first Katniss" Gale says pulling on the wire. I grasp it with both hands and begin to climb, the wire feels like its cutting into my hands but as I reach the top, I raise my head and what greets me takes my breath away.

The city of Precia is lit up in glowing white beams, it almost looks like it is covered in snow so much so it makes you squint to block out some of the brightness. There in the middle is the towering structure, Joanus' command. Then I notice something below it to the left, a force field that must be 3 kilometres wide is covering its base. Frostine joins me on top of the wall. "Wow, it's so pretty" she says gushing at the picturesque view in front of us. "That must be where the district people are" she adds pointing at the force field. "Maybe" I reply.

After a few minutes we are all on the other side, Gale the last to come over carrying Peeta's box, he grumbles as he passes it back to Peeta about its weight.

"I think we should stay here until morning; I think we will cause more suspicion if we arrive at night" I say to the group. Everyone is in agreement, it's been a tiresome day Peeta hands me a piece of apple which he had been keeping in his coat, it's on its way to becoming mouldy but it's the best thing I will get in these circumstances. The others share what they have between them.

We try to find a good place to sleep, Peeta calls me over to an upturned log, and I lie down next to him looking up at the sky the beams of light occasionally pointing up into the darkness. Peeta puts his arm around me and I rest my face on his chest. It reminds me of when we spent the night in the cave, when I began to fall for him. I feel him breathing and hear his heart beating away, I close my eyes and fall asleep.

The next morning we all wake up at the same time, for the same reason, the ground that was our beds last night is trembling. I sit up and look around then at the faces looking back at me. "Is this an earthquake" Peeta says struggling to get his backpack on. "Certainly feels like one" Gale replies. We begin to get to our feet still scouring the land for what could be causing the ground to shake, then we all look upwards. Above our heads just a couple of hundred feet in the sky is a hovercraft but I have never seen one like this before.

We all duck down to the ground partially to avoid anyone seeing us, but mostly as we get the feeling it was low enough to touch our heads. It's huge, 5 times the size of any other hovercraft I have seen before and it has jets that create a blue haze around its structure.

"That's a people carrier, I have seen photographs of them being made, I didn't' realise they were here" Fergus shouts under the screaming noise of the jets. "They can carry two hundred people; they were designed to move heavy machinery or so I thought" he adds.

"That must be how they are getting the people from Panem here" I say. The craft moves slowly above us and heads towards Joanus' building. We watch it as it circles the tower before gradually lowering on to the top. "We have got to stop this; the way they are going there will be no one left in Panem to put up much of a fight" Gale says. I glance across the field that lies between us and the start of the city. There is hardly any cover apart from a few trees' spotted about. It seems the city has been built inside a wall with a field running all the way around.

"We are going to have to split up again" I say to Peeta. "We will be spotted too quickly if we approach the city altogether" I add. "I guess your right but we will lose each other unless we can find a meeting place" he replies. I crouch and look at my holo again. There seems to be a communication tower to the west of the building which would be something everyone could see. I turn to the group "We are going to have to go in three's again, but this time we have to distance ourselves from one another. There is a comms tower positioned at the edge of the force field" I point to the tower; it is a mesh like structure with a red flashing light at the top. "That's taking us out too far, it's going to add a few more hours to the journey" Gale says apprehensively. I was trying to think of who would be best suited with who but Gale's response has made my mind up. "As there is an odd number I will go with Peeta, Gale team with Fergus and Frostine, Tenney, Gauis, Johanna your team 3. Helsa, Stipar and Tressa team 4, is everyone ok with that?" I say to the group hoping there are no objections. I can see Gale is clearly not happy with my request but he doesn't say anything. "I have your trackers on my holo, if I see any of you straying or staying in one place for two long we will come and find you" I say. We all say our goodbyes and wish each other good luck. The next time we see each other we will be breaking into Joanus tower, that's if he doesn't find us first.

Peeta and I begin the walk to the city watching across the field to the other groups, Gales team reaches the edge first followed by Stipar's, we are third. We are now on our own, just me and Peeta for the first time since this all began. The streets are paved in a white stone; it almost looks like marble. The paths seem to be made of some kind of harden clay that gives it a sandy appearance, probably to stop people walking straight in front of a passing vehicle.

The city is busy, I am feeling a little more relaxed as it would have been terrible if there was hardly anyone around, too much time for people to look at you. Unlike the town we came through to get here, this very much looks like the Capitol. Every building looks different to the next as though its owners are competing with their neighbours and all of them look expensive. There are shiny vehicles parked outside of some along with Precia's security trucks that randomly patrol the streets. Orivan was right though, although this place is built around the rich and powerful it seems that poorer folk are allowed to mingle in. This makes our job that much easier because despite us looking like we have been eating none stop for a week with our oversized clothes we fit in, no one bats an eyelid when they walk past us, no one cares.

As we walk past a quieter area I quickly take a look at my holo. Everyone seems to be doing well, I can see all the teams moving in at the same pace, with any luck we will meet up together at the same time. "Do you think we have time for a bite to eat" Peeta says jokingly. I look at him wanting to take him up on his offer but I know that would be a silly thing to do. No we have to keep on track, I don't want Gale having an opportunity to moan at us after I paired him with the others.

As coincidentally as before and in an even worse place my holo beeps in my ear. I am flustered trying to find somewhere to go to listen. Peeta finds a truck that looks to have been parked for a while with its back door open. We quickly look round it making sure there is no one in it, or anyone that's on their way back to move it. "You go in I take watch" Peeta says.

I press the earpiece to my ear so I can hear better over the noise of the bustling city "This is Katniss— I can speak now" I say. "This is President Paylor, I need to update you on the situation. Around 7am this morning we received news that more people had been taken, this time from district 5. We scrambled hovercrafts but we were too late to intercept. We simply don't have enough resource to carry out 24/7 monitoring of all of Panem" she says. "Yes, we saw a large hovercraft on our way in this morning, they must be on that. We are almost at Joanus' building. I will have to switch off comms soon to make sure no one picks our signal up" I reply.

"Very good Katniss, understand and good luck to you all, see you on your return" she adds. The line goes dead.

I climb out of the back of the truck and Peeta helps me down just as the owners of the truck return. We quickly slip into a doorway out of their view, we certainly don't want to be accused of trying to steal it. As the two men walk towards us they seem to be talking about something they had seen. "What did you think about it last night" one of the men says. "Brilliant, it's getting better every day, it's just a shame it's only a highlights show. Would love to see the whole thing" the other replies. One walks round the back and closes the doors and then they both climb in and drive away.

"Must be some kind of show that's on, shame we have nothing like that in Panem, just an announcement every now and again" Peeta says as we come out of cover and continue our way to the tower. After 20 minutes we turn onto a road with the comms structure in front of us, this area doesn't seem as busy as the others, it also doesn't look as visually pleasing, perhaps this is a lower end of the city. I notice that more and more of the poorer dressed people are here some of them remind me of the districts years ago where having a bath was the highlight of your week.

As we approach the comms tower I can see Gales and Johanna's teams have already arrived. I begin walking at a faster pace anxious to look at my holo to find out where the others are. "Took the scenic route eh?" Gale says proudly. "It wasn't a race Gale; besides I have had a message from Paylor that some of District 5 was taken this morning. That hovercraft we saw must have been the transportation" I reply. Gale looks down as though I had just told him off. I look at the holo and Stipar's team are just around the corner. I breathe a sigh of relief as I see his face in a crowd of people walking towards us. "Sorry Katniss" he says bringing out a bag of something "I couldn't resist my belly asking for food" he adds. "You could have been spotted, don't ever do that again" I say angrily. "Understood Commander, do you want one?" he replies smiling. I put my hand into the bag and pull out something I had almost forgotten about, chocolate. I place it in my mouth and feel a grin forming on my face. With all we have eaten over the last few days this was like a 5 course meal all in one. After a few minutes where the group all had their own heavenly moments with the chocolate, we turn and look down the road to where Joanus' building is.

It still seems a way off, maybe 3 kilometres away and then I spot a sign just a few feet in front of us

Warning Restricted Access

Electro Force Field Active

No unauthorised entrance.

Property of J Snow

Anyone trespassing will be arrested and imprisoned at the desecration of the owner

"This is where the people are being held, it must be" I say to the group. I look down at the map on my holo, it seems to have updated itself now we are closer to Joanus' tower. The force field goes all the way around it. If we are going to get in, we have to go through it either way.

Gale walks towards me "Katniss our mission is to find Joanus, and to destroy any chemicals or munitions we find. Paylor didn't say anything about rescuing anyone" he says.

"Gale I am in command, you advised to bomb the Nut, you advised to bomb the mansion and what happened in both. I am not going to leave anyone behind, if we can save them that's exactly what we are going to do" I scream back at him. "You are risking everyone's lives here, for what? If we die getting them out what then? Joanus will know what Panem is doing, that 13's best squad have been killed and they have enough people on their side to launch a political war". He replies. "I would rather die saving someone than calling out a strike and sitting behind a desk" I emotionally say. Gale seems hurt by my remark but I don't want his military stance to forget all our people that have been taken, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers. They deserve another chance.

I turn to the group "Everyone listen up. Joanus is up in that tower somewhere, that's our objective. There is a force field running from here right round the building. I believe that our people from the districts are in this area. We can either get closer to the tower and find Joanus or go through here and try and save our people first". Johanna immediately shouts "Why are we even discussing it, we go in here" she says in a forced laugh. I was expecting Johanna's response but almost immediately afterwards Stipar, Frostine and Tenney all say "I'm in". Before long the rest of the squad have all agreed, we are going to get our people out. I look at Peeta, he hasn't said anything "You know I am with you Katniss, you don't even have to ask, remember I am here to save you this time". He smiles and kisses my forehead. I put my arms around him and hug him.

Once again the darkness is catching up with, we notice a line of trees at the bottom of the road, to its left it looks like there is a security post complete with floodlights monitoring the area. Our next problem is how to get past them, open the force field and walk 11 people through it without being noticed, virtually impossible.

"You could use your smoke arrows again, that worked before" Peeta says. "They would sound an alarm; place will be overrun with guards in no time" Gale replies.

"He's right, see there next to the one on the right, that's an alarm activation button, I would imagine it would go straight to the tower as well" Fergus says. "I could take them both out within 2 seconds" Helsa says pulling out her rifle from underneath her clothes. "That could work, we could get up there and make it look like they are still ok" Gale says scratching his head. I think that's going to be the only option we have, hopefully no one will notice and it will give us time to get in. I agree and Helsa sets herself up, the rest of us run off to hide in a bush to the side of the road.

In what seemed like a blink of an eye we hear two muffled shots almost together, I watch the tower and both men slide down behind the base of the lookouts. "Targets eliminated" Helsa says swinging her rifle on to her back. I don't really want to congratulate her but I walk over and put my hand on her arm giving it the lightest of pats.

We hurry down towards the lookout, Tenney and Gauis race up the stairs to position the men in such a way that is looks as though they are ok to anyone looking down the road.

I watch as I see them both struggling to pick the men up and rest them so they don't fall over, it begins to look like a comedy act as Gauis manages to get his right and Tenney's falls over and vice versa. Eventually they both succeed, and whilst one of them looks slightly intoxicated, anyone who bothered to look down the road wouldn't notice a thing.

Past the lookout we reach the tree's, we can hear a loud buzzing sound the other side, there doesn't seem to be any obvious way through so we force our way through the branches. It's not the most pleasant of experiences, the trees twigs and branches scratching across your face and hands but with a few pushes we all get through to the other side.

Around 100 yards in front of us a large blue force field is humming giving off a slight heat as we get closer, it seems to go up into the clouds above us. Whoever is in there, Joanus doesn't want them to get out or anyone to get in.

"I guess I actually get to use this infernal box on my back now" Peeta says lifting it off. Gale stands next to him helping him to lower it to the ground. "We only have 2 charges, Haymitch told me while we were on our way here, one to get in, one to get out again" I say. "That's all we need isn't It" Gale replies.

We all gather round just outside the glowing blue light of the force field. "We can't take any explosives through the force field, they have to left here" I shout to the group. "What happens if we take them through" Stipar replies lifting up his large backpack full of them. "I would imagine it wouldn't be good and almost certain to be loud" Peeta says.

We begin to store our weapons and ammunition inside a dense bush nearby, no one will see it unless they are actually looking for it. After a few minutes mostly spent helping Stipar get rid of his numerous devices and explosives we are ready. "Guess we don't need these clothes anymore; it's not like they won't notice us in there is it!" Tressa says. We all remove the clothes and hide them in bush a little further down. We now look like the soldiers we are supposed to be, if anyone was to see us now we would most probably be shot on sight, which might happen anyway as soon as we go through the force field.