Escape
She awoke in a maddening frenzy. Her skin was slick with sweat, a sharp pain sliced through her head. With heavy breaths Pandora focused on the single crack in the ceiling above, a single scar from the bombings. She had been in the middle of a nightmare, but only now did she understand that it wasn't real. It was becoming harder and harder to come back from her dreams as of late, terrible dreams.
The sheets were twisted around her body, her feet dangled off the end of the bed. For a heartbeat she was frozen, only her eyes flickered around. In her dream she had been dead, but that wasn't the truth. She was still alive. Her hand slowly reached for her head, her lips parted.
"What's going on here?"
Everything that had happened yesterday resurfaced through the fog. Pandora sat up. Her feet kissed the cold floor.
"What are you doing here?"
She looked at the door. Finnick was outside. He was speaking to her new shadows, though it sounded more confrontational than a pleasant discussion. Clumsily, she staggered to her feet. The light from the hallway blinded her.
"Finnick?" Her voice was still groggy.
She blinked away the floating black dots. As her eyes adjusted to the light she heard more raised voices.
"Everything's fine." She said.
Finally she caught sight of him. He looked worried. His face was creased, his eyes anxious.
"What are you doing here, Finnick?"
"I came to check on you. Pandora, you look sick."
She rubbed her eyes. "I was sleeping."
Finnick looked at each guard. "May I come in?"
"Sure."
She walked back into her quarters, leaving the door open. Once Finnick was inside he shut the door, but Pandora could see both of those guards angrily staring at her just before it shut. She had to figure out what to do about them before tonight.
"Why are you under arrest?"
"I'm not."
"Then what are those two men doing outside your door?"
Pandora sat on the edge of her bed. Finnick was leaning close, nervous. He looked like he was expecting something, but she was too disoriented to realize what. Her head hurt so much.
"I'm on probation. It's not a big deal. Can you get me some water?"
"For what?"
"I saw a broadcast that Coin didn't want me to see."
Finnick snapped him mouth shut.
"I'd like some water." She repeated.
He stared at her. It looked like he was going to stand that way forever. When he finally walked into her bathroom and Pandora heard the sink turn on she sighed and cradled her head.
"Here."
She grabbed the glass and sipped.
"Why aren't you asking me about the broadcast, Finnick?"
"Because I know about it already."
She lifted her eyes, trying to hold back a glare.
"It's not what you think. Everyone was debriefed on the video this morning."
This morning. Suddenly Pandora wondered what time it was. Without the sky it was hard to tell sometimes, unless you wore a watch or followed the schedule District 13 gave you.
"And?" She whispered.
"You don't want to know what I think, Pandora."
She lowered the water glass and furrowed her brow. That wasn't what she had meant, but it was enough to tell her that he was just like the rest. He thought it was a trap. There was no one who believed Viktor but her, no one else to save them. She straightened up, her face hardening. "No. I'm sure I don't."
"You look sick. Let me have a look at you."
She drew back a little as he approached, but he never stopped reaching. When his fingers touched her chin she looked at him. "I'm just tired."
"You have circles under your eyes. You look pale."
"I'm never outside anymore." She said through clenched teeth. "Besides I've always been pale."
"You know what I mean though."
"I feel fine."
"Maybe you should have one of the medics check you out."
So they could tell me what I already know? Pandora thought. No thanks.
"That's a good idea. Maybe I'll go later," She lied.
Finnick smiled. "Let me refill your water."
"No. I'm okay now."
They were quiet after that. Finnick knelt down and brushed his pants off. Ever since Annie had returned Pandora had seen less and less of Finnick, which was to be expected. Even she couldn't deny that Finnick looked much better. He was returning to his old healthy self.
"I was worried about you when you didn't show up for the meeting in Command this morning."
"I slept through it."
"Then I heard what Coin had to say and I was even more worried. They said you agreed not to do anything about what you had seen."
"I did."
"Are you lying?" He asked.
"If I was, you wouldn't be able to tell." She simply replied.
"I know. That's what worries me."
Pandora's face was stone. Finnick was trying to test where she was in all this mess, but unless she wanted him to know, he would never. Pandora had known Finnick so long that she had to remind herself sometimes that he didn't know the other side to her. He didn't know the survivor. It was true that he knew the details, after all it was Pandora who had told him everything that had happened to her. But it was one thing to hear it, and quite another to live it.
Pandora smirked and nodded. He couldn't tell if she was lying or not. "Do you think I'd be stupid enough to go alone? Once I came back, if I was still alive, then Coin wouldn't let me in. So rest assured I'm not going to do anything."
"I didn't mean to make you angry."
"I'm not." She lied. She was burning up inside. She was angry that she alone in all this.
"Plutarch Heavensbee wants to see you."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. My guess is your new friends probably know. Want me to beat them up for you?"
Pandora's smirk turned into a smile. "I think I can handle them."
"You always say that, but then I'm the one that has to be your doctor."
"You're a terrible doctor." Pandora joked.
He laughed and helped her up. "I'll walk with you."
"Let me just put my clothes on."
She disappeared into the bathroom with a handful of clothes and started dressing. Pandora could hear Finnick pacing outside. At the mirror she pulled her hair into a ponytail and grimaced. He was right, she was looking substantially more ill as the days went by. Soon she would wither away to nothing.
A few times Pandora practiced a smile in the mirror and pinched her cheeks for color.
"What are you doing in there?"
"Coming!" She glanced at her reflection on last time before walking out to him and nodding. "Let's get this over with."
The guards were bickering amongst themselves. They didn't notice Finnick and Pandora until she cleared her throat and smiled. "I'm told I have an appointment?"
"Right." One said.
"Yea. Of course." The other pulled on his jacket. "What's he doing here?"
"He's decided to come along." Pandora smiled.
"Why?"
"In case I decide to kill you both." She sarcastically said. Her joke didn't get any laughs. To be fair it wasn't the wittiest. "Are we going or not?"
"Just to warn you, we've been told to restrain you if you try to run."
Pandora held back a laugh, but Finnick's face turned purple at that. "No you won't."
"Relax, Odair." She whispered. "You should check on Annie."
"No. I'm coming with you."
"Sir, it will be easier if it's just the three of us." One of the guards said.
"Yes, we wouldn't want to make it a parade." Pandora laughed.
Finnick eyed them suspiciously. "Fine. Want to meet up for dinner?"
By dinner I'll be gone, she thought. "Sure. Since I slept the day away that should be relatively soon. Unless I get restrained."
Finnick started laughing. "Please don't."
"See you around. Come on, gentlemen," She started walking away, "I have an appointment, and I hate to be late."
Pandora had expected that the guards would take her to Command but she was wrong. They led her to the elevators and from there they journeyed through parts of District 13 that she had never seen. She could tell they were deep because her ears were popping. As they rounded a corner and saw two large metal doors she wondered where the Hangar was from here. Her gaze dropped to the guards' belts, they were carrying guns.
"What time is it?" She asked.
One of them turned around and scowled. "Why does it matter?"
She smiled. "Just wondering."
They entered a five-digit code into the panel on the side and the door creaked open. Pandora studied the posture of her shadows. The one on the left was clumsy and the one on her right walked with a limp.
"You first, ma'am."
"Ma'am? How kind of you." She said, stepping inside.
The room was unexpectedly cavernous. On the farthest side of the room there was a stage. Cameras and lights were set up, rivers of wires covered the ground. Quickly Pandora realized that she had stepped into a studio. This was where the revolution was filming their propos.
Plutarch, who was staring through footage that they had filmed that morning, spun around and waved Pandora over. "Come here. Come on in. Not you two though. You two just stay back there."
Pandora watched as the guards fell back.
She walked with careful steps. When she was close enough she saw the footage that Plutarch was watching. Katniss speaking into the camera, then a second later Finnick.
"We filmed these the day you went into the Capitol to save prisoners."
The video was on mute but she could tell from the way Finnick was speaking that he was sad.
"You proved a lot when you did that, Pandora. You proved that your one of us."
"Did I?"
Plutarch was still staring at the screen. "Tonight we're airing them. Beetee will break through the airwave silence."
"Is this why you want to speak to me?"
"No. I just thought you should see what a relief it is for them to speak openly about what happened."
Pandora watched Katniss and Finnick speaking. They were sad. Even when they smiled sometimes they were sad. It didn't look like a relief, it looked like they were struggling.
"Let us film you, Pandora."
"Absolutely not."
"Don't you see that it will change things? That's why I asked you here. So that you can look around and know that we're not the Capitol here."
"I see a stage, I see cameras, how exactly is this different?"
"Because you can finally say what you want. Because you can stand up for yourself."
Pandora shook her head.
"Back in that interrogation room you were opening up to me, telling me how it felt to live through what you had. Pandora, if you did that in front of cameras, it would make an impact. You could finally tell the truth."
"I'm sorry, Head Gamemaker, but I'd never be able to tell the whole truth. You and I know that's not how this works."
He leaned close and whispered. "Pandora, you're dying."
She flushed and stepped back.
"You're dying. Do you want to die without being able to shame Snow in front of all of Panem?"
She grew solemn. Her lips pursed. "I promise you that before I die I will shame Snow. But it won't be on camera. I'm going to look him in the eye when I do it. Cowards hide behind cameras. I'm not a coward, not anymore."
"Pandora—"
"I'm sorry that you think I'm like them, Plutarch. But I'm not. And I will never agree to this."
Plutarch dropped his eyes. He stared at the screen one more time before turning it off and sighing. "Have you been taking those herbal remedies the medics have been giving you?"
"Sometimes."
"You should be taking them everyday."
"They don't help." She said.
"I've been worried—"
"Everyone's worried." She laughed. "Everyone. Well, rest assured that I am fine."
"People who say they're fine aren't ever fine."
She glanced back to the guards. They were too far away to hear their conversation. It looked like they were squabbling again.
"What time is it?" She asked.
"The time?"
When she turned around, Plutarch was staring at her in confusion.
"Yes, that's what I asked."
He fumbled for his pocket watch. "Almost five o'clock."
"Thanks."
In thirty minutes the sun would set.
"I should be going." She added.
"I haven't dismissed you yet."
"Save the pitch for the other victors, Plutarch. I told Finnick I'd meet him for dinner."
"Pandora, wait—"
She turned around. Her eyebrows arched.
"I'm sorry about how everything was dealt with yesterday. If there's a way I can help them, I will. You just have to be patient."
He was talking about the broadcast. Pandora forced a fake smile on her face. Not if I help them first.
"Thank you, Plutarch. For everything."
Escorted by her two guards, Pandora walked out of the film studio. The metal doors clamored angrily together, their song echoing down the hall. She slowed her walk and let the guards take the lead. It was easier this way, she could watch them.
From where they were marching now, Pandora couldn't get her bearings. She tried to picture a map of the District 13 maze but nothing came.
They entered the elevator. She chewed on the corner of her mouth.
"Why do they call it the Hangar, anyways?" She said.
"What? Why did that come into your head?"
The elevator doors shut.
"I was just thinking about that. Strange name for a place to keep hovercrafts. Why not a dock?"
Both guards rolled their eyes. The mouthier of the two was the one to reply. "It's just another name, does it matter? And we don't just keep the hovercrafts there, we grow some food down there as well."
Pandora shrugged. "It must be around here somewhere? I remember it being deep."
The elevator swung to the side.
"If you remember then why are you asking?" The quiet one hissed.
"It's four levels down. Not that it matters. Once the compartments open up you can fly right out."
"Blasco, shut up. You're always blabbing."
"What? She obviously already knows. She's just being annoying."
Pandora waited for them both to turn back around before she smiled. Four levels down. They just made this escape plan a lot easier for her.
Again, she dropped her eyes to the guns at their belt. The clumsy clueless one would be easy to take down, but something told Pandora that the other one would give her trouble, even with a limp. She took a step forward. Neither of them noticed.
Her fingertips burned as she steady her breaths and reached.
"Thanks." She said.
"For what?"
She didn't reply. Her hand was already wrapped around the quiet one's gun. He didn't feel it when she slipped it out of the holster.
"I said, for wha—"
Just as he started to turn around she took the butt of the revolver and dashed it against back of his skull. He staggered for a minute, finally dropping to one knee. She had hoped the first hit would knock him out but apparently her aim was off. She tried for a second time, this time he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
There was a brief time of confusion where the clumsy guard didn't fully realize what was happening. When he finally did he spun and pulled out his gun, but it was too late. Pandora kicked it out of his hand. It fell to the ground with a thud. Without missing a beat she kneed him in the crotch, and turned the gun on him.
He groaned in pain.
"Hands up." She ordered.
Instead of listening he tried to swing at her, but the swings were sloppy and he fell to the ground. Pandora gave him another kick.
"If you kill me, you're dead as well!" He shouted.
The elevator was still rolling to the side, she didn't have a lot of time. Any minute it would change course and she would be back at square one, not knowing where to go.
"I'm not going to kill you, you dim son of a bitch." She kept the gun pointed at him and inched forward. "Sorry, this may hurt."
"What are you—"
She lowered the gun and lifted her boot. One quick stamp to the face and he was out. His nose ran red with blood. She checked his pulse, he was still breathing.
"Sweet dreams." She whispered.
Pandora grabbed the other gun and tucked it in her pants. She was on her feet again when she realized that the elevator had stopped and the doors were opening. She lifted her eyes and froze. Her muscles tensed. Standing in front of her was Finnick. He must have followed them.
He looked at her face, then to the gun in her hand, and finally down to the guards.
"Pandora?"
"I lied." She said. "I'm sorry, Finnick. I can't let him die."
Her hand reached for the button, she held it down until it turned red. Immediately the elevator reacted.
Finnick tried to run forward, but the doors shut before he could get to her.
She felt the elevator sway to the side and then drop. Her hands gripped the gun.
For a moment she shut her eyes. He would have a hard time forgiving her for this, but Pandora didn't care. She would never be able to forgive herself if Adric died. This was the path she had chosen.
The seconds that passed felt like hours. She eyed the guards, making sure they were still out. When the elevator doors finally opened she lowered the gun to her side and calmly walked out.
The Hangar was filled with crates and supplies. She could smell fresh air wafting in from the opening, but there was no one in sight. She walked for a few steps but then she thought of Finnick's face and the guards and started running. The hovercrafts were coming into view. As she ran she searched for anyone that looked like a pilot.
"Are you okay?"
She whirled around, hiding the gun behind her back with its twin. A technician was standing in front of her. He was wearing a dark gray jumpsuit.
"Are you looking for someone?"
"Where are all the pilots?"
"At dinner. No one's here really, I'm just doing maintenance on that hovercraft over there. I was about to go upstairs for some food. Why were you running?"
She stepped back and glanced to the hovercraft he was talking about. It was already on. She saw a shadow moving around inside.
"I thought you said you were the only one down here."
The technician looked at the shadow. "Oh, right. I forgot. Joni is checking the panel. I guess he didn't go up with the other pilots."
Pandora probably looked suspicious as she craned her head closer and inched forward.
"Oh I know Joni."
"Really? Oh right. You're um—"
"Violet." Pandora lied.
"Right! I thought you looked familiar."
Either this guy was the dullest person in the world, or he was playing her. Everyone knew what Pandora looked like.
"Well you can go on up to get your food. I'm sure you're starving."
"Yea. Alright. Just tell Joni to shut her off when he's through."
"Right. I will."
Pandora watched him disappear behind a row of crates before she broke into a run. Her eyes focused on the shadow. She revealed the gun again and held her breath. The ramp was down. It was easy enough to get inside, but the technician was a lot quicker than she anticipated because the minute she stepped into the hovercraft alarms sounded. He had seen the bodies.
"What's going on?!"
She pointed the gun at the pilot and moved forward. His eyes were as wide as saucers when he turned around. "Woah! Wait a minute! Don't shoot!"
Pandora's hands were shaking. "Close the ramp."
"No. No way."
The alarms made her head hurt even more. She wanted to cup her hands over her ears but she only winced.
"Do it, now!"
"You're not going to shoot me."
She cocked the gun and pressed it to his temple. "Want to bet?"
He swallowed hard.
"Close the ramp."
He kept his eyes on her, but his hands moved for a square button. He pressed it. Pandora could hear the ramp closing behind her.
"Good. Now, we're going to fly out of here."
"Please, I have kids."
"I don't care about your kids. Just get me to where I need to go, alright?"
Voice and shouts were echoing through the Hangar. They were coming.
"Hurry." Pandora said.
"Alright, alright."
She watched beads of sweat form on his brow and drip down as he began to work. The hovercraft rumbled, metal clanked. There was a moment of silence before the aircraft began to move, then they started to glide.
A yellow light lit up by the radio.
"They're wondering why I'm leaving. They're calling in."
"Ignore it."
He was panting for breath. Pandora was worried he was going to go into cardiac arrest.
"You might want to sit down back there."
She walked to the copilot seat and buckled up. "Are we ready?"
"Yes."
Pandora thought of District 7, of the way the pines smelt. She thought of Adric, maybe already dead and six-feet under. Adric—the children—fires. This was Pandora taking fate in her own hands. She didn't just need to do this for them anymore. She needed to do it for her.
It was time to go back home.
"Let's fly," she ordered.
Pandora felt the pulse of the engine, then a jolt. She snapped her eyes shut as they shot out of the Hangar and into the night. Soon they were soaring through clouds, heading west.