Chapter 11
Silence hung in the air seconds after Peeta's announcement. Katniss stared at the screen in horror with her hand pressed against her mouth. Peeta's words took a second to register in Effie's mind because his appearance shocked her more than anything but when someone's voice broke against the sudden commotion, asking "is that a threat?" she pulled her gaze away from the screen.
"He's telling us we're about to be attacked right here in Thirteen," Plutarch countered. "Are you prepared for an event of an attack?"
Coin, surprisingly, looked mildly offended by the question than worried. "Of course we are. We have security drills in place. At any rate, we are overdue for a Level 5 security drill."
Due for a security drill? Effie thought shrilly. An attack?
Looking around at the flurry of activities, she felt even more lost and the sense of dread rose like a bile in her throat. She tried to get to Katniss but Boggs had already led her and Finnick out of the room.
Hurrying towards Beetee who was struggling to maneuver his wheelchair with everyone running around and ignoring him, Effie asked, "What did Peeta mean?"
"My best guess is a bombing... or bombings," Beetee told her, finally able to reverse his wheelchair after Effie shooed people away. "Best not to think too much about it - could be nothing after all. I can use your help, let's go."
Without being asked, Effie grabbed hold of his wheelchair and started pushing him down the corridor towards the disabled access route the soldiers were pointing at. At the end, the corridors converged. Streams of elderly and injured residents joined them.
"We are going to be bombed?" Effie lowered her voice, not wanting anyone in the vicinity to panic. "The Capitol wouldn't do that," she insisted with a sense of urgency. "There are citizens here. They wouldn't. It is simply barbaric."
"The Games are barbaric," he calmly pointed out. "You've realised that already so the sooner you accept that the Capitol play by no rules except its own, the better it will be. Listen, Miss Trin - Effie, we don't really know each other well but Haymitch sees something good in you and I've seen you standing up for Katniss and those captured in the Capitol again and again to know that you are on our side. Perhaps you still want to hold on to some desperate notion that the place you were born in could not be that terrible and inhumane but they did burnt Twelve to the ground and bombed the hospital in District Eight, so why wouldn't they attack Thirteen?"
"I - "
"To be honest with you, I don't know what Peeta really meant by it but it shouldn't be taken lightly. If you eliminate all other possibilities, an air assault is the only logical means of attack left. Thirteen is underground. It'll be easier to bomb us from up in the air than to send their soldiers on foot to attack Thirteen which would be unwise, not to mention a fatally flawed plan. There's nothing we can do right now except to follow evacuation protocol. I'm sure Thirteen is prepared for this."
"You are not inspiring confidence," she pursed her lips. "You said it yourself. Thirteen is underground. If they bomb us - "
Her breath caught at that thought. They were already so deep underground, deeper than Effie had ever been in Thirteen and they were all still moving. It was possible, she thought, that the Capitol meant to suffocate them all underground. Cut them off from resurfacing again. They would die suffocating or from starvation eventually. She wondered if they had enough food supplies to last until they could all dig their way out.
Stop. Stop it! You're thinking too much, she chided herself though she was paralysed with fear.
Beetee must have heard the hitch in her breath because his wheelchair came to a complete stop.
"Don't think about it. It might be a scare tactic - a whole load of horse manure."
She gripped the handle of the wheelchair tighter, forcing herself not to have a panic attack. They followed the crowd before the hallway spilled into a large holding room. Effie stopped, staring at the mouth of what seemed to her was a huge cave reinforced with steel doors.
"Are you sure it's safe?" she asked.
"Absolutely," Beetee answered and she smiled a little at his attempt to make her feel better.
At the entrance, before they could make it in any further, a soldier stopped them. "Your compartment number, please."
"F - 2187," Effie told him as Beetee gave his.
Effie raised her wrist and waved her scheduled in front of a scanner. The machine beeped and she was accounted for.
"Effie Trinket...?" the soldier looked up for confirmation and she nodded. "Yours is to the left and sir, please follow my colleague - he will assist you."
"She can come with me, can't she?"
"No, sir, 'fraid not. Each compartment has been assigned a bed and in an event of further evacuation, priorities are given to the disabled, elderly and the children, so you will be in a different area."
"It's okay," Effie assured him, trying to sound brave. If she wanted to believe that she was brave enough to go through this, she should act like it. Chins up, smiles on. "Thank you for the thought, Beetee."
XxX
Effie made her way to the assigned bunker and stood in front of the bare mattress with her hands on her hips.
"That won't do," she muttered to herself.
She searched under her bed for something, anything that could be used to cover the mattress when she saw the Bunker Protocol. She gave a quick glance and hurried over to join the queue of people that had gathered behind one of the counters for the residents in the F Compartment. She received her pack, set up her bed and settled down on it. She read the Bunker Protocol once more, just to be certain that she had everything she needed.
Satisfied, Effie glanced around, watching those who just arrived and was beginning to settle and those who like her were just waiting for the next set of orders. She smoothed out the thin sheet covering the mattress under her and took deep calming breaths.
It'll be fine. You'll be okay. Just a Level Five security drill - nothing more. Just an exercise of precaution. You'll be fine.
The sudden cessation of the siren made everyone pause. President Coin's voice cut through the intercom with the first announcement of the day since the security drill was set in motion.
"This is not a drill," she began and Effie blinked.
She thought it was a drill. She thought... Unless…. Thirteen's systems had picked up something that confirmed an attack.
"Less than an hour ago, Peeta Mellark made a televised announcement of an attack to District Thirteen. I urge you to remain calm and to await further instructions. There are first aid stations situated in every bunker should you require medical assistance."
All those little talks she had in order to convince herself that it was just a drill had been for nothing.
This is real. Thirteen's going to be attacked.
Effie was not prepared when the first wave of bombs hit. The impact was so strong she thought the grounds had shattered but the floor held. There were no cracks but it came again and again, and the place shook so hard she could feel it in her bones. She screamed just as others were and grabbed the metal bar of the bed to steady herself, holding it for dear life.
The lights flickered and the overhead lamps swayed dangerously.
She was terrified. Gone were all pretences she had about being brave. She was so, so terrified it's surprising she hadn't wet herself and it only grew worse when all the lights went off. It was pitch black and she couldn't see anything.
Not once in her life did she ever thought that she would find herself in a situation like this and nothing could prepare for the sheer terror she was feeling. The helplessness she felt sitting in the dark all alone while the place was being bombed was not helping either.
Effie glanced up.
They were far underground, deep in the belly of the earth that if the surface didn't hold, it would cave in on them and trap them. She swallowed. Haymitch had told her about the mining incident in District Twelve and she couldn't help the morbid thought that everyone's fate here could very well be like theirs.
This must be what the Capitol wanted; to kill Katniss Everdeen the same way her father was killed; to bomb her to death so there would be no more Mockingjay and no more war.
As if those thoughts weren't terrible enough, another invaded her. What if those bombs were designed to penetrate below the surface? She would be blown to smithereens. This wasn't how she imagined herself to die. She didn't want to go like this. She always thought it would be from something mundane like dying from old age.
"Apparently, Peeta Mellark's information was sound and we owe him a great debt of gratitude. Sensors indicate the first missile was not nuclear, but very powerful. We expect more will follow. For the duration of the attack, citizens are to stay in their assigned areas unless otherwise notified."
That was hardly reassuring at all. This was already horrible and now, they were being told that there would be more.
Now that the bombs had stopped raining and they were given some reprieve, Effie stretched out on the bed. She clasped her hands together, pillowed them under her head and turned on her sides, staring into nothing. She forced her body to rest and her mind not to think of where she was and what she was facing.
It was an impossible task but after minutes, her thoughts drifted off from being trapped alive underground to Haymitch. Her eyes fluttered close. She imagined Haymitch next to her, holding her like he had held her as she lay awake at night worrying herself to death when Peeta and Katniss were sent back to the arena. He wasn't one to offer words of comfort but he was there and his presence had been enough for her. She imagined him with his arm around her midsection, her back against his chest and his rough stubble occasionally brushing against her bare shoulder. She missed his weight on her, the smell of whiskey on his breath and cheap soap mingling with faint sweat on his skin.
She wanted him. She wanted him back now more than ever. She didn't want to die alone and she didn't want him to die alone and in pain in prison.
Effie remained curled on her bed, eyes shut, hands trembling in fear as the second wave hit. It was shorter than the first but still, equally just as bad.
There was a long period of inactivity following that. She kept waiting for the next attack but it stretched for hours and it never came. Yet, they were still not given the clearance to leave and just when Effie thought that perhaps, that was all there was to it, another missile hit.
The Capitol was spreading its attack out, prolonging it and playing games. There was no urgency to this. This was as much a psychological warfare because there was a fight outside, and she was here just waiting for her death that could come at any moment if the bunker collapsed.
She couldn't stay here. It would drive her crazy. Effie wasn't one to sit idle when she was half mad with worry so she got up, swaying on her feet as the bunker shook and made her way until she reached a place where a crowd had gathered.
"Do you need medical assistance?" someone approached her, waving a flashlight from her head downwards to her toes for a better look. "Are you injured?"
"N – no, I'm just… I can't stay and wait. I – Is there something I can do to help?"
"I understand but… do you have any medical training?"
"I don't. I'm afraid I don't know how to treat anyone. It's – We've been here for two days and I – " she broke off when someone's flashlight fell on something in the distance, allowing her a better view. "Your supplies are in a mess. I can organise that and make things more efficient."
"Uh," she glanced back at the supplies that had clearly been rummaged through in a hurry to attend anyone who was wounded, "well okay. Okay go ahead. If anyone needs anything, they'll usually shout to ask so you just have to hand it to them."
"Do we see major injuries?" Effie asked out of curiousity.
"Not many. We have engineers all across the bunkers and after each wave, they go around making sure the beams and the structure will hold and if anything that needs fixing can be fixed, they do it. So sometimes, we get injuries. Someone cut his finger to the bone earlier from the rocks over there," she raised and beamed the flashlight over an area where cracks had appeared. "Most of the time, we get people who's afraid and anxious and needs to be calmed down with medicines, children especially."
Effie worked quietly and she tried not to work too fast. The supplies weren't in such a terrible state of disarray so she could likely finish organising in less than half an hour but she took her time. She separated bandages, gauze and plasters, and arranged whatever medications there were in alphabetical order. Here, she was surrounded by people who had to be brave and who had to smile reassuringly at those who came so as not to spook the others and she found that uplifting to her spirits.
"How long more will this go on?" one of the medics asked.
"Haven't heard anything in a while – no news from the President," another answered.
"Has this happened before?" Effie asked.
"Nothing as massive as this. We had a Level Three security lockdown a few years back during the time of the pox epidemic. Everyone was quarantined for fear of the disease spreading," the medic explained and Effie wondered how an epidemic could be classified as 'nothing massive' because to her it sounded like situation involving life and death, just like this. "That went on for about two weeks… three maybe? My memory's a little hazy now. I was just a child back then."
"Two weeks?" Effie gasped. I can't be here for two weeks!
"Yes," the medic nodded. "I supposed we are in war and these kinds of things are to be expected."
One thing Effie was not expecting was the calmness that woman possessed because Effie was struggling every hour that she was here to keep her composure.
"What I don't understand though, is Peeta Mellark… You know him, yes?"
"I – Yes, certainly," Effie nodded. "I'm his escort… I was his escort. He's good boy, a very nice young man. What you're seeing… The Capitol – "
"What I'm seeing is that he doesn't look like he's on our side. It's gotten some people very confused. During an interview once, he said he married Katniss Everdeen but some people here said it's a sham for the Games. Still, I'd thought he'd be on her side, you know? Instead, he's been calling for a ceasefire and that warning? That was what the President said…. That he made a televised announcement of the attack. I don't know if it was a warning or he was in on it."
"What do you mean?" Effie asked sharply.
The medic shrugged. "Guess he's tired of calling for a ceasefire so I've been thinking – and I'm sure lots of other people are too – that an attack on us will easily end things. Supposed he wants that?"
"He'll be sorry to know we don't cave in that easily!" another medic added angrily. "We're not afraid!"
You've been living underground for the past 75 years, Effie thought with irritation, sounds a lot like you are all afraid.
"None of you were there when Peeta came on air," Effie frowned. "I was there. I watched it. I saw it. That announcement was never part of the script. Trust me, I have been in show business for a better part of my life now," she added, coming off haughtier than she intended. "I know when things are unscripted. He was never supposed to let us know of it. It was most definitely a warning; a warning that came from him and he – he took a beating for it. The cameras caught it. The blood – there was blood…"
Effie closed her eyes. She could still see the floor splattered with Peeta's blood.
There was silence following Effie's outburst.
"I don't know…" the medic shook her head. "I really don't know what to think."
"I trust him. His warning saved us. That's what I'm going to think about when I sleep at night – that Peeta Mellark saved my life," Effie said.
XxX
There was hardly any time to rest once the bombings ceased and everyone was given the clearance to leave. The schedules on their wrists were promptly updated and daily activities resumed as normal. People returned to work in the kitchen and laundry room, at the hospital and armoury, and in Effie's case, she reported herself to the Command Centre as ordered to discuss matters concerning Katniss Everdeen.
"It goes without saying that another propaganda shot has to be done," President Coin said.
"I have been thinking about that," Cressida stood up. "The Capitol would have no doubt by now, disseminate the information to the entire country that Thirteen was bombed. People are going to wonder how we fared; if we're still here, if we still exist, and if Katniss is still alive. We should put those questions to rest, tell them Thirteen is alive and well."
"Yes," President Coin assented. "See to that."
Cressida nodded. She stood up to leave, giving Effie a lingering look as she passed. She was expecting Effie to follow so they could get Katniss to get her ready but Effie wasn't done. There were still things that had not been addressed.
Plutarch beat her to it. He brought up Peeta Mellark and the rest of the Victors in the Capitol.
"It will be too costly," President Coin dismissed his concerns with a wave.
"Too costly?" Effie hissed and without realising it, she was on her feet, staring at President Coin. "I have been told on numerous occasions that a rescue attempt was being planned and it boils down to that? It's too costly?"
"Miss Trinket, this is beyond your capabilities. This is a matter of tactics and strategies which is, I'm sure, not your area of expertise," President Coin told her in a condescending tone. "Please sit down."
"With all due respect, Madame President, perhaps the very fact that I am not an expert at war tactics and strategies gives me the ability to see things from a different perspective, a much more human perspective," Effie countered tersely.
She remained standing, refusing to be deterred.
"However, since you'd rather assess situations through a tactical point of view, consider this: if Peeta Mellark whom the Capitol had put on air multiple times looks like that," Effie gestured at the still image of her boy during his last interview before the warning was given, "then one really should wonder how the others are. There is absolutely no need for them to look presentable for the cameras which means, their situation could be much worse. How long do you expect them to last? How would their deaths affect Katniss? These are all people that Katniss knows. You will lose her."
"Effie's right, I'm afraid. How will District Seven react to losing one of their own when it is within your power to save her?" Beetee jumped in, strengthening Effie's argument by giving it a broader scope than just focusing on Katniss. "You've just got District Seven."
"Rescuing them will be a tactical advantage to you," Finnick added quietly. "Think about it. You have three victors here already. There are four more in the Capitol and if you get them here, that's seven victors. Seven victors on your side is a powerful thing, Madame President, especially if one were to take into account the other victors we've let fall into Capitol hands and publicly executed. Sure, they may not all be in on the rebellion but with a dwindling number of victors left in Panem, having seven standing right behind you is a statement worth making against Snow, isn't it? You have to act now."
Having picked up the unspoken threat, Effie shot Finnick a look. If Coin were to rescue Annie and the others, he would be wholly on her side but otherwise…
"Surely, the advantages outweigh the cost? Please," Effie turned her gaze towards Coin. "You cannot wait until Peeta's on the brink of death before you rescue him. You cannot wait until President Snow makes a show of publicly executing Haymitch, Annie or Johanna just as he had done with the other victors he arrested from the districts."
"We owe Peeta a rescue," Finnick continued where Effie left off. "His warning helped, didn't it? You managed to evacuate everyone in time. It helped."
"Absolutely," Boggs agreed. "Every second counts when you're under attack."
Coin pursed her lips, not at all expecting her second in command to readily agree with Finnick.
"We will have another meeting to discuss on this issue once more. For now, as suggested earlier, send Miss Everdeen out to film her. Get the message out to the Capitol today," she ordered with a note of finality.
In the end, the white roses on the ground and Katniss' complete meltdown became the deciding factor. It reiterated Effie's point that Coin might lose Katniss without Peeta around.
Still, the scene took everyone by surprise, especially Effie more than anyone else.
It was Haymitch that Katniss sought when she needed comfort because they understood each other. It was always Haymitch so when Katniss turned around after seeing those roses and blindly reached out for her, Effie was stunned but she was quick to pull the girl to her and embrace her.
"Effie," her lips wobbled. She gasped, forcing air down her lungs and trying hard not to let the tears fall. "Snow… Snow will make sure his life is worse than death. He won't kill Peeta. He won't kill Peeta but – but… I can't. I can't, Effie. He's going to – He's hurting Peeta to get to me."
"Shh, shh," Effie rubbed her back in soothing circles. "That's not true, Katniss, that's not true."
"It's true. Of course, it's true. Peeta wouldn't… Did you see how weird he acted? What are they doing to him?" she dry heaved. "If Haymitch has someone who loves him and someone he loves, Snow will do the same to him. He – He can't use Haymitch on camera like Peeta because there's no one – there's no one - " she tried to explain to prove her point. "Johanna, too."
Her heart ache for Katniss and over what Katniss had said.
"Haymitch loves you and Peeta, too, and the two of you love him. Annie hasn't been seen on screen either, Katniss," Effie tried to soothe her. "They would try to hurt Finnick with her, don't you think?"
Katniss seemed to consider this for a moment and then she shook her head.
"It's different. Finnick's not the Mockingjay. I can't do this anymore. It's my fault. I'm the Mockingjay – it's my fault! I shouldn't - "
She slumped against her and Effie staggered back from the unexpected dead weight. When she raised her head, she saw Plutarch taking a step back holding a syringe in his hand.
"She needed to be calmed down."
XxX
"It's a risk we have to take," Plutarch rubbed the back of his neck. "I will lose a few contacts but I've spoken to them and it can be done. Theirs covers will be blown, yes, that's true but I have it on good authority that if we want to get them out, we have to get them out now."
Gale raised his head with a question. "Why's that?"
"They are all being held at the Training Centre which is easier to break into than the secure prison at the Pod where they were held previously. Besides, Haymitch, Annie and Johanna are detained in a room together which makes extracting them easier. We only have to break down two doors – theirs and Peeta – instead of four."
"Where's Peeta held?" Boggs interrupted.
"On the same floor as them," Plutarch brought up a hologram of the Training Centre and with a red laser, showed them the area, "which wouldn't pose too much of a problem. We have to mount a rescue attempt as soon as possible. We need Katniss to perform and I am under the impression that she cannot do what is required of her when she is constantly worrying of the repercussions her every action has on Peeta."
"Fine," Coin said, finally convinced. "The need for a rescue far outweighs the cost of it but due to the dangers of this mission, it will be on volunteer basis only."
"I'll go," Gale raised his hand without hesitation. He was the first to step up which Effie thought was an honourable and brave thing to do though now, she was wondering on how to break the news to Katniss.
"If you will, Madame President, I'll lead the mission," Boggs stepped up.
There were seven in all together, mostly soldiers from District Thirteen with the exception of Gale which meant that they were all unfamiliar faces to the four victors. As they rose to leave, Effie raised a tentative hand.
"Where the four of them come from, it would be good, in my opinion, to have someone familiar on board the hovercraft after their rescue. If I had – If the Capitol had captured me, hurt me and if a group of strangers were to get me out of there and into their hovercraft, I would panic. I would still think I am in danger. I just – someone they all know should be there to talk to them and assure them that they are safe. Haymitch is the only person who knows Gale, the others don't."
"So who are you suggesting, Miss Trinket?"
Effie glanced around the room, looking at all the faces of the people present in the meeting. It was an unfair question from the President. She had said it was to be on a volunteer basis only and yet, here she was, asking Effie to give names.
"I should go," Effie said in the end. "I have no military training like the rest of them but every one of those people you are trying to rescue knows me. I admit, Annie may not be very familiar with me but she had met me once. I just need to refresh her memories. I can – I will stay in the hovercraft and I'll be out of everyone's way. I will be there only as a source of comfort – nothing else."
Effie could almost hear Johanna's derisive scoff in her ear if she were to hear that.
"I will personally ensure that each of them is sedated and unconscious until we reach District Thirteen," Boggs told her kindly. "Don't worry about them attacking us or putting up a fight, Miss Trinket. Aside from her family, there are not many people that I've seen Katniss spent her time with. You happen to be one of them. She would need you here. Thank you for your bravery," Boggs smiled.
Effie swallowed and nodded, accepting that decision.
"Please bring them home safe," she whispered.
Please bring Haymitch back to me alive.
I hope you saw that Star Wars reference! I couldn't pass up the chance. I feel that the theme of this chapter had a lot to do with Effie + bravery. There was Effie forcing herself to be brave, standing up to argue with Coin for Haymitch, Peeta, Annie and Johanna with the back up of Finnick and Beeta which requires some gut, and then being brave. What do you think of this? Please leave me a review!
