Chapter 12
The Hall of Justice
We leave the apartment through the tunnel and make our way to a warehouse. When we open the hatch we're again met by armed guards. "Hi Cap, Soldier. The Lieutenant is by the rig. And by rig he means a fire truck. "A rescue to be exact. And also an officer's car and two ambulances" Em adds. I look around and some of the soldiers are dressed like us and some are in firefighter outfits.
"Lieutenant Maxon is in charge of the rescue. He'll explain your job." He starts to explain the mission and my role and I come to realize how complicated a mission like this is. I'm glad that Em trusts her best friend with planning the complete mission. "Okay. You understand what you need to do?" I respond yes and make my way to the ambulance Em is next to.
"Let me show you your gear. This is the O2 kit. Open this compartment and this houses a machine pistol. Don't take it out unless you see me go for mine. To start the Oxygen flowing turn this knob all the way on and the mask on the patient. Okay?" "Yes I understand." Our rig has me , Em and Leto. Samcon and Doc in the other.
"How long do we have to wait?" "It should be any minute now." We hear an explosion in the distance. "Right on time. Tell Johnson I owe her dinner." Obviously the explosion was our doing and now the call of a fire at the Hall of Justice comes in. Sarge tells everyone to mount up and get going.
We get on the ambulances and move out of the warehouse and head towards the Hall of Justice. As we turn the corner I can see smoke rise from the building. "What did we blow up?" I don't get an answer. I look over and she has a distant look in her eyes. "Cap. Captain. Are you alright." Em shakes her head "I'm sorry. What did you ask?" "What did we blow up?" She responds "Weapons research lab. Don't worry, it's not near where they're held." She then takes a small wad of a herb and puts it between her cheek and gum, and sucks on it.
We approach the loading dock area. It's on the opposite side of the building from the fire. When we get there we get out and walk towards the service entrances. The Lieutenant stays behind. He's acting as a major in the fire service. He'll turn away any other fire crews that show up. When we enter the dock area Sarge is talking to one of the guards "We got an alarm on the twentieth floor." the guard responds that floor is a secure floor and he has to call for permission. As he dials I see Samcon reach for her weapon. "The call isn't going through. Phones in that area must be out." "Well you better let us up. What happens if there is really something wrong?" "Okay, okay you can go."
The firefighters pile into the large service elevator. The soldier that came with the Lieutenant is staying at dock. We have to wait for the second elevator to come. We get in. As we rise to the twentieth floor, it is going painfully slow. Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen. Suddenly Em takes out her weapon and drops her gear "There's something wrong. Leto and Samcon do it also and position themselves ready for action as the door opens. Leto moves out first cautiously. We can hear hurried voices ahead of us. When Leto peaks around the corner she sees what's going on and yells "Doc, Doc we need you." He picks up his gear bag and tells me to follow with my O2 kit.
What we see is a bloody mess. Three peacemakers are all shot up and so is Mars. He's alive and moaning in agony. Doc attends to him. "What happened here?" Sarge responds "We had everything under control when a third peacemaker came out of the can. When he saw what was happening he started shooting. We responded." Em takes charge"Okay. Let's move these bodies out of the way. Doc, how's Mars." "It's serious. Let's get him on a stretcher and prepare to move him. I'll start an IV."
"Did you get them out yet." Cormath responds "Mellark is free, but unconscious, Cresta is also free and changing. We're having trouble with Mason's door. No sign of Enobaria. Cormath asks for the second stretcher to be brought in. I look at Em and she says "Go in and see him." I rush through he door and see him. They're changing his clothing into some sort of worker's uniform. I want to hug him but I resist. From the noise outside it sounds like they broke through Johanna's door. Peeta looks fine but he's unconscious. Doc comes in and examines him "He seems okay. I think he's just sedated." They've dressed him and have put him on the stretcher. They apply soot on him. Like he's been in a smoke-filled room. I start him on oxygen. The mask covers his face.
I look into Johanna's room and I see Em pleading with her to get dressed. There is something wrong with her. She's very confused "Dever, I don't understand what you're doing here. Who are all these people. Everdeen, why are you here?" "Johanna. We're here to get you out. Just put these on." She comes to me "Get her to put these on. We need her to walk out of here." She then leaves to check outside.
"Listen, Johanna we're here to get you out. Please put on the cloths." "Why can't I go out like this?" She's completely naked and huddling in the corner. "You helped me in the games, Johanna. Now it's time to for me to help you. Please put on the cloths." "Okay." And she starts to dress. Em sticks her head in "Ready?" "Yes, we'll be out in a minute."
I lead Johanna outside and they apply soot to her face and I try to put on the oxygen mask. She resists when Annie comes over and says "It's okay." She takes her hand and leads her away. I look around at everything, the dead peacekeepers, the wounded soldier, Peeta on a stretcher and Annie and Johanna on oxygen. It seems like controlled chaos.
We get on the two elevators and start the long slow ride down. Everyone is silent. Em has her machine pistol out in case some one tries to get on the elevator. When we reach the dock I see the stretcher with Mars is already going out of the door. The peacekeeper on guard keeps asking what is going on. He is disturbed at not getting a response when he tells us to halt and pulls his gun. I spy Em with her pistol with it's noise suppressor at her side. The guard is at the phone trying to reach anybody but the phone is dead. He's getting very agitated. I turn to Em again and she nods her head to the right. I think she wants me to move that way. She's going to shoot him.
"What's going on in here?" Maxon, dressed as a major, says as he enters the dock. "Well major, no one is telling me what's going on. The phones are dead." "Well I tell you what's going on. There was a secondary explosion. These workers were injured and one of my firefighters is critical. Now get out of the way so we can get these people to the hospital." At that moment all the lights go out. "See, It's getting worse." "Yes sir. I'll hold open the door."
We make our way to the ambulances with our victims. "Thanks Major." "No big deal private" he says to Em with a smirk. "I see Platoon Three succeeded". I assume Platoon Three's job had something to do with the blackout. We put Peeta and Johanna in one and Mars and Annie in the other. Cormath joins us as driver and Rogers in the rear. Breakway and Sarge join the other ambulance. Maxon drives off in the officer's car with the soldier he came with. Logan drives the rescue. "Where are we going now?" Em responds back "Back to the warehouse. We'll leave the vehicles and escape by tunnel."
The rescue and car take off first. We then follow. I look at Peeta and stroke his face. I wish he was awake so I can look into his beautiful eyes. "Thank you." "It's not over yet soldier." I know that's true. This mission is far from over and there is a lot ahead of us. We won't be safe until we're back in thirteen.
As I stare at him he is starting to rustle. Could he be waking? Will I be able to see those blue eyes again? His eyes open and I say "Hi Peeta. You're safe now." Just as I get this out he lunges at me and tries to grab my neck. I fall back and knock Johanna into the cab. The ambulance swerves and I'm flung against the wall. Peeta is still trying to attack me screaming out how it's my fault. Em orders Leto and Rogers to subdue him. The ambulance is still swerving when it crashes and we're all thrown forward. "Hold him down. Hold him down." I think Em is trying to give him a shot. "Hold him steady." I'm not really sure whats going on because of the pain. I hit the front panel and my right side is in more pain than I ever before. Even more than that burn. They must have given him the shot because his is calm now.
The back door opens and Doc looks in. "What happened?" "Peeta went crazy when he woke. He's under control now. Help Kat. I'll check Johanna and Cormath." The pain is excruciating and I feel like I'm going to vomit, which I do. Doc stands me up and says "Let me look at you." He feels my shoulder and then he says "What's that?" He asks and nods. I turn my head to see what he is pointing to and he grabs me and twists my shoulder. "Hey. What are you... Wow that feels better. What did you do?" Your dislocated your shoulder and I put it back in. I know it will be hard 'til we get home but avoid raising your arm over your head. I have to check on the others."
I walk around and see Johanna is okay but Cormath looks a little woozy. "Sarge load everyone into the other rig." "Cap there's a whole boatload of us. I'm not sure we'll fit." "We better. The only other option is walking. Let's go."
"We put Cormath on the O2 we had on Annie and he says he's feeling better. "How much farther?" "One mile Cap. Two minutes." Sarge assigns who is going to carry the stretchers "and Samcon escort Cresta and Mason." I look down at Peeta and wonder what they did to him. "Do you think he was hijacked?" Em responds " Most likely. He was with them long enough." "Okay we're here." sarge says "Let's move out." We get out of the back and Rogers goes across the lot to the alley followed by the stretchers, Annie and Johanna. Sarge and Leto are covering our escape. Em and I are about to cross the lot to the alley when shots ring out. We all duck behind the ambulance. Sarge orders "Cap. You and Everdeen go first. We'll cover you." "Kat we'll sprint to that car and duck behind it. Follow me." Sarge tells Leto "Ready. Cover fire." Both of them start shooting as we sprint towards the car. When we make it they stop firing. "We're going to fire. They're in that white van directly behind us. Ready?" I nod yes and we both get up and start firing at the van. They make it to us and I see it's only Leto. She turns around and sees Sarge down. The peacekeeper van starts rolling and makes a beeline towards the ambulance. We shoot at the van until it makes it to the ambulance.
Em says "Let's go." Leto looks at Em and says "We can't leave Sarge." "We can't help him from here. Let's get to the alley." We take off towards the alley when a single shot rings out. I turn around and I see Em stumble and fall. Leto grabs my shirt and pushes me to another car. Em is rolling trying to get to cover as bullets hit the ground around her.
"Where is it coming from?" "I see him. Third story, third window in." Leto says "I don't see him." "I do. I'm taking the shot." I get him in my sights. My heart rate is so fast I'm unsteady. I close my eyes just for a second and work with my breathing rhythm. I open my eye, he's clear as day in my sight. I start to squeeze the trigger. I pull and the gun goes off. I got him. He falls over and falls out of the window.
"Let's get Cap." Leto says as we run towards Em. She was hit in the leg. We lift her and I hold her up as we run to the alley as Leto covers us. We stop at the alley entrance. "What about Sarge?" She says again. Em takes out her binoculars and looks at the peacekeepers and Sarge. "He's still alive." "I'll get the others. We have to get him." "Leto. Wait. Shoot. There are more peacekeepers are coming." "What are we going to do?" Em responds "I don't know. There are too many for us to fight." Suddenly something happens.