Sorry for not updating when I said I was going to. My mom injured her back so I had to go to her house and help her out. This is my last week of summer classes so I have finals that I have been studying for as well. And to top it all off, I have not been sleeping well and been pretty sick off and on. So again I'm sorry about that. The next chapter will be the LAST chapter. Anyways enjoy this chapter.
CHAPTER 21: Truth Be Told, We Need Peace
The sound of gunshots outside the attic window of Tigris' shop causes me to jump. I have been awake all night and morning and its around 6 am now. I shake Volt awake and he helps me to wake everyone else. We need to get started before too much more damage is done. Once everyone is awake we grab our weapons and prepare to leave. I sling my shotgun onto my back and tighten the straps on my knife belt before putting on the disguise from last night. Hopefully today will be our last day of battle, there has been too much devastation and loss already and I'm ready to get back to Cato and his family. Commander Boggs leads us out into the street, where dead bodies lay left and right and blood stains the nearby shops and houses. All the blood and death makes me fell sick, not just physically but emotionally. I was trained to be a killer, to be ruthless and kill innocent people, but now as I stand here that is the last thing I want to do.
It only takes us about fifteen minutes to reach the Presidential Mansion as we run through the streets dodging bullets. There are families standing in front of the mansion begging for a place to stay, Capitol children sit out front, some crying others looking completely lost. As our soldiers take out the nearby Peacekeepers and the capitol citizens that are trying to fight; my eyes are locked on the children as silver parachutes rain down from the sky. I look up to see an unidentified hovercraft, there is no Capitol Seal and it does not have the distinct rebel markings that most hovercrafts from 13 have. The children's faces light up when they see the parachutes; to them parachutes= gifts. They don't even have time to react as the bombs planted in the parachutes go off.
I turn and run from the mansion, but it doesn't help I can still hear the screams of the children. I run towards Johanna, the only other person who is not currently fighting off peacekeepers. She stands there staring straight ahead, her jaw tense and her fists clenched. She doesn't relax as I stand next to her she is still frozen in her place, paralyzed by the anger coursing through her veins. I try and snap her out of it, waving my hand in front of her eyes, snapping my fingers, even lightly slapping her arm but she still does not react. Finally I turn to see what her eyes are focused on and that's when I see two people I definitely did not expect to see here; Katniss and Peeta stand in front of the mansion weapons in hand.
Finally Johanna speaks and you can hear the anger in her voice, "She shouldn't be out on the front lines, she shouldn't even be here neither should he. It's not safe for any of them; this is all Coin's fault. She is no better than Snow, she sends a pregnant sixteen year old and her baby daddy into a War Zone, it's a whole new level of Hunger Games."
I don't reply because I can't seem to find the words to. My eyes had drifted from Katniss and Peeta back to the children just in time to see another round of bombs dropped, the children scream in pain and I see a familiar blonde dressed in a medic outfit, running to help the injured children, her hair braided down her back. The little girl who comforted me when Cato was hurt, the one who smiles all the time, Katniss' little sister Prim. She squats beside one of the children attempting to comfort them and takes a roll of gauze out of a pack and starts to wrap it around the child's bleeding leg.
As Prim finishes off wrapping the child's leg, she gets up ready to help another but an explosion stops her. The parachutes that had dropped down before seemed to have gone off again; this explosion bigger than the last. I can hear Katniss screaming Prim's name and begging her to come out alive, but I can't see them because smoke billows around me. I can't seem to focus on anything but the children in front of me burning to death. Johanna has her hands in her hair, pulling at it as she swears under her breath. I finally snap out of my trance and take the gun off my back, pointing it at the sky I pull the trigger sending bullet into the sky and effectively getting the attention of all those around me but only until the Capitol anthem begins to blare through the speakers that are still intact as a white flag of surrender is lifted into the sky.
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It has been a week since President Snow's surrender and we have spent it planning his execution. Katniss was asked to be the one to kill him, because despite me being the face of the rebellion; Katniss has been and always will be the Girl on Fire. Prim was announced dead on arrival when found by medics. Katniss had gone temporarily insane, hiding out wherever she could to try to get away from all the death that has plagued her. Peeta spends his time trying to comfort and help Katniss, which he has. Cato flew in with President Coin and the rest of the government officials. He has a large metal brace that runs from his hip to his ankle, it wraps around his torso and four metal bars run down the length of his leg, one on each side to keep his leg from bending. He told me the first day he arrived that It was still bothering him to not be able to walk on his own but agreed that it was better than being confined to a wheelchair. We have spent every hour together, both grateful that the war is over. We went to visit Gale in the small makeshift hospital, Johanna after finding out that it was Gale's bombs that killed all those children had knocked him over the head with the barrel of her gun effectively erasing his memory of quite a few events, he doesn't even remember who Johanna is, he only asks for Katniss until the morphling eventually knocks him out. We also visited Johanna whose eyes seemed to be red and puffy constantly as she cries over what the Capitol had done to her and the fact Gale doesn't remember her or want her anymore. Volt was helping to arrange an alliance between some nearby countries that had gone unnoticed by Panem for almost a century.
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Today is the day of the execution, Katniss has asked me to be alongside her when she killed the President. She said that he had caused me so much pain and misery that I should have some part in his death. I agreed but it was not to kill Snow, I was going to kill Coin she was no better than Snow and we need a President that will actually better the country.
When the time comes, Katniss and I stand in front of the mansion side by side. President snow is handcuffed and has been tied to a post, his beady eyes stare into mine with hatred. President Coin stands on the balcony overlooking the city. As a rebel soldiers begins to countdown I slip a knife out my boot as Katniss notches an arrow, when the countdown hits zero I am surprised to see Katniss turn and sends an arrow flying towards the balcony, effectively lodging the arrow into President Coin's heart. President Snow's cackling laugh cuts through the dead silence that has taken over the square, before I flick my wrist sending a knife into his jugular. The crowd erupts into cheers from some, and others scream for justice over the unexpected death of Coin. Katniss is dragged towards the training center, a furious and screaming Peeta behind her.
Katniss' trial takes place the next day, Haymitch claims that she is mentally unstable and under a lot of pressure so she should not be blamed. I give my testimony as does Cato, Volt, and even Johanna. They eventually close the case stating that she should not be held responsible due to her mental state. A woman by the name of Paylor is elected President the next day, her swearing in happens just hours later. A few days later Katniss and Peeta are sent off to District 12 along with Haymitch, Cato and I decide to go with them.
After a month of living in District 12, Cato and I have adjusted and even gotten involved in some rebuilding efforts. When we first arrived we made our first night in the District… memorable. When we are not helping out, or spending the day fooling around in bed we have been planning our wedding, which is going to happen in about a month. Today is Cato's 18th Birthday and I'm excited to tell him some good news after all of the devastation that we have endured.
I start off his birthday with a large breakfast with pastries I had Peeta make. We go out to the woods that Katniss showed us, and I lead him to the small cottage by the lake. We fool around in the lake, showering each other with kisses. That night as we are drifting off to sleep I pull myself closer to Cato and place his hand on my abdomen. I turn my head to look at him and he asks me if I'm trying to hint at something. I chuckle and kiss him softly and quickly before speaking, "what I'm trying to tell you Cato is that we… are going to have a baby." His face breaks into a huge smile and his eyes light up before he pulls me in for a passionate kiss, and that night we celebrate the best way we know how.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I GOT ONE REVIEW FOR THE LST CHAPTER AND I WOULD REALLY LOVE SOME MORE FEEDBACK. THANK YOU FOR READING AND I REALLY DO APPRECIATE THE VIEWS, FAVOURITES, FOLLOWS AND REVIEWS. Love you all :)