Faulkner - Hunger Games: Invasion - 16
Chaper 25
In my mind I have already reached for my bow and fired an arrow bringing down Joanus but in my reality I know that should I even move my hand towards it I will be dead.
"Please sit" Joanus says waving his hand in the direction of a chair, a twist of fate it's the chair I spoke to Coin and Plutarch the most in, where most of the decisions on how they would use me to bring down the Capitol. Now it's the seat I will use to decide my own fate.
I slowly and purposefully sit down and stare back. Joanus isn't how I expected, I imagined him to be a man dressed top to toe in the most expensive of clothing, a man who would only accept the best for his appearance. I also thought he would be bigger in both height and build. In fact he looks like anyone, yes his clothes are more than the average resident of Panem could afford but nothing to those that the Capitol's people wore. How old he was never really crossed my mind but although he must be aging, he still looks quite young; perhaps medical treatments have slowed the effect on his skin.
"I apologise for the rather unwelcoming defences we had to set up, those tiny things give me the creeps, but" he walks around the room for a moment in silence before sitting down in to the side of me, exactly where Coin used to sit.
"You have to realise that I had to take some precautions, I knew you would be able to circumvent such a primitive distraction such as poisonous spiders, after all you won two Hunger Games" he pauses "Oh, in fact you didn't win any of them did you, you won by default, cheated in fact" he adds.
I am almost physically biting my tongue trying not to pounce verbally on his tirade of statements, so far they are true but that doesn't stop my argumentative nature rising to the surface.
Joanus lowers his hand and lays the gun on the table next to him. He then places both hands down on the desk as if he was drawing some kind of energy from it. "Now, enough of the pointless niceties. You must be wondering why I am here" he says.
I nod my head in agreement, I am hoping that knowing why he is here isn't the only information I will be getting out of this hostage situation.
"Cat got your tongue? How is the cat by the way" he says grinning? "Come on Katniss, there is no point in this meeting if you don't talk; I mean it takes at least two people talking to have a discussion" he adds.
I raise my eyes so that they are as still as possible in an attempt to strike at least some fear into his thoughts. "You haven't answered your own question yet, why are you here" I say.
"Good, right, I am here for the reason's I said right at the beginning. Panem needs leadership, one that knows exactly how to keep things going, exactly how systems, authority, delegation and most of all ruling work. Now clearly the so called President Paylor has no idea, you only have to look at the districts to see how badly things are going" he says raising himself back up out of the chair. In one split second I noticed he had forgotten about his gun, but my eyes glancing over to it prompted him to pick it back up and holster it which he did so laughing quietly.
"The arena, you and your people broke into was to train soldiers. You must know more than anyone that people with hearts do not make good fighters. I mean your friend Gale was a fighter wasn't he?" He says.
I feel a switch inside my body flick and I have to stop myself from jumping over the table. "Don't bring Gale into this; you know what happened at your father's mansion. It was Coin who ordered the bombing" I shout back. Joanus tilts his head to one side in almost agreement and sits back down.
"People with hearts don't make good fighters, all those children were at the gates as my father knew that the rebels, that you wouldn't fire on the innocent. Coin didn't have a heart but she only used the weapon that your friend created. Having a capitol bomber from District 2 was all she was missing in her plans. The worst thing about all of this, not only did you leave my father to be killed you assassinated probably the only other person to lead Panem forward" Joanus says.
"Paylor should have never been elected she didn't know the truth" he says getting up from his chair once more. This time rather than coming to stand over me he goes over to a desk near the screen and picks up a folder. He walks back over and drops it on the table. "Didn't know the truth about what?" I say as it slides over in front of me.
"It's a lot to digest I know Katniss and I am not for one minute asking you to read it all, but perhaps just have a glance and I will fill you in" he says.
The folder is brown as though it has been in the sun for years and has faded, there are many scribbles over it all of which have been crossed out so that the writing is unreadable but one thing that hasn't and almost leaps out from the cover are the words.
"The Nation of Panem Presidential Mandate"
"For official use and eyes only"
"Statim regulas sequi simper"
"I will always abide by the rules forthwith" Joanus says as I read the cover. "It's Latin a very old but decisive language" he adds. I open the cover and begin to read the first page. Control, Law, War, Districts are some of the words that immediately jump into my view.
"Let me explain Katniss, since even before dark days this Nation had more problems than you can imagine. Famine, Political, civil and international war, drugs, disease, poverty I could go on. To put it short this Nation that you live in almost destroyed itself to the point where life as we know was wiped out. The documents that you are reading have been passed down from President to President to stop that from ever happening again. There are other Nations on this earth across the seas that operate the same values, the same rules that are in this" he says.
"This document is a way of preserving life through structure and control. My father made it clear that The Hunger Games were not just to keep people in line, but to create solidarity of those districts. Everyone had a job and one that they did well" he adds.
"I don't understand, why a Hunger Games why children" I say as confused as I have ever been in my life.
"When you are young you have very little fear, have you ever jumped down from a high rock without a thought? Have you ever stolen something? Have you ever broken out of your district through an electric fence?" He begins to laugh again. "Children tend not to think of the dangers of anything, as you get older you have more things to worry about. The Children that were in the games were brave if a little naive. That was Katniss until you" he says.
I am trying extremely hard to blank out what he is saying to me, it is making far too much sense and I don't like it.
"You not only volunteered but you showed heart in the games, you reluctantly killed Marvel and you defied the system with those berries. That set the wheels in motion causing the districts, the people, to believe that there is another way of life and that they too could break the rules" he adds.
"I wanted to protect my sister that's why I volunteered not to cause all of the rebellion, the people of Panem created it, District 13 created the Mockingjay" I reply abruptly.
"You had a heart Katniss, so why is it you were selected to be the Mockingjay, to be the leader for the rebellion and now a soldier, a fighter" he replies.
A loud thump comes from the sliding door behind me and I can hear Peeta. "Katniss! Katniss open the door" he shouts. Joanus begins to look anxious for the first time and quickly grabs the folder from in front of me.
"I will say this; you have made the people of Panem think about themselves; about their districts more than Panem itself. In the past when this happened it caused wars between areas who thought they would be better off with more. Your actions Katniss has caused a fire sale and the people of the districts, the offspring of the Mockingjay will want more than they have now, it will go on and on" he says. "If this were to continue, it wouldn't be a tiny country like Precia, no, the giants across the ocean would be here and not to shake hands" he adds.
Joanus pulls out his gun again but doesn't point it at me "I was never going to kill you Katniss; I put out orders to every soldier in my control that I wanted you alive, alive for this conversation. There will be calls for you to become president after all this, you just have to make the right decision for yourself and your family" he adds as he pushes his chair under the table. "Where does Celestia come into this, you left her to die?" I reply. Joanus just smiles and winks "You have a heart Katniss; I knew you would save her, but my dear Miss Everdeen are you a soldier? I certainly didn't expect you to bring her to me though but then my former home has been destroyed I suppose".
He turns away from me and begins to walk to the back of the room, this gives me enough time to pull out my bow as I am bringing it up to my face a huge explosion forces me forward and off my chair. I am almost knocked out from the blast as my body slides across the floor. I feel a hand on my arm and then I am being pulled upwards. "Katniss are you alright" Peeta shouts with his face just a few inches away from mine.
I push him away and raise my bow but Joanus is not there "Joanus? Where is he?" I say looking back at Peeta.
Haymitch and Johanna climb their way into the room over the now destroyed door and look at me with worried expressions on their faces.
"He got away, Joanus was here with me, he got away" I say with the sound of the explosion still ringing in my ears. Then we all turn round as we hear a gun shot from the corridor at the back of the room.
Before anyone has the time to question what I was doing or what was said I am rushing towards the doorway. The room is still filled with dust from the blast, as I clamber through the desks and chairs I get through and turn to where the sound came from and see President Paylor lying hunched up against the wall holding her stomach.
As I reach her it's clear that the gunshot was at her and there would only be one person responsible, Joanus. I lean down to see how bad she is "Don't worry Katniss, it's going to be ok now" she says into my ear. I look at her as Peeta and the others catch up with me. "It's all over now, I am so, so sorry you had to go through all of that" she adds.
"It's your time now Katniss, make sure you say yes for the sake of Panem" she says. "Say yes to what" I reply as her eyelids close and her arms become limp. I am pushed aside as Frostine takes over and begins trying to resuscitate her. Haymitch looks at me confused "What did she mean?" He says. With all the information I have just been fed whether it is true or just lies I can't tell him what it means. Paylor knows that now I will be elected president of Panem whether I want to be or not. I stand up and move away. "I don't know but we have to get to the basement, it is the only thing I can think of and it's the only place I want to go" I demand.
I am almost at the elevator when the others have worked out that I have left them, I turn round to see them all rushing to keep up with me. Frostine's hands are covered in dark red blood, she looks distraught "She lost too much blood; the bullet wound must have punctured her lung as well as severe internal damage. What are we going to do?" she says and begins crying.
"We find any survivors and get out of here, where's Fergus!" I reply. I get blank expressions from all but Haymitch. "He went ahead, said he would begin an attempt on the basement, we haven't seen him since but it doesn't look good" he says. "I am sure he will be fine, probably a lot better off than we will" I reply. Haymitch begins to look interested by my comments but I can't tell him now that I think Fergus has been a spy for Joanus all along, perhaps its coincidence, perhaps Paylor was in that room before I walked in.
"We will have to go down in two groups. Peeta, Haymitch, Stipar and Cressida you come with me. I will send the elevator back up for the rest of you, if it doesn't try the stairs" I say. We step into the cage and I press the elevator down button while sliding the door shut.
From our position on the Command floor the basement is just a few floors down but as we descend the sound of gun fire becomes louder and louder, it seems the war of Panem has made its way to the bottom of District 13.
The basement area hardly ever got used and was only built to house the inhabitants of 13 when the rest of the structure was either being repaired, upgraded or attacked. Despite it being built many years ago and the equipment being a mixture of old and new intricately bound together, it is still regarded as Panem's greatest accomplishment. The reason, it was built by people who had no real tools or ability, people who had been forced into hiding away from the Capitol to live a life in the ground and ultimately to rise against its rulers.
Just as the basement begins to appear below us the usually dimly lit surroundings are bathed in bright white lights. I begin to move my head forward to try and see what is happening only to quickly duck as bullet after bullet hits the metal shell of the elevator cage.
We all crouch as far back as we can so much that we are almost on top of each other; then I have an idea. We needed a distraction so remembering what Beetee said I pull out a smoke arrow and fire it down below. I can't see where it went but as the elevator comes to a standstill all that can been seen is smoke.
"Beetee didn't think to give us masks or at least night vision" Johanna says.
We managed to exit the elevator with no further gun fire but I know our cover won't last long so I prompt everyone to draw their weapons. As we begin to walk through the smoke I created every step is hazardous not knowing if we would come across a Precia Military troop but it wouldn't be long before I would get an answer. Stipar who had begun to wander slightly out of our group, crouching whilst walking and the strange posture attracted everyone's attention. As he took a step forward a man from a side room jumped towards him with a knife, Precia Military. Fighting to force the man off him Stipar had managed to free up his rifle firing a single shot into his chest at point blank range. No blood, no screaming the man just slipped down to the floor. Unshaken Stipar looks across "Think it might be an idea to get on the floor, just until we are through this" he says.
We continue to make our way to where we think the main corridor is to lead us into the sleeping and living areas Stipar's idea was very good as we now had a small bubble like area where the smoke seemed not to fall to.
We come out the other side to be greeted by three Precia men, only they weren't actually pleased to see us. Immediately they all opened fire, our reactions were quick as we all dived left and right to cover, but not so much for Stipar. Lying next to me I can see at least three bullet holes in his jacket to his upper right arm. He doesn't actually seem to notice at first until he catches me looking at it and puts his hand on the wound. Stipar turning his hand over to inspect the blood before wiping it down his leg. "Just a scratch, I'm made of more than that" he says. I am not sure if he is telling the truth, he isn't in pain or whether the adrenaline is pumping so quickly around his body that he can't tell.
He rolls over onto his stomach and begins firing his rifle at the men, Peeta and Cressida follow suit and in just a few seconds all three men are lying dead on the floor.
"We aren't going to get very far if we continue at this rate" Haymitch shouts from the other side of the corridor. He's right, by the time we reach the living area it might be too late. We all stand up and reform the group weapons out and ready, just two more corners and we will be there.
We make the right into the medical area, which seems to have been totally destroyed; tables, glass, electrical equipment, medicine all over the floor on both sides of the corridor. "Contact" Peeta shouts beginning to fire his gun. I have no idea what we are shooting at or where, but I begin firing my arrows down towards where Peeta pointed.
The rattle of bullets hitting the walls next to my head almost begins to become a normal sound, I don't care if any of them hit me, if I don't make it now at least some of us will get to the children to save them. I count nine Precia Military that fall down in front of us, but as I turn to our group Stipar is lying motionless by my feet. I know he's dead, the three bullets in his arm have been accompanied by two in his neck and many in his chest. Cressida rushes over to me to pull me away from his body, my only thought is to whisper "Thank you for everything Stipar" before allowing her grasp to free me from my gaze.
"Katniss, fire an incendiary down there" Haymitch shouts pointing to the very last room. Without thought I pull out the arrow and fire it straight into the room. It lights up like a Furness straight away causing a ball of flames to come bulging out through its doorway. "Come on!" Peeta shouts. We begin running down past the room. As we do I begin to smell something that makes me feel sick, burning flesh. I try not to look but something in my brain forces my head in that direction, the room is filled with Precia's men and women and they are all on fire, arms, legs, faces burning right in front of me. Do I really have a heart, who would do such a thing to so many people? Peeta pushed my face away but the damage has already been done, perhaps I am just like those soldiers' a thoughtless weapon sent to kill.
We turn the final corner and head towards the main sleeping area door. Its closed which hopefully means everyone inside is safe.
I press my holo earpiece still in shock from what I have just seen. "This is Katniss Everdeen; open the lockdown door the area is clear outside". Cressida and Johanna are bent over desperately trying to breath. Haymitch just stands with his hand on the large metal door. Peeta by my side still checking that I am ok with his eyes. We wait a minute, the door doesn't open and no one replies on the holo.
"District 13, this is Katniss, open the dormitory lockdown door immediately" I shout back down the communicator. As I finish the sentence the door slowly begins to slide across. Impatiently I squeeze my body though the increasing gap and a doctor stops me on the other side. "Miss Everdeen, I am so glad you are here, is it true is it ok out there" he says.
I nod my head "It's clear, we have cleared the area, any Precia military left will be long gone by now" I reply as I begin walking fast towards the beds.
"Miss Everdeen" he says in a frantic voice; I turn around to look at him whilst still walking. "Miss Everdeen, there is something you should know" he says, his voice beginning to turn into worry. His comment and the way he said it makes me stop instantly. "What's wrong, my children they're ok aren't they" I reply almost shouting at the poor man. "Yes, they are fine" he says before rubbing his forehead with a small white cloth.
"Then what!" I say. "I am afraid your Mother, she, she got injured in some of the shooting" he replies. My body is reacting in a way only mine can, I am always ready for the worst, and it's used to it now. "She's stable at the moment but we weren't able to carry out surgery on her. The medical floor was one of the first taken by Precia. I am sorry Miss Everdeen. The wounds from the bombing weren't healed and there are many complications. I am afraid she is in a very bad way; she has done remarkably well to fight it so long" he says.
I look at him trying once again not to show my emotions "We can't promise anything but now we might be able to get back upstairs we can try a few things on her, I'll get the team together see what we can do" he adds.
We walk round through the maze of beds and I am lead to where Prim, Mother and I stayed whilst the Capitol was bombing. There standing at the bottom playing with Buttercup is Rye and Willow. As if they knew I had come they both turn around towards me. "Mom" Rye shouts with his arms up in the air. Willow begins to stumble but manages to put a few steps together before falling back down. Before I can say anything back Rye has jumped up and is desperately trying to climb his way up my body to my face. I feel his lips on my cheek and almost everything is good again. Peeta goes over and picks Willow up lifting her in the air like a trophy he had just won, before swinging her round and hugging her.
"Daddy" Rye screams trying to pull him towards us creating a human bridge for both children to move between. My world, everything I need is right here, this moment, this second pushes out any anger I had and fills it with the greatest feeling, love. Then Rye makes me remember someone that's missing.
"Grandma, she saved us but now she's not very well" he says pointing over to a bed a few steps down. Reluctantly and fearing for the worse I slowly walk over and look.
She's lying with a thick grey cover pulled right up under her chin, her eyes closed as though she had been sleeping for days. She looks peaceful, content, no grazes or injuries on her face. "Peeta" I say dropping Rye down to the floor. "Go to Daddy for a moment, he wants to know everything you have been doing while we have been away" I say to Rye.
I quietly lower myself on to the bed by Mothers feet and place my hand on her stomach. She opens her eyes but seems to struggle to keep them open "Katniss, my dear" she begins to smile. "Come closer, I am so happy you are ok" she says trying to bring her arms up to touch me.
I lean down and kiss her forehead; she feels quite cold but seems to have some sort of fever as I feel moisture on my lips. As I pull away I can see her struggling to try and see if I am actually ok, her half closed eyes scanning me from my hair to my waist.
"Rye says you saved them?" I say quietly.
"Oh she definitely did that, she dove in front of the children right in front of a Precia Soldier, she took all of the blast. Had she not been there then —" The doctor says. I turn around and look up to him, hoping for him to do something to make her better.
"Miss Everdeen, we need to take her now" he says pulling the cover away. I try not to but my eyes look down her body. She is wearing a white nightgown and it's completely clean not one single stain on it. I know that she must be bandaged up underneath but I can't help thinking that it's just minor and a few days in the medical bay she will be fine, just like I was.
A few other medics begin to move round, two holding a stretcher and one by one they gather her up before resting her down and lift her away.
As they disappear down the room Peeta comes back across with the children. "Here could you take them a moment; I need to do something" he says passing Willow over to me.
I fall back on the bed mother had just been sleeping in, Willow by my side, Rye climbs up and the three of us look up at the ceiling. "Is everything going to be ok now Mother?" Rye whispers. "I hope so" I say closing my eyes.