I wanted to update this a few days ago, but the timing was just wrong. So here we are today! I also have to apologize for the long exposition. This is sort of a bridge episode, because the next several chapters are going to have a lot going on. The beginnings of a new ending are at work in this chapter, so I hope it still feels good.
There is a little action going on, but it's a couple of conversations that needed to happen before the last part of the story really gets going.
I hope you all like it.
Read on!
Underwhelmed
District 2 doesn't look anything like any other district save one. And the main difference between Two and Twelve is the deep quarry in place of a cavernous range of mountains that have been tunneled out for coal. Here, they mine stone for masonry, something meant to be their main industry. The thing is, everyone now knows that Two is the Capitol's main resource for Peacekeepers. The little towns are nicer-looking than the ones in Twelve, and something obvious upon seeing the rebels in Two is that they've been better-treated than nearly every other district in our country. But these people are no less oppressed than the rest of us.
After just a week of being married, Finnick left Thirteen with me, Peeta and Johanna to make our last stand in Two, and I wish I could say it wasn't in vain. We've been on the ground with these rebels, their leaders and the citizens here for two weeks with no end in sight. It doesn't help that we're constantly moved from one place to another for our safety, and it certainly doesn't help that we're never allowed on the front lines with Boggs and Jackson. My camera crew shoots us doing small propos for the people outside Two, and the leader there, a previous Victor named Lyme includes us in briefings of the advancement of troops — or rather, how little advancement they've made. That's more than could be said of Coin in Thirteen.
It isn't just Peacekeepers that we're fighting here or even their hovercrafts that are equally matched by ours. No. What we're fighting here is an impenetrable mountain that has been in place since the Dark Days as the Capitol's main base of defenses. Boggs and Jackson report back every day of failed attempts to infiltrate it. Our spies have been identified and tortured for information, or worse, they've been killed. We're all running out of ideas, and we're all running out of time. The longer this goes on, the easier it will be for President Snow to escape capture. No one wants that.
The only good thing about the time it has taken us to get even this far is the fact that we've all been living above ground for the last two weeks. We've all been sharing a tent to save space, and Peeta has kept his word about keeping his distance, sleeping in his own cot even though it's close to mine. But the fresh air has done us all some good.
No longer are we pale and thin from the restrictive diet and exercise of Thirteen. Because I got permission from the people guarding us, Finnick and I go hunting every day, bringing back game for everyone in our camp that day. I practice with my bow every day other than that, and we all take perimeter walks at dawn and dusk to keep our knowledge of our camps fresh in the event that we see some action.
But we never do. I can't say I'm bored, but I'm frustrated.
I can also see that Finnick misses Annie dearly, even though he talks to her and sees her every day through a comlink with Thirteen. That was one of my stipulations from him if he came, after we argued a little about whether the exposure was good for her at all. He said it would make her worry more; I told him she needed contact with her husband every day. I won, and he calls her every day while she's at lunch, which for us is just before we go hunting.
On the same token, while Finnick talks to Annie every day, Peeta and I also talk to our families. I promised my mother I would keep her up to speed on what was happening, and I haven't broken that promise once. I don't have much to report, but she tries to sound interested. She lets me know how Prim is doing with the hospital work, and they always talk about how much Dr. Aurelius misses Finnick's presence in the Critical Care Unit. I don't usually have to tell them how much I miss them, but every now and then, they say it to me, so I say it back. Prim is always the one who tells me she loves me, and I tell both of them how much I love them. It surprises my mother, that's for sure. Johanna doesn't call home often, but she spends time in the Communications tent early in the morning a lot.
While being in Two hasn't been very fortuitous, I've actually learned a lot about the district itself.
District 2 is a large district, as one would expect, comprised of a series of villages spread out across the mountains. Each was at one point associated with either a mine or a quarry, though now many are devoted to the housing and training of Peacekeepers. This wouldn't present much of a challenge, with the rebels having District 13's air power on their side, were it not for the impenetrable mountain that houses the heart of the Capitol's military.
The mountain, which we've nicknamed the Nut because of an off-handed comment from Haymitch about it being "a tough nut to crack," was established in the Dark Days, when the Capitol had lost 13 and was desperate for an underground stronghold. They had some of their resources sitting on the outskirts of the Capitol itself — nuclear missiles, aircraft, troops — but a significant chunk was now in an enemy's control. However, in the old mines of nearby District 2, they saw an opportunity.
From the air, the Nut appeared to be just another mountain with a few entrances on its edifice. But inside were immense cavernous spaces where slabs of stone had been cut, hauled to the surface and transported down slippery roads to make distant buildings. There was even a train system to transport the miners from the Nut to the center of the main town in District 2. It ran up to the square Peeta and I visited during the Victory Tour, standing on the wide marble steps of the justice building, trying to avoid the eyes of the grieving families of Cato and Clove assembled below us.
It wasn't the most ideal location, plagued with mud slides, floods and avalaches, but the advantages outweighed their concerns. As they cut deep into the mountains, the miners left large pillars and walls of stone to support the intricate infrastructure. The Capitol reinforced these and set out to make the mountain their new base of operations. Filled it with computer banks and meeting rooms, barracks and arsenals. Widened entrances to allow the exit of hovercraft from the hangar and installed missile launchers. But as a whole, they left the exterior of the mountain mostly untouched. A rocky, rough tangle of trees and wildlife. A natural fortress to protect them from their enemy.
By other districts' standards, the Capitol babied the citizens here. By looking at the rebels of District 2, it's easy to tell they were decently fed and cared for in childhood. Some people did eventually end up as quarry or mining workers. Other people were educated for jobs in the Nut or funneled into the ranks of the Peacekeepers. Trained young and hard for combat. The Hunger Games were a rare opportunity for wealth and a kind of glory known nowhere else. Of course the people of 2 swallowed the Capitol's propaganda more easily than the rest of us and embraced their ways. But for all of that, at the end of the day, they were all still slaves. And if that was lost on the citizens who became Peacekeepers or worked in the Nut, it was not lost on the stonecutters who now form the backbone on the resistence here.
No amount of fighting on either side has been enough to turn the tides for anyone, so we've remained hopelessly deadlocked since we arrived. My nerves are frayed despite the fresh air. Finnick's nerves are worn despite his talks with Annie. Even Peeta and Johanna have begun to give in without an end to the stalemate in sight.
And it's this day that I receive a phone call from Haymitch with an update on things in 13 and a bit of good news.
"Boggs and Jackson say you've been having trouble getting a good foothold out there," he says to him.
"That's one way of putting it," I reply, not too enthusiastically.
"Well, we're sending a team out to help with the mountain. Beetee and some others," he says. "You know, the brains and such."
At the mention of Beetee, I know this group will include Gale. When I first volunteered to come to District 2, he volunteered with me, but with Beetee and Madge needing him, I hadn't felt right taking him away from them. It seems he's getting his wish to be back in the fighting, though it isn't anymore desirable now than it was two weeks ago.
Gale finds me easily the day they all arrive as I'm sitting at the north edge of our camp restringing my bow. Already having been hunting this morning, my kills are already with the cooks for dinner tonight.
"Good to see you keeping yourself busy," he says and sits next to me with his own crossbow shiny and unused. "Madge says hi. She said you might like this."
He holds out his hand to me and opens his palm, showing me an intricate, colorful braided bracelet that looks like it was handmade. At first, I'm confused, but I take it nonetheless with an amused grin.
"It's from home, Katniss," he says when he sees that I'm a little confused. "She made it from thread we found in 12."
My fist clenches around the bracelet, and I look at him. "I'll tell her thank you the next time I call Prim and Mom. And thank you," I say to him.
With his mouth closed, he grins and nods. "You're welcome." Then he looks around the camp as it buzzes close to dinner time. "So the word is we're at a stalemate. Haymitch said we needed some fresh ideas about getting into that Mountain, yeah?"
I can only sigh. "If we want to cut off the last supply chain to the Capitol before we go in, then that's right. And if someone — anyone can come up with a viable plan, I'm sure we'll all agree."
He nods, and I finish with my bow before he speaks again.
"Everybody misses you," he says and exhales without looking at me.
I touch his shoulder, and a sad smile touches his lips. "Everyone meaning you?" I ask.
"Of course I miss you," he says with a soft chuckle. "We were each other's shadows for four years, and ever since the Games, it's like we barely see each other. I feel like part of that is my fault because I thought I'd lost you. To Peeta. When really, I should've thanked him for bringing you home. And I want to fix what's messed up between us. If you still want to be friends, I mean."
I look around the camp, finding Peeta and Finnick and wondering where this is coming from. I know we've both been busy, for two different reasons, and I know our friendship hasn't exactly been mutual lately. But why would he think I don't want to be friends anymore?
Gale is more than my friend.
He is a part of my family.
"Gale, we're family," I tell him and not to avoid his speech or its implications. "Blood doesn't end with family, so no matter how long we go without talking, it doesn't change that. You have Madge, and you're happy right? I mean, you like being with her, don't you?"
He smiles again and nods.
I grasp onto his arm and shake him gently. "And I have Peeta, and I love you. It's real, Gale. More now than I realized it could be. We do this — We take him down, and we can have all that. Don't you want all of that?"
The sad eyes he lifts to mine almost break my heart.
"I don't want to lose it," he says, and I can't say that I don't feel the same way.
With my hand still on his shoulder, I move forward and wrap my free hand around his other shoulder, laying the side of my head against his. When he finally lifts his hands to my arms, connecting us for the first time in months, I whisper softly. "I don't either. That's why we're all here. Right?"
He leans into me, squeezing my arm and giving me back some of the hope I've just given him.
I catch the feet shuffling before he does. Looking up, my eyes find Peeta's as he finds us and brings my attention to him. His face isn't confused or worried. He actually looks relieved.
"Just about time to do perimeter walks," he says and nods back to where Johanna and Finnick are getting their new jackets in place. "Beetee says he's going to be looking at maps well passed dinner, if you want Gale to come with us. Maybe he'll see something we've missed."
Peeta is using his diplomatic voice, and I get the impression that he's seen me holding my best friend. Maybe he even thinks we need the time to get back on good terms together. It makes me appreciate him more.
I take a minute to really look at Gale, seeing him in a heavy sweater that zips up twice. "That sounds like a good idea," I say and stand up to face Peeta. "Your side of the camp is closer to the Mountain, so you should show him while you're over there. I'll go with Johanna and Finnick."
I don't give either of them time to argue, kissing Peeta's cheek and making my way toward Finnick and Johanna. We usually walk along the west and east sides of the camp, and me being with them will be strange. I feel like Gale needs to get used to Peeta right now, so whatever time he and I need can wait.
Finnick looks at me funny when I join him and Johanna, but I silently beg him not to say anything, and he stops himself before he can. I zip up my jacket and strap on my bow. With as minimal a nod as possible, I urge them to go on and then follow them, glancing back to see Peeta and Gale already several feet away.
I don't realize until they're nearly out of sight that I'm holding my breath.
For dinner, we eat goose, grain, mashed vegetables and an overabundance of gravy. Because the mess hall tent is crowded, I get permission from our guards to eat in our tent with Gale and an aerial map of the Nut. We all want to go into the meeting in the morning with some fresh ideas.
"They're still patrolling the south end of the mountain with minimal guards," Gale says as we eat. "There may be a way to overpower them, but then we would still have to climb several hundred feet just to breach the outer defenses. And there could always be more guards inside."
"There are," Peeta says with his own pad in his hand as it calculates the number of guards and workers in the Nut. "Right now, the schematics have ten guards in that area. At least five others who look like miners."
Gale doesn't add anything to that, still looking over the image of the mountain and rubbing his chin.
"Well, if you ask me," Johanna says with her mouth full of food, "anyone who wants to storm the damn thing has my vote. We've been out here for two weeks, and every day that passes is another day we risk losing. We close this thing off for good, then Snow doesn't have any means to protect his precious Capitol."
"Yeah, but there are innocent people in there, Jo," Finnick says as he helps Peeta with calculations on the number of people inside the Nut. "Workers and miners and haulers who are just doing their jobs. They're just trying to survive."
"So are we," she argues. "And we've been doing this for a while now, Finn. You knew we'd get to this point eventually. It's us or them right now. And are you really going to have them ship you home in a metal box to your wife, all because you wanted to be fair to people who've basically been helping our enemy the entire time we've been fighting?"
"It's not the same thing," he chides. "Annie and I are prepared if anything happens to me. We both know the risks, and … she'll be okay. She was before. I was the wreck when I thought I'd lost her."
Johanna rolls her eyes but doesn't argue with him on that subject.
I sit watching them talk back and forth, realizing that I have nothing to add to our conversation. I usually try to contribute something when it involves using me for some invasion or message. But in this moment, I'm utterly and completely blank.
I keep thinking back to Commander Lyme and why she would turn her back on the Capitol. As a Victor, I'm sure she has suffered something terrible. Every Victor has. But being from Two, I can't help but wonder what happened to her for her to be on the Rebel's side. I know why Finnick and Johanna, Haymitch and Peeta have been fighting. Annie too. But why is Commander Lyme fighting?
For the first time in weeks, since Peeta's promise to take things slower, we share a cot in our tent with the others, but only to sleep and only until a spare can be brought in for Gale, who is immediately assigned to our tent after dinner. The brazier that hangs in the middle of the tent fills the space with heat to keep us all warm. Temperatures dip below freezing for the first time since we arrived. And I have what can only be described as a hopeful dream that night while sleeping in Peeta's arms.
Despite my life-long proclamations of never wanting children, there is a little boy with blond curls and grey eyes in my dream, along with a little girl with straight black hair and the clearest blue eyes who must be related to him, as they have the same nose and the same mouth. The girl clutches the boy's hand with a death grip as she leads him through a never-ending sea of tall, strong bodies crowding a small courtyard all peering in the same direction. The sky is blue and the ground is green with soft grass. Slowly, the sea of bodies parts, and the girl and the boy emerge ahead of a large group of well-wishers as I stand over the crowd with Peeta by my side.
The girl climbs to my side and hands me a slip of paper before surrendering the boy to me. I lift him in my arms protectively and fumble with the slip of paper until it opens. The words that come from my mouth are garbled, but within seconds, a joyful cry from the crowd fills my ears and a familiar face slides ahead of the others waiting. It's Hazelle, and she's pulling Posy by the hand with a slip of paper in her own hand. When she reaches me, I embrace her and then turn to Peeta. He gestures behind us, and she moves to a row of chairs waiting. I count ten altogether, and slowly it dawns on me. Despite its similarities to a Reaping, I realize it is something completely different. It's a raffle. The slip of paper in Hazelle's hand is a number that matches with mine, and the seat she sits in has the number 8 on it. Because it's Peeta and I doing it, we must be the ones overseeing this, and with Hazelle being so happy, I can only guess that she is receiving something she wants.
I wake up before I can see what we're giving her, but I open my eyes to see Peeta still asleep, knowing that if he is here, I will have more hopeful dreams. I have more hope with him near me, and I want to give that to other people who need it.
The morning meeting in the Command tent is much like it has been the last two weeks, but this morning, we have two new perspectives from Beetee and Gale. We learn over breakfast that Beetee pored over the maps even longer than we did, checking the wiring, the tunnels and the worker-count, only coming up with one obvious conclusion. The people inside will have to be forced out.
Commander Lyme gives the rest of us who only know a smaller amount of information about the Nut a virtual tour of the exterior and the interior, along with every failed assault that has taken place since the rebels began trying to take it down, or rather overpower its considerable defenses. By the time she's finished, I've emptied my bowl of hot cereal and started sipping on the sugar-laden, creamy coffee Finnick brought me from the Mess Hall tent. The talking goes on well passed lunch, and Peeta brings everyone bread and soup from a broth made of the geese we've been hunting.
"We've tried attacking the main entrances," Lyme says over her soup after having long pushed it away. "We've tried frontal attacks and side attacks and under-handed attacks. Nothing has worked. So if anyone else suggests a frontal attack, they're going to be the ones leading it!"
Her frustration over our inability to complete this one task is obvious, and I share her frustration easily. But the latest debate we have is that there are people in the mountain who might have been coerced into working there, and they deserve a chance to either surrender or fight. This is the point where Gale finally speaks up after being silent all day.
"They didn't give anyone in Twelve a chance," he says somewhat bitterly. "Why give them one?"
I open my mouth to respond, but Finnick beats me to it.
"Because we would be no better than Snow and his Peacekeepers. And it's the difference between having a conscience and selling your soul to the Devil. You have Madge in your life now. Do you really want to go back to her and say that you had sunk to using the tactics of the man who killed her family?"
Gale scrunches up his mouth and then clenching his jaws. "Madge would understand," he says but it doesn't sound like he's convinced. More like he would have to convince her. Or convince himself.
"And would you be able to look at yourself in the mirror?" Finnick presses.
I'm listening to what they're saying and looking at Finnick. Then I look at Lyme and Peeta. Boggs and Jackson are pacing, and Beetee is staring out the window that gives us a wide view of our target. Johanna is silent by my side.
And suddenly I blurt out: "What about an Airtime Assault?"
"We've been shooting Propos, Katniss," Cressida says, but I shake my head.
"No, not rebel propos. An Airtime Assault, and not for us. For them," I say and nod back to the mountain through the window.
For several seconds, everyone is confused.
With a sigh, I piece together the myriad of thoughts in my mind. "We've been doing this all wrong," I say. "Trying to strike them where they're most vulnerable. I think we've proven several times over there's only one way they're vulnerable, and it's not by structure alone."
It's Beetee who follows up my thoughts with a question. "What are you suggesting?"
"Our spies were discovered and captured. Tortured. Probably killed. But we still have a vast supply of people capable of overpowering the guards."
"The people inside," Peeta says, and I nod.
Murmuring follows, and Boggs speaks up over the hum. "But those people are working to keep it functional," he says. "And not all of them are trained in firearms. We'd be asking them to commit suicide. With very little chance of being rescued if they fail."
"And something even greater than freedom if they succeed," I say.
"What is that, Ms. Everdeen?" Commander Lyme chimes in.
"Yeah, clue us in, brainless," Johanna demands.
This time, Gale answers, finally understanding and agreeing. "Hope."
I look at him, and he looks at me, and for the first time since arriving in District 13, fighting for my life in the hospital ward and becoming the Mockingjay, I feel like I have my best friend back. Then I glance at Finnick, Johanna and Peeta before I look at Commander Lyme again.
"And this time, I think we need you to help us."
The look in her eyes tell me she isn't expecting me to say this, but she quickly agrees.
"We should consult Coin," Boggs says. "She was expecting an assault on our part to wrench control from Snow. If we're going with a different plan, she needs to know."
I want to oppose this suggestion, but I know if I do, Boggs will know something is up. So when he gets up and leaves to do that, I don't object. Instead, I move closer to Lyme and bring Finnick with me. He's more knowledgeable of her life than I am, and he'll be the one to connect her past with his and mine.
While Boggs tells Coin about our plan, of which I know she won't like because it involves sparing peoples lives as opposed to taking them, Finnick and Lyme talk over her Games and her family. I only vaguely recall that she even won the Games because it was well before my time, but Finnick seems to connect with her very quickly over an unexpected topic: his father.
"I met him once," she says in a sad voice. "When they were recruiting out of District 4."
"As a recruit," I say from Finnick's side.
"No, as a protestor," she informs us. "But there weren't as many cameras back then, so Snow didn't find out about it. He discovered newer, more brutal ways to punish the people who opposed his practices. But Sterling Odair was a name everyone in that District respected. I was sorry to hear he died."
Finnick's face is as sad as her voice as he presses his lips together. I lay my hand over his, and he lays his other hand over mine. It's quiet, and then Boggs comes back with news from Coin.
"We have a small problem," he says and sits down.
First, I'm fearing the worst. Coin has refused us the opportunity to not only gain control of the Mountain, instead demanding that we destroy it and the people inside without a second thought. But if that was the case, I'm sure Boggs wouldn't only say it was a small problem.
Then I'm concerned with surrender policies in 13. Because that's what I'm guessing these in Two from the Mountain will have to do because of their long affiliation with the Capitol.
But it turns out not to be either of those things.
"She agreed to the Airtime Assault," he says to everyone's relief. "And she agreed to have Commander Lyme a part of it. But she wants sole approval of what we air, and she wants us to do it live."
Cressida lets out a petrified squeak and covers her mouth. I glance at Finnick and Johanna, and then I look at Peeta.
"For District 2?" I ask.
He looks at Lyme and Beetee. "For everywhere."
And this is the beginning of the ending I have planned. I had wanted to have this story finished before Mockingjay, Part 2 came out, but I don't know if I'm going to make it.
With any hope, this story will be finished before the end of the year. And then I'll get around to writing those Extras I was talking about before.
Let me know what you think, and I'll see you next time.
Later!