I know Boggs is a commander for the star squad, but he is not that commander in this. Do not think of him as that.
Katniss and Gale are stuck in training and are unable to join us for dinner. We sit in an unbreakable silence, unsure of what to say. Tomorrow marks the day when I go onto the battlefield. Tomorrow marks my goodbyes. I don't want to say goodbye, but I have to. Why does goodbye have to be so hard to say?
My heart breaks as Rory hugs me, too short to reach very high. He has tears running down his face, because somehow he knows that tonight may be the last time he sees me. I smile down at him, as I bring my tray to the trash bin in the mess hall. It has been near empty for many days. All of 13 has been empty. And quiet, too quiet.
So we walk back to our tiny compartment, and I toss together the things I am taking with me. I know that I can take almost nothing, so I choose one of the things I brought with me from my home. I look between the blue ribbon, and the picture of my friends and me. I can't decide! I tie the ribbon around the picture and throw them both into the bag.
I am pushed into bed by my mother, who wants me to get to sleep early. And I fall into a dreamless sleep.
The small alarm clock I have right next to my bed wakes me up early. I dress in the dark, quickly putting on the crisp white uniform given to medics. I pick up the small bag I put together last night, and lean over to kiss goodbye to my mother. She jumps slightly as a tear falls onto her face, but doesn't wake up.
I turn away, and Katniss and Gale follow suit. We walk together, and not one word is said. Not one word is needed. Katniss separates first. I walk forward, pretending I don't see them exchange a long, lingering kiss. This is their moment, I won't ruin it by spectating. Gale catches up with me, only to depart quickly, giving me a quick hug, and a short farewell, "I'll see you in a few weeks, sis. Deal?" I nod, and he runs to catch a hovercraft.
I pick up the pace, not wanting to be late. The hallways are filled with people from who knows where. I never would have thought there were this many people, especially with how empty it's been lately. I find my hangar deck with no trouble, and dash in. I report to the commander, and I am completely surprised to find Boggs.
"You're the commander?" I can't help the surprise in my voice.
"That's 'sir' to you, Prim." he says this with a wink, and a small chuckle in his throat. But his eyes betray him, sadness clouding them.
"What-"
"I'm sorry, I really cannot talk. I have to check people in." I nod, and stand off to the side of a group of adults in camo. They stare at me, eyes like daggers. I shy away, against the side of the hovercraft. They talk in low whispers, and I hear my name flashing through their conversation. They must be upset that a 13 year-old is their medic, but wait till one of them needs my help. I'll show them what age means.
About ten minutes pass, and suddenly Boggs is loading people onto the hovercraft. It is larger inside than you'd think, looking at it from the outside. There are about 25 camo-clad men and women crammed into the hovercraft. There is silence as we are flown to the drop spot. From there, Boggs explains how this will work.
Our mission is to get into the President's Mansion. There are many other small groups like ours that are doing the same. Once we get to the mansion, we'll receive more information. I am handed a small handgun, and bag of medical supplies, as I exit the craft. I am to follow about 100 feet behind the group, in case they stumble upon a missed pod. We will be traveling along abandoned civilian roads, so there could be tons of pods.
Up ahead of the group I see five of our people, running ahead. They must be scouts, trying to set off pods, so we don't accidently. Boggs is pointing in different directions, probably showing them which way to go.
And we start. I linger back behind the marching set of 20 people, jumping every time I hear a pod burst. When I get to the area where the scouts had already passed, I see bits of pods lying on the ground. I skirt a pile of lethal-looking spikes, and small pool of a greenish liquid, that is slowly melting the asphalt.
I try to avoid looking too closely at the contents of the exploded pods, instead watching ahead, in case someone gets hit. And I'm right on time to see one of the scouts being pierces with a long golden stake. He tries to dodge it, but it clips his arm. I run forward, through the ever-marching people, to the side of the man.
I gently pull his arm into view. It's not a bad cut, and he just barely managed to avoid a worse injury. I quickly clean the cut, and realize the spear was poisoned. Inside the bag, there's a poison antidote, and I manage to get it into the wound, before the poison can really have an affect. I gently wrap up the cut, and he stands, a little shaky, but he shakes his head, and joins the other four scouts again.
As I push back through the marchers, I see them staring at me again. I hope that in their minds, I have proven myself. But I don't care if that's not what they think. I am who I am, and just because they can't handle a 13 year-old being better than them doesn't mean I should let them get to me.
The scouts are more careful now, and we avoid trouble, until the mansion is in sight. It looms above the miniscule houses below it, just the gold-coated top is visible. Suddenly a pod explodes just to the left of the main group. Everyone jumps to the side, but three of them are caught up in a red-gold light. In front of my eyes, I watch their skin flake from their skeleton. I want to help them, but there's nothing I can do. I know that if I touch that light, I'll die.
Eventually the light fades away. The skeletons crumple in a heap. I run forward, trying to see if there's any way to save them, but I can tell from a distance that there's no way. I treat the simple cuts that people got from their tumble away from the pod. There's a kind of horror in everyone's eyes. To witness what we've just seen is horrible.
Boggs has everyone shake it off, and they get back into formation. The march continues as more of the castle-like mansion comes into view. My heart pounds as I see the looming thing nearly blocking out the sun.
People are being evacuted away from the inner city, and now, there are only the straglers that thought they could make it. They were wrong. The full mansion is there now. Around the base I see people.
We get closer, and there's dissent among our soldiers. That's children. Surrounding the mansion is children. I nearly retch in disgust. Snow. The word sounds bad even in my mind. I swallow, as we continue forward. On either side, emerging from several streets over, I see small platoons of our soldiers. They look much worse off than us, and few streets over, I see a tiny group of only 5 or 6 people.
But we have to continue, no matter what. The mission is all that matters now. We walk forward, when suddenly in the air, hovercrafts pass. I catch a glimpse of one. It has a capitol seal on it. I see silver parachutes dropping down, towards the children. Good. At least he has the sense to feed them, poor things are freezing to death.
That's when half the parachutes explode. A small scream escapes from my tight lips. I run forward, shoving people out of the way. I can save these children! I must. There are other medics, from many other platoons running forward too.
I lean down to one child, who has lost an arm. I grab the medical kit, but before I can, the rest of the parachutes explode.
Author's Note
First of all, I must apologize for taking so long to post. I have been totally overcome with homework, and been having computer issues on top of that.
Second of all, I realize the end of this scene is very much like that of Mockingjay, but don't worry, it will be a little different. :)
Third of all, thank you to emilyroorose, jenna2468, and Sophia Lele for reviewing!
Vale,
Michela Snow
