Chapter 35. Rejuvenation
A muscle in Haymitch's unshaven jaw clenched once before he turned his eyes back on Darius. "Do you know which District would lead the attack?"
Darius shook his head sadly. "When the District 12 Peacekeepers started to object, they threw us from the meeting and sent us away. I'm not certain if the plan is even still under consideration or not, but given the fact they sent us all out, I can only assume the worst. I was hoping to find the leading Commander from District 8 here."
The older man nodded once. "Paylor. We're on our way to her as well. You can come with us if you want to."
The red haired Peacekeeper tilted his head to the side as he mused over the thought. He let out a soft laugh. "You better present me as a hostage to the other soldiers. I'm not fond of bullets."
Haymitch merely raised his eyebrows. "I will do no such thing. You'll walk there with me like an equal. They won't shoot you if you're with me."
"I'm not used to seeing this side of you, Haymitch," Darius admitted with another laugh but gave the older man a nod.
"I suppose we're all different," is all Haymitch said with a slight shrug before taking the younger man's shoulder in his hand briefly. He turned and began to walk back to the rest of the group. The soldiers around Haymitch followed after, holding their guns back on alert toward their surrounding area.
Back at the group, Gale couldn't help but watch down the alleyway. Haymitch was taking far too long and there were no sounds of gunfire, which both confused and concerned him. He sighed with relief when he spotted the man and soldiers on their way back, but his eyes went to the Peacekeeper. And then they widened.
"Katniss, that's Darius."
Katniss snapped out of her thoughts at the Peacekeeper's name. Her eyes quickly turned toward the alleyway and her facial expression instantly became shocked as Haymitch's group exited the alleyway and rejoined them. "Darius!"
The red haired Peacekeeper looked down toward Katniss with a smile. "Oh, Katniss. Beautiful as ever I see."
She instantly snorted, as if it was the funniest thing she'd heard in weeks. After everything that had happened to her, she was sure she was anything but beautiful. "Sure. What are you doing here?"
"All the District 12 Peacekeepers were sent off to the other Districts," he began before looking up towards Haymitch, uncertain how much he should reveal right now to the girl. Haymitch shook his head immediately, almost imperceptibly. He knew how fragile Gale, Peeta, but mainly Katniss, were right now.
Katniss didn't notice, however. She just frowned. "Wouldn't you be needed in 12, though?"
"They said we'd be more useful elsewhere," Darius turned back to Katniss with another soft smile. "All these uprisings are really throwing the Capitol for a loop."
She just nodded slightly, but frowned a little, as if needing reassurance. "So District 12 is okay? I mean, if they moved you from there, it must be dying down?"
Darius's smile faltered slightly, but he tried to keep straight faced as possible. Never good at lying or being put on the spot, he hesitated, trying to think of how to answer the girl. "The... rebels are currently in control of the District... So since the Peacekeepers don't have many to spare, they've... pulled back in a temporary retreat."
"You're lying," Katniss let go of Gale's waist, turning to completely face the Peacekeeper, eyes narrowing dangerously. "What are the Peacekeepers doing there?"
"T-they..." the red head shifted his eyes up towards Haymitch, apologetically.
Haymitch sighed, quickly taking the stress off the younger man. "They're possibly thinking of flattening 12 like they did 13."
"What?" Peeta's voice suddenly rang. Letting go of Effie, he rushed over to the group, eyes wide. He looked right to Darius. "That's a lie, they couldn't possibly-!"
Darius turned his head away from him, almost ashamed. Gale's eyes darted between Haymitch and Darius. While his family was safe in Bonum, there were still many people back at District 12 he had grown closer to. He reached out, putting a hand on Katniss's shoulder to steady himself. "We need to find a way to stop it."
Katniss just stared at Darius, disbelievingly, not able to speak. She furrowed her eyebrows, turning to look up at Gale.
Haymitch shrugged slightly, apologetically. He wasn't as affected as the other District 12 Tributes, having nothing left there that he could lose. It wasn't his home anymore. "We don't even know where the attack would be coming from, if it's still happening, or when it would happen. We don't even have a way out of District 6 right now."
"We can exit from the broken fence around District 6. We can steal another train and get there and then..." His mind went blank as he tried to figure out what to do from there. If they were planning on bombing the District, being in 12 wasn't going to help anything. It would only cause more casualties.
But, still, Gale wouldn't give up. He had grown close to too many people - from co-workers at the mill like Thom to the Hob's regulars like Greasy Sae. But who he wanted to save the most was the first to pop into his mind. A family he didn't even really know. Madge's.
"We won't be able to stop the bombing," Katniss finally spoke up, her voice quiet and somber. "But we can get everyone out before they are bombed. Get them to escape, possibly not on the train because it might be a lot of people, but we can try. We can at least get them over the fence and into the woods where they'll be safe. We can't just... leave them there." Her voice broke slightly on the final word and she chewed on her thumb nail, glancing away.
Although the only person Katniss truly had left was Prim and she was safe, she still felt an intense need to protect the people of District 12. The people who were fighting so hard for the rebellion and for her, the Mockingjay. The people who had supported her and Peeta through the Games. The people who had taken squirrel, rats, and other gamy meat just because they had loved her father and didn't want to see her or her family starve. She couldn't just sit back and watch them die.
"Then we can't waste anymore time," Peeta spoke up, looking directly at Katniss and Gale. Any argument they had, any hurt she had caused him, was pushed into the back of his mind. Peeta had no family, but he wasn't like Gale and Katniss. He made friends, many of them, during his childhood. "I need to make sure Delly and her family gets out."
"Madge's family," Katniss added quietly, glancing up at Peeta. The painter held her gaze for a moment longer before giving a quick nod as Gale looked towards them as well. It seemed they all had the same goal in mind and all for the same reasons.
"Then we're all going in there together," the hunter finished. He turned back towards Haymitch and Darius. "Let's get to Paylor. Now."
Haymitch, still looking skeptical, gave a slight nod, knowing there was no way out of this. Katniss instantly wrapped her arm back around Gale's waist, a new purpose wiping away her suddenly insignificant thoughts of Gale and Peeta.
About an hour passed until the group of soldiers made their way into the residental area. All the streets were silent, empty, and littered with glass and ammo showing the fight that happened not long ago. A few vehicles were torched and still burning along the sidewalks of the abandoned street. The soldiers fell quiet as they walked through the silent streets. The only sound was the glass crunching beneath their boots. Katniss cautiously shifted her eyes around, to the burning vehicles and houses, as if expecting Paylor to be hiding behind one of them.
Paylor wasn't, but one of the men who followed her was. From one of the windows, the man's dark face and darker hair stared out towards Katniss, recognizing her instantly. His eyes met with hers before signalling with his head towards the alley beside the house before vanishing. Katniss stopped in the middle of the street before tugging slightly on Gale's waist, looking up at him. "I saw one of Paylor's men."
Gale stopped his walk. "Where?"
"In that house," she said, pointing toward the window where the man had disappeared. "He looked like he wanted us to meet him behind it."
Gale looked towards the window before nodding. "Okay, lead the way, Katniss."
She nodded slightly. She gripped Gale's waist tighter before heading as quickly as they could to the alleyway behind the house. Gale followed right beside her as all the soldiers followed close by. As they got through to the back of the house, Paylor stood with arms crossed and her men around her.
Katniss's eyes instantly landed on Paylor as she rounded the corner, the soldiers following her and Gale. She chewed on her lip, pushing back the feeling of intimidation at the woman's face and stance. Paylor patiently waited as the soldiers all gathered in the alleyway. It was small and claustrophobic, but she showed no care. Her eyes fell on Gale and Katniss. "Your mission?"
"Completed," Katniss stated, strongly. "However, we have another issue."
"Is that why he is here?" she spat, her eyes falling on Darius who stood at Haymitch's side. The red head took a few steps back from her, unable to mask his intimidation as well as Katniss.
"He's not like them," Katniss instantly replied coolly, glancing Paylor up and down as if she was ignorant. "He's a friend from home."
"You mean he's a Peacekeeper assigned to keep justice in order of District 12. Regardless, I'm certain you haven't been looking for me to debate. Why haven't you returned to your craft and left?"
For the first time, Katniss's cheeks turned slightly pink in embarrassment. "It's irretrievable in District 2. We need to contact President Pyrrhus."
"District 2? The entire purpose of you coming to 6 was to avoid-"
"Commander Paylor, with all due respect, this is urgent," Gale interrupted but put on the most formal and authoritative tone he could manage. "We have inside information of an upcoming attack and need to discuss matters with President Pyrrhus. Now, if you would please."
Katniss just glanced up at Gale thankfully, not wanting to look incompetent in front of the extremely intimidating woman. Paylor stared down at the boy before resigning the argument. A nod was the only response he got before she began to walk off towards the industrial section of the District.