Chapter 53
In the President's mansion, Snow, his secretary and multiple army generals and commanders watched the televised video of Katniss being shot by the loyalist and a gleeful silence fell upon the room.
Snow and his guests stand, champagne glasses in hand, and they raise them up high. "A toast," Snow said to his guests and they took a drink of the champagne. Snow then looks at Minister Antonius.
"With our best troops crushed in the mountains and the rebels marching on us as we speak, what did we celebrate?" Snow asks.
"The death of the Mockingjay, sir," Antonius said simply and adds, "If Peeta didn't kill her, then her own arrogance did." They then took another drink of the champagne and sat down.
"Of course," Snow replied and continues, "That's the same facile thinking that led you to divert our best Peacekeepers into District 2. You have a habit of burying people before they're dead. If the Mockingjay were gone, the rebells would already be using her a martyr.
"No, Minister Antonius, I'm afraid that is not what we were toasting at all," Snow's tone had changed.
Antonius looked confused and almost stood on his feet, "Sir, the rebels can be held off out-" Snow stops him with a hand.
"The rebels will reach the outskirts of the Capitol in a matter of days," Snow said and continues, "We'll evacuate the outer blocks to let them in. I want all anti-aircraft defenses ready, so we're secure from the skies, then lure them into the city and then our Gamemakers will make them pay with every inch in blood," Snow concludes with a smirk.
"I want every camera watching. We'll turn their advance into a celebration of suffering. Let each moment be captured for all posterity," Snow adds.
Then, Antonius looks up at Snow with horror on his as blood began to seep down from his nose. Snow looks back at Antonius with a grin, "So, what did we toast tonight, Minister Antonius?" he asks.
Antonius became to choke and struggled to breathe. "We celebrated an era coming to a bitter end," Snow answers and Antonius dies at the table.
Snow dismisses himself from the table and leaves the dinning room with the telly device. He goes into a dark room and looks at the remainder of the video. He watches Berenice run towards the fallen Katniss and the video blacks out.
He re-watches, again and again, looking at the beautiful young woman who won his black heart. He wanted her to come back to him, but he knew she wasn't coming back.
From the author: I am so sorry for not updating! I got caught up with life and didn't have the time to update. I'll do whatever I can to continue this story and hopefully bring it to an end.
