Okay, I've actually written this chapter well in advance, but I had other things to worry about during the past week. It is still a short chapter, and I'm sorry.
Anyway, continue!
The metal rod with tiny spikes came crashing down again.
Link cried out. He could feel his warm blood stream down his back and collect into a pool on the white floor.
Peeta was collapsed in front of him. He also was getting beaten to a bloody pulp.
Another blow landed on Peeta's back.
"Peeta!" Link yelled. The rod fell again. More blood. "Argh! Peeta! Hold on!"
Link managed to drag himself over to Peeta. He placed his own body protectively over his friend's, preventing any more harm from coming his way. But it wasn't enough.
The sharp spikes dug into his back again. Link hissed loudly. He suddenly felt his arms being grabbed. He tried to fight back, but the pain was too much to bear. He just couldn't.
Link was yanked to his feet, and slammed against the wall. He could hear Peeta crying out. Link struggled to reach him, but he was weak.
So weak.
More hands grabbed a hold of him, dragging him out of the room. Link was snarling like a wild animal. Fighting.
He was tossed through the door. The door slid shut behind him.
Immediately Link lept to his feet, and slammed into the door. He pounded hard with his fists. "Peeta!" He shouted. "Peeta!"
Someone else's fist suddenly came crashing into the back of his head. It wasn't enough to knock him out, but it was enough to make him dizzy and collapse.
He was dragged through a series of hallways, and pulled through another door. By then Link had come back to his senses, and he began to fight again.
It was pointless. Before he knew it, his wrists and ankles were clasped to the surface of his old table. Link struggled, wiggling his limbs and slamming the back of his head against the table.
Finally it hurt so much that he was forced to stop.
He laid there for a good twenty minutes before someone entered his room. Three people, to be exact.
Two of the people appeared to be just your average torturers. The third man was President Snow himself.
And he did not look happy.
"You fool." Said Snow. "I warned you about what was going to happen if you didn't do what you were instructed to do. Yet you go right on ahead and don't do it.
"What's more, Peeta was not supposed to say that last line, 'dead by morning.' How did he know that we were going to attack Thirteen? Was it you who informed him?"
Link just did what he did best. He laid there quietly. But the truth was, he didn't know that the Capitol was going to attack Thirteen. But Link understood why Peeta said that. The rebels, including Katniss, must have seen the footage live on television. Peeta was warning them to get somewhere safe.
But how did Peeta know?
Snow growled.
"Why do you refuse to speak in front of me and the the cameras, while you will speak to Peeta to tell him to run?"
Silence.
"Very well." He said, smiling in a sly fashion. His voice was cold in a very unnerving way. "If you won't speak to me…" Snow chuckled slightly. "...then you won't speak at all."
The torturers advanced. They pulled out small knives.
That was when Link realized what they were planning to do to him.
Katniss sat in her bunker with her mother, and Prim. They had realized what Peeta's warning meant, and so everybody in Thirteen was in for a lockdown. Deep underground.
And you… In Thirteen… Dead by morning!
The words echoed in Katniss's mind.
Coin's voice came over the audio system, thanking everyone for an exemplary evacuation of the upper levels.
Suddenly, the first bomb hit.
Peeta was right. The Capitol really was going to attack Thirteen.
The lights went out.
Katniss pulled herself over to Prim. "That was nothing like the bombs in Eight," said Katniss.
"Probably a bunker missile," Prim told her. "We learned about them during the orientation for new citizens. They're designed to penetrate deep in the ground before they go off. Because there's no point in bombing Thirteen on the surface anymore."
"Nuclear?"
"Not necessarily. Some just have a lot if explosives in them. But… It could be either kind, I guess."
Coin's voice came through again. "Apparently, Peeta Mellark's information was sound and we owe him a great debt of gratitude. Sensors indicate the first missile was not nuclear, but very powerful. We expect more will follow. For the duration of the attack, citizens are to stay in their assigned areas unless otherwise notified."
Soon, it was time for bed. Katniss was going to sleep with Prim on a mattress laid on the ground.
Well, there was nothing to do. "So, how are you liking Thirteen, Prim?" Katniss asked.
"Right now?" They both laughed. "I miss home badly sometimes. But then I remember that there's nothing left to miss anymore. I feel safer here. We don't have to worry about you. Well, not the same way." Prim smiled. "I think they're going to train me to be a doctor."
"Well, of course, they are. They'd be stupid not to."
"They've been watching me when I help out in the hospital. I'm already taking the medic courses. It's just beginner's stuff. I know a lot of it from home. Still, there's plenty to learn."
"That's great."
"What about you, Katniss? How are you managing? And don't say you're fine."
Katniss sighed. But it was true. So she went ahead and told her sister about Peeta and Link, their deterioration on screen, and how she thought that they could both be dying at that moment.
"Katniss, I don't think President Snow will kill Peeta and Link. If he does, he won't have anyone left you want. He won't have any way to hurt you."
Katniss realized that Prim was right. Peeta and Link was all she had left.
"So, what do you think they'll do to them?" Katniss asked.
"Whatever it takes to break you."
So there you go. I'm sorry to say that it's going to be several chapters before Link can come into the story again. Just a heads-up.
R&R plz!
