A MockingJay Story Part 2 Chapter 7
The troop had no time to mourn their friends. They had to keep moving.
"They know we're here." Gale urged.
"We have to go." Peeta said to Katniss and Liam, who were lingering.
"Come on." Cressida said, pulling on Liam's backpack around his shoulders.
They troop moved down the small tunnel for about half a mile. Then it turned into a large room. There were big round lights across the ceiling.
The troop walked quickly down the light room. One light shined down, where Messalla stood, turning him to ash.
"Messalla." Liam said quietly, in shook.
Cressida backed up slowly, trying not to cry.
"We need keep going." Gale said, picking up the pace.
They sprinted down the light room. Peeta started freaking out again. This time, he wasn't trying to hurt anyone else. Katniss rushed over to him, and gave him a kiss. He snapped out of it and ran with them.
Back in District 13, things were a lot calmer. Many residents were quiet, worryng about the fate of their nation. Their mockingjay may or may not be alive.
Clara went back to school, for a day. She came for the arts and crafts part of the day. She made a card with glitter and glue. She drew a heart on the cover and spelled out "to my brother" on it. Inside was a drawing of her and her brother. They were holding hands. There was glitter in the sky of the drawing. After school, she put the card in her dresser drawer.
Shay came to visit Clara in the afternoon. She held Violet's journal in her arms.
Clara sat on her beds putting her hands in her lap. "Actually..." she said. "Could we do something else?"
Shay put the journal down on Clara's dresser. "Like what?"
Clara glanced at the journal, then back to Shay. "I want to know about your year?"
Shay narrowed her eyes at her. "My y-year?"
"I want to know about Mom's year, but she's not here to tell it... I want to know what the games are like... I'm ready." Clara said. She said it with a sly smile. She had already seen Patrick's game. However, he was not longer around to talk about it. She needed to hear it from someone who was there.
Shay put both her hands over her mouth for a moment. She nodded, bringing her hands down. "Okay." She sat at the edge of the bed.
She explained the story of her year, from her experience. She was 16, like Katniss was. "My parents were heartbroken." She said. "I was their last child."
Clara gave her a confused look.
"I had a sister. Twin actually. Charlotte." Shay said, with a smile on her face. "We were the best of friends. We did everything together." Her smile faded. "When we were nine, there was a terrible accident. We were playing outside, and we wondered away from our parents into the streets. Nearby, there was a horse tied to a cart freaking out. The cart was detached and came down the street full speed. It hit her, crushing her."
Clara looked down at her lap. When she blinked, a tear came out.
"My parents had already suffered the loss of one daughter. I had to try. To fight in the games." Shay said. "Of course I was terrified. I hadn't trained for this. And the careers had been training for years." She glanced over to Violet's journal. "I didn't want to kill people. None of us did, except maybe the careers. I spent my time in training learning the careers weaknesses. I watched them, inconspicuously." She tilted her head from side to side. "I learned that the male from 1 is scared of heights. The female from two is scared of bugs, especially if they fly. The male from 2, was terrible in combat and the female from 2 was too competitive."
Clara giggled for a moment, then remembered how serious it was.
"When the game started, I ran straight for the cornucopia. I grabbed the first weapon I could get a hold of, and darted away. I had a knife to protect myself." She took a breath before speaking again. "The arena was city ruins. I was expecting elements. Nature. But it was rubble. Broken down buildings..." she turned away from Clara, thinking about her visit to District 8. How much it looked like her own district. "I hid in a building the first day, but it was a hot spot. Tributes kept showing up. Finding me. So I moved. Outside, you were too open. Anyone inside the building could see you and shoot their arrows at you. I went to a different building and just kept my guard up the whole time. I found water in these rusty pipes inside those broken buildings. Some pipes had murky water. Some pipes had dirty water. I stayed by the good water pipe, knowing others would come for it." She said.
Clara looked at her, looking horrified.
"I didn't sleep the whole time. How could I? People could come at any moment... I didn't hunt anyone. They came after me. And I didn't want to die. I was so glad when the game was over. For 7 days I didn't sleep. I fell asleep on the hovercraft to the capitol."
"How many did you kill?" Clara asked. She looked nervous for the answer.
Shay folded her lips inward. "7."
Clara let out a small gasp.
"Are you scared of me now?" She asked, worried.
Clara shook her head. "No. I just hope this is all over soon. I can't imagine anyone having to do that."
Shay quickly hugged Clara, holding her in her arms. Another tear fell down her face.
Prim left for a nurse mission the next morning.
"Why is Prim going?" Shay asked during breakfast when she heard the news.
Annie and Joanna sat with her at the table.
"What do you mean?" Annie asked.
"Prim isn't of age. You have to be 16 go on missions." Shay said.
"Maybe Coin just wants to get rid of them all." Joanna said.
"That's not funny." Shay said coldly.
"Perhaps they need all the nurses they can get." Annie suggested.
Shay pushed her lips together, considering what Annie said, but doubting its likelihood.
The troop went over to an alley's house, Tigris. She was a designer, but the capitol didn't like what she had to say, so they deformed her. They put tattoos on her face, surgically added whiskers, and shaved her. She let them in her house, hiding them in her cellar.
This was the moment they could grieve. Pollux broke down sobbing over the loss of his brother.
"We're so close." Liam said that night in the cellar. He tried to get them on a lighter the we topic. There were plenty of pillows and blankets for them. "To think, tomorrow this could all be over."
"One way or another." Gale said.
Liam gave him an annoyed look.
"That's the spirit." Cressida said, sarcastically.
"You don't have to do this." Katniss said. "You've all helped me get this far. My mission is between me and Snow. You don't have to go any further."
"Like we'd ever leave you." Cressida said.
"I made it up." Katniss said.
Everyone looked up at her.
"There is no special mission from Coin. It was all my plan." She said.
"We know." Cressida said.
"We all knew." Gale said.
Katniss looked across the room. The numbers were so small. The troop was twice the size a couple days ago. "I never meant for this to happen. I-it's my fault they're dead. Finnick. Boggs. Pollux I'm so sorry about your brother."
Before Pollox could give her a response, Peeta started talking. "Glimmer. Marvel. Cato. Clove." Peeta started listing names of people who died. "Emily."
Liam looked over to him.
"Mags. Wires. Jerome. Violet. Rue." Peeta continued. "What do all this as deaths mean?"
Liam put his hand in a fist and covered his mouth.
"They mean they our lives were never really ours. Because we didn't have a choice." The rest of the troop faced him. "Our lives belong to Snow and our deaths do too. But if you kill him Katniss, all those deaths mean something."
Liam nodded in agreement. "My mom. My sister. Both my sisters. My entire family has been cursed by these games. Violet wanted her children to grow up in a world without this. She didn't know how to raise a child in this world." His voice began to wobble as he spoke.
Katniss stared at Liam, unsure of how to respond. A tear fell down her cheek.
Peeta listed more of the fallen, such as Cinna, Patrick, and the ones who died in the last few days. "They chose this." Peeta said. "They chose you."
