Hatchet Kowalski, 31, District 7 Mentor POV

The Control Centre is in chaos. Most of us are rushing towards the door before the hovercraft leaves. It's set to stop here to pick up the rebel mentors before Régine can disable the arena force field.

Maia is staring at me, eyes wide and full of confusion.

"What's happening?" She asks. "Why is everyone leaving now?"

"In a few minutes, it's going to get very dangerous," I say. "We need to get out of here. C'mon."

I grab Maia by the hand and pull her along with the crowd of victors. Those of us in the rebellion are streaming out, up a narrow staircase and onto the roof. The hovercraft waits for us. Fear and excitement duel within me I step out of the stairwell.

We're finally doing this. We're finally escaping. Tonight is the night.

"Where are we going?" Maia asks.

"Somewhere safe," I say. I don't want to give too much away yet, just in case the Capitol somehow take Maia captive before we reach District 13. "The Capitol's not safe for victors anymore."

"What about Manel?" Maia asks.

"Manel?"

"He went to a client yesterday and never came back. His boyfriend just dumped him. He's in a really bad way. He could be in danger."

"So could you if you don't come with me," I say. "Please, Maia. Escape with me. I love you."

"I love you too," Maia says. "But he's my friend and I can't just leave him."

She tugs her hand out of my grip and runs.

"Maia!" I cry. "Please, come back!"

I can't bear the thought of what they'll do to her if she's still trapped in the Capitol when lightning strikes.

"Hatchet," someone takes my hand and starts to lead me into the hovercraft. It's Chaff, in one of his rare moments of sobriety. "Come on."

"But…"

"Maia can look after herself," Chaff says. "Manel can't. He needs her."

"Then I'll stay," I say. "I'll protect her."

"It'd be better for Maia if you leave," Chaff says. "If you stay, they'll probably torture her to get information from you. If she's alone, they'll figure out pretty quickly she wasn't involved and leave her be."

I give up and walk to the hovercraft. Every step is like a dagger to the heart. I'd taken it upon myself to help Maia escape from the Capitol and I'd failed. The image of her running away is still clear in my head.

There's no way I could've got her to stay. Once Maia's got it into her head that she can do something, nobody can stop her. I would've needed to grab Maia and force her onto the hovercraft to get her to stay and I know that would've destroyed our relationship. Maia hates being forced to do anything.

I sit down on one of the hovercraft benches and fight tears.

This is what Maia wants, Hatchet. If she wants to get herself killed while being a hero, don't let your cowardice get in her way.

Maia is the heroic one, the one who duelled Careers and won. I'm the cowardly one, the one who let tributes starve in my traps rather than kill them. I suppose I should be lucky to have even met her. If I never see her again, I should be grateful for all the time we spent together, all the love she gave me. Whatever happens, the Capitol won't be able to take that away. I'll always keep that time in my heart.

"May the odds be in your favour, Maia Nuñez," I whisper. "For as long as I love you, which will be for all eternity."

I hope it's enough. I hope she doesn't get hurt.

Manel Lobos, 22, District 10 Mentor POV

I don't know what time it is. I don't know how long I've been chained to this wall, wearing my wrists down to the bone trying to get free.

All I know is that a tentacle has started creeping up my leg. The time to escape is now.

Come on, come on, come on, I silently beg to the chains. Let me go!

One of the tentacles curls around my ankle. I feel it touch the skin beneath the edge of my trouser leg and I scream. I panic and give the chains another desperate tug.

I feel something shift in the wall behind me like a loose tooth. I tug again and a lump of metal and plaster shifts free from the wall.

I'm free.

The mutt inches closer to me. I swing my lump of plaster forwards and smash it into the mutt. It makes a satisfying splatting noise and falls still.

A peacekeeper appears at the door, gun raised. I act on instinct and raise the mutt's corpse like a shield. Bullets thud into it but none of them hit me. I charge into the peacekeeper and wrest the gun from his hands.

Now I have a gun…

Time slows down. More peacekeepers charge along a sterile, white corridor. I shoot them all. I'm aware of the heavy chains still around my wrists but they don't hinder my movement much. Red stains bloom on white uniforms.

Once the last one drops dead and I'm left alone in a corridor full of bodies, I realise what I've done. I've killed an entire squad of peacekeepers.

But I had to. I have to get out of here. I have to escape.

But the weapon in my hands is my weapon. I remember being fourteen years old, shooting any coyote stupid enough to venture near the ranch. It feels even more natural than the crossbow from my arena.

More peacekeepers swarm out of a room. I reload and grab one of the corpses from the ground to use as a shield. It's a battle now, shoot or be shot.

And I'm going to win. I have to win.

I poke my gun out from behind my makeshift shield and shoot. I take the peacekeepers out, one by one. A bullet grazes my shoulder but I ignore it. None of them know how to aim. I assume they've been trained to kill helpless people rather than take out someone who knows how to use a gun.

When the last peacekeeper is bleeding out on the ground, I duck through the doorway for a moment of respite.

I find myself in the same room as Ramona Hirose.

She sets a beaker down on a table with shaking hands. One of her wrists is chained to the edge of the table. She's wearing a lab coat and goggles. If I had to guess why she's here, I'd say she's being held prisoner and forced to make some kind of poison.

"Manel, quick!" She cries, eyes wide with surprise. "Point your gun at my head."

"Why?"

"I they won't let me die. If you threaten me, they'll do everything you say."

Carefully, I aim my gun at Ramona's head and draw closer to her.

"Are you sure this'll work?" I ask. I move so Ramona is standing between me and the door. Anyone trying to shoot me won't be able to for fear of hitting her.

"I poisoned President Snow," Ramona says. "He needs me to make an antidote. I can get you out of here. Just take me to the roof. There'll be a hovercraft."

"Okay," I say.

I hear footsteps in the corridor. I grab Ramona by the shoulder and press my gun to her temple.

More peacekeepers dash into the room.

"Stop!" I cry. "All of you, lower your guns or I shoot the girl."

For a second, I'm terrified they'll shoot anyway. But then the peacekeepers lower their guns.

"Unlock these chains," I say.

A peacekeeper hesitantly steps forwards with a card. He swipes it along a slit in Ramona's chain, then the chains around my wrists. The chains all fall away. Ramona's wrist looks completely unharmed, a sign that she hasn't tried to pull free. My wrists are both bloodied messes.

I'm more fascinated by the peacekeeper. He did everything I told him to. It's been so long since someone actually listened to me I feel like I haven't had the use of my tongue for years.

It's nice, not feeling mute. It makes me wonder what more I could achieve.

"Right, let's go," I say, shoving Ramona towards the door. The peacekeepers part for me. As I walk, it dawns on me. A new idea. A new, selfish, wonderful idea.

I want to be someone. I want to take back control of my life. I want to feel powerful, more than just some stupid country boy who was exploited at every opportunity.

And I want to save my mother. Just taking Ramona up to the roof and escaping with her won't do that.

"Take us to President Snow," I say. "I want to talk to him."

"Manel," Ramona hisses, panic in her voice. "What are you doing?"

"Getting my life together."

"But-"

"I'm the one with the gun, Ramona."

The peacekeepers lead us through corridors. Finally, we're let into a room where President Snow lies in a hospital bed. He coughs, wetly. Blood sprays from his lips.

Ramona gasps. She tries to pull free but I tighten my grip on her shoulder and pull her closer to me. I feel guilty for dragging her into this. We used to be friends before my grief and my morphling addiction made me cut my friends off. But it's too late to back out now.

"Snow," I say. "Are you dying?"

"Yes," Snow says. "Unless Ms Hirose is close to finishing the antidote."

"I am," Ramona says. "Let me go and I'll finish it."

"No," I say. "Snow, if you want her to live long enough to save your life, I want you to give me something. I want you to make me President of Panem. Right now. Once I'm president, I'll let Ramona get back to making the antidote and, if you survive, I'll give you my word that you'll be kept in comfortable conditions."

"Ah, Mr Lobos," Snow says, wearily. "So you are capable of… rational thought. I'm impressed."

"Don't insult me, Snow," I mutter. "The sooner you make me president, the sooner I let Ramona go."

I see something I've never seen before in Snow's eyes - fear.

"Fine," Snow gives in. He gestures to the nearest peacekeeper. "Get the paperwork. If I die before I can sign, I name Manel Lobos as my successor."

"It's too easy," Ramona says. "There has to be a catch."

"You're correct, Ms Hirose," Snow says, before fixing me with a sly smile. "Are you aware that what you are snatching from my grasp is a poisoned chalice? This country is on the verge of war. What will you do, Lobos, when the rebels come for you?"

"I'll negotiate," I say, calmly.

Snow laughs. "I hope I live to see your negotiation tactics, boy. I like watching district kids being torn to shreds."

Ramona Hirose, 24, District 3 Mentor POV

Manel has me handcuffed to a chair so I don't try to run away while he waits for the paperwork. Snow keeps coughing. The more he sickens, the more my fear grows.

I should be far away from here. I should be in a hovercraft on my way to District 13. I shouldn't be trapped in the Capitol.

Snow seems to notice my discomfort.

"Was this how you planned to spend your evening, Ramona?" He asks.

I shake my head. I bite my lip to keep myself from sobbing.

I'm scared. I don't know what the Capitol will do to me when Snow dies.

Finally, the paperwork arrives. Manel reads through each document carefully before signing it. Snow seems too exhausted to care.

He's got nothing left to lose apart from his life.

Soon, he'll have even less. I'd lied when I told him I was close to finishing the antidote. I hadn't even been trying to make one. If I was going down, President Snow was going down with me.

But I didn't expect to be going down. I expected Plutarch to rescue me. I didn't expect Manel to stumble into my plot and ruin everything.

"Congratulations, President Lobos," Snow says, before falling into a fit of coughing. His eyes are bloodshot and wide with panic. I realise that he's spoken his last words.

I can't get the sound of his coughing out of my head. I feel like I'm the one who can't breathe.

Snow falls silent. The silence weighs down on the room.

"My first act as president," Manel says. "Is to pardon Ramona Hirose for the assassination of Coriolanus Snow."

I sigh with relief.

"Will you let me go?" I ask.

"No," Manel says. "Snow said there'll be a war. He said the rebels will come for me. If they do, I want to be ready."

I realise what Manel has planned for me and I shudder. "No!" I cry. "Please don't do this, Manel. You can't! You're not on Snow's side, are you?"

The cuffs seem to tighten around my wrists. My eyes fill with tears. I wonder how Manel will use me to threaten the rebels. Will he torture me? Will he lock me away in a cell? Will I live the rest of my life in chains?

I might never see Lumas again.

"I'm not on Snow's side," Manel says. "But I'm not on the rebellion's side either. I will never bow to anyone's demands again. I'm on my own side."

He smiles. He looks genuinely happy. Not because I'm suffering but because he's successful at last. He's spent his entire life being used by the Capitol.

No wonder he's had a sudden craving for power. He's probably never felt powerful in his life.

"Don't worry," he says. "You can be the guest of honour in my new mansion. Once the rebels surrender to me, I'll let you go. It shouldn't take too long. They're so weak."

That's what breaks me. Manel actually thinks the rebellion is weak.

I laugh. I laugh until I cry. I'm still sobbing as the peacekeepers drag me away.

Manel Lobos has no idea what he's dealing with. That makes him very dangerous.

Lumas Taffeta, 25, District 8 Mentor POV

My heart races as the hovercraft touches down on the roof of the gamemaker building. In a matter of minutes, I'll either be reunited with Ramona or…

I don't want to think about what will happen to her if she's not on that roof.

I wait by the doors of the hovercraft as Plutarch boards.

Alone.

"Where's Ramona?" I ask. My voice sounds oddly strangled.

"Manel took her," Plutarch says.

"What do you mean, Manel took her?" I ask. "What's Manel even doing in there?"

"President Snow had him kidnapped to threaten Fawkes Chau," Plutarch explains. "I ensured that none of his threats made it into the arena. But then Manel escaped and shot all the peacekeepers who tried to stop him. I tried to get to Ramona but it just wasn't safe. Manel found her and took her away."

I feel an ugly knot of emotions tangling inside me. Fear. Anger. Guilt.

"Let me go in there," I say. "I can get her out. Just give me five minutes."

"It's too late," Plutarch says.

I feel the hovercraft sway beneath my feet as it takes off, carrying me away from Ramona.

"Please," I beg. "Let me save her."

"Would Ramona want you to get yourself killed and jeopardise the whole rebellion trying to save her?" Plutarch asks, eyes accusing.

I shake my head, tears streaming down my face.

"Then you're going to stay here."

I sink to the floor and put my head in my hands. I've lost her. I might never see her again. Ramona was the one person I could let myself love. I could rely on her to guide me out of the dark, to protect me from my nightmares.

But now she's in danger. She's trapped in the Capitol and it's all my fault.

I think of last time I saw her. Her lips on mine. Her hands over my heart.

"I'll always be here."

I know she will.

I just hope the same isn't true for the Capitol. After everything they've done to me, this is the final straw. I didn't survive for years on the streets, fight my way through the most traumatic Hunger Games of all time, battle with morphling for years and watch my childhood sweetheart die for my actions just to let the Capitol take the love of my life captive. I was supposed to have a future with Ramona. I was supposed to be happy with her.

If they deny me that, I'll make them suffer.

"Don't worry, Ramona," I whisper. "I'll save you and I'll destroy them. The Capitol will reap exactly what they sow."

I take a deep breath, wipe away my tears and prepare myself to be merciless.

I think my nasty habit for being extra evil in the last few chapters is kicking in. Sorry about that. After making Manel suffer so much, I decided to give him some good luck and let him take over Ramona's assassination plot. Unfortunately, that means that Ramona's still trapped in the Capitol. If it's any consolation, Manel taking over means that Maia is safe in the Capitol. Hatchet doesn't need to worry so much.

Next chapter will be the last one of this story. See if you can guess who'll get the final POV.