Katniss has discovered that the Hybrids are real and that the war had finally begun. Now the entire country is at war and Katniss is discovering just what war really means.

I do not own the hunger games. Thank you to Norbertsmom for her steadfast support.

October, 70th Year AFR

District Twelve:

War was hard.

There wasn't a family in the district that wasn't affected. Fatigue was beginning to set in as the nightly air raid alarms became more prevalent. Supplies were hard to come by; they did not have the lumber or the metal to fix the rail lines. Though, the women of the district were resourceful.

Katniss wasn't even in her own home, she was in the Mayor Undersee's home. Her mother was part of the DDC, and an emergency meeting was held this morning. Last night a bomb was dropped near the building and a portion collapsed. They were trying to decide where to hold school for the nearly two thousand kids in the district.

Katniss should have been tired, but she couldn't fall asleep. She sat in front of the dark television, debating whether to turn it on. Prim was fast asleep on the sofa clutching her doll. Madge was on her bed snoring. It was a long night. The air raid alarm went off in the middle of the night. Katniss barely held on to her mother's hand as they ran from their home to the shelter.

The incendiary bombs made of magnesium fell to the ground. When they hit, they sent up flakes of flames that looked like fireflies in the middle of the day. But the incendiary bombs were nothing, as within the hour the real bombings began in earnest. Those bombs sounded like whistles.

Hardly anyone slept in the shelter.

Katniss was scared of the loud noises but she had to be brave for her baby sister. It was all of the Hybrid's fault, President Snow said so.

Thankfully they had not been invaded by those horrid Hybrids.

Katniss didn't know what she would do if she'd ever met one of those beasts. She was terrified by the thought of them, but she was also curious. Turning on the television she lowered the volume and sat back to watch the news.

Her mama didn't want Katniss or Prim watching the TV. Her mother, like many adults, didn't want to tell their kids anything about the Hybrids or the war. Their mother only allowed them to see the special Presidential Broadcasts to the nation. Katniss saw this moment and took it; she wanted to shut Billy Robbins''s face up.

That boy was a menace. He liked to scare the little kids with tall tales about the Hybrids. He would swear he'd seen it on the news. Since none of the other kids were allowed to see the news, they couldn't say anything different.

Katniss watched a special about the Hybrids and their origin.

Templesmith's voice spoke as the footage was shown of the Laboratory where the Hybrids were created. The mutation type 1 was made for the 62nd hunger games. But it was too wild and it killed all of the remaining tributes before escaping the arena. It was caught and killed.

Capitol scientists did more experimentation and made another, a similar breed they dubbed the Hybrid and tried to use them again during the 65th Hunger Games.

Sadly, Victor Finnick Odair paid with his life. It was after that, the Hybrids broke out of the Capitol and headed to District Thirteen. They took over the district's weapons and technologies. They grew in numbers and then last year they simultaneously attacked District Three and Six. It was a strategic move as District Three was where all of the technologies were fabricated and Six was where all the transportation was built. Armed with hovercrafts and new weapons, they set their eyes on the Capitol. That was when war was declared.

A news flash ribbon ran along the top portion of the screen. The Capitol station came into view. Templesmith sat behind a desk. His face was somber.

Katniss rubbed her arms. It was the middle of the morning but it might as well have been the middle of the night. All windows had to be blacked out. Black tarps were hung in front of the doors that led to the outside, so that at night when the door was opened no light would spill out.

"This is a special report. The Hybrids are attacking District Four. We go to District Four where our very own Caesar Flickerman is standing by."

Caesar Flickerman looked out of place in District Four. He wore purple head to toe, including his hair. His entire outfit looked like a purple stone her paw once showed her.

"This is Caesar Flickerman reporting to you from the frontlines."

Behind the colorful reporter were Mobile Surgical Hospitals: large green tents where the wounded were brought. Katniss hugged her bear to her chest. Her little heart beat faster. A bomb went up in the distance, and Caesar flinched. The dirt, fire, and dust fell.

Above Capitol, flyers flew ahead.

"The situation in district four is deteriorating," Caesar shouted. An alarm began sounding and men dressed in green military uniforms with a red cross on the back ran toward the vehicle that entered the compound.

Caesar had run-up to one of the transport vehicles. A man was pulled out, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs. He looked as if he was mauled by a wild animal. Katniss was horrified by the images.

The man screamed as the doctors tried to sedate him.

Caesar Flickerman was shoved back. The driver sat in a corner, his hands pressed against his ears. He rocked back and forth.

"Sir, can you describe to me what it was like out there?" Caesar asked, sitting next to the man.

"You hear them howl before they crest over the ridge," the man whispered. "I can't get the sound out of my head."

"Does it sound like a wolf?" Caesar asked.

"No," the man said, shaking his head. His eyes were wide, fixed on an invisible point. "It didn't sound like a wolf or a coyote. It was inhuman...as if hungry."

"Did you see them?" Caesar's voice could be heard as the camera was focused on the face of the man. Katniss watched as the man's eyes filled with tears; his brow became wet with perspiration and his jaw slackened as he recalled the horror.

"The men blast them, but if only one of them gets through it's over for those men. One can take out five-ten men easily. I've never seen carnage like that. Like they enjoy tearing us apart…" the man began crying.

The signal from district four started to flicker. The studio came back as the feed was lost. Templesmith looked stunned by the images being projected onto the screen behind him.

"Katniss," her mother said as she quickly shut the television off.

"Mama, papa is out in that." Katniss' words tumbled out of her mouth as tears fell down her face. "He's not coming back!"

Her mother's steady arms drew her up from the floor and sat down with her in one of the chairs. Katniss cried into her mother's neck.

"I want my daddy back," Katniss cried over and over again.

"I know, we want daddy to come back," her mother whispered to her. She rubbed Katniss back.

"I don't want my daddy to die," Katniss hiccuped.

"Katniss, I want your dad home too, but he may not come back and we have to be brave." Her mother pulled back and Katniss could see the tears in her mother's pale blue eyes. "He wouldn't want us to stop fighting. He'd want us to live."

Katniss nodded.

"Now, no more television."

"Yes, mama," Katniss whispered.

"I don't want your sister to see this. These are scary enough times and she doesn't need anything more to be scared of."

"I understand, Mama," Katniss said. She was terrified of the Hybrids. The rumors were all true.

A few weeks later they were outside in the playground. The Community Home where the orphans were housed was converted to the new school because it had enough space to be used for classrooms for the little kids; it even had a cafeteria and a playground.

Billy Robins was talking to a bunch of little kids. They all stared up at him with wide-eyed fear. One of the little kids started crying, but Billy kept on talking. "They're six feet, no seven feet tall with razor-sharp claws."

Katniss had enough. Billy was a know-it-all bully who liked to take little kids' snacks, and if they didn't hand them over, he would push them to the ground or hurt them. He liked to gather them around him and install fear by talking about the Hybrids as a scare tactic.

After watching the television at Madge's house, Katniss had a healthy fear of the Hybrids. She knew the things Billy said could very well be true. However, it wasn't fair what he was doing. No one else stood up to Billy Robins but she sure would. He wouldn't be getting the satisfaction of a captive audience, today.

She walked up behind him and tapped him on his shoulders.

"What do you want?" Billy asked.

"That's enough, Billy," Katniss said. "Stop telling the little kids scary stories."

Billy rolled his eyes and turned back.

Katniss tapped him on his shoulders again.

"What?"

"You need to stop taking their food, hurting them, and holding them captive for scary stories." Katniss tried to make her voice sound firm and as adult-like as she could. By now they were gathering a crowd.

"Or else what?" Billy asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Or else you'll have to deal with me!"

Billy started laughing; some of the other kids started laughing too.

Katniss stood her ground.

"What can you do to me? You're just a girl."

Katniss balled her hand in a fist just like her papa taught her.

Billy turned around to continue. She'd had enough of his stupidity. Her mama was right, kids didn't need to be scared or hurt more than they already were. The bombings, the war, the threat of being attacked, the loss of family and friends, and the uncertainty about the future were enough to deal with.

She tapped on his shoulder and when he turned around she let her fist fly. It connected with his nose and Billy crumbled onto the ground.

"You don't have to listen to him," Katniss said to the surprised kids. She looked down to Billy, "And if you ever try hurting one of them again or telling scary stories, I'll give you another knuckle sandwich and report you to the DDC. Their parents won't take it kindly that you're taking their food away. Or that you're the one behind their nightmares."

Billy nodded, his eyes wide.

Then the air raid alarm went off but this time instead of seeing the familiar bullseye marking of the Hybrids, Katniss saw the familiar emblem of the Capitol on the hovercraft flyers shooting across from up above.

"Look, it's the Capitol!" She shouted and pointed to the flyers.

The kids began cheering and waving from below.

"KIDS TO THE SHELTER!" Their teacher shouted. After the bombings earlier in the year, the district citizens resolved to survive.

Seeing the Capitol Flyers sent a boost of morale throughout the district. The hovercrafts began picking up coal and dropping off the supplies. They had established a base in District 11.

But that day never left Katniss, not even when the war was over. When suddenly the Hybrids were their allies, because of the Peace treaty President Snow was forced to sign.

On the day the men were supposed to return, only a handful came back. Of the 3545 drafted between the ages of 16 and 40, only 517 came back. Her father, along with so many other men were gone, vanquished, killed by those creatures.

Katniss was witness to how, day after day hovercrafts would land in the meadow. The survivors traveled to the meadow to wait for news of their husbands, their sons, their brothers, or their fathers. Each hoping to see the faces of their beloved. Katniss held on to her mother, who held her sister, Prim.

The small trio knew that the odds for their father to return were slim.

Katniss watched as a trickle of badly hurt men arrived back. Until the realization came hardly any men survived the war.

Life in Panem would never be the same. Peace came at a high cost. Katniss swore she would never trust a Hybrid.