Chapter 10: The attack on the Capitol

[Summer/Fall in the year after the 75th Hunger Games]

Due to the worrying threats from President Snow and the concerns about the children he had managed to have kidnapped, our ride home was not quite a nice as the ride out had been. We tried our best to enjoy the scenery and in particular the crossing of the big river, but we could not prevent our thoughts getting back to the worries again and again.

When we arrived home in our district and got off the train, though, everybody we saw smiled and looked happy, and I did not get that, considering the situation Snow had imposed on us. Darius happened to have the duty at the station, and he smiled as well, which I found really odd. I asked him about it:

"Darius, what is going on? Why can you be so happy when the children Snow kidnapped are threatened by a violent death?"

"Oh, you have not heard? Of course not, you must have missed the latest broadcast from Thirteen, which was sent just a few hours ago, while you were traveling. Listen, a special team from Thirteen with support from our allies managed to get into the Capitol and get all of the children out. Some children and soldiers are injured, but no injuries are life threatening, as we were told. Right at this time, they are all being checked in the main hospital in District Thirteen, and the children will be sent back home soon."

Prim and I looked at each other, and I felt like a big load had just fallen from my chest. That was good news indeed, and we really hoped that was Snow's last attempt to mess with our district and our lives.

Just a few days prior to school start an unscheduled train arrived, and Katniss and Peeta came to visit for a few days. That was great! They could not talk very much about what they were currently doing, but we understood that their presence in District Thirteen was important for morale, and they also visited other districts from time to time. There was one episode they could share with us, though, and Peeta started to tell when we were sitting together in the bakery's big living room in the evening:

"Months ago Katniss and I came to visit District Eight. That district is specialized in textiles, you know, and they used to produce lots of clothes and also the peacekeeper uniforms. The district had been rebelling as one of the first, and naturally it had felt the wrath of President Snow for some time. We though that we had the district under control, and Katniss and I and a few others were going to visit and talk to people and all that."

"Believe me," Katniss added, "that district is not a nice place, at least not in the central areas. There are lots of dark factories, and there is smoke almost everywhere, even worse than our coal dust here. Only around the border areas they have fields for cotton and such, but also there the residents have to work hard."

Peeta continued: "When we were there, we toured a couple of factories, and right during one of those tours, there was an unexpected attack happening, with a strength we had not been prepared for. The two zeppelins we had with us in the district from Europe even got damaged, but could land safely. Bombs were dropped around us, and a few hovercraft landed Capitol troops. A commander Paylor distinguished herself by overwhelming the Capitol troops with the limited number of troops and weapons she had available, and mostly thanks to her effort, the district was fully under control again a few days later. During that time, though, the situation was hairy, and a couple of times I almost expected us to die. As it happened, we only got a few bruises and just needed a quick check up at the local hospital."

"Some factories were destroyed in the bombing" Katniss said. "But there are plenty left to continue making clothes, and the new leadership has improved working conditions. In some places the fence is now already gone, and surrounding areas are explored. Fields are being plowed so that they can grow some of the food they need on their own. After all, there is no need any longer for a district to focus only on the one main task, and most districts are making plans to fro some of the food they need, at least."

"There was another attack just before we left there" Peeta now chimed in again. "This time, though, we had been better prepared, and the air defense batteries we had gained from Europe managed to shoot down most of the hovercraft before they got too close; the few remaining ones turned around."

We had listened to the report without any questions, and we realized that what Katniss and Peeta had done was a little more than just having an easy time and talk to people. The war was still on, and the Capitol might still be able to sting and hit where one might not expect it.

"So, Katniss," Prim eventually asked, "when the war is over, are you going to come back for good?"

Katniss opened her arms and embraced her younger sister: "Yes, Little Duck, I think so. This is my home, and Peeta՚s home as well, and we intend to be back. I am a total loss in baking, but hunters will be needed both here and in our new settlement, and I can also teach archery."

"Right, my love" my brother nodded and confirmed. "I am looking forward to getting back to baking and decorating, and let's see, maybe we can open a new bakery in the new city. I heard a lot about that new settlement, and if it continues to grow like it currently does, it will need a bakery soon, won't it?"

"Can we manage the bakery here and a new one?" Dad asked.

Wheat replied: "Dad, look, this town here is decreasing in size. We used to be like seven or eight thousand people or so before the rebellion, and we are already down to less than half of that. More people are moving to the new city, and eventually this place here can be run by our apprentice Philip on his own, I guess. Maybe he will find himself a nice wife, and they can run the place here for us, so that our entire family might move out and build a new and larger bakery there."

"But what about Mabel? She is needed here!"

"Yes, for now she is" I responded. "When Peeta is back, he could start planning and building the new bakery in the new city, and Mabel and you could move later, I guess."

"And what about you, son?" Dad asked me.

"I will have to talk to the mayor where he wants me, I guess. Both the old and new town have some attractions for me. The new one because it's new and it's going to be exciting to be part of the city's planing, construction and extension effort, and this old town here mostly because here is where Prim is and is going to be for still some time to come."

School started again after the long summer holidays, and Primrose was in ninth grade now. Fortunately, since last school year, school was much better now. More precisely, lessons were tailored and adapted to what we in our district thought children should learn rather than Capitol propaganda and Capitol dictated content. Like in the school year before, coal mining was optional, and the focus in the higher grades was much more about daily issues of importance, such as agriculture, construction, biology, physics and such. History lessons were still suspended, and they'd be resumed after the end of the war most likely, with different content of course. As I had read in some book before: 'History is written by the winners'.

Sports and physical education were decided to be very important, and in addition to some exercises in the school gym, all children from fifth grade on had to spend at least half a day a week to work somewhere, like helping on a farm and such. While Primrose and Lizzy still worked with Mabel on healing, they still needed to do some farm work, too, to strengthen their muscles and such. That kind of work, though, only happened when the weather was accommodating; on days with strong winds and rain it was canceled.

Katniss and Peeta had left again after school start, and they both hoped to be able to back for Christmas, but they could not promise that, of course. Future plans were vague, and they'd depend a lot on what President Snow might come up with and how successful District Thirteen and our allies might be in finally ending the war and freeing Panem.

Leevy and Wheat had settled in their new home nicely. In the first few weeks we had helped with whatever was necessary, and by now they had a nice and cozy home, and they had resumed their crafting activities in the big shed. The large ground floor room in the house, which was larger than typical Seam houses had been, had been converted into a shop, and a few display shelves were now arranged close to the two big windows so that people could easily see from outside what was for sale.

At one time Wheat and I went for a walk, and I asked him about life as a married man:

"So, brother, is everything all right with Leevy?"

"Oh, yes, it is. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe that this wonderful woman is mine, and I am so glad that I got the chance to be with her. Our nights are so wonderful… you know what I mean."

"I guess I do, at least partially. You know, I haven't had a chance yet..."

"Yes, and I wonder how that works for you, Rye. I mean, you are 22 years old now, almost 23, and you have been in bed with Prim for a few years on an almost regular basis; how do you manage that?"

I smiled and replied: "Yes, it's not always easy, and sometimes I have to make an extra trip to the bathroom for, you know what. But she's so worth it. We have vowed to each other to not have sex before we get married, and although we don't have to be worried about her getting reaped any longer and despite being able to get access to more reliable means of protection now or at least soon, we have decided to stick with that. It's important to us, although going further is very tempting. But even so, just having her on top of me and smelling her hair is already bliss enough."

"You are really something, big brother. I do not think that I know anybody else who might be able and willing to do what you do."

I new quite well what he meant, and it was sometimes hard indeed to stick to the promise we had given each other. However, I could dream, and I could look forward to the many years Prim and I were hopefully going to have together once we got married.

The news we heard from the war were also encouraging. The Capitol still controlled Districts One and Five – Luxury and Power – but Three – Technology – was almost fully under our control now. The people in Three were, as we had learned, already helping our allies to make plans to finally conquer the Capitol, although of course no details were available. Rumors had it that they were working on special climbing equipment to get more soldiers across the mountains and on submarines to attack from the waterfront at the same time. I was worried when I heard about those rumors, and I told Prim:

"I don' think that it's good to hear about that. Us hearing about those potential plans implies that Snow knows about them, too, don't you think?"

"Yes, sure, but maybe the plans are good enough that there's little he can do about it?"

"Maybe, yes, but I think that they still have nuclear weapons. They may even use them on the mountains around the Capitol when they see a major attack being staged there."

"Yes, but our allies sure know about that. I know it's important, but it's not our problem, my love."

She was right, as usual. However, there was something else bothering us, and Primrose mentioned it:

"Rye, there is also something else I keep thinking about. President Coin from Thirteen has made it clear a few times that she should be the President of all Panem once the Capitol is defeated. But, I have to admit that I do not like her. I have even seen a broadcast from her announcing that, once the Capitol has fallen, we should have at least one more Hunger Game, with only Capitol children as tributes, as revenge. Rye, I don't like this, and I am a little bit scared."

I nodded and replied:

"Yes, Prim, I agree. Somehow I also do not like Alma Coin and the way she acts and speaks. Let's see what happens, and maybe there will be a better suited person to become President of a united Panem later on, hopefully with elections."

"By the way, Rye, do you know when Katniss and Peeta will finally be able to come home again?"

"No, I do not. I think that they are still needed for the war effort, at least as figureheads to help convince the to districts still loyal to the Capitol to switch sides. I think that Peeta has also mentioned that some victors are members of an advisory board to plan for Panem after the war. That makes sense, I believe; somebody needs to prepare for that time."

Over the next weeks and moths, I was traveling to our new site a few times, mostly for a full day, and I reported back to Mayor Undersee on the progress out there. We had a contest to vote for the name of our future District Capitol city, and a board of people – Mayor Undersee, Haymitch Abernathy, and some others – selected the best ones from the suggestions being offered and sent in; citizens could vote, and the winner was an artificial name: 'Appacolia'. It combined elements from the mountain range around us and the coal mining business, which had dominated our district for so long.

The city of Appacolia started to look better each time I got there, and a nice food market was now open two days a week on one of the big open squares in the city center. The market not only provided local food, but, like the one in District Six we had visited, also some from other districts, brought in by maglev. One of my favorites turned out to be the fish, the one they got from our small harbor on the coast, and a food vendor offering fish in bread rolls became one of my favorites. Over time I tried all of the variations they had, and during the few times when Prim visited me for the weekend rather than me getting back to the old town, I bought some for her, too.

It was also very nice to watch the city growing. Thanks to construction equipment some other districts had delivered, building houses was done quite quickly. District Two had been very recently able to free itself from Snow, who now controlled only one and Five fully besides the Capitol. Well, the largest part of the District was now free, whereas Snow maintained tight control on a smaller area which had the key installations for defense. Controlled by some hi tech gadgets from Three, they built awesome construction equipment in the larger part of Two, and three of the big machines had come our way. They had had to be disassembled for the maglev transport, but once they were complete again, they contributed a lot to the city expansion activities. Those machines were topped by two huge ones sent from Europe, though. The people in Central Europe had suffered less from the Great War, and, most important, they had been ruled by a democracy all of the time since. That had allowed them to focus more on agriculture, construction, and technology supporting that, rather than war and weapons to keep districts under their control; specifically, no citizens had been suppressed and forced to do only specific work.

One of the last ships had delivered one huge machine to work on old pre-war settlements; we had a few of those in some distance from the city, and the machine was able to disassemble structures and recycle most of the building material, depending on degradation, of course. Best of all, the machine was almost 100% autonomous, and a single person supervising it and just making sure that it did not go where it was not supposed to go was sufficient. Another machine was doing the counterpart work; it could be fed with building plans, and if the required raw materials, mostly bricks, concrete, lumber and such, were available in sufficient quantities, it started to build a house basically on its own. Watching one of those machines doing their jobs was amazing, and none of our districts was going to compete with that anytime soon. We were glad to learn that an increasing number of people had arrived from Europe, too, to settle here in and around the new city of Appacolia. Some of them introduced themselves during a small gathering while I was there, and they explained:

"Life in Central Europe, in the 'Bundes- und Alpenrepublik Bayern und Österreich', nowadays is comfortable and good. Nobody needs to be without a home, and nobody needs to starve. Many different occupations and jobs are available, but nobody needs to work real hard unless they want to."

Some of us locals wanted to know more about the political situation and the history, and specifically that very long and complicated name they used. One of our visitors, who was quite fluent in our language, laughed a little and elaborated:

"Well, yes, the German language favors long words, but that one does have a history of its own. You see, when the sea level rose during the climatic cataclysm, Germany lost a lot of its area, mostly in the North. Bayern, or Bavaria in your language, with almost all of it being on higher ground, survived practically intact, and so did Österreich, Austria, only losing a section in the Southeast. The leading politicians from Bavaria and Austria happened to be good friends, and they quickly decided to join forces and establish a joint government to make the best of the situation for the citizens of former Germany and Austria. In the following years and decades, other regions joined in, including parts of former northern Italy, adjacent areas of France, and some parts of former Poland and Czechia. This was by no means some kind of hostile action; people in all involved countries and regions were very happy to get a stable and operational government again, specifically as our government went above and beyond to provide food and shelter to everybody as much as possible. While some other countries, like Spain and Greece, stayed independent, the 'Bundes- und Alpen-Republik Bayern und Österreich' - 'Federal Republic of Bavaria and Austria', official abbreviation 'BARBÖ' and sometimes 'BBÖ' - has been a center of stability and progress in Central Europe, and although not all of the leadership decisions have been popular, it has been democratic all of the time."

"Wow, that's a much better development than we had here on this continent."

"Yes, I believe that we can consider ourselves lucky that your President Snow does not have relatives in Europe."

Some us laughed, and one woman asked what had motivated our new citizens to come out here rather then staying in Europe. The answer was:

"Some of us consider life in Central Europe boring, and we're looking for a more adventurous and challenging life, not just for the sake of adventure itself, but also to help other in areas which had not been that fortunate in the last couple of centuries. We do spend some effort on what we call 'development aid', helping people in poorer regions to get access to clean water, better and more food, and other basic amenities. So far we've been looking towards the continents of Asia and Africa for that, but now North America is also an option again."

Another one of the group continued:

"Getting here and settle down together with Panem citizens is interesting for us. We can bring some of our technology with us, and we are grateful for our homeland to allow us to do that. There is a lot of open and partially unexplored land around here, and we are looking forward to see some of that. Thank you for allowing us to be here, and we promise to be good neighbors and good citizens."

On that same day there was a suggestion made to form a group of people to explore the area outside of the known settlements. Most of their time should be spent to move around, and they should not only explore, but also advise on proper sites for any structures which needed to be built outside of the city, such as farms, power plants, roads, and much more. I promised to take that suggestion back to the mayor.

With people moving to the new city of Appacolia, the population in our core district town decreased further. We had been around eight thousand a few years ago, and the Capitol attacks, specifically the gas bombs, had about halved that. Now, with more people moving out, we were a little less than three thousand, with the trend going down further. Mayor Undersee estimated:

"Well, I think that the population around here will stagnate and stabilize itself around two thousand sooner or later. Coal is still needed, both here and in other districts, although in smaller quantities. Coal miners and supporting businesses should be all right with about two thousand people."

"So, eventually you will move to Appacolia, right?" I asked.

The mayor nodded: "Yes, indeed, Mellark, and I would like you to come with me."

I hesitated, knowing that Prim was still needed here, but the mayor added:

"We will make sure that you can spend your weekends here, or your lovely girlfriend can spend her weekends in Appacolia, of course. School is not yet ready in Appacolia, so that she will have to stay here anyway for the time being, I guess. In addition, I will need you to visit here on a regular basis as well, so that you will be able to see her from time to time during the week, too. What do you think?"

"What about medical services in Appacolia, sir?"

"Two of the emigrants from Central Europe are medical doctors, and they will handle that for now. We also have plans to open an apothecary, and whoever is going to run it will want to consult with your girlfriend and her mother on local healing herbs. In a few years we will probably have a small hospital, and when the Capitol falls, everybody will have a chance to attend university, I believe."

I thought about the implications, and yes, he might be right about that. Once we had a unified and democratic Panem, maybe in a year or two, Primrose might be able to attend university in the Capitol. But, would she have to be there without me?

Mayor Undersee might as well have been reading my mind, as he added:

"Mellark, once we can actually send our brightest young people to Capitol University, I will be proud of doing so. In addition, I could imagine that you might also benefit from spending some time in the Capitol to add to your own education, when the time is right. I know quite well that the two of you wouldn't be able to function well without each other; don't worry."

I was very much relieved to hear that. Yes, that sounded like an interesting option and something to look forward to. For the time being, though, there was still fighting in the western parts of Panem, and many more people would likely die before peace had a chance to settle in.

A couple of weeks later, in late November, we had a meeting with Mayor Undersee once again in his big meeting room. Haymitch, Gale, Marc, Purnia and myself were there together with the mayor, and we started to discuss the suggestion made by some immigrants from Europe. They thought that it would be good to have a group of people doing more exploration, and when the mayor asked me what that would imply I explained:

"I believe that they could do multiple things. They could explore the area, starting in the vicinity around Appacolia, to check where it is safe to go and where not. There could still be some regions with high and unsafe radiation levels, there might be areas with wild animals or dangerous plants, and they could also scout for some buildings from earlier times, as some of them might still have valuable things in them. Specifically, they can help to identity areas with good farmland to extend the fields."

"How many of those would we need?"

"This is quite flexible, sir. They should always go in teams of at least two, but we can start with only four or five teams. The people I talked to suggested to normally team up one of our people with an immigrant. They do have a few scouting experts, as they have done similar jobs in Europe and Africa as well, so that we could actually learn from them."

He nodded and looked around, and we seemed to be in agreement. There was one final question, though:

"Do we have a specific person in mind to lead the group?"

"I do, Mayor Undersee" Gale replied. "Johanna Mason from Seven had been visiting our district a few times, and she's been thinking about relocating. She's very experienced in getting along in an unknown environment; I think that she'd be perfect."

"From what I heard, Gale, you are the reason she wants to relocate, pal, right?" Haymitch smirked.

Gale actually blushed a little, but he nodded.

Haymitch smiled again and continued: "That's all right, boy. Actually, I also think that she'd be perfect. Even more, she and you seem to be a very good team, and I suggest that both of you lead the new group together; would that work for you? I am sure that we can add hunting as one of the group's tasks, of course."

Everybody agreed, but the group would not be able to start right away, as Gale's services were still needed for hunting and education, and Johanna would not be available to fully relocate, as her contributions to the war were required. However, we decided to get back to that topic at a later time, hopefully when peace was back in the country.

"So, next topic" Mayor Undersee continued. "Haymitch, are there any news from the war?"

"Not many, no" the victor replied. "I have a feeling that they try to block updates, as any news will sure also get into the Capitol. This may be a good sign, actually, and I do have a feeling that something important is going to happen quite soon."

Right at this time a box on the mayor's desk started to beep; he excused himself, read something, and turned back to us:

"I have just learned that there will be a special broadcast in one hour, and we should all listen. May I suggest that we all watch together here?"

Nobody objected, and for the time being we discussed other topics related to district administration. Soon the hour was over, and the big screen in the room started to flicker. The familiar mockingjay desk and announcer were shown, and the message was quite brief:

"Right on this day, our attack on the Capitol has started. Even if things go well, it will take us a few days to succeed, and we ask that you all keep us in your prayers. For obvious reasons, we will not provide updates in between, and the next broadcast will hopefully report our success. God save us all!"

The screen went black, and a few minutes later it came on again, this time showing the Capitol. President Snow himself had an announcement:

"We have all heard the rumors and false claims that the Capitol will be under attack soon. This is of course utter nonsense. Our defenses are as strong as ever, and we have the situation fully under control. Once again, I urge all districts to drop their weapons right now; all support of the rebellious District Thirteen will be punished, and we will not hesitate to apply our forces to the extent required. This is your last warning; cease fighting today and have a chance to survive; continue fighting and find yourselves dead tomorrow. Remember the first rebellion!"

The screen went black, and I asked:

"Can he really do that? Can he kill all of us? And what about the hint to remember the first rebellion?"

"As we all know, the first rebellion failed, and many people died. And no, I do not think that he can kill us all" Haymitch responded. "That was an empty threat, hoping to impress a few who do not know better."

It took more than a few days before we got an update, and only in early December the next public message from District Thirteen was announced. There had been a few more quick Capitol shows, some of them even been entertainment related, but finally the voice of the mockingjay talked to us again, with me and my family watching in the bakery living room; Prim, her mother, and the Andersons were over in the apothecary:

"Ladies and gentlemen, everybody out there in the districts and from where ever you watch, we have some important and great news for you today."

[Author's Notes: What kind of news might that be?]