DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME
The next morning, Tigris has breakfast ready for them. Their eyes glued to the TV, they see that the rebel forces are moving closer and closer to Snow's mansion. The rebels had been setting off pods by sending abandoned cars down the street. However, as Gale had predicted while they ate, they soon saw that once the rebels thought the area was secured, the Capitol activated nearby pods, blowing the rebels to bits.
Katniss begins to hear noise outside and peaks outside. She sees Capitol refugees begin to flee down the street, all heading towards the Capitol center. Some wearing only their nightgowns, she sees some are heavily bundled in layers in clothes. Now January, it is snowing lightly and very cold. She continues to see more and more people come down the street, carrying small dogs to jewelry boxes to potted plants. Seeing small children follow their parents; some too tired to comprehend what was happening, and some cold for she noticed some of the children did not have shoes on. The scene before her taking her mind back to District 12, she quickly leaves the window.
Tigris leaves the shop, offering to go outside and find out whatever information she can. Spending the rest of the day in the cellar, Katniss paces back and forth. Anxiety rising as the hours pass, she begins to wonder if she missed her chance of getting close to Snow's mansion. She could have disguised herself in one of Tigris's outfits and gone outside with the rest of the refugees.
She ends up taking a nap later that afternoon, for extreme fatigue has overtaken her. When she wakes, she is just as fatigued, as if she had not slept at all and begins feeling nauseous. As she goes to get herself a cup of water, she tells herself she is not feeling well due to the stress and lack of sleep since leaving the encampment.
Tigris does not return till almost 6 pm but has ham and potatoes that she begins preparing. Starving, Katniss inhales her food as Tigris informs them of what is happening outside. Telling them that she managed to trade fur underwear from her shop for food, that the city circle is packed with refugees, and that Peacekeepers are going door to door, even breaking in, to inform residents they will be taking in people for the night. As they watch TV, they watch a head Peacekeeper state that the temperature will drop below freezing tonight and warns that their President expects them to not only be willing, but enthusiastic hosts in this time of crisis. Katniss's eyes raise from her plate when she hears the head Peacekeeper say that the President himself has ordered part of mansion readied to receive citizens tomorrow. She also hears him say that shopkeepers should be prepared to lend their floor space if requested.
"Tigris, that could be you" Peeta says.
Realizing that Peeta is right, Katniss knows she has to get to the mansion before they are trapped in the cellar for who knows how long. She takes out her map and marks it after hearing the rebel update then stands up and says, "Let me wash the dishes."
"I'll give you a hand" Gale says as he begins collecting the plates.
Katniss feels Peeta's eyes follow them as they leave the room. Once the sink is filled with hot water and suds Katniss turns to Gale and asks, "Do you think it's true? That Snow will let refugees into the mansion?"
"I think he has to now, at least for the cameras."
"I'm leaving in the morning."
"I'm going with you. What should we do about the others?" he asks.
"Pollux and Cressida could be useful; they are good guides. But Peeta's too…"
"Unpredictable" Gale says, finishing her thought.
"Yeah."
"I don't think he will agree to being split up."
"Let me talk to him" Katniss says.
"I agree, if I come, I'm a liability to the rest of you" Peeta says to Katniss, Gale, Pollux, Cressida, and Tigris.
Katniss breathes in a sigh of relief, the conversation going better a lot quicker than she thought it would, until he says, "I'm going out on my own."
"To do what?" Cressida asks.
"Not sure, but maybe I can help cause a distraction, that way the four of you can get into the mansion."
"What if you….lose control?" Katniss asks.
"You mean…go mutt? Well, if I feel that coming on, I'll try to run back over here."
"And if Snow captures you again?" Gale asks him.
"I'll just have to take my chances." And Katniss watches as Gale and Peeta stare at each other before Gale takes out his nightlock pill and hands it Peeta.
"What about you?" Peeta asks him.
"Don't worry about me. Beetee showed me how to detonate my explosive arrows by hand. If that fails, I have my knife, and I have Katniss. She won't give them the satisfaction of taking me alive" Gale says smiling at Peeta.
But Katniss is not smiling, the image of Gale being dragged away by Peackeepers suddenly appears in her mind. She then hears the sound of the whip on Gale's back along with the words to the hanging tree playing in her head.
She closes her eyes to clear her thoughts away. Once she opens them, she turns to Peeta and says, "Take the pill Peeta, no one will be there to help you." And she abruptly turns and walks away, feeling everyone's eyes on her as she leaves.
The next morning, Tigris disguises the five of them to look like Capitol refugees underneath their uniforms.
Cressida and Pollux heading out first, Katniss and Gale get ready to go next, with Peeta the last to leave.
After Cressida and Pollux leave, Katniss uncuffs Peeta and turns to him and says, "Listen…don't do anything foolish."
"I won't. If I do, it's last resort stuff."
She leans forward and wraps her arms around his neck, feels him hesitate before he embraces her. She smiles into shoulder, trying to appreciate this final moment with him, for she thinks she may never see him again or if she does, things will never be the same.
Once releasing him, she says, "All right then."
She then turns to Tigris who says to her, "It's time."
"Thank you, for everything" and Katniss gives her a quick hug before pulling her scarf over her face and following Gale into the frigid air.
The snow coming down as they walk, they keep their eyes down as they shuffle along with the refugees, hearing crying, moaning, labored breathing, along with gunfire in the distance.
Katniss runs with Gale as they head for next corner. Once they reach the corner, they see the entire block ahead of them light up, a rich purple glow emerging. Gale grabs Katniss's arm and pulls her back, and leads her into a stairwell, away from the light.
They watch as the people engulfed in the purple light clutch their faces, their weapons falling from their hands immediately. Blood sprays from their orifices-their eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Blood everywhere, in less than a minute everyone is dead, and the purple light vanishes.
They get up and continue running, leaping over bodies that were all over the street. Katniss hears Peacekeepers approach and yells, "Get down!" and they both drop to the ground immediately.
Once the Peacekeepers have trampled over them, they get up and keep moving. When they reach the next block, they see more terrified refugees and a few soldiers. Suddenly, Katniss feels the tips of her boots begin to tilt and she cries out to Gale to run as the ground begins to fold down, engulfing the people in the street down below.
Once Katniss pulls herself up to a secure spot, she frantically searches for Gale, screaming out his name, not caring if anyone recognizes her.
She hears him call out to her further down, clinging to an apartment door. She tells him to cover himself as she takes out her gun and shoots the door lock, the door flying open. She watches as he swings into the doorway. She feels a sense of elation seeing him safe, then screams when she sees a pair of white-gloved hands clamp down on him.
His eyes meet hers, and she sees his mouth move but she cannot make out the words. She is frozen, not knowing what to do. She can't leave him, but she can't help him either. She sees his mouth move again but she shakes her head indicating her confusion.
She hears him yell "Go!" as the Peacekeepers haul him inside.
Katniss runs towards the city circle, when she arrives, she heads straight towards the mansion. Almost nearing her target, she sees a concrete barricade. She observes it is about four feet high and extends in a large rectangle in front of the mansion. As she moves closer, she sees everyone inside the barricade is a child. Ranging from toddler age to teenagers. She sees them all huddled together, cold, and scared, and guarded by Peacekeepers, as if they are trapped inside.
Knowing Snow is keeping them there for his own protection, she begins thinking of how she can infiltrate when she hears people shout, "The rebels!" and sees the rebel army pouring into the circle.
She hears a hovercraft approach from above. She looks up and sees the Capitol's seal on the craft. Silver parachutes begin to descend, the children eagerly scooping them up. Once the hovercraft vanishes, a few seconds pass and Katniss hears a loud explosion.
She looks on in horror as she sees many of the children die immediately, while others lie in agony on the ground, some stager around, still holding their parachute. Katniss then sees a large group of white uniformed soldiers come in, then quickly realizes they are not soldiers, but medics.
Deciding this was her best chance to get into the mansion, she moves forward. As she approaches, she gets a better look at the scene ahead, and comes to a dead stop. She sees her Mother, giving orders to the other medics and begins treating one of the children whose arm appeared to be blown off. Then Katniss sees a glimpse of the blonde braid, sees the figure remove her coat to cover a screaming child, her duck tail formed by her untucked shirt.
Katniss goes limp, unable to move, after a few seconds, she begins shoving her way through the crowd, just as she did the day she volunteered to be the tribute for District 12. She tries to shout out to her as she approaches, and she sees her Sister's eyes meet hers when Katniss hears a loud bang.
As Katniss lays on the ground, she can feel that her body is on fire. She does not try to roll around, does not call out for help, just lays there, anxiously awaiting death.
But death does not come, not knowing if this was a new level of hell reserved just for her, she feels herself being lifted into a medical transport, and as she is carried away, she begins to feel an intense cramping sensation in her lower abdomen, followed by a wet sensation forming between her legs.
When she awakens, she sees the bag of morphling, sees the IV attached to her arm, the medicine coursing through her veins. She sees she is in a Capitol hospital. The room is white and exceptionally clean. The doctors begin working their magic, fixing her severely burned skin, and manipulating her body parts, she hears the nurses and doctors say over and over that her eyes were spared, most of her face was spared, that her lungs were responding to treatment, and that she will be as good as new.
She also hears them say, "We're so sorry we couldn't save the baby."
She then hears her Father begin to sing the Hanging Tree.
She stares at the ceiling. Seeing nothing but white, she wonders if that is what heaven is, nothing but a white light, just like she heard in the stories growing up in the Seam.
She thinks about who is in heaven now if there even is one- her Father, her Mother, her Sister, and her unborn baby.
She touches her stomach, not feeling any pain for she was still being pumped full of morphling, she thinks how long did the baby that had been growing inside of her been there… 'Three weeks? Four weeks? Somewhere in between?'
She closes her eyes, the pain overcoming her, and when she opens them, she sees Haymitch standing above her, unsmiling and his skin yellow. She hears a sowing machine and sees Cinna in the corner making a new wedding dress. She then sees Delly appear beside Haymitch and Katniss hears her say, "Have faith Katniss, people are good-in their heart."
She wants to scream or cry, do both, but she cannot move her mouth. Remaining firmly planted to the hospital bed, she lies in the same position as the medics found her when she was burning.
A/N: Yes, I went there. I felt to get where Katniss needs to be at the end of the story this had to happen. Try not to be too sad, you will see people be there for Katniss that I felt should have been in the Mockingjay novel, the beauty of re-telling the story through fanfiction.