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Chapter 75-Attack
A little over an hour later, they arrive near the Jay Killer's camp. It is 4 in the morning. Katniss is feeling fatigued from getting very little sleep, operating on pure adrenaline at this point.
Gale huddles everyone into a group; him in the center, explaining the plan is split up into six groups. Five groups will watch and protect the perimeter of the camp while the one group will infiltrate the camp and take the guards by surprise. Gale explains they saw a total of five guards surrounding the perimeter of the camp, with two guards monitoring the tent they believe Marlon was in.
He has Spencer call out the names of who is in each group. Katniss counts a total of 12 people in each group, for a total of 72 soldiers, not counting herself. She of course is in the group with Gale, Spencer, and Hance to infiltrate the camp, and she sees Abraham in one of the perimeter groups. She knows Spencer was put in the group due to his medical training, and because Gale knows he would protect her should anything happen to him.
Each group splits up, the lead person for each group has a radio to call the hovercraft and the other groups should they need to. Abraham the lead for his group and Gale the lead for theirs. Katniss tries to keep up as the group quickly moves through the trees, taking a long way around the camp to enter from the back. She found it was hard to move as quickly due to her cast, not wanting to bump it while moving through the trees. She notices Gale looking back at her every few moments to make sure she is not too far behind. Each soldier is carrying a gun, Gale has not only a gun, but also has devices that disperse tear gas. She was given a small hand gun before they set out, currently strapped to her waist, Spencer giving her a quick lesson on how to use it before leaving.
Twenty minutes later they arrive at the edge of the camp, they crouch down as they see one Jay Killer far off to the side of their target tent, Katniss assuming another group is over in that direction. She also sees the two guards monitoring a tent about fifty feet away, with a couple of tents behind it, closer to where they are hiding.
Gale radios to the other team leaders that they are about to head in, cautioning them to all be ready should the Jay Killers begin shooting. Their team splits up into two groups, Gale, Spencer, Hance, herself, and two other soldiers in one group, the other remaining 7 soldiers in another. The plan for the second group to make noise to distract one of the guards, sending him over their way while her group takes the other guard by surprise.
As she watches the second group head off, Gale comes up to her and says, "Are you ready?"
She gulps and breathes in heavily, once she exhales she says, "Yes."
He nods at her and says, "Just try to move as fast as you can okay? I saw that you were moving slower than usual."
She becomes irritated and snaps, "Do you know how long it has been since I've done this? Plus I have a broken arm on top of it."
He smirks at her and says, "That's my Catnip, I was planning on you having that reaction. Save your temper for them" and he nods his head in the direction of the camp.
She calms down and forms a small smile, nodding her head she is ready to go. Gale then gives a signal and they position themselves, ready to move while waiting for the guard to leave.
After a few minutes they see the guard has taken the bait and begins walking over to the edge of the woods, his gun ready. When he is halfway to the edge they sprint off, running full speed as quietly as they can and hiding behind the back of the tent. The other guard is in the front, preoccupied by something he sees ahead of him. Katniss wonders if perhaps he sees movement in the trees from the other teams. She doesn't have time to ponder anything else when suddenly she sees Spencer take something out of his side leg pocket and comes up behind the guard, injecting something into his neck. He quickly collapses and the other two soldiers drag his body behind the tent, hiding him from sight. Gale, Spencer, Hance, and Katniss quickly enter the tent, Gale going in first in case another guard is in there.
Once inside she sees no one there except Marlon. He is tied up, his hands and feet bound. His face looking bruised and beaten, typical Jay Killer behavior she thinks in disgust. He appears to be sleeping. She sees off in the corner her stuff. Quickly walking over and grabbing her locket and puts it in her pocket, she doesn't see her journal or the map. She leaves her clothes where they are.
Spencer and Hance quickly get to work on cutting the ropes he is bound with, Katniss gently tries to wake Marlon, taking longer than she expected for him to wake up, most likely extremely tired from whatever horrors they had done to him. They lay him down on his back, still trying to rouse him from sleep.
Gale continues to stand guard by the entrance, peering outside with his gun ready. The other two soldiers at the back of the tent.
When Marlon finally opens his eyes, he has a look of fear on his face as he sees Hance and Katniss looking down at him. He tries to sit up and thrashes his arms but Hance and Spencer grab his shoulders, pinning him back down and forcing him to lie still.
"Marlon-it's me-Katniss. We are here to get you out of here. I'm with Panem's soldiers, they won't hurt you" Katniss says softly into his ear and gently touching his shoulder.
He calms down and finally recognizes her and says, "Katniss?"
She smiles at him and says, "Told you I would come back for you."
"Sir, we need to leave, can you get up?" Hance asks in a gentle tone.
He tries to get up but is wobbly on his feet and stumbles back down. Gale quickly goes outside without a word and before Katniss can call after him, he comes back in with the other two soldiers.
The two soldiers, both men, grab Marlon on each side, standing him up. Marlon's arms are draped across each one's shoulder and is practically carried as the two hoist him up as they move out of the tent. Gale radios one of the hovercrafts, letting them know they were on the way. Once outside, Hance and Spencer are in the front as Gale and Katniss are behind Marlon and the other two soldiers, moving towards the edge of the woods. Suddenly, Katniss hears someone call out, "Sound the alarm, she's here!"
Gale begins shooting in the direction of the voice, yelling to the men carrying Marlon to keep moving with Spencer while Hance comes up beside Gale and begins shooting as well, sandwiching Katniss in between them.
Katniss watches as Spencer, Marlon and the two soldiers reach the woods, quickly disappearing from sight. Suddenly, she hears a loud noise, the noise sounding like a horn. The noise repeating every second. She takes out her gun, ready to shoot.
Gale and Hance quickly take down the men who had spotted them. But she sees more and more people coming out of their tents, with their weapons ready. She begins to hear more shots as they run towards the woods, seeing more and more figures in black emerge from the woods, firing away in all directions, causing complete chaos. Gale throws tear gas behind him as they finally reach the edge of the woods. He radios the hovercraft, telling Penny to send two hovercrafts to them, the other staying behind in case Spencer, Marlon, and the other two soldiers arrive back at camp. They move towards the direction of the second group. When they arrive, they see the other guard unconscious on the ground, Katniss realizing most likely he was given the same injection the other guard was.
They don't see any other soldiers, knowing that they entered the camp once they heard the alarm. Gale, Hance, and Katniss watch as they see fighting ensue, with some of the Jay Killers running into the woods.
Gale quickly moves Katniss behind a very large tree. "Stay here" he says as he and Hance move in about twenty feet and start shooting. She no longer hears the alarm, hearing only constant firing instead. She hopes Marlon is safe while heading with the others to the hovercraft.
Katniss looks on anxiously as she watches Gale shooting behind a tent with Hance. While scanning the area she sees at least 60 Jay Killers if not more shooting back. She still has her gun ready when she hears movement and whips around, seeing a man run in her direction and looking off to the side, recognizing Katniss after a few seconds. He runs towards her and gets his gun out, but she quickly shoots him in the stomach before he can aim, falling to the ground and screaming out in pain. She begins to run towards the direction of Gale and Hance when suddenly she feels pressure on her left thigh, falling to the ground immediately. She looks behind her and sees another Jay Killer bring his gun down and begins walking towards her. She realizes she's been shot, starting to feel intense pain instead of pressure.
She tries to position herself to aim a shot, but before she can do anything she hears Gale shout, "Katniss behind you!" and she whips her head around and sees a man lounging down at her with a knife, stabbing her in the shoulder repeatedly. She drops her gun and tries to reach for the knife, when suddenly she sees the man get pulled up from behind, large hands grabbing the man's neck, putting him in a chokehold. She sees Gale begin to cut off oxygen to the man's throat, and sees the man's face start to turn red. She hears a loud shot and turns her head and sees Hance lower her gun after shooting the other man who attacked her. The man on the ground crying out in pain after being shot in the groin.
Gale causes the other Jay Killer to lose consciousness and he falls to the ground, Gale grabbing the knife and handing it to Hance. He runs to Katniss and collapses on his knees beside her, applying pressure to her shoulder. He strips off his jacket and sleeveless shirt and ties it tightly around her thigh, making a tourniquet and putting his jacket back on.
She sees the blood continue to pour from her shoulder. "Gale" she says worriedly, too worried to think about the pain she is feeling.
"Hold on" he says in a surprisingly calm tone as he and Hance get Katniss to her feet. Gale bends over and says to Katniss, "Grab on" and Hance helps her get on Gale's back. He rises up and carries Katniss on his back, her one arm holding onto him as he holds onto her legs and begins jogging towards the hovercraft that has landed in a field. Katniss sees the other hovercraft start to circle above the camp, shots being fired at the Jay Killers. She sees Gale has quite a hike to get to the top of the hill where the field is. She looks behind her and sees Hance jogging behind them, her weapon ready.
She feels Gale start to slow down as he goes up the hill, fatigue overtaking him from her weight on his back. He doesn't stop and he continues up, finally reaching the top of the hill. He gets a renewed burst of energy as he sprints up the walkway, feeling his jacket getting even more damp from Katniss's blood.
Katniss hears Gale call out for help and she sees Spencer help her onto a flat table. Spencer quickly gets to work attending to her wounds, another soldier coming up beside him to help. She feels an IV inserted into her arm and she immediately becomes drowsy, fighting to stay awake. She hears Gale's voice off to the side, barking orders into the radio for everyone to pull back and head for the hovercraft.
She continues to try to stay awake and calls out "Gale!" and she sees him appear at her side, grabbing her hand.
"Shhh Katniss, try to relax okay? You'll be alright. Go to sleep."
"Marlon-is he?" but before she can say anymore Gale says, "He's here, he's safe."
She nods her head, still feeling intense pain but let's herself begin to fall asleep, the last thing she sees is Gale's face before closing her eyes.
