Present Day — Two Weeks After The Bombing of District 12

Location: District 13

...

"I refuse," Katniss grits out, teeth clenched. "Find yourself someone else."

President Alma Coin's face falters for a moment, her wrinkling face pinched for a brief second, before resuming her normal, stoic expression. Her graying hair is tied back behind her ears today, not one single hair out of place. She sits across her wooden, office table from the strong-headed girl. Haymitch Abernathy is seated next to Katniss, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose in agitation.

For the past week, President Coin has been trying to reason with Katniss and explain to her the utter importance of becoming the symbol of the rebellion.

The girl seems to have no interest in complying. She's angry with everyone for keeping her and Peeta out of the loop. Despite the girl's stubbornness, President Coin has continued attempting to get through to her. President Alma Coin has never been one to back down. While she might not be as loud as the girl before her, she is every bit as stubborn.

"Katniss," she starts. Her voice is calm, almost as if talking to a child. "The rebels of Panem look up to you. You are their Mockingjay."

Katniss scoffs. "Yeah? Well, I wasn't aware of that!" her eyes find Haymitch's. "You all keep me out of the loop. You lied to me, Haymitch; you told me that you'd save him over me." Haymitch lets out a sigh of annoyance. "Don't sigh at me, okay? You're all nothing but a bunch of liars and now you want me to work with you, even though you couldn't hold up your side of the deal?"

Haymitch growls. "Sweetheart, for the last time, there was a good reason we didn't tell either of you!"

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"Look at you!" he shouts, arms flailing in the air. "We were trying to keep you and the boy safe. Look, sweetheart, if everything went according to plan, you and Peeta would've been scooped out of the arena."

Katniss doesn't answer right away, instead glaring daggers at him. "Well it didn't go according to plan, did it? You lied to me, and now you're expecting me to blindly follow a bunch of liars."

President Coin clears her throat. Her thin, bony hand reaches out across her table and finds Katniss' hands. "Katniss, I sincerely apologize for keeping you out of the loop. But, for the sake of all Panem, please consider what we have to offer. You know first hand how terrible the Capitol has treated you and the Districts."

Katniss remains silent for a few moments. Her lips press into a thin line. She looks as if she wants to say something, but then shakes her head and storms out of Coin's office. President Coin makes no effort to stop the foul-mannered girl, but as soon as Katniss leaves, she sighs and rubs her temple.

"We should've rescued the boy instead," she mutters to Haymitch.

Haymitch shakes his head. "No. Katniss has that fire in her." He leans back in his chair. "A fire that Peeta never had."


Present Day — Two Weeks After The Bombing of District 12

Location: District 12

...

Nightfall is quickly approaching, and Madge's stomach gives another growl. Though she's no longer thirsty, the young girl is certainly hungry. She soothes her hunger with another strip of jerky. She eats it in slow bites, savoring each taste as it might be her last. She sits up and counts her supplies: nearly three packs of jerky and two packs of nutritional crackers.

If she eats small portions, it can probably last her a week or two.

Madge is still leaning against the tree by the spring. The air is cool, almost comforting. She doesn't want to go back and face the burning souls of the District. Even if she does go back, where would she stay? Everything in the District has been burned to the ground, and she certainly doesn't want to go back in the horrendous bunker.

With her flashlight threatening to give out, she doesn't think she can spend another minute in the bomb shelter. When she doesn't have the flashlight on, the bunker is so dark. Madge has never, ever been in that kind of total darkness. She finally understands how the miners feel in the god-awful mines.

She sighs, realizing she's going to need to find some sort of shelter. Madge thinks back to the 74th Hunger Games, remembering how Katniss had to spend several nights up in a tree. She looks up a nearby tree, wondering if it'd be a good spot for her. She doesn't want to drain out any more of her flashlight, and it's too dark to find a better spot for herself. And going back to the district is out of the question.

Madge grimaces before standing to her feet. Sleeping in a tree would have to do for tonight.

The young blonde slowly scales the tree, her feet finding every crevice to utilize. Katniss had taken her into the woods once and showed her. Her hands scrape against the rough texture of the bark, and she bites the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out. Her soft, delicate hands are not used to climbing tree bark. She continues climbing until she decided she could climb no more.

Shimming onto a sturdy branch, she leans against the trunk of the tree. Madge looks down and immediately pales. If she fell...

Madge immediately removes the belt from her dress and tied herself to the branch. She leans back once more against the trunk once she was certain she was secured. The blonde wiggled around for a few minutes, trying to get comfortable, until she sighs, realizing that it was going to be a long night.

...

She somehow falls asleep, and her dreams are so horrific, she wishes she were awake. She's in some sort of a void, unable to move, unable to feel. Her mother's hollow eyes bore into her soul; her father's anguished screams sound through the air.

"Margaret Undersee, I expected the best from you. You've let me down," her father's voice hisses, "I expected you to protect your mother. Why didn't you save her!"

"I'm sorry!" Madge calls into the void, covering her ears with her hands. "I promise, I'm sorry!"

Her mother's voice morphs into a more guttural one. "Your friend has burned us all to the ground, Madge! Handed us a death sentence on a silver platter!"

Madge's head hurts. Her thoughts from just a few days ago echo in her head. Katniss has brought District 12 down with her. We've all burned with her. Her teeth clench. Her fists shake. Her parent's distorted voices ring through the air, repeating themselves over and over again.

"Why didn't you save her?!"

"Burned us all to the ground!"

"Please! Make it stop!" she begs, hands covering her ears.

But the voices don't stop. Her father's voice booms in her ear, his accusations a piercing dagger into her soul. Her mother howls, screaming on and on about how the archer has brought death upon us all.

And, after a while, she's inclined to agree with both accusations.

...

Madge finally awakes with a painful scream, her voice echoing loud enough for the Capitol to hear her. She's surprised she hasn't fallen off the tree and whispers a silent thanks to the belt holding her in place. The dawn is slowly rising in the distance, and she cries. She sobs a broken cry from deep within her. She doesn't cry for long, though, her sorrow soon replaced with deep-rooted anger.

Why couldn't Katniss just play by the rules?

She feels horrible for thinking it, but she thinks it all the same. Her dead friend brought destruction to them all. And for that, Madge knows that she'll forever be bitter against the perished brunette. It's one thing to bring destruction to yourself as a direct consequence of your action.

It's quite another to bring everyone else down with you.