"Come we have to get you out of here."
"Wilks?" I murmur.
"Get up! We don't have time to waste." Wilks runs over and puts my arm around his neck.
He pulls me to my feet gently and starts walking, allowing me to use him as support.
"I'm sorry i took so long." He whispers as we walk with quick pace. "But i had to make sure that i guaranteed your safety once you are out of here."
I can hear what he'a saying to me, though i find it hard to believe what's happening is real. I could be dreaming for all i know.
"I managed to contact a man, he has friends that can help you. Keep you hidden." Wilks opens a door with a keycard.
Without thinking, i push aside the thoughts of safety and being away from the Capitol to say. "Powell..."
"I know." Is all he says about it before continuing to pull me along the corridors whilst avoiding the patrolling peacekeepers. "There is a tunnel not far from here, the Commanders use it to dispose of dead prisoners. It leads to the edges of the Capitol."
"The fences..." Is all i can muster energy for.
There are fences that surround the Capitol, they act as trackers and detecters and are electrified. They've been there since the dark days rebellion as far as i'm aware. They were used to detect and target any incoming bombs that had been sent by District Thirteen.
"Don't worry about them." Wilks opens another door and then we round a corner. "My contact has everything under control, he'll get you out and get you to District Thirteen."
What? Thirteen is a nuclear wasteland, destroyed by the Capitol over seventy years ago. Why would i want to go there? Better yet how is it safe there?
"Thirteen?" I mumble.
"Long story." Wilks walks me over to a final door, its different from the others. "I'm sure everything will be explained to you."
The doors open and reveals a long dark tunnel and a foul stench from within. At the end of said tunnel is a tiny spot of light, i'm assuming it's the exit but it's hard to tell. Wilks continues to support me until we're inside the tunnel, at which he stands me up on my own and i lean against the tunnel wall.
"Here you'll need this." He hands me a strange looking disc of some sort. "A man named Plutarch Heavensbee is waiting just a little further forward once you exit the tunnel. Get to him, he'll help you."
"Wait what about you?" I ask weakly taking the disc from him.
"I'm covering your escape." Wilks then walks out of the tunnel and back into the prison.
"They'll kill you..." I go to grab him but after i almost fall over i think twice about it.
"It's a risk i'm willing to take." He starts closing the door. "Hurry, they won't wait forever."
Why? My life isn't important! So why risk his life to save me?
"Thank you." Is all i say to him, arguing will not change his mind, that i know.
"Go!" He says and closes the door.
I'm left in complete darkness once the door closes, the only light as far as i can see is the spot right at the end. Who knows how far this tunnel stretches? How long i'll be walking for, or if i can even get that far. Heck for all i know i'm still dreaming. This all seems to good to be real. I'm finally able to escape, to put the Capitol behind me. But if this is a dream, then why am i being sent to District Thirteen? Surely if i was dreaming, i'd be going home to Seven. Regardless, i start moving towards the spec of light, using the wall as support to keep me up right and moving.
As i move the spec starts getting bigger and bigger. Then thoughts creep in as to whether i'm dead or not. But seeing as i'm still hurting like crazy, that can't be it. More limping along, and i'm sure i can here wind bouncing against a metal surface further down. Then i start smelling fresh air, instead of death and rotten flesh. That's another thing, i'm walking on dead bodies and dusty bones, i can't see it but i know it. I'm not wearing shoes either.
The ground gets a lot more solid, and through the once just a spec of light i can see the outside and the glowing red lights on the fence that surrounds the Capitol. Maybe i'm not dreaming after all. With a sudden burst of adrenaline i start walking faster, ignoring just how my body hurts to do so. I start laughing to myself once i'm outside, the fresh air must have gotten to my head. It has to be around midnight, seeing as the moon is dead centre in the sky. What a great night for an escape right? I look down at my feet as i start walking again, looking for this Heavensbee guy that Commander Wilks mentioned. They're covered in what i can only make as dried blood and dust. In fact my entire body is. More of a reason to be glad i couldn't see what was in that tunnel.
I'm not moving for much longer, then i see a small, chubby blonde haired man, in his late forties maybe, stood by the fences waiting, concealed in the darkness. All my instincts say that that's Plutarch Heavensbee. Behind him is a hovercraft, i'm betting that's what the wind was bouncing off. I limp over to them as fast as possible, not daring to slow down in case i miss my opportunity to get out. Plutarch see's me heading over and takes a few steps forward, a small grin on his face.
"You made it." His grin becomes a smile. "Plutarch Heavensbee." He holds out his hand.
Shaking his hand, i forget to say my own name and just ask. "Why help me?"
To that he chuckles. "Not all of us support Snow and the Hunger Games." He lets go of my hand. "My own experience as Head Gamemaker ... Opened my eyes to the facts. Besides, Wilks spent months trying to help you on his own, i decided to help."
He was a gamemaker? I don't remember him. Maybe i wasn't old enough to care.
Things are silent between us as i ponder on his words more, at least they're silent until a third man jumps out of the hovercraft. He was a dark man, in his early forties. His head was shaven completely to the point the moonlight shined of it and he had dark brown eyes, a similar colour to his skin.
"We have to go." He says. "We'll miss our window otherwise."
"Of course." Plutarch was still smiling.
"Come with me." The dark man says and helps me walk to the hovercraft and board it.
Plutarch follows but he doesn't step on board. "You have the disc?" He asks.
Hurrying, i pull the disc out of my trouser pocket and show it to him, to which he smiles again.
"That right there is your bargaining chip." He says. "When you get to thirteen, give it to President Coin. That way she'll know you can be trusted."
I want to ask exactly what it is but doubt i'd get a straight answer, especially off this Plutarch.
"Thank you." I say.
"Don't mention it." He nods to me, then to the other man stood at my side. "Until we meet again Ethan."
The engines flare up and the bridge begins to close. Plutarch remains stood there watching us the entire time, still smiling. You get to wonder if it's just the people of the Capitol, they're just naturally happy. Considering he saved my life and i'm thankful, i don't really know what to think of Heavensbee. He seems like he has a good heart, but everybody from the Capitol has a dark side, no matter how nice they are. Or maybe he is generally just a nice person and my time in the Capitol with Snow has just made me think they're all self centred bastards.
"Come on, you should sit down." The dark man helps me over to the seats. "We have a while before we get to thirteen, so use it to rest up, conserve your energy."
I nod.
The man sits down in the seat across from me. "Name's Boggs. Nice to meet you."
"Ethan." I say. "Thanks for doing this."
"In Thirteen we will take all the help we can get." Boggs sits forward in his chair. "President Coin is eager to meet you. It's not everyday somebody close to Snow rebels against him."
"I'm not ... not close to him." I mumble as i look down. "I've spent the last ... who knows how long, taking beatings of his thugs."
"That much is obvious." He nods. "I'm sorry for whatever they put you through." He adds sincerely.
I don't reply to him.
"Fence going down in three, two, one." A voice calls out over the speakers.
With a swift jerk the hovercraft begins gliding through the air, and i'm assuming passes through the fences and out of the Capitol.
"How did you guys shut down the fence?" I ask, i thought it was impossible to tamper with it.
"We didn't." Boggs replies. "The sectors of the fence run for miles. On the other end, a hovercraft containing a new batch of peacekeepers from District Two is arriving, meaning they shut down the sector briefly. Long enough for us to get out."
Huh. This all sounds as though it's been well planned. Though i'm not sure why anybody would go through this amount of trouble to get me out.
"Commander Wilks spent a long time planning this." It was as though Boggs read my mind. "He was determined to get you to safety."
Odds are he'll die at the hands of Snow because he helped me. Another name to add to that list of people who die because of me.
Trying to take my mind off of that topic i ask. "How long has it been since the last night of the Victory Tour? For the seventy first games?"
Boggs sighs. "We marked the end of the seventy second Hunger Games five months ago."
Holy shit. I knew it had been a while but ... That means six or seven months i've been down there. For that amount of time all they've done is starve me and beat the shit out of me.
"District Two won." Boggs adds. "A boy named Eugene."
The regular career victor. I bet Snow was overjoyed.
"How did Seven do?" I ask just to keep the conversation going.
Boggs thought on for a moment then answered. "The boy died in the bloodbath. The girl placed sixth overall, killed by a career from District One."
At least we were in the top ten. I wonder who out of Blight and Johanna trained the two of them.
"The games lasted just over six days." He continues. "It's one for the books apparently."
"Is that according to Snow?" I ask coldly.
"No." Boggs shakes his head. "The new head gamemaker, Seneca Crane. He made an entrance the Capitol won't soon forget."
Seneca Crane? He sounds like more of an idiot than Juan Burtching, and we all know what happened to him.
"Boggs, the President is on the line." One of the pilots shouts out from the cabin.
Boggs nods and gets up, but before he leaves he says to me. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you when we arrive."
I just nod as he walks into the cockpit and closes the door, leaving me in the hangar alone. I half expected to fall asleep and awaken in the cell of the Capitol with Commander Thread stood towering over me. But no. When i woke up, i was still there in the hovercraft, with Boggs stood over me. Not Thread. It was real. I was free from the Capitol. I can hardly believe it. But i'm free.
"Welcome to District Thirteen." Boggs says to me as we step in the descending lift.
It was incredible. District Thirteen was real, still here and in no way destroyed by the Capitol. It was just hidden, under the remnants of the original District. This whole place was one big underground hideout. Bustling with people all going about their daily business. Though the entire place seems militarised, it's a damn sight better than the Capitol. I say militarised because people are walking in a soldier like posture, they are lining up in structured forms to get to places and their doesn't seem to be a family in sight.
"President Coin is waiting to meet you in her office." Boggs puts his hand behind his back, further solidifying my statement of the military like structure here. "My advice, be polite and don't argue with her."
"Sure." I say, not looking at him because i'm too distracted by the view as we descend further.
When the elevator stops on the bottom floor I follow Boggs out and through the long hallways, various turns and doors until we reach what i'm assuming is President Coin's office. I couldn't have been more right in my assertions. The moment we enter i'm greet by an elder women, in her fifties, long grey hair but along the sides at the front it was white. The way she held herself practically screamed she was the one in power around here and she knew it.
"You must be Ethan Snow." Her fragile yet stern voice calls out to me and she walks over.
"Mayne." I correct her. "I'm not a Snow."
The way she smiled at me suggested she liked the fact i had corrected her.
"Regardless, Plutarch has told me you'll be nothing but beneficial to us here." Her eyes examine me. "Though i think you'll need awhile to recover from your time in the Capitol prisons."
Considering i look like a bloodied up skeleton, yeah, i'd have to agree with her on that.
"But once you are deemed fit enough, you will receive proper training and be enlisted into our militia." Coin smiles.
I should've known there would be a price to pay for my rescue. But honestly, if these guys are taking the fight to Snow anytime soon, i'll gladly fight for them.
"Plutarch also said you'd be arriving with helpful information for us?" It was a question, one i'm not entirely sure i have an answer for. At least until i recall Plutarch's final words to me, it's a pretty clear answer then.
"I have." I pull out the disc from my pocket and slowly hand it over to her.
"Excellent." She takes the disc out of my shaking hands and smiles. "Allow me to officially declare you a citizen of District Thirteen, Mr Mayne."
"Thank you, madam President." I remember how Boggs told me to be polite.
With a curt nod of her head to me, she turns to Boggs and says. "Could you make sure Ethan here is treated correctly for his wounds at the hospital."
"Yes President Coin." Is Boggs' reply with a nod.
"Make sure he gets a good meal in him too." Is that last thing she says before walking away from us.
"Of course." Boggs says then turns to me. "Lets go kid."
I got to admit, the hospitality here is something else. So far President Coin seems a kind enough women and has the respect of Boggs no doubt. I hope i recover fast and i'm deemed fit enough to train, because now the opportunity has been put in front of me, i want to fight Snow. I want to stop him and the Hunger Games. I want the Districts to be a better place, to stop families being torn apart each year and maybe, just maybe, i can find a way to protect my family and Johanna from Snow.
This here, District Thirteen ... It's my chance to make a difference and you can bet your ass i'm taking it.