"People of Panem we fight! We dare to end this hunger for justice!"
The room falls silent as the propaganda footage ends. Even Plutarch - the genius behind the direction of the film - has no words to describe what we've all just watched. It brings a tear to the eye because of how bad it was. There was no emotion, none of that awe-inspiring determination that Katniss is so good at when the moment catches her in its web. She looked and even sounded like a robot reading from a damn drilling manual. If Plutarch truly believes this will work against the Capitol and what they are pushing out with Peeta, then he has to be touched in the head. This crap won't inspire a fly to steal your food, let alone a whole country to rebel against an oppressing power like the Capitol.
"That was awful," I mutter more to myself than anyone else in the room, but Haymitch - who sits to the left of me - hears what I say and begins nodding his head.
"I agree." The relatively sober former mentor rises from his seat, stands before us all and grabs a pen off the table. "You're wasting your time if you think that," he points to the screen. "is going to convince anyone to fight a war for you."
"Then what would you suggest?" Plutarch asks cooly, but he's more than a little pissed that his whole plan fell right into the toilet before it even got started. I have to try extra hard to suppress my amusement at his failure.
"Let's all of us think for a second, of a time when Katniss Everdeen moved you." Haymitch wipes some documents - some of which I'm pretty sure are important - off the screens. "I'm not talking about a time that her dress looked nice, or she made a half decent shot, or when Peeta made you like her. I'm talking about a time when Katniss truly moved you."
Everybody around the table drifts off in thought. Meanwhile, Katniss sits staring at her boots. She's done a lot to inspire and evoke emotion out of the whole country, not just us sitting here today. When she pulled out those berries at the end of the seventy-fourth games, comes to mind. Or how she incited riots in district eleven with a simple sign. Hell, even the way she's able to enthral a crowd by just being there. There are plenty of reasons to show us all just how much of an impact Katniss can have, but there are moments that stand out amongst the rest.
Beetee - the genius from district three who won his games with a wire - notes the first and probably the most memorable moment. "When she volunteered for her sister at the Reaping."
All in unison we agree with him. Even Coin, who up until this point has sat through the entire meeting looking like she's about to wave the white flag on the whole Mockingjay idea.
Effie - district twelves personal escort - is next to voice her opinion, and again we all nod in agreement. "Oh, when she sang that song for little Rue."
As the others are all mumbling to themselves, I sneak a glance in Katniss' direction, just in time to see her dip her head. Rue is a topic she doesn't like discussing, and it's perfectly understandable why. To see a kid that young die in front of you isn't easy for anyone. Katniss especially so, given that her sister Prim is the same age as the girl from eleven was. I'm sure Katniss said during her victory tour that Rue reminded her of Prim actually, which makes that sting just a little harder to swallow down than it already was.
I tune back in as Haymitch jots the points brought up on the board, including one from Boggs about her pulling the berries out in the arena. He turns around to face us all, throwing the pen down onto the table and clapping his hands together. "Now, what do all of these things have in common?"
"Nobody told her what to do." Says Gale, looking more official now Coin has practically drafted him into the militia immediately and without proper training - not even I had that honour.
"Exactly." Haymitch grins stupidly as his eyes latch onto Coin. "You're not gonna get anything outta her this way. You want propaganda footage then it's gotta be the real thing."
"You want to send her into a real situation, like in the districts?" It has to be what he's hinting at, though I can't imagine Coin is going to swing for it if so.
"Ten points to this guy." Haymitch laughs. Coin rolls her eyes.
"No." The President says sternly. "I can't justify sending an untrained civilian into live combat. This isn't the Capitol."
"What about one of the lesser occupied districts?" Boggs suggests. "Eight maybe."
Eight isn't as dangerous as some of the other districts right now it's true, having already survived the most recent wave of bombings just a few days ago, but the last update we received from the leader of the rebels there - Commander Paylor - suggests that could change at any time. Since the bombs, they've only been dealing with the remnants of local peacekeeper forces and not the military, but the Capitol is upping their game now that they know Katniss is alive. Bombing district after district, killing thousands of innocent people to try and discourage her and us. If we go there, and the Capitol find out that Katniss is with us, in the open and unsheltered, that change is going to come around a lot sooner than Paylor anticipates.
"It's risky," I speak to Boggs, but my eyes focus on the girl on fire. "If the Capitol find out, they're going to send everything they have to stop her."
"Which is why I won't allow it." Coin dismisses the notion again. "We can't guarantee her safety out in the field."
Yeah, but...
"I want to go." Katniss cuts in sharply, raising her head to look around the table until she finally stops at Coin. "You'll never be able to guarantee my safety. Not while Snow still lives." She pauses pointedly. "If the only way to stand up to him is to go out there and fight, then I want to do it."
Coin visibly bristles at the way Katniss so openly defies her, but she seems somewhat impressed at the same time. If it were anyone else... well, I doubt they'd still be sitting at this table, or anywhere else, ever again. As Coin debates this over, I notice Plutarch smiling to himself far too smugly. What right does he have to be happy about this? It's his stupid fault, alongside his ridiculous idea, that's landed us where we are right now.
In my opinion, we should have been training Katniss for war the second we got her here. Propaganda packages and smear interviews are all useful assets too, but nothing is going to boost the people's morale quite like having Katniss fighting alongside them, leading them into hell itself and pulling them back up again when they fall. She needs to go to District Eight. She has to see the men, women and children who rebel because of her - who fight and die for her.
And they need to see her too, to spark some fire back into their hearts and keep it there long enough to bring Snow to justice.
"And if you're shot?" The President says it with enough finality that it feels like there will be no other outcome.
Katniss ponders a moment, her eyes taking on a mirthful disposition. "Make sure you get it on camera." She quips.
...I like her.
Later that evening I sit alone in the mess hall, nursing a cup of boiled water and a late night snack of protein bars. With the meeting wrapping up a little later than planned thanks to the abysmal failure on Plutarch's part, we missed meal time, though I'm not complaining too much. Starving is preferable at this point.
The good news is that, when all was said and done, Coin agreed - though reluctantly - to send Katniss and a small team to District Eight to capture any footage that might help us show the brutality of the Capitol and keep the fires of rebellion burning... on one condition, of course. If there are any signs of the military or even the smallest suspicion that the Capitol have managed to pinpoint our location, then we haul ass and get Katniss the hell out of there. We don't engage the enemy unless the enemy directly blocks our escape. It's fair to say that Katniss wasn't thrilled about the idea, and neither was Gale Hawthorne, but there's nothing we can do about it now. Coin has ordered that it be this way, and Boggs will carry the mission out as such.
Though, it isn't all bad. Given the nature of the mission and that we're not going to District Eight looking for a fight, Cressida and the guys will be joining us as well - Katniss' new, official propaganda film crew. I won't say that it's going to be fun having them around, that'd be both insensitive to the victims in Eight and wrong entirely, but I will feel better having them along. God only knows what we're going to see when we get there tomorrow.
Nothing pleasant, that's for sure.
I down the rest of my water and make to head back to my room, but the sight of Boggs coming down the corridor, a tense frown knitting his brows together, keeps me rooted to the bench I sit at.
He takes a seat beside me. "Ain't gonna be easy tomorrow." He sighs. "You've read the reports?"
I nod pensively. I've read the reports several times over, committing as much detail to memory as I can.
Our destination is a makeshift hospital, located only a fraction or so away from the thick of the fighting in the district. Hundreds of people - both fighters and innocent civilians - are holed up there, their injuries ranging from minor cuts and sprains to fatal burns and bullet wounds. Many of them won't survive to see us arrive if the reports are correct, including children no older than five or seven.
I'm trying to prepare myself for what we'll find, but I don't think it's going to help all that much when we actually get there.
"Are you ready for it?" Boggs asks quietly. "The things we're going to see? The stories we're going to hear?"
"I don't know," I answer honestly. "Are you?"
He stares into space, his dark eyes glazing over. "No," he shakes his head. "It's one thing to prepare for war and all that comes with it, but it's another matter entirely to witness it."
I can believe that. I remember this old man who used to live next door to my family when I was growing up. He must've been ninety years old at the very least, old enough to have lived through and fought in the Dark Days Rebellions. Every time I saw him, he just looked so... empty? Like the lights were on but nobody was home. Rumours said it was because the Capitol had done something to him, fried his brains without killing him somehow, but the truth - as his wife explained - came down to the things he had seen during the war. She never went into detail, seeing as I was only a kid when I asked, but whatever it was, it fucked him up enough that he just stopped living his life. His body died around the sixty-seventh hunger games, but the man himself had been gone for a long time before that.
"It's not going to be easy, but we have our orders." Boggs sits up straighter, his voice commanding, but clearly strained. "And no matter what happens, I expect you to follow them unless instructed otherwise."
Right, defend Katniss and escape first, no fighting unless we have no other choice.
"I understand." I nod firmly. I don't like it, and I don't have too, but I will follow Boggs' lead no matter what.
"Good." He stands and pats me on the shoulder, smiling but serious as he says. "We leave at zero eight hundred hours. Get some rest before then."
"Yes, sir." I offer a salute as he turns to leave.
I don't quite know what to think when he starts laughing at me.