Author's Note: This story is back! I re-edited all the previous chapters. This one is short, but there's a lot of excitement to come in the next chapters. I hope you like it. I'd be happy to know what you think! Comments, concerns, criticism? But either way, thanks so much for reading!

I can't see, not really. Everything blurs together when I stare off into the distance, my eyes not focused on any one particular thing. I know the town is in that direction. Where thousands of soon to be corpses are screaming and scrambling in confusion. They don't know what this means, not exactly. But I do. And I feel frozen to the spot because of it, because the fear overwhelms every bone in my body. Maybe it's best if they don't know first. Maybe it'll happen fast, and they won't ever see everyone they know die in front of them.

I think about the blood first. The overwhelming result of a body physically harmed, whether alive like Bonnie and Twill or dead like the walking corpses. The blood will always remind you what is actually happening when your brain goes fuzzy with fear. I never thought about how much blood is inside out bodies before the Games.

"What should we do?" Peeta whispers.

"We should get inside first. Figure it out from there. Top priority is to keep everyone here safe. Away from people is the best option," Haymitch says. I see my sister nod her head, anxious to get inside the safety of the walls.

I think Haymitch is talking to me. Probably telling me to get inside, but we need to devise a plan, right now so we can take immediate action. I hear distant shouts, probably from the town square. Whatever chaos might happen, it's starting now. That's when I remember the weapons. My bow, the Peacekeeper gun, Gale's hunting knife. It's all at my old home and I need to get there.

"I need to go home," I blurt out.

"Yes, that's what I've been telling you, sweet heart. Glad to know we agree for once," Haymitch says. He puts his hand on my shoulder but I immediately shrug it off.

"Great. Who's going with me?"

"Every damn person here is getting their asses inside."

"No, home," I insist. "My old house. Gale and I left our weapons there. I'm thinking we're going to need them."

"You're not going anywhere right now," Haymitch barks. "We don't know what we're facing, but if it's the same as what you saw in the woods, then we sure as hell ain't going nowhere right now."

"You really should be resting," mother adds.

"And your leg is hurt," Peeta states.

"Besides, I'm going," Gale says.

My lips part and my jaw falls open. I don't know what to say. First I feel foolish, then angry for all of them making me feel that way. Do they think I am weak? I feel a throb in my foot, and the pain registers in my brain. I flinch, becoming irritated with myself because I know they saw the pain on my face, even if only for a second.

"I can't let you go alone," I say to Gale. I know I've lost this battle but my pride won't let me admit they're right.

"You will though. I'm going anyway. I have to get my family."

I'm still not convinced. Who knows if I'll see him again if I let him go? I agree we need to bring his family here. I open my mouth to speak but before I can let out a breath, he continues.

"I'll get them, get the weapons and come back here, okay? I'll be safe. There and back. I'll be fine on my own," he says. I know he'll go anyway because he is just as stubborn as I am.

My foot is really starting to hurt from exertion. I know I shouldn't go. If we run into trouble, I'd be in no shape to properly defend myself. I inhale deeply and release my breath.

"I'll go with you," Peeta announces.

I whip my head in his direction. I feel slight relief until he and Gale share a look. Peeta looks determined and Gale looks weary. "Katniss is right. You shouldn't go on your own, and I need to get my family, too."

"You really think I need your help? You're just another person I'll have to look after. You're worthless to me," Gale howls at him.

He begins walking away. Peeta grabs his arm and shoves it back so Gale is facing him. Peeta glares at him.

"I can't let you go alone, for Katniss. I help you get your family, you help me get mine. This is a deal, nothing more."

"You two should go together. Less risk that way," Haymitch agrees. I nod my head.

Gale sighs and looks down to Peeta's amputated leg and then back up to his face. "Keep up with me, Mellark. I won't carry your ass like Katniss did."

I suck in my breath and feel a fury at Gale that I've never felt before. I glare at him. Mocking Peeta and what happened in the Games somehow feels like he's mocking me. My face feels hot. Gale has always taken the gravity of what happens in the Games to heart, so I don't understand how he could say something so cruel to Peeta. I want to hit him, right on the mouth. Like maybe that would take back what he said. I don't know how Peeta is able to keep his face stony and expressionless right now.

"Let's go," Peeta mutters. He walks past all of us. Gale quickly turns and rushes past him.

"I think we should be more worried about them killing each other," Haymitch says. "Shit. If they're not back before dark, I'm going to find what's left of 'em."

"Don't say that," I screech. "They'll be back and if not then I'm going to help them."

I need them both to come back. I don't know what will happen to me if I lose my best friend and the boy with the bread. They have both saved my life and I will make sure I save theirs, injured or not.

I take in a deep breath, hoping to steady my pounding heartbeat. I can hear it in my ears, but that's not all I hear. When my ears begin to function properly once again, I notice the sounds in the distance are getting louder. A loud shriek cuts through the air. I hear people shouting words I can't decipher. I close my eyes and swallow. My throat feels dry.

I glance at Prim. She doesn't look scared like I thought. She seems composed and older somehow. So unlike the innocent little sister I left before the Games, when I thought I would die.

"We should get inside," Prim says. She takes my hand and leads me through the door. I fall onto the couch. After my mother enters, Haymitch hovers over the doorway.

"I'm going home. But I'll be right back," he says. "Lock this door."

He turns his back and shuts it behind him. My mother rushes to the door and turns the lock. I don't know what he's doing, but I hope he's not bringing alcohol. When I see the fear on my mother's face, I think maybe alcohol might not be too bad of an option right now.

Prim stares down at her feet. I want to comfort her but I can't find any words to reassure her. My hopes that she would maintain her innocence, even just a little bit longer, are pointless. No one can remain innocent in this world. Soon, everyone alive will know that and those who don't will most likely be dead..and then they'll still kill. There's no winner there.

Maybe that's what Snow meant for all of this, if there's a deeper meaning besides ending the rebellion before it starts. Since hope has overpowered fear in the majority of the districts, he will crush hope with violence. To survive in this world, you'll have blood on your hands and accept that the Capitol has the power to turn you into what you never thought you could be; a killer. Or you die. No innocence. If you survive, you accept what the Capitol has made you and you live as a product of their cruelty.

I'm no stranger to killing, and I'd rather die than let the Snow win. Now I understand what Peeta meant that night on the rooftop before the Games, about owning him. Even surviving the Games means the Capitol owns you, just in a different way.

If I am truly the Mockingjay, then hope isn't lost. This last desperate act of Snow might just be more of an incentive to fuel the rebellion further. They don't own me, they don't own Peeta, and this rebellion might be the best distraction to prove it. First, we just need to survive.