"Haymitch…" Katniss shook him roughly. "Haymitch!" She commanded him to wake up.
Haymitch's eyes flew up, gasping for breath. "What's going on?" He asked her quickly.
"It's Peeta…" Katniss started. "He had a tracker in his arm all this time. He just told me. We need to evacuate. And get a striker team on the outside in case they attack. They're probably on their way as we speak-"
Haymitch flew out of bed, grabbing his phone. "Back to the hospital," he commanded, as he began speaking in a military language that Katniss couldn't understand.
With a quick nod, she took off from Haymitch's apartment and sprinted back to Peeta's room. Out of breath, she crossed the room in 3 quick strides and stroked his hair, causing him to move slightly.
"Peeta," she whispered. He didn't wake up.
Knowing what she had to do, Katniss took a deep breath. She began rummaging through the drawers near his bed until she found what she needed.
A scalpel.
She began massaging his arm, feeling around for the tracker. She finally felt it.
Peeta woke up to faint touches on his arm. Fluttering open his eyes, the sleep potion made his head swirl as he came back to consciousness. "Katniss…" He could see her blurry figure leaning over him.
Katniss cringed, knowing he was awake. "I'm so sorry," she said before slowly slicing open his arm.
Peeta cried out in pain, thrashing wildly. "What are you doing?!" He slurred his yell.
Katniss pulled out his tracker, holding it up to the light. Her hands were smeared with his blood. "Did you forget to tell me about this?" She asked him bitterly.
Peeta's face turned red. "How did you-"
"You told me when you were drugged. You accidently told me the truth," She snapped at him. Then she crushed the tracker with her fingers. "You do realize that they're going to attack us now, right?"
Peeta leaned back into his pillows. "I didn't tell you because I thought I would need to be rescued. I didn't know whose side I was on."
Suddenly, an alarm began to wail loudly, causing both of them to jump.
"We're evacuating," Katniss muttered, disconnecting the IV's from his arms.
"What are you doing?" Peeta asked her.
Katniss slapped some guaze around his bloody arm. "I'm getting you somewhere safe."
She pulled him out of bed, putting his bad arm around her neck and hoisting him up. "Can you walk?" She asked him, knowing the sleeping drug was probably still somewhat in effect.
Peeta's legs turned limp as he tried to move. "No," he admitted. "You should just-"
Katniss' whirled her head towards him, her eyes on fire. "I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to do that."
Peeta began to feel déjà vu as his head began to throb. "Did you ever say that to me before?" He asked her, weakly.
Katniss placed him in a chair, hurriedly pressing a button on a watch on her wrist. Then she opened the door and took a peek outside.
People were flying through the hallways in a mass panic. She heard screams and shattering glass, as the crowd continued to stampede. She ducked her head back in right before someone went tearing past her.
"It's crazy out there. We have to move, now," she said urgently, pressing her communicuff again.
"Please go," Peeta begged her. "I'll be fine-"
"That is not happening," Katniss yelled. "Not again."
Suddenly, Gale ran through the door. "What are you still doing here?"
Katniss walked over and stood in front of Peeta. "I communicuffed you three times! He can't walk, I need you to carry him."
"Katniss…" Gale started.
"Please, Gale," She begged. "Please."
Gale gave a frustrated huff before slinging Peeta's arm around his shoulder and lifting him over his shoulder. "We need to go, now. They're waiting for us."
The three of them took off through the crowds, running alongside the masses. Peeta's ribs clunked against Gale's shoulder, flopping him up and down. The sleeping drink hadn't worn off entirely, causing the people running beside him to blur. He closed his eyes and squeezed them shut.
Finally, the three of them reached a small hole. Katniss climbed down first, to find Haymitch, Prim, Cinna, Plutarch and his team, and a woman she didn't recognize. Not paying attention, She helped Peeta down, propping him up against the small wall. Gale climbed down next, closing the door to the hole shut.
Some emergency lights went on, making the room appear somewhat blue. Katniss took this opportunity to look upon the face of the woman she didn't know.
Gray, long hair. A straight face…
"Coin?" She heard Peeta mutter. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm the President of district 13, Peeta," She explained, coldly.
Peeta took a deep breath. "The bugs in my office…" he looked at Katniss. "Did you plant them for her?" He asked incredulously, looking back and forth between the two women.
Katniss shook her head. "That was Snow. He was trying to watch what I was doing." She touched his face lightly, relieved that he didn't attempt to avoid her touch.
Ignoring Gale's curse under his breath. She stood up and walked towards Plutarch. "What's happening?" She asked him, attempting to regain her breath.
Plutarch referenced a man next to him. "This is Commander Boggs. He's head of the military forces here. He's going to explain…"
Boggs shook her hand, officially. "We have intel that suggest 10 hovercrafts are 10 miles away. The capitol was recently shipped several hundred fire bombs. We're assuming they're going to be dropping them."
Katniss' face became determined. "We're underground. Can they hit?"
Boggs shook his head. "They probably won't make it through, the ground between us and them is several hundred inches thick. Nothing can say though."
Katniss nodded shakily. "What can I do?"
Boggs looked at Haymitch and Plutarch. "We could use some sharp shooters above ground…"
"Absolutely not," Haymitch started. "Too risky."
"Haymitch-" Katniss began.
"I mean it, Katniss," Haymitch interrupted before she could protest. "The idea of you being the symbol of the rebellion in fact requires you to be alive. This attack… you've had no training, we have very little intel-"
Katniss rolled her eyes. "Were the games not training enough?"
"This is a real war, sweetheart!" Haymitch yelled at her.
"I'm with Haymitch," Gale muttered.
Katniss whirled her head around. "Do I not even have a say?"
"She goes," Coin muttered.
All of the faces in the room turned towards her.
"She goes," Coin repeated. "Send a camera with her. Get some footage."
"Brilliant," Plutarch breathed.
Katniss nodded, determined. Haymitch rolled his eyes.
"I go too," Gale commanded.
"Yes," Katniss agreed, looking at her friend. "I want Gale with me," she commanded.
Peeta scoffed under his breath. He had been so quiet, Katniss was sure he fell asleep again.
Katniss looked at Haymitch, touching his shoulder. "Watch him," She said quietly, throwing a quick look at Peeta over her shoulder. "Don't let him leave."
Haymitch nodded quickly. Katniss quickly kissed Prim on top of her head before walking over to Boggs.
"Let's move," he said powerfully. Katniss walked past Peeta, who grabbed her hand.
"Katniss…" He started.
Conflicted over his feelings, Peeta didn't know what to say. Manipulated. Betrayed. Attracted. Connected. Hurt. "Don't die," he spat out. Then he dropped her hand.
Katniss took a deep breath, nodding at him. That was all he needed to say… she knew he was struggling with his emotions and memories. She was glad he wanted her to live at all despite him feeling manipulated and betrayed by her.
With that, she climbed up out of the hole, following Boggs through district 13. With Gale right behind her, she was ready to join the line of fire.
Katniss positioned herself behind some large rocks, with Gale right next to her. They looked at each other desperately.
"Well, Katnip," he said lightly. "We've taken down birds before, this should be easy."
"Actual birds, you moron. Not hovercrafts," she laughed nervously.
With that, hovercrafts with capitol seals began to fly over them loudly. They began to drop bombs, explosions erupting around them. Katniss quickly identified the craft in command, nudging Gale.
With that, she stood up from behind the rock, quickly shooting at the engine of the craft. Ducking down again, Gale stood up and shot at it too. Shots were being fired from all over, and it was almost impossible to tell if their shots were hitting or not over the loud noises from the bombs.
Suddenly, Gale sunk down, blood seeping from his shoulder. He was shot.
"Gale?!" Katniss said worriedly. She knelt down to examine him as fire burned around them. Shots continued to be fired at the rocks where they hid.
Gale looked at her. "I'm okay," he choked out. "It's through and through."
Feeling a new sense of anger, Katniss decided to take action.
She began to climb the rock, before Gale caught her leg. "Don't," He pleaded.
Another explosion went off behind them.
"Let me go!" She called down to him. With a sigh of frustration, he released her leg and grabbed his shoulder, wincing in pain.
Shots fired at her, But Katniss continued to climb smoothly, higher and higher until she could almost see the commanders operating the hovercraft. Quickly taking cover, she leaned over, shooting swiftly at the hovercraft engine one last time.
The explosion was enormous. Burning debris rained from the sky, joining the mass fires on the ground. Katniss took a deep breath.
Then, realizing the other hovercrafts were all flying in to surround her, she froze. Taken over with anger from Gale being shot, she let it fill her up, putting her body into motion.
Katniss knelt down, quickly grabbing some ashes. Walking toward the flat section of rocks, she bent over, and smeared them on top of the rocks to form a single word.
SNOW
She looked up and around at all of the hovercrafts, staring at each of them before looking at the next one, knowing Snow was getting a live feed from one of the cameras. Slowly, she raised up her hands, covered with black ash. Shoot me, if you want. That will only make the uprising worse.
With that, the hovercrafts began whirling away. Katniss shakily released the breath she was holding. She knew Snow had seen it. She knew he called a ceasefire.
Slowly wiping the sweat off her face, she had forgotten that she was being filmed.
"That was dynamite!" A voice called. Katniss whirled her head around, panting, before looking at a huge camera with a flashing red light. "Plutarch is going to have a heart attack! I'm so getting a raise!"
Katniss glared at him, annoyed at his selfish response. "Look around you," she commanded, referencing the mass destruction that encircled them. "This entire place is on fire."
Her cameraman smiled. "Even so, you were on fire today, Katniss. What do you want to do now?"
Katniss glared at him, thinking about that carefully. She looked at the camera, unsure of how to answer. "I think that's enough for today," she said quietly. That's the best you could come up with?
Katniss quickly climbed down, finding a bloody Gale on the ground.
"You're going to be fine," She told him. "It's just a shoulder wound."
Gale opened his eyes. "Did we win, Katnip?"
"Yes," Katniss breathed. "They left."
With that, Gale shut his eyes again, fading into black.
"We need a medic over here!" Katniss yelled into the fires, praying someone would hear her.
What do you guys think? Katniss is really coming into her own, isn't she! Review! Another chapter will be up today, so keep checking! XOXO DLL