"Where are we going?"
It was Cid and he had been bugging you for about a week now. Rolling your eyes, you continued walking, slashing away at the excess trees and vines. Cid was right on your heels, his hair peeking out from the rest of the greenery. You just glanced back at him. "District 13" you answered solemnly. Cid was stopped in his tracks. Raising an eyebrow, you stopped and turned to look at him.
"Are you sure?" he asked softly. You folded your arms and gave him a serious look.
"Yes, Cid. I'm going to District 13. You're welcome to join me if you want," you answered shortly. Cid shuffled his feet for a moment before looking up at you with a surprised expression.
"It's just…itsn't District 13 destroyed?" he asked. You rolled your eyes and tapped you foot impatiently.
"I've heard rumors that the rebellion has gathered there, underground….besides…if it IS destroyed then no Peacekeepers will be around to kill us," you explained. Either way, you would be safe…well…safer. Cid stared at you for a moment before slowly nodding his head and following you deeper into the forest…
"Juliet? Juliet? C'mon Juliet, wake up."
Light filtered into your eyes, blinding you for a good minute. Groaning, you tried moving your arms, but exhaustion sweeped through your mind in a large tsunami. A voice filled your ears and mind, encompassing your thoughts. It was the only thing that you could comprehend.
"Oh thank god you're alright! C'mon Juliet…open your eyes…" It was Cid's voice. Moaning, you pried open your eyes and slowly took in of where you were. You were laying down on a hospital bed in the infirmary back in District 13. Two flowers sat at the end of your bed, Cid sat next to you in a wooden chair. You noticed how the scratches on his face seemed to have been stitched up. He gave you a small smile and patted you on the leg. Sitting up, you rubbed your head and eyes tiredly.
"Is everyone okay?" you asked suddenly, remembering Frank. Cid nodded his head.
"Yeah…thanks to you," he said softly. You gave him a reassuring smile and stood up and got out of the bed. Stretching, you checked over you vitals and limbs. The nurse came in and noticed you were up.
"Ah, you're awake…well you were just suffering from a small concussion…your vitals seem to be in order. I think you are free to leave," she said with a tender smile. You nodded your head and took a few slow steps before following Cid out into the main hallway. He held onto your arm in a protective fashion and steered you through a crowd of citizens who were making their way to the dining hall. Cid pulled you all the way to your room where he gave you a small note before leaving you alone in peace. Backing up into the small cubicle called a room, you opened the letter to see a small hand-written note saying: Come to the office immediately after you get settled back in. Dress up. Confused as to why you should dress up, you walked over to the small dresser and picked out a comfortable blue dress. Walking over to the small mirror, you nearly stepped back in astonishment. With extreme hesitation, you looked in the mirror and touched your cheek. You had one scratched from bottom of your chin all the way to the top, stitches sticking out roughly. Two scratches lined your neck, and a bruise was formed on the left side of your forehead. Gently touching the area, you winced with pain and focused your attention on your hair. Brushing through it, you twirled the ends and flipped it around before deciding it was fine.
Shrugging with indifference, you left the room and walked down the hallway and up the stairs to Coin's office. Standing outside the door you took a deep breath and knocked three times.
You dragged your feet through the dust and the sand, hoping beyond hope that an oasis would appear. But as the sun grew darker, you knew there was no hope. Cid was even worse off than you. His eyes were dull, and he was slow going. You helped him keep up, but you were both soon on your knees crying of exhaustion. All hope seemed loss that night. But before the sun was completely gone, a magnificent light shone down upon you and Cid huddled in the sand. Covering your eyes, you gazed up at the luminescent light with wonder and awe. A person yelled down at you, and soon you were engulfed by warm hands.
It was some time before you were reawakened. And by then you could feel your stomach growl in angry protest at you negligence, and the feel of soft linen against your rough skin. Voices appeared all around you, making hushing noises. A beeping monitor near your head was going off like gentle music. Groaning, you sat up and took stock of your surroundings.
You were in some kind of a hospital with nurses milling about. A drip was connected to your forearm and heart monitors were connected to your arms and legs. A chubby, ginger, nurse hurried over and checked your vital signs. Everything seemed okay considering she unhooked you from the monitor. Before she could leave you alone, you grabbed her by the arm. "Please," you begged. "Where am I? What's going on?" The nurse gave you a pitying look before turning to a radio and talking into it.
"I've got the unconscious girl down here in the infirmary. She's awake and she wants answers." She said this almost in a military like fashion. Apparently someone was talking on the end, because she clicked off the radio with a "Copy that." Walking over to you, she helped you stand on two feet and then gave brushed you off. Writing something on her clipboard, she directed you to the door. It swung open in a swish and it led to a long hallway. People wearing the same uniform walked past with their heads down and their hands clenched. Something felt strange here…The nurse gave you a false smile and then pointed to the right. Feeling confused, and slightly baffled, you followed her instructions and slowly walked through the right wing of the hallway. You noticed how people seemed very much down, and how they wouldn't look you straight in the eye. You continued for a few minutes before you came upon a door marked PRESIDENT. It was a simple door, yet you could feel your knees quake a shake. Where were you?! Taking a reassuring breath, you closed your eyes and knocked three times…
The door swung open and revealed a round room filled with people. Cid was the first one who caught your attention, his blonde hair and rough facial stitches sticking out from the rest. Before you could say hello, a gangly red head appeared in your vision with a big smile on his face. He wrapped one arm around your shoulders and chuckled.
"It's good to see you not in a coma," he said jokingly. You slapped him gently on the arm and noticed how he was still limping pretty heavy on his left leg.
"It's good to see you not unconscious," you responded. A person cleared her throat and forced your attention to the desk at the end of the room. Coin was staring at you with intense eyes and a bored expression on her face. Her mouth was upturned and her arms were tense. You could see the lines forming around her face, and noticed how stressed she seemed to be. This kind of made you happy.
"Congratulations on the successful mission…," she said softly. You frowned for a moment and thought back. Visions blurred through your mind like a movie reel and forced the anger you had kept down to come boiling to the top. Angrily walking to her desk, you pounded the oak in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes.
"I hope whatever information we gathered was worth it because we lost Marcus because of it," you hissed. You folded your arms and squinted at the president. She merely sat back and stared you down, choosing her words very carefully.
"You know as well as I do that some losses can't be prevented," she answered slyly. That's when you realized what Coin was TRULY saying. When you had first started the mission, you didn't question as to WHAT exactly you were looking for…just information…but Coin knew. The timing had been perfect…those houses…they belonged to higher-up Peacekeepers. You felt your stomach drop, and vile build up in your throat.
"You knew…," you whispered, barely able to say the rest. Coin cleared her throat convincingly and shuffled around some papers on her desk. She nodded at the corner where you were surprised to see a new guest in the office.
"Please restrain yourself for once Juliet…we have…visitors," she said with a raised eyebrow. You glanced at the man and noticed how he was around your age. He was tall, dark, and his eyes bore into you like x-rays. His arms were crossed and scratches aligned his face telling you that he had also just gotten out of combat. "Special Agent Matthews, this is Gale Hawthorne…he's from District 12…," she answered obvious as to why she added that last part. You merely nodded at him and turned back to Coin, now composed you did your best to look bored.
"Why's he here?" you asked rather rudely. Coin gave you a bad look then turned around and turned on the TV. It flashed on and showed you a movie reel of Caesar's showcase of the last minutes of the Hunger Games. A skinny girl with a braid in her hair and a rather built boy were standing facing each other with what looked like berries in their hands. The girl gave the boy a smile and they both began slowly lifting the berries to their mouths. Suddenly, however, a voice called down and announced them as winners. Frowning, you put a hand to your chin and scratched it. Two winners? Caesar had some commentary, but Coin shut the TV back off and turned back to you examining your every move.
"Two winners? I don't understand," you said regretfully. A smirk began to form on Coin's face, but you ignored it.
"I understand why you are confused…you've been in a coma for almost 3 days now…," she said slyly. You ignored the comment as well and just stared at her. She nodded to Gale. "Well, District 12 has been destroyed…,"
"I know," you muttered glaring at her.
"…and Gale's friends, Peeta and Katniss were the ones you saw in the Games about to commit suicide," she finished. You gave her a confused look.
"Suicide? All I saw was two contestants eating berries."
"They were poisonous…they both declared that they would rather die than conform to the Capitol's wishes," she continued. You dwelled for a moment on the implications of such a daring move. To defy the Capitol would be defying President Snow himself…and that would cause quite the little mess for his dear city. You chewed on your finger nail for a minute before looking back up at the old president.
"President Snow would never allow them to live after that…," you said. But then you put the pieces together. Of course…they must have been from District 12…
Coin saw you put the puzzle pieces together and nodded her head solemnly. "That's right…he sort of did…," she answered. You cocked an eyebrow and shrugged your shoulders.
"So…what now? If they're already dead…," you started. But the boy, Gale, interrupted you.
"They're not dead. Katniss is here…Peeta was captured," he answered gravely. This got you to think. If that girl…the winner of the Hunger Games was here…oh boy…
"So, what do you need me for? I just got off a job," you said, getting to the point of this whole meeting. The only reason why Coin would care where you were was if she needed something done quickly and discreetly. Coin sat up in here chair and put a business-like look on her face.
"Yes…well…Gale here is from District 12 and he wants to join our forces in fighting," she said, looking over at the solemn dark boy. You glanced over at him and analyzed his facial expression. You could tell he handed slept in a long time…probably because he was grief-stricken from losing his District. Turning back to her you shrugged your shoulders.
"So? Get an officer up here to train him," you replied bluntly. Coin smiled obviously which made you roll your eyes. Of course…you were the "perfect agent for the job".
"Well, Juliet that's why I brought you up here to my office today. Gale's still too unexperienced to be in the front lines so I've made him a special operative…like you…and I need you to train him before I send him out on his first mission," she answered, matter-of-factly. You rolled your eyes again and scratched your arm. Glancing over at the boy you realized that he probably wouldn't be too hard to train. He was quiet, obedient, and he didn't complain.
"So, you're not sending me out on another mission?" you asked…regretting the fact that your voice sounded hopeful. Coin gazed at you for a full minute before turning back to her paperwork.
"Training Gale is your most important mission right now, Juliet. Get to work." And with that she bade you farewell in which the door swung open. Cid clapped you on the shoulder in a friendly manner and steered you back into the hallway.
"Are you alright, Juliet?" he asked, his voice betraying his concern. You smiled and nodded your head.
"Yeah, I'm fine…it's just…my…head. I think I'm gonna go get some dinner before I head to my room," you said. Cid nodded his head and waved goodbye before heading towards the computer lab. Demitri gave you a salute before helping Frank down the stairs. You headed down to the cafeteria and grabbed your extra-sized tray of food and sat down to gourge yourself. Because of your excursion to District 2, and your coma, you were a little low on fat so the kitchen was being extra nice to you and giving you a full plate of gross beet and carrot soup. You were quietly enjoying the food when dark, Gale Hawthorne slid in the seat adjacent from you.
"Hi," he said simply, his dark eyes boring into yours. You nodded your head in acknowledgement but continued eating. He was silent for a minute before continuing.
"I'm Gale…and I think you're supposed to train me…," he said, getting straight to the point. You slurped some beet and carrot soup before answering.
"That's my orders," you replied. Gale nodded his head slowly and looked at your plate with a skeptical look.
"Do you always eat so much?" he asked, rather rudely. You ignored his rudeness and took another bite.
"Well, I do when I've just gotten out of a 3 day coma," you answered cleverly. Gale 's lips turned upward for a split second in which you could see how his face changed with a small dose of happiness. Stuffing some more soup in your mouth, you raised an eyebrow.
"So, tell me more about this…Katniss..and…Peeta. Coin wouldn't be interested in them if they weren't really important," you said curiously. Gale looked at his hands for a moment before gazing back into your eyes. There was a silence in which you could see that he was trying hard to place his words properly. He was conflicted somehow.
"After Katniss and Peeta refused to ingest the berries, Snow planted cameras and surveillance equipment around District 12. He gathered some information that wasn't favorable…and the next thing you know they were back in the arena against the old Games winners. Before there could be a major fallout Snow sent in Peacekeepers, but at the same time he had sent bombers to District 12. Luckily Coin was able to extract some citizens before the place blew up. We were able to get Katniss out of there, but we lost Peeta in the shuffle…," he informed you. You nodded your head to show that you were following. Thinking for a minute, you gulped down another bit of soup.
"So, where is this…Katniss…and why is she so important?" you asked emotionless. Gale was silent at this one. Again the conflict raged in his eyes.
"Katniss is…traumatized from what happened in the Games…I think she's hiding out somewhere. As for why she's important…I don't really understand it either. Coin wants her to be a symbol…a "mockingjay" for which the rebellion can circle around," he answered quietly. You processed this information slowly, not quite understanding the 'mockingjay' part…but whatever. To be honest, you didn't really care about her. You sat in silence for a bit more, kind of annoyed of the fact that the dark boy was still there. He looked at you expectantly.
"Well?" you asked loudly. He gave you a vague gesture.
"My training?" he asked simply. Nodding you finished off the soup and dumped the tray on the cleaning rack. Turning to him you folded your arms and gave him a small smile.
"Alright, meet me in the weapons unit at 800 hours tomorrow," you stated. And with that you turned and walked to your room, feeling the exhaustion hit you full in the face. Getting back to your nice, quiet, room you laid down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Eventually you drifted off into a deep sleep…