Chapter 12:

With Katniss's help, Peeta stumbled to his feet.

"I'm fine," he said. Katniss released his hand and stepped back.

"Let's go?" he asked.

"Yeah."

They walked north, back the way they had come, towards the hill. They reached it late the next day and after quenching their thirst, settled in for the night.

The sound of a siren woke them up. Katniss shot to her feet, and her head turned from side to side, searching for the sound's origin.

Nothing. Grass, trees and hills-gone, she was surrounded by nothing. It was like looking at the sky, but without the actual sky to fix your eye on.

"It actually followed us…"she mumbled.

Peeta turned wide eyes to her. "What?"

"This is what I saw."

"Nothing…" he murmured.

"Yeah." She rubbed her eyes to be sure. Yes, still there.

A small path, barely two feet wide, was all they could see. Their only way out. Katniss cast a last look over the area—a small circle around the fire remained—before striding off through the narrow pathway. No touching the nothingness, she told herself, nothing good could come from it.

Fifty feet later the pathway widened and opened to the world. A table. In the middle of the forest, they came upon a table, blocking their way onwards. Katniss' eyes widened and she took a startled intake of breath. Upon the table, a bow lay, a green bow with a brown string. Sparkling in the sunshine, inviting her to take it in her hand.

A trap. This had to be a trap. She took a hesitant step forwards and kept taking steps until she reached the table and her fingers closed around the bow. She brought it up to her eyes and pulled the string and then released it. Whoom, it said, calming her. This was a real bow. With this, they could win.

Peeta grabbed one of two backpacks and lifted it up to the table. Opening it he rummaged through its contents and found a small knife, two water bottles, rope and night vision goggles. He stared at it, and then turned to her, brow furrowed.

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know." It made no sense to her. Was this Snow's doing? He orchestrated everything he had said, but she was not sure she believed him. The arena was a good hiding place for sure-unless, someone took over the headquarters and gained access to the cameras. You could not hide from the Capitol. Not in here.

She grabbed one of the backpacks, identical in both design and contents to Peeta's, and then she picked up the quiver full of arrows, and they were moving in the only real direction they could. A small path had been created through the forest, and the walls made of trees, bushes and branches seemed much thicker and impregnable than previously.

They walked slowly, carefully, and Katniss always had one hand on the bow and the other raised, poised to draw an arrow.

Desert awaited them at the end of the path. Behind them was the forest, and like the walls of the path, it was thick and dense and allowed them no re-entry. They walked along it for ten minutes and found no way back in.

Katniss's shoulders slumped, and she let out a slow sigh. She really did not want to. Desert, sand and wind was not something she was or wanted to be accustomed to. Peeta took the knife and cut off branches, which he collected in his backpack.

With resigned looks upon their faces they walked into the desert, and soon all they could see was sand.

The sun was especially hot that day, and the contents of their water bottles decreased at an alarming rate. They had three left and had only spent half a day in the desert.

Katniss took one small sip of the second water and kept the bottle pressed to her mouth, providing relief to her cracked lips. The water served to allay the burning feeling in her throat. Was this how they would end? Defeated by the desert, forced to die of thirst? It was unlikely. They were special, even she knew that, and they had been brought into this Hunger Games for a reason. Death by dehydration was not that reason. She hoped.

She cleared her throat, it hurt. "Why is Snow here?" she asked. She glanced around for cameras but saw none.

Peeta's droopy eyes turned to her. She narrowed her eyes. "Scratch that, how long is it since you drank anything?"

He shrugged. "Not that long…"

She pressed the bottle into his hands. "Drink."

He held it out to her. "Not thirsty."

"Screw that. We die together." She growled.

He hesitated, but took a sip. His eyes shut and a small sigh escaped his lips.

"Good," she said.

"He is hiding," Peeta said after taking another sip.

"Why here? There are other arenas, other, better places to hide."

Peeta brought his hand up to his cheek where a small blond stubble had formed. He scratched. "He is protected here; there is something special about this place."

"Yes…"

His eyes were clearer now, and he spoke with an increased fervour. "But what…If it's only for protection that means that we're winning…but if not, then there is something he can only do from here…" he trailed off.

Katniss twisted her pony tail between her thumb and forefinger; there had been an elastic band in one of the backpacks. It was not a braid, but a pony tail served the same purpose.

Suddenly she grasped it. "Or someone," she said.

Peeta's eyes narrowed, and then they widened again as comprehension hit.

She continued, "There is someone here that he has to talk to, or be close to, but who?"

Peeta furrowed his brow. "Us?"

"Maybe…"

"But why bring us here? Why not keep us in the cell?"

"I don't know," Katniss said. "Maybe he wants to show us off, to broadcast our death across the country."

"Or, it could be someone else…We're not much use to anyone right now; we're symbols, that's all. As long as we stay true and don't do anything stupid that is what we will stay." He stared at her. "I don't think it's us. There is someone here, more important."

Katniss considered that. "If so then we have to get to that person before Snow does."

"Yeah."

They both took three gulps of water. Then they continued on, walking with a renewed sense of purpose.

As night approached, and the sun started going down in the west; they stopped for the night. Peeta found the sticks he had brought and created a small fire. Shortly thereafter, he fell asleep and Katniss was alone with the world.

Someone shook her. "Wake up!" Peeta said.

Her eyes opened and searched for him. He moved away from her and was facing the other way, hand up, shadowing his eyes from the sun.

"What is it?" She stifled a yawn.

"The wind…changed direction."

She sat up and raised her hand to feel for the wind. Southerly wind. Last night it had been a gentle breeze from the west. Today, the wind had increased in velocity, and brought sand along with it. Cold grit hit her face and exposed hands.

She swore. "We have to move fast."

He was already wearing his backpack and held hers in his hand. She grabbed the bow and quiver, and then they were moving, hurrying towards the north. In the Hunger Games it never paid off moving against the wind, or any other human created phenomenon. The Gamemakers would adjust the wind and make you suffer for ever going against them.

The outcome was always the same: their victory and your death.

So they went north, along with the wind. After a few hours the wind shifted again, and now came from the west. Once more, they accepted it and changed direction. Led by the nose, but unable to do anything about it. Katniss ground her teeth. Sand everywhere, in her hair, jacket, pants, shoes and her backpack.

A sandstorm had blown up around them, making them blind to their environment. Katniss saw a feet ahead, enough to secure footing, but not enough to see where they were heading.

Her stomach twisted and turned. The last time the environment had led them somewhere was when Cato died, at the end of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. At times, she still saw them, the flames, burning everything on their way after them.

"We have to stop soon," she shouted to Peeta. They walked close to each other, and their hands often touched, but she still had to shout to get anything across.

He nodded, and they looked for shelter: a tree, a bush or a rock, anything that could provide some protection from the storm. But there was nothing, and as soon as they started looking, the velocity increased and the sand came even faster and harder.

They only had one water bottle remaining.

Many hours passed, and Katniss lost all sense of time and space. She knew that Peeta was beside her, and that they had to get through the storm, but that was it.

Her hands and head were heavy, and it was hard to stay upright. The sand under her feet seemed to slip away as soon as she touched it, and she stumbled and fell. Peeta did the same, and after the fifth time they stayed down.

She crawled over to his head, and laid down beside him. "Sleep, we'll go on tomorrow," she murmured into his ear. But when was that? For all they knew it could already be tomorrow. All they could see was sand.

He turned to her, and with sandy, cracked lips, kissed her. She smiled into the kiss, and then coughed as sand slipped into her mouth.

They slept.

She woke up nestled against Peeta. During the night she had put her right arm and foot over him, like a blanket. She drew back and stood. The storm was over and they had survived. The bad thing was that nothing seemed to have changed. She could see around her, but she still could not see anything. Nothing but endless miles of sand. The sun was there, just above the horizon, in east. It was early morning.

She sat, and with a quivering hand, shook Peeta awake.

"Peeta," she murmured. "We have to keep going." She brushed his hair away from his forehead.

He opened his eyes, raised his head, and looked around. She saw the moment he realized their situation. His eyes closed, his shoulders slumped and he fell back towards the sand.

"Peeta," she said again. "Let's go." She poked him.

"Yeah," he mumbled and staggered to his feet. He offered her a hand; she accepted and he helped her up.

They grabbed the equipment and started walking.

They had one bottle of water left, the storm had passed, and even the wind had dropped. They were approaching the place where the Gamemakers wanted them to go.

"Do you see that?" Katniss asked.

Peeta squinted, and raised his hand to shield from the sun.

"Yes!" he shouted. "It's a building."

They increased their pace and not long after reached the wall surrounding the building. It was not a tall wall, barely taller than her, providing no real protection against anything but the wind.

A road of cobblestones led up to the building which in itself was massive, and with a large overhang over the entrance, held up by two giant columns. It was an eerily white colour; the wind and sand had done nothing to it, and the paint seemed brand new.

They approached the doors with trepidation. Tall, white, stone doors with figures engraved in it. Katniss's head recoiled. Snow was there, naked from the waist up and carrying a crown on his head. She pulled the door open and stepped inside. Peeta closed the door behind them; lanterns on the walls provided enough illumination for them to see.

A hall stretched out before them and golden chandeliers hung from the roof, but aside from that, it was empty. While there was nothing of substance to be seen, the smell told its own tale.

It stank of decay, dried blood and death. Somehow it reminded Katniss of home, of her house before they left for the Victor's village. The people of District Twelve did not often ask for help, but when they did, it was often too late. Dried blood and rotten flesh was an all too common sight and smell for her. Be it from human or animal.

She tightened her grip around the bow and pulled an arrow from the quiver. As she moved further into the room, a crash sounded from the back of the hall.

She raised her bow and pointed the arrow in that direction while taking careful steps towards it. They came upon two doors that were identical, but for their size, to the entrance doors. They stood ajar, and large, hairy feet lay between them and kept them open. It was a man, lying halfway through the door. A pool of blood had gathered around him.

As the man lay face down and away from them, there was no way for them to see his face. After taking several more steps towards him, Peeta opened the door fully and held it open for her to pass through. She had not relaxed her grip on the bow, and the arrow was ready to be shot. The pool of blood was growing, and continued to leave the man's body.

Peeta nudged him with his foot. No reaction. Peeta bent down and lifted the man's bald head so that they could see his face.

"I recognize him…" Peeta said as he laid the head carefully back against the floor.

"He is a Victor," Katniss said. "Was," she hastened to correct. She had recognized him too, big and brutish, and she knew that it was from the Hunger Games, but she did not know his name or what Hunger Games he had been a part of.

They left him there and continued on down the corridor. They did not know whether the people responsible were still in the building, so they had to be careful moving forwards.

Peeta moved in front, and Katniss kept her arrow aimed over his shoulder. With slow, deliberate steps, they moved on. They had walked some distance from the corpse, yet the smell was still just as strong, almost unbearable. Heading around a corner, Peeta stopped and let out a gasp.

Four men and three women, dressed in grey from top to bottom lay sprawled out on the floor. They had been here for much longer than the earlier man, and the smell conveyed that. But there were no fleas or ants, and aside from the blood they looked clean. Not someone who had spent many days fighting for their life in the arena. Katniss glanced at Peeta. They certainly did not look anything like that.

The blood had solidified and now served to keep the bodies plastered against the floor. One of the women had one eye inexplicably open, and her expression was that of glee. Had she welcomed it? Or was she surprised?

Katniss shuddered. She grabbed Peeta's arm and pulled him along. They came upon a door, and she let go of his arm. As soon as he opened it, voices streamed through; there were people here, more than one. There was a woman's voice, and then another woman. Finally there was a voice that could be either gender.

Peeta cast a look back at her. She hesitated, but then nodded. They had to go forwards.

He grimaced, and after taking one last look at the corpses, peeked beyond the door.

"They are around the corner," he whispered.

Katniss gazed over his shoulder. A short corridor, with a ninety degree bend at the end. She could not see anyone in the corridor, so Peeta was correct, and the voices came from around the corner.

He opened the door and crept through. Katniss flinched. He had improved, but still made too much noise when he moved.

The voices grew louder as they crept closer, and Katniss was now almost certain that the third person was male.

Peeta poked his head around the corner, and retracted it a moment later.

"Two women and a man," he whispered. "But the man is down and is bleeding from—"he took another peak,"—from a wound in his right leg. They have guns, all three of them."

"Did they see you?"

He shook his head. "Only the man is turned this way, and he had his eyes closed."

Katniss sighed in relief. She had a bow and he had a knife. It could work, but only if they kept the element of surprise.

"Are you ready?" she whispered.

He shook his head, and they shared a sad smile. The people ahead of them were probably enemies, and would kill them without a second thought. Still Katniss hesitated. They could also be friends, maybe they were from district twelve and were looking for Katniss and Peeta, wanting to help them.

Katniss shook her head. She thought too much; Peeta's influence.

She took a step out, around the corner. One of the women had turned around and saw her, she raised her weapon. Katniss released the arrow. It hit the woman through the neck, and Katniss drew another arrow as the man raised his weapon. He was too slow. His movement sluggish because of the blood loss. Peeta had rushed the woman, and stood right before her. She was doomed too.

"Wait!" she screamed.

Katniss flinched, and had to clench the arrow to avoid releasing it.

A tense moment passed. The woman's gun pointed downwards, and Peeta was close enough to hinder any attempts at raising it.

She stared at the second woman, and then twisted to glare at Katniss. "We're on your side, you asshole." She released her hold on the weapon, and it hit the ground with a sharp crack. "Why did you do that? Didn't you see the mark?" She slapped her left breast where an emblem of a mockingjay was located.

Katniss kept her arrow pointed at the man. "The Capitol," she said. Her heart pumped fast in her chest, and she felt like her head was getting steamed.

"No." The woman sneered. "It's the rebellion. Your mark!" She moved over to the other woman and felt her pulse. Then she gripped the arrow, and tore it out. Katniss flinched as blood came with it.

"You just killed one of the few who still believe in you!" The man said.

"I don't believe you," Katniss said.

He scowled at her. "Then go on. There is someone you should see."

Peeta bent down and picked up the gun, keeping it facing downwards he turned to Katniss and sent her a questioning look. She forced herself to shrug.

Katniss kept her eyes and bow trained on the man and woman until they reached the next corner and lost sight of them.

Allowing the string to slacken, she separated the bow and the arrow. They walked on and soon reached a door which was locked. Peeta knocked.

"Who is it?"

"Peeta and Katniss," he said.

"What?"

Peeta took a deep breath. "Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen."

Silence from the other side. "That's impossible…Why would the—"

"Look," Katniss said. "I don't care. Just let us in."

Seconds passed. Half a minute at most. Then a bolt was removed and a lock turned, and the door swung open revealing a short man with his hair receding at the temple.

He peered at them, searching their faces and then their figures. "It really is," he said in astonishment.

Katniss gave him a curt smile and moved past. Peeta was more polite and thanked the man for his help.

"No problem…to think that Katniss Everdeen is here. I have to tell everyone." He sauntered off, and left them there with no directions.

But there was only two ways for them to choose between. One, the way the old man had gone, and second, the opposite direction. Rather than getting lost, they followed the man, and towards the people he wanted to tell about their presence.

Entering a hall, he stopped at the entrance and scouted about. Katniss did the same, and her eyes soon found a group of people sitting around two tables in a corner.

The man jogged over to them. "Hey! Look, they're alive! We—I found them. I told you they were alive," he shouted.

Eyes fixed on him, and soon moved over his shoulder to them. Half of the people got to their feet and started towards them.

"Halt!" a woman said. Katniss searched for the source and found it quickly. Paylor stood with one hand raised and the other around a handgun on her belt. She walked away from the group, and headed to a table and some chairs on the other side of the room. Katniss and Peeta followed. Peeta had the knife in his hand, and once more her fingers tightened around the bow.

"Where have you two been?" Paylor demanded the second they sat down.

Katniss's eyes narrowed. "In the Capitol," she said.

Paylor scowled at her. "I know that—where in the Capitol?"

"We were captured," Peeta said.

Paylor started. "How?"

Katniss smirked. "We turned off the cameras."

Paylor's eyes widened. "That was you?"

"Yeah," Katniss said.

"Good work."

"Thanks," Peeta said.

Paylor folded her hands on the table. "Now, how much did you tell?"

Katniss exploded. "Tell what? We don't know anything. Not who's alive, not how it's going, nothing."

Paylor did not move a muscle. "It was the correct call; who knows what you would have revealed. It's going well but—"

Peeta cut her off. "Where is Haymitch?"

She shrugged. "Can be anywhere. We lost contact with him a few days ago."

Katniss leaned forwards. "What do you know? How it the war going? We have been locked up for two weeks and I don't know if we're winning or losing. Heck, it might even be over."

Paylor adjusted her seat and looked at the two of them in turn. She smirked. "We are winning. President Snow is on the run and it's only a matter of time before we take the Capitol."

Katniss and Peeta exchanged a glance. Katniss raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?" Paylor asked.

"Where is my family?" Katniss countered. She needed to know about Prim, her mother and about Gale.

Paylor pursed her lips. She waved a hand about. "They're fine, holed up at one of the refugee camps."

"Where?" Katniss demanded.

"I don't know—they're fine. Don't worry about them," Paylor said. "Worry about you."

"What about us?" Katniss asked.

"What are you doing here? How did you escape?"

"We didn't—" Katniss paused. Should she tell Paylor about it? During the length of the conversation she had come to trust this woman less and less. Katniss pulled on her pony tail. This was all so confusing—wait…

"We were let out—what are you doing here? How did they take you?"

Paylor laughed. "Take me? I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"This is the Hunger Games," Peeta said, enunciating the last two words.

Paylor's eyes narrowed, and she regarded them in turn. "No it isn't," she said.

"We were let out here and t—" Peeta said.

"What are you saying?" Paylor asked. "This is not the Hunger Games...They already had the Hunger Games." She laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

"But the cameras…" Katniss said.

"Ahh, yes, those are old," Paylor said. She nodded to herself and her eyes got a faraway look. "There was a Hunger Games here once. But that was a long time ago. I think the victor was a man from district two…Brutus or something. I can't remember."

Katniss's thoughts were a bundle of yarn, and she couldn't seem to unravel it.

"B-but why would they let us off here then?" Peeta asked, looking at Katniss.

"That's what I want to know," Paylor said, and she leaned over the table. Her eyes had a dangerous glint in them.

"We don't know," Katniss said with a grimace. "We don't know anything. Okay? Why don't you tell us about the war and maybe things will start to fall into place."

Paylor seemed to consider this. She leaned back and crossed her legs. "Okay, I'll tell you. It's not a long story, and don't expect me to act it out. I will tell you the facts, and you can imagine whatever fairy tale you want."

Katniss sneered at her.

Paylor smiled and started on her story.

"We started the second the girl fell—"

"Madge," Peeta said.

Paylor waved him off. "Yes, the girl. And we gained control over District Eight, Nine, Eleven and Twelve in one night. Snow knew something was up, but his preparation wasn't enough and we broke through with ease." She paused and glanced over at the other group, more than one person turned away from her look.

"Then the response came. Bombs, missiles and bullets rained down on us. They cleared half our forces in a few hours. The situation was bleak. People lost hope." She got a hard look in her eyes as she stared at Peeta and Katniss. "People asked for you. They wanted to know where you were, and why you left them." She paused for effect.

Katniss opened her mouth, but Paylor continued without waiting for a response.

"That was the worst of it. A week later District One through Seven revolted too and started for the Capitol. So the Capitol had to pull their forces back, and we started to attack them at all times, using hit and run tactics to cause maximum amount of damage. The king bled. We decimated the army and we lay siege to the Capitol—"

"What about District Ten?" Peeta asked.

Paylor flinched. A barely noticeable, but still very real flinch.

Katniss clenched her fists.

"The Capitol used District Ten as a base. There is nothing left there. The people who once were? All dead. Murdered," Paylor said. "Anyway, that's where we are now. This is our base; an hour away from the Capitol."

Katniss's eyes met Peeta's. He nodded. They had stayed in the aircraft for many hours, to fool them about the location.

Katniss's eyes did not leave Peeta's. He got up and left the table.

"Where are you going? Come back here!" Paylor shouted. Some men from the other group stood and moved to approach.

"Wait," Katniss said and stood. "I will go and talk to him. Wait here."

"Wha—"Paylor said.

Peeta stopped forty feet away from the table.

"What's going on?" Peeta asked as soon as Katniss reached him.

Katniss frowned. "I don't know. Nothing of this makes any sense…"

"If Snow knew about Paylor, then why would he send us here?" Katniss said. "And the wind, it brought us to Paylor…"

Peeta scratched at his patchy cheek. He really needed to shave.

Peeta groaned. "Should we tell her?" he asked.

"We have to. We can end this war right now."

Peeta's face contracted in a grimace. "I don't trust her," he said.

"Me neither."

"This entire thing feels off…"

"Yeah…"

"I'm getting sick of waiting," Paylor shouted at them.

Katniss sent her a sour look, but they did walk back to the table.

Paylor opened her mouth, but Katniss cut her off.

"We met Snow," she said.

"Ohh? And what did you tell him?" she asked.

Katniss sneered. "I told you, didn't I. We didn't have any information we could tell even if we wanted! But that's not it—we met him here, in the arena."

Katniss felt immense satisfaction as Paylor's eyes widened, and Paylor almost slipped off her chair in her eager to get up.

"What? Where?" she asked. She went around the table and stood directly in front of Katniss.

"Across the desert."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," Katniss said, irritated.

Paylor turned away and strode towards the other group. "Snow's here? Why is he here?" she mumbled.

Katniss stared after her.

"Where does this leave us?" Peeta shouted after Paylor.

"I don't care. Do whatever you want," she shouted, not looking back. "Get up. Get up! We're moving out!" she shouted to the other group, receiving cheers and some groans in return.