A/N: I didn't get a chance to reread this before I posted. I'll fix any mistakes tomorrow. Enjoy!

PART III:

"THE WAR"

(19)

The sound of Revelyn's cry makes me wake. I turn over in bed and moan. "Why do you wake me up so early?"

"What?" Peeta says, grabbing my hand. "I didn't order any pepperoni!"

I look over at him, puzzled from his outburst. His eyes are closed.

"Peeta?" I say, shaking him. "Peeta?"

"No, I will not pay for something I didn't order. Does she look like she wants any pepperoni?" he releases my hand and points randomly into the air.

I chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You seriously think I'm going to tip you if you rip me off like this?"

"Peeta, shut up or you'll wake my father," I take his face in my hands and shake it back and forth.

"Yeah, that's right! You go now! Get that engine of yours going or I'll grab my shotgun. Jeez, these hooligans. Got to learn their place in society," he trails off.

"Peeta! Seriously," I can't stop laughing. I lie on top of him and push him, trying to wake him up. His eyes stay closed, so I give up my efforts and just stare at him. "Peeta," I whisper.

His eyes flash open, "Hello!"

I laugh as he pushes me off of him. "Good morning to you, too," I say.

"Katniss, don't scare me like that in the morning!" he laughs along with me and then Revelyn starts crying again. Our smiles fade.

"She's hungry. Why is she always hungry?" I sigh.

Peeta ignores my question and takes Revelyn out of her basket, handing her to me.

"It's time to get serious," he says.

"I know," I exhale.

"I'm going to take a shower. Towels?"

"They're in the closet," I tell him.

"Soap?" he says.

"In the shower."

"Shampoo?"

I laugh, "Come on, Peeta. It's all in there."

Then he smiles and I know I don't have to tell you about the sweetness of his smile. "Alright…" he says. "Clothes? I know they're not in the bathroom."

"I don't have any clothes for you. You should ask my father," I say.

"I'm not asking your father for clothes. He is so much bigger than me. I'd never fit!"

"True, true. Well, wear what you wore yesterday," I decide.

"Ok," he says, getting out of bed and grabbing his clothes. "See you soon."

"Enjoy your shower!"

He laughs as he closes the door behind him.

As soon as the door shuts, my mind turns off of Peeta and enters a world of destruction and death. This is the world I belong in, the world I've been living in for the past two years. I do not belong in my father's bedroom tending to a baby or laughing the days away by doing childish things with Peeta. I belong out there, in District 13, fighting with my bow and arrow.

When Peeta comes back in, he takes the baby and I get ready for the day. Leanore has agreed to spend the days with Revelyn while Peeta and I go with my father to the meetings that are being held underground. The first one is today. It's almost noon when Leanore arrives at our doorstep. I have to be back within two hours to feed the baby, but at least I'll get the opportunity to finally be in on some action.

Making sure Leanore is all set with Revelyn, my father, Peeta and I make our way out of the house. "Follow me and stay closely behind. Don't ask any questions until we are in the room, understand?"

We both nod.

My father takes us to the outskirts of the town. There is nothing here except a large rock and several bushes. I run my hand along the tops of a bush and realize they are artificial. So is the rock. My father looks around and then touches several places on the rock. I'm taken aback when the rock says, "Voice Identification."

"Mason Everdeen."

"You're clear," it responds and the top of the rock opens, just large enough for a human to slip inside.

"You will feel a slight falling sensation, but it's not dangerous," he assures us.

Peeta and I exchange glances and then my father goes into the rock. I hear him hit the bottom and he calls up to me, "It's ok, sweetie! Come on down!"

Peeta looks around and says, "Let's go, Katniss."

I sit down on the edge and let myself fall. Wind rushes through my hair for one second and then I land on a trampoline of some sort. Peeta quickly follows me and I hear the opening in the rock close. My father is standing on a platform and I follow him. We walk on a bridge over to a glass elevator. It reminds me of the one in the Capitol. Foolishly, I get excited about riding it.

"There are twenty four underground floors. The floor we are on now is twenty four, not one. Understand?"

"The lower you go, the lower the number," Peeta reasons out before I can say anything.

"Exactly. We're going to floor twenty one," my father says, pushing a button.

The elevator takes us down in a heartbeat and it announces to us, "Level Twenty One: Conference Rooms."

I'm amazed. Firstly, there are lots of people running around. This level is very busy for some reason. An announcer comes over the loudspeaker and says, "Lert, you are needed on Level Nine: Weapons Management." Secondly, everything is made out of glass: the floors, the walls, the chairs. It gives the place an edge.

"Are all the levels like this?" I say, examining the glass door we open.

"Yes," my father answers.

I can already see Haymitch, Finnick, Plutarch and Gale sitting at a glass table just beyond another door. We enter the room and Plutarch claps his hands. Immediately, the glass walls fog up so that no one can see inside. "Whoa…" I let out a noise of awe. "Where did you get all this technology."

Plutarch coughs, "Let's just say there are quite a few District 13 supporters on the 'inside.' Sit down!"

The three of us take chairs. Finnick looks worn out. He has big bags under his eyes. Gale looks tired too. Haymitch, however, looks fresh, so I assume he didn't drink last night. I'm glad he didn't.

Haymitch begins speaking, "March 25th." Six pairs of eyebrows raise and he continues, "The day the war will begin." Haymitch looks smug.

"That's less than a week!" my father exclaims.

"How do you know?" Plutarch inquires for all of us.

"Got in contact with Vedran."

Everyone nods except Peeta and me. "Who's Vedran?" I ask.

"He's a Gamemaker who is on our side," my father explains.

"How does he know?" Peeta asks.

"You find things out, kid," Haymitch says.

"Yes, but are you positive that the Capitol doesn't know he's on our side? They could be feeding him false information," Peeta counters back.

The room is silent for a few moments. "I don't think so," Haymitch says. "Vedran is pretty good at concealing things like that."

"Well, I think we should have the army assembled. Two days, tops," Peeta says.

"Two days? We can't put together an army in two days! Peeta, are you crazy?" Haymitch yells.

"You don't know! They're supposed to be here in five days, so it has to be ready by then. For all we know, they could be coming later today," Peeta sighs. "We need to do something."

"Do you have anything in mind?" my father asks.

"Yes. Prepare the weapons and get people to safety. That way we can be ready when they attack."

"Peeta," I say, "I don't think that can happen today."

"If we put it off, we'll be in even more danger. We may only have a few days to get everything prepared. It has to get done today!" he raises his voice.

"I don't think it's going to happen like that," I say quietly.

"Alright," he lets out a long sigh. "Does anyone else have a plan?"

Gale raises an arm feebly and says, "I do."

"Ok. What do you have in mind, Gale?"

He breathes in deeply and says, "We get the weapons ready, set them up, and make sure everyone has them in their house by tonight. Tomorrow, we go over our plan and inform the people by the end of the day. Then we get the women and children to safety-"

"Women and children? I don't think so. What about the ones that can fight?" I interrupt him.

"Fine, just the weak ones, then. The sick, the injured, the new-born," he says, looking over at me. Inside that look is his anger. I see how upset he is about my child. I thought Gale was my friend. I didn't understand all he wanted was to tear me down. Maybe he's trying to ruin my relationship with Peeta.

"Then we go from there," he finishes.

"It's going to take a lot of cooperation, though. We need to get Bauer in on this," my father points out.

"Speaking of Bauer," I say. "Where are the others? Johanna? Morrison? Annie? Prim?"

"Prim is staying with Leanore," Haymitch announces.

"When can I see her?" I ask before I can stop myself.

Peeta grabs my arm and whispers in my ear, "Katniss, this isn't the time for this."

I nod and he releases me.

"Annie is still asleep," Finnick says. "I didn't want to wake her. She probably needs some rest."

"As do Johanna and Morrison, wherever they are," Plutarch says.

"Yes. Does anyone have any idea where they've gone off to?" Haymitch says, scratching his scruffy face.

Six heads shake.

"Alright, then. That will be our first job. Find Johanna and Morrison. Katniss, I'll put you in charge of that. Shouldn't be too labor intensive," Haymitch orders.

I don't add that I feel well enough to take a bow of arrows and shoot his head dead center from afar. "Now?" I ask.

"Yes, now! If we want to get the weapons ready by tonight, we're going to need as many hands as possible. Lots to do!" Haymitch gets up from his chair.

"I guess this means I should wake Annie," Finnick says, standing up in the same fashion as Haymitch.

Haymitch looks up at Finnick from across the table and says, "Yeah. It couldn't hurt."

Plutarch claps his hands and the fog clears away. My guess is that this meeting has been adjourned. Peeta and I get up to leave. Just as we are exiting the room, I feel a pull on my right hand. I turn around and Gale whispers, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

I look over to Peeta, who looks quite discontent, then reply, "One second. Starting… now."

He ignores this and says, "I wanted to congratulate you and Peeta on your first child."

This pulls me up short. My eyebrows rise at the use of the word "first," almost like he's suggesting there will be another. Gale is congratulating us? This is the last action I would expect from him. Just a few moments ago I could have sworn he was prepared to kill Revelyn.

Peeta notices my stunned reaction so he speaks for me. "Thank you very much, Gale," he says. "Congratulations with you and Madge."

The top of Gale's forehead turns a slightly darker shade of pink. "What?" he questions.

"Wedding blessings?" Peeta explains.

Gale exhales, "Oh… yes. Thank you."

"Look," Peeta lowers his voice and says, "I know we're not exactly anything close to friends, but I'm really sorry about your brothers. I'm sure it must have been awful."

There he goes again. Peeta can't help from being kind-hearted.

Gale sighs and says, "It's alright. Everything is going to be fine. Maybe Beetee will be able to get my mother back here and if not, I'll always have my dad…" Gale trails off. "I'm sorry about your dad and Jamie. They didn't have to die."

"Yeah… Morrison took Jamie's death pretty hard. I'm sure they didn't show it on television, but he started throwing a fit, cursing the Capitol. He almost hurt himself with one of our weapons. Good thing Johanna was there to stop him," Peeta says.

I finally recover and manage to say to Gale, "Rory and Vick didn't have to die either, Gale." I grab his hand and squeeze it gently, "I'm very sorry."

Gale looks into my eyes and lets out a held breath. Peeta watches us intently. Gale opens his mouth and struggles to say something for a few moments, but then I release him and Peeta takes me out of the conference room, leaving Gale alone with his half-formed thoughts. My father follows us and pushes the button to the twenty-fourth floor.

"Level Twenty Four: Main Entrance," the elevator says after we shoot up to the top of the underground district.

"Are there other entrances?" I ask.

"Yes. Plenty. But this one here was the one closest to the conference room we decided to use," my father answers.

"Where are the others?" I say as I step out of the elevator and walk over to the shoot we fell down to get here.

"All in the district, on the mountains, some are in the trees. They are everywhere and yet, the Capitol never discovered them," he explains, pressing a button. I see a ray of light stream through the top of the shoot. "Just push this button and step on the platform."

He steps onto the trampoline and all of sudden my father is sucked up the shoot and out onto the surface. Peeta follows him and laughs when he reaches the top. "Well, that was fun!" I hear him yell.

I take one last look at this enormous glass underground city, beginning to comprehend what a big deal this war will be. I have no idea what sort of weapons I am sure to be assembling later, but I'm expecting some really advanced equipment. The thought of how this will be history in the years to come floods back to me at this moment. District 13 rebelled again once more against the Capitol. Apparently, it had never been destroyed when it was thought to have been. The rebels built a city underground and advanced over the years. Eventually, they became strong enough to fight. With the spark of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark (the final two tributes in the 74th Hunger Games) attempting a double suicide at the end of the Games, the districts began to rebel against this harsh, cruel rule the Capitol had put in place. There was an enormous war against the Capitol and the rebels. In the end…

What I know stops here. In the end the rebels fought and won their freedom back, abolishing the Games? Or, in the end, the rebels proved no match to the powers of the Capitol, yet again? Only time will tell.

I push the button and stand on the trampoline, shooting towards the surface. In my mind is my goal. My goal to make sure that the enemy, the Capitol, is finally eliminated.

A/N: Suzanne Collins' books generally have 27 chapters, so in order for this to seem more like a continuation of her trilogy, I put some of the chapters together. I'm sure there are a lot of mistakes in the story that need to be fixed. I intend to fix them soon. So the choice is yours. For this week, would you like me to write another chapter or fix all the other chapters, adding more scenes and stuff?