I don't own The Hunger Games.
Johanna's boyfriend Force is huge, muscly, stinks of smoke and is completely stupid. My Mother has to stop him before he lights a cigarette in the middle of the wooden log cabin.
"I don't think it's a good idea to light that in here, Force." She had said to him.
"You have a fire going in here." He responded, narrowing his eyes.
"It's contained, like a radiator." Katniss explained.
"Whatever." He had said, and shoved the cigarette and lighter back into his pocket.
Now my Mother, Johanna and I are stood in front of the door. Katniss caries her bow and arrows, a gun and a rope, I have my spear as well as four throwing knives in my pockets, and Johanna has a gun two axes strapped to her back. In a few minutes we will leave and we might not all come back.
"Just hang on to your sanity and try to forget the smell." I say to Mitch as I hug him tightly, causing him to laugh.
"We'll be back soon enough, sweetheart." Our Mother says as she also hugs him. Johanna kisses her disgusting boyfriend and then we step out of the door, into the dark night. It locks behind us and I know that there is no going back.
"So where's this hovercraft of yours?" Katniss asks.
"Few miles south of here. Just follow me." She replies, and we trek through the forest for almost an hour until we come to a hovercraft with the Capitol seal on it.
"Why is it all the way out here?" I wonder aloud
"Because, Peta-"
"Call me Petal and I swear I will kill you." I interrupt, my voice sharp. Michael was the last person to call me that, and I intend on keeping it that way.
"Alright, alright. Put your claws away. Anyway, it's out here because if it's found it can't be tied to me. It's not on my property." She says, eying me warily. Johanna types in a password on a device similar to the one in our shed and scans her eyes. It opens and we all climb inside.
"How did you get your hands on this?" Katniss asks, following Johanna into the cockpit.
"Capitol raid. My babies really came in handy then." She grinned.
"You have children?" I ask, shocked. I take a seat behind her and my Mother as Johanna positions herself at the wheel. She looks at me like I'm a complete idiot.
"No, brainless. My axes." She ruffles my hair before turning back around and starting the engine. The hovercraft shuddered and she yanked the gearstick upwards. We zoom up into the air. I glance out of the window and I am nearly sick. I am okay with climbing up trees, but anything higher than one hundred feet makes me feel ill. The ride is bumpy, which does not help. I cling onto the rail next to me and hope that we land soon. We do, after about an hour. The hovercraft is floating in mid-air and we have to jump down. I am holding my head to try and numb my headache. The fresh air seems to do the trick, and it stops hurting.
"What's the plan?" I ask.
"Well, we're parked on top of the prison, by Annie and Finlay's cells. Man, I hate this place." Johanna shudders, and I remember my Mother telling me that she was tortured here.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Johanna." Katniss says.
"No, I'm doing this. Those Capitol bitches are going down. Anyway, we're going to cut a hole in the roof and jump down. We take out the guards and then get their keys. We free everyone."
"But there are murders and rapists in there!" I protest.
"Exactly! It'll drive the Capitol crazy. When Annie and Finlay have been freed, your Mother shoots and arrow with a rope tied around it out through the hole. It should hit the ground, not the hovercraft. We climb up the rope, and then we're home free! It's simple really." She tells us.
"How are you going to cut a hole in the ground without the prison guards hearing you?" My Mother asks.
"Oh, they'll hear me alright. But that's what's supposed to happen. They'll recognize me as the one that killed Snow's granddaughter. They'll be so busy trying to capture me alive that you two can slip in unnoticed." With that, she starts hacking away at the ground with her axe. The roof must be pretty weak, because almost the whole thing collapses. The only part that doesn't collapse is where my Mother and I are stood.
"Oops." Johanna says as she crashes to the floor below us. She lands on her feet, and about twenty guards chase her through the cells. She shoots one of them and he falls to the floor, dead. He has a ring of keys on his belt. I jump down next to the dead guard and Katniss jumps down after me. I unclip the keys from his belt and toss them to my Mother.
"You free everyone. I'll watch for more guards." By now the sirens are blaring. We can see Annie and Finlay, so Katniss frees them first. Finlay has a black eye, but Annie appears to be unharmed. I guess the Capitol decided that seeing her son being tortured was enough punishment for her. My Mother shoots the rope up and hurries Annie up it.
"Hey." Finlay says as he runs past me and climbs the rope after his Mother.
"Hey." I say back, but I don't think he hears me. Three guards come running into the corridor just as Katniss is freeing two more prisoners. I take one out with my spear and the other two with my knives. I pull the spear back into me, but I have to go and collect my knives.
"I think we should leave now, sweetheart." My Mother says as another ten guards run in after the others. She starts shooting them as she climbs the rope. I climb up after her and then pull the arrow out of the ground. The rope tumbles to the floor, and nobody can follow us.
"What about Johanna? We can't just leave her!" I shout, about to dive back into the hole. The guards are firing their weapons at us and I leap backwards. Katniss catches me before I can fall off of the building.
"I'm up here!" I hear Johanna's voice from the Hovercraft and she waves at us from the window. I am about to pull myself into the Hovercraft as well, when I hear another bullet fire. There is an intense pain in the back of my leg, and I crumple to the floor.