Katniss –
The woods around me have gone silent and, for the briefest moment, I believe I've died. Joanna has struck the final blow for me. There's the cannon in the distance. Everything is black. And then, there's the sound of feet rushing past me. I hear them say what I already know, "She's dead." "Move on. Find the other one!" And I hear them retreat away from me.
But am I really dead? My brain feels sluggish, but I'm sure that they're real. I heard the cannon, but was it really for me? Is this an out of body experience?
I open my eyes. The sky above is growing dark, I can see it faintly through the web of tree limbs. I'm not dead. I'm alive. But the cannon…
"Peeta!"
I leap to my feet. My arm hands limp at my side where Joanna cut into it and my head feels heavy from the bash to my skull. I push the pain to the back of my mind and find my balance. Only one thing matters now. I have to find Peeta.
They must have been planing this all along. They deliberately split Peeta and I up and I let them! I race back to the tree, dodging brush and limbs that claw out. They try to slow me down, but I have a greater purpose they cannot hold me from.
When I reach the tree, it is as I feared. Beete is lying on his back, six feet from the tree and Peeta is nowhere in sight. I sink to the ground next to Beete, his entire body is shaking violently and a trickle of blood pools down his nose. He mutters but he isn't making any sense.
There's a crack of branches and I turn, my bowstring taught as Finnick rushes out into the open. He sees me and the blood in my veins boils. I trusted him. I trusted them! His hands raise above his head in surrender. He's unarmed. I could take him out so simply.
"Katniss!" There is pleading in his voice as he takes a slow step forward. "Remember who the real enemy is."
My head is still spinning and it's hard to think straight. But it's not the first time I've been told to remember who my enemy is. Haymitch once told me to so as well. As though I could ever forget who my enemies are.
My enemies are the people who put the name of a twelve year old girl in a bowl and drew it to be sent to her death. My enemies are the ones who rejoiced when I took her place and gave them the most exciting Game in Hunger Games history. My enemy is the Capitol and everyone in it who believes the Hunger Games are a form of entertainment and justice for a past we had nothing to do with. My enemy is President Snow and everything that he stands for.
I look back at Beete shaking on the ground. He's surrounded by his gold wiring and here's a spear in his hands. Did he throw a spear at the forcefield? Did he purposefully electrocute himself? And then it all clicks together in my head.
I know who my enemy is. And I know how to defeat them.
"We have to get out of here!" Finnick insists as I drop to the ground and begin to wind the wire around the tip of an arrow. His hands grasp at my arms and I push him away, making him stumble. I continue to wind and wind as the air crackles around us.
"Katniss, the lightning! It's going to hit! Right. Here." Finnick persists but I won't budge.
There's a flicker of hope in his eyes when I stand up, but I look beyond him and I see the confusion in his eyes.
"What? Katniss?"
My enemies are the watchers. The ones who control the Arena. Let's see how they like this.
The arrow flies from my bow, it climbs higher and higher into the sky just as, like clockwork, lightning strikes. I'm blown off my feet and soaring into the trees, landing hard on my back. And then the most beautiful thing happens… the sky begins to fall.
Gale -
The power in the house shuts off with a sudden snap just as the broadcast had moments ago. Everyone in the room tenses as I leap to my feet.
"Mom!" Prim shrieks and holds on tight to Mrs Everdeen who is shaking.
"What's going on?" Rosy chirps from the floor and the boys begin to chime in with her as fear floods the room.
We have reason to fear.
"Everyone shush!"
The room drops to silence. Complete silence. Even with the windows open to let in the cool Autumn breeze which slowly picks up to a hum. I feel my insides turning as the ground begins to shake.
"We have to get out of here!"
There is only seconds before the first barrage of fire bombs rains from the sky. The blast shakes the whole house, rattling the windows. The children scream in panic as my mother and Mrs Everdeen try to coral them together.
"What are we going to do, Gale?" Prim grabs my hand, her fingers tightening around mine. I feel her shaking with fear.
"Grab what can fit in a bag and let's go." I tell her. "We can't stay here."
Prim goes into that mode she had when she's treating the wounded that come to her door. She shoves the fear behind her and begins to gather food and medicine from the pantry. There isn't much time, but the world around us seems to slow as my brain develops a plan. We have to get out of the District before it burns to the ground. There's only one place to go.
The others join me at the door as a second squadron of planes flies overhead. The district is already burning and people are running for their lives, clawing like rats in a cage for an escape. But they don't know where to go or what to do.
I lead my pack down the winding side streets, gathering everyone I can who will listen. We're joined by a dozen men from my crew in the mines and we all race for the fence. There is panic all around us. People screaming in pain, people going up in flames like their houses. The square is a pillar of flames, the layers of coal dust thickest on the homes and businesses near the mine. We're running through Hell for our lives.
"Gale, there's no way out!" My mother shrieks as I lead them away from the flames, running for the only area of District 12 that won't go up so quickly. The field near the fence. And if my hunches are correct, and I pray they are, we may just make it out alive.
By the time we reach the field just inside the fence, we've collected over a hundred people. All of them are staring at me for an answer.
"What are we doing?"
"Where will we go?"
"We're trapped!"
"They're going to kill us all!"
"LISTEN TO ME!"
I don't know where it comes from, but a voice rises up in me. Strong and clear. I didn't know I had it in me.
As the crowd quiets I can hear it - or rather the lack of it. The flames and screams of the District are growing louder, but there is a distinct lack of a hum. They cut more than just the power to our homes. The fence is down.
"We can escape this!" My voice cuts through the din of noise around us. "Tear it down!"
They don't wait for reassurance. The panic and fear inside of them is all that it takes for them to trust. United by this catastrophe we rally and tear apart the fence that has blocked us from freedom.
"Head for the trees!" I command as we open a gap large enough to escape through.
And then the night is filled with running. Running away from our homes. Running away from the people trying to destroy us. We disappear into the trees. By morning, all that remains of District 12 is a handful of refugees hiding in the trees and they're all looking at me for the answer of what we will do. Where we will go.