I had trouble uploading, but it's finally done. There's familiar parts from Mockingjay, but I also added stuff to them.
Chapter 3
I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant. Shit, I'm pregnant. I don't think it's fully settle in yet. Maybe it's best that it doesn't or I'll go crazy. I get to the Dining Hall and get my tray. It looks like a get a little more oat meal. Wow, that was fast. I'm already getting more food. I'm not just feeding myself anymore. I find Gale, who coincidently came at the same time I did today. Rory, Vick, Hazelle and Posy are sitting there too. It feels weird because I know I can't tell them. I just can't, especially Gale. Gale knows me too well, and if I show any nervousness or act bothered, he'll know something is wrong, but if I don't sit with them then he'll know something is up. So I put on smile and sit between Posy and Gale.
"Katniss, haven't seen you lately. You and Gale usually come early, so we always miss you." Says Hazelle.
"Yeah, I had a checkup, today. I'm good, though. Why are you here?" I ask looking at Gale.
"What? I can't be here?" he says lightly. Hazelle waits for his answer too. "I went to the armory this morning. Beetee wanted to show me something."
"Oh? What was it?" I ask.
"Beetee told me I couldn't tell you. He wanted you to see it for yourself." He says almost teasing. I'm glad he's not mad at me anymore. I just want to keep it like this for as long as I can. No more useless arguing, although, I stand on my point.
"It's a surprise!" exclaims Posy. Her gray eyes look extremely bright. "Don't tell her, Gale, or it won't be a surprise anymore!"
"Do you know what is, Posy?" asks Hazelle.
"Uh nope, but surprises aren't surprises if you tell them what the surprise is." She says surprise so many times, that Hazelle smiles, and Vick starts laughing.
"Hey Katniss, See you got extra oatmeal. Going into war today or something?" asks Rory. Shoot, I mean how could they have not have noticed. I think of something quick.
"Since I'll be training now, I guess I get more."
"Oh, I'll be training too, I'm almost 14. Then we get the title "soldier" right?"
"Affirmative, Soldier Hawthorne." I say. He smiles. I wish I was looking forward to it as much as Rory is, but maybe it's because I'm being forced too, my actions can result in dire consequences, and with my newly found news, I'm on the bridge of losing my agreement with Coin.
After breakfast, Gale and I head to the armory. I don't know if I like surprises anymore. I've had enough today. I just hope Gale doesn't see my nervousness from just having the thought of telling him I'm pregnant. We get to the armory or "Special Weaponry", and there's Beetee in a wheelchair sitting in a mini replica of the meadow through a wall of glass. He's watching a hummingbird.
Gale and I step through the glass door. "This is the meadow isn't it?" I ask.
"Yes! It's a replication of the meadow in 12. It's wonderful isn't it?" His eyes behind the glasses don't move from the hummingbird. "60 mph, it's probably impossible to get one of these with an arrow."
"You could use a snare." Says Gale. "Bait it, use a finely meshed net, you could probably catch one like that."
"Oh, but we're not here to catch hummingbirds. Gale and I have been very busy at work with looking at the weaponry that will be used by the rebels, and some traps. I made a little something for you, Katniss." He says excitedly. He wheels himself to a wall and with a press of a button and scan of his hand; a section of the wall rotates and displays tons of weapons hanging on hooks and shelves. I have to admit the arsenal is pretty breathtaking, even if it's full of murdering weapons. A bow with hundreds of little gadget and a scope catches my eye. It looks so heavy, but that is not the one Beetee hands me. He takes a black case off a shelf.
"This is for you." He hands it to me. I unlatch it and find a slick black bow. I hold it and it's incredibly light weight. "They wanted me to design a bow more for show, but I added some features to it." I hold it as if I were about to shoot an arrow. I hear it humming.
"Is it alive?" I ask.
"It's voice activated and it only comes to life with you voice. Say, "good night" and it's programmed off. It was really quite fun to design it. It comes with multiple kinds of arrows… exploding, fire… they are all colored for the feature they have."
"Beetee... this is amazing." I'm so awestricken how beautiful it is.
"Yes, well you'll use it for filming, and will be given a set of plain arrows. We don't want exploding arrows during a shoot." He laughs. "As for you, Gale, you will be given bow as well. Although, it's not like this one. You are going to also have the official gun that the rebels will be equipped with." He hands Gale a bow with a scope and tiny lights. It's nice, but I think mine's better.
"Can we try them out?" I ask, almost like a little kid.
"Yes, there is a range in the Training Center, just you can only use the normal arrows and the bow has to be returned here."
"Alright." I say. Gale walks off to the exit.
"Oh, and Katniss. Tell Finnick I've been working on a new trident for him. Something to distract him a bit."
"Sure thing, Beetee."
We depart from Special Weaponry and go to use our new bows in the Training Center's range. Later, a subtle siren goes off for everyone to move on to the next scheduled period. We return the bows and begin for our next scheduled period.
"I guess I'm heading to my family's room." I say
"Prepping for the prop?" he says.
"Uh yeah," I say cautiously. I don't want to argue.
"Yeah, whatever. Do what you got to do."
"See you later." I say.
I go up flights of stairs to the top floor. I'm not totally comfortable riding in elevators yet. They remind me of the Capitol's, and they distantly remind me of mines and explosions and my father. I've ridden them before, but I prefer the stairs. Better for you, I guess. Just I get dizzy with a headache when I reach the top, reminding me I'm not totally healed yet.
The stylists are going to my family's boarding cell to get me ready for the propos. I bathe, get the hair waxed off me, get dressed, and touched up with natural eye shadows and blush.
Fulvia and Plutarch come in to see how I'm doing.
"Is our Mockingjay almost ready?" Fulvia says… almost like Effie. Her eyes look at me, but they dart away when she sees the huge scar on my arm, from when Johanna took out my tracking device. I think I see her frown with disgust.
"We don't know what to do with it." Says Venia. I can tell she's a little disgusted at the sight of it. Octivia looks away, her natural auburn hair covering the side of her face. She's still afraid. None of the stylist has their crazy outfits, and their hair color is fading a little to reveal their natural one.
"Put some bandages on it, so it looks like she was in battle recently." Plutarch suggests. He and Fulvia begin walking to the set. Venia grabs some white bandage and wraps it around my arm.
"All better." She says. "What do you think, Octavia? Does she look ready?"
Octavia nods, but doesn't speak. Flavius puts an arm around Octavia for encouragement, and gives me a thumbs up.
"Well, we should get you over there then." says Venia trying to sound enthusiastic, but more like tired.
I step to the door, but I turn towards them. "Thank you, Octavia, Flavius, Venia." I say sincerely. Octavia nods silently, but she smiles at me. I walk into the hallway and then they follow. They lead me to the set where we will be filming. I meet the film crew. Cressida, Messalla, Castor, and Pollux. Pollux doesn't speak and just shakes my hand. Then they tell me he is an Avox from the Captiol, but he came here. Everything is set, and the Fulvia gives me a line to say. They seemed to be proud about the line, like they spent years coming up with it. You know, maybe they have. I say the line over and over in my head. I'm trying to get warmed up to it, hopefully making it sound less unnatural when I do say it.
The set begins to fog, fake uniformed soldiers are pretending to die, and fake gun shots are ringing my ears. I walk forward from the fog and say the incredibly stiff line, "People of Panem, we fight, we dare, we end our hunger for justice!" I raise my bow up, but then, the arm of a soldier playing dead is in my path, and I trip. I hear a gasp from someone, but I landed on my hands and knees. They're dead silent for a minute. I'm slowly getting up. Then I hear someone crack up laughing uncontrollably.
"Wow, it's too bad that wasn't supposed to happen," says Haymitch. The fog dies down and I see him and Finnick still trying to stop themselves from cracking up again. It's been a month since I've seen Haymitch, and he just had to see me mess up.
"We'll do it again, it's that guys fault for being in the way." says Fulvia, pointing at the guy on the ground. The reaction of the guy on ground is hilarious, because he acts like he was just accused of stealing cookies, which is not taken too lightly here.
"The trip would have made it better! It would cheer up the injured and down-hearted." Haymitch exclaims. "You're not going to get people rallied up with stiff lines, fake fog, and terrible actors playing dying soldiers. It has to be moving, something natural. Something from Katniss, herself."
Fulvia crosses her arms and tilts her head. "Like what?"
"What was something Katniss did, that inspired you? On her own, nothing acted for the Capitol." The crowd in the room doesn't say anything, in thought.
"When she volunteered for her sister," Says Venia. "That's the most selfless thing I've ever seen."
"When she put the flowers on Rue," Says Finnick.
"I cried when she drugged Peeta so she could go get him medicine and when she kissed him good-bye!" Octavia blurts out, but she puts her hands over her mouth, like she wasn't supposed to say it.
"Oh yeah, saved his life." Haymitch says.
"It has to be unscripted! We got to leave her alone. Let her do her own thing." Says Beetee.
"How? Putting her in the middle of combat?" asks Plutarch.
"Yes, right about what I was thinking. Put her in the middle of combat." Haymitch says.
"What about her safety?" Fulvia asks.
"Bunch of bodyguards." He says plainly. "She can take care of herself." He looks at me. Fulvia still isn't quite convinced. Coin is questioning this in her head.
"I want to do this." I say. "It's good idea, and I'm really no help just staying here."
"What if you're killed?" asked Coin.
"Make sure to be filming, you could use it."I answer. I kind of regret saying that, since I'm pregnant, but being filmed, close to an actual scene of war, will definitely get attention. More than fake soldiers and fog. I'll be relatively safe.
"I suppose we could take Katniss to district 12. It's not as dangerous. We'll show what the Capitol did, for a start up. Katniss are you alright going there?" asks Plutarch.
Not really, but If we really want these propos to get people realize what's going on here. I guess that's the best place to start. It's not that dangerous."Yeah, sure." I say. I look at Haymitch, his face in a half smirk. He doesn't have that scar, anymore; the one when I lashed my fingernails at his face.
"Alright then." He walks out of the room and I can hear him laughing again about me tripping.
Ha. Haymitch isn't as ANGRY at Katniss, like in the book. Also, this isn't till WAY later, but I'd like some suggestions for the baby's name. boy or girl, because I can't tell you which it is yet.