MILES

It was three in the morning when we decided to meet up near the control room. There wasn't really a need to sneak around. No one was going to question me since I was important in District Thirteen. No one was going to stop me. If anything, I had the power to stop people around here.

Haymitch was late. Everyone was here except for him.

"I can go get him," offered Katniss, hands on her hips. She sighed.

"There he is," said Cato.

From the looks of it, he seemed to be drunk. What more did we expect? He was staggering down the hallway and, in his state, it seemed that he probably wouldn't remember much when he woke up in the morning. To save time, Katniss grabbed him by the shoulders and steered him in the right direction, around the corner and toward the control room.

"I can walk," he complained. Barely.

"We don't have all day," I said. I took out my key card from my pocket and held it up to the sensor, giving me access. Everyone filed in after me. The two people inside the control room looked up at me. "There are some files that I need to view."

Without any questions, they got up from their chairs and headed out of the door. One of them muttered something about coming back in twenty minutes. We'd be in and out by then. No problem.

I went to the main computer and typed in the password. The others crowded around me, waiting for a visual. "Around what time did you say this was?" I turned around to face Katniss and Peeta.

Katniss spoke. "Around five pm yesterday, shortly after our meeting."

"The conference room?"

Katniss nodded. "Yeah."

I clicked on the camera for the conference room, giving me complete access. I rewound the footage to just after the meeting. Everyone started to lean in, to get a closer look at the scene taking place on the screen. I quickly turned the volume up so that everyone could hear.

Coin was in the room, sitting in her chair, along with her right hand man, Horatius Vipointe. "How are you so sure everyone will vote?" he asked.

"Of course the people will vote for me," she said. "Who else is there to vote for? I've gained everyone's trust. They've all put their faith in me. Me, of all others. I can't believe that they've all fallen for it. They're all foolish. Of course, I wanted Snow out of the picture. These plans weren't made in vain. Snow was no good for this country. He was blinded by greed and could not use his power effectively. But I will use my power to its greatest extent! I know that I will become president. There is no doubt in my mind. And these fools will submit to an all powerful ruler. I'll rule this country! I'll execute the punishments! And I will make them bow before me!"

Horatius just smiled a crooked smile that made me angry. "The voting will begin tomorrow after our announcement at the Capitol. I'm sure there will be no one to oppose you. After all, you've ended Snow's reign of terror. They'll be practically at your feet."

Coin pushed her hair behind her ear. "Of course. By the day after tomorrow, I will be President of Panem."

Horatius stuck his arm out. "Come. Let's celebrate."

Coin took his hand and the two of them strutted out of the room together.

I turned to face the others, to see their reactions. Everyone looked just as angry and as I felt. Katniss' whole face was read. If anything, I felt like she'd be the first to explode into a fiery rage.

I felt so betrayed. How could she do this to us? How could she use us like pawns and then expect the presidency to be handed to her? She'd had us all fooled. I trusted her so easily. All of us did, at first. We'd put our trust in her and her intention had been to take Panem for her own selfish reasons!

"We have to kill her," Katniss said, as if there was no other way.

"How?" Johanna asked.

"And when?" Cato added, more importantly. "When would we even make a move to kill her?"

"The voting starts after the announcement," I said, "and then, if all goes as planned, she'll become President the day after. I doubt anyone in the Districts will oppose her. They don't know the whole story."

Haymitch began to push his way toward me. He smelled of whiskey. "She has to be exposed," he explained. "Once she's exposed, there will be a reason for everyone to oppose her. She's the real enemy now."

I looked at all of the others. "He's right."

Peeta cleared his throat. "So how do we expose her?"

There's silence for a moment. "Beetee!" shouted Johanna, perhaps a little too loudly. "Beetee can hack into the Capitol's systems. We can play the video on the screen behind her as she's speaking. Once the public sees her true nature, no one will vote. There will be an uproar, in the Capitol, within the Districts . . ."

"We have to kill her," Katniss repeated, with a straight face. She looked sort of lost. Even though we'd gotten Snow out of the way, she was still lost. I didn't blame her.

We'd all lost so much, since birth really. Growing up in this world wasn't easy. You had to live in fear every year as the Games approached, hoping and praying that your name wasn't called—hoping and praying that you weren't sent to your death. Because, growing up, you were taught to believe that if you weren't from the wealthy districts, that you wouldn't last two seconds in the arena.

Peeta put a hand on her shoulder. "Katniss . . . we can't just kill her."

"Why not?" Cato snapped. "Why shouldn't we kill her? Why shouldn't we make her pay for what she's done to us?"

"Aren't you tired of death?" Peeta asked, in a quiet voice. "Aren't you tired of seeing people die? Yes, we can punish her and we should make her pay, but do we have to kill her?"

"He's right," I chimed in, before anyone else could say anything. "We don't have to kill her." No one said much of anything as I made a copy of the footage. "Where's Beetee? We have to get this going within the next couple of hours. It has to be ready before nine. So we've got about five hours or so before then. Let's go."

CATO

"Are we going to Coin's speech?" Glimmer asked me when we woke up in the morning.

I snorted. "I'm going. You, my love, are staying here."

She furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. "Why? I want to see."

I sat down next to her on the bed. "Look, Glim. This could be dangerous. I don't know what's going to happen. There could be a riot in the Capitol. I don't know. We're in anarchy right now. People are already protesting in the other Districts. I just don't want you getting hurt, okay?"

She rolled her eyes, but she nodded. "I can handle myself, you know?"

I leaned over to peck her on the lips. "I know . . . but you're pregnant. I'd die if something happened to you and the baby."

"I love you, Cato."

I smiled at her. "I love you, too, babe. Everything's gonna be okay. I promise. Come." I stood up, reaching for her hand. "Let's get something to eat."

We sat down at a table with Katniss, Peeta, Johanna and Miles. Everyone was just about finished eating.

"Did Beetee finish?" I asked as I took a seat.

Miles nodded. "Yeah. He said he'll start the broadcast about five minutes into her speech." He took a sip of water. "It'll play all over Panem—the Districts and the Capitol. It'll be easier this time, without anyone to interfere with the signal and what not."

"So what are we going to do with her once she's exposed?" Glimmer asked.

Miles shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Katniss replied in a cold tone, "We'll let the people decide."