Author's Note: Here's a new chapter for everyone. I only got one review for the last chapter, but I'm hoping that just means everyone is really busy and it isn't a reflection of my writing. I'm going to plow through to the ending of this story nomatter what, but it would be nice to get some feedback. Even if you just review "Hey, I'm reading!" then I'll be happy. Enjoy the chapter!
Crowd of Two
Chapter Twenty-Five
Grey's POV
"How many districts have rebelled so far?" Finnick asks as he scratches his head. The tributes that had escaped from the arena – apart from Cato who had bypassed the meeting to sleep off his pain medication – were all seated around a circular-shaped table for a meeting with the Commander. Beetee, the bespectacled man I had seen in the hospital bed, was revealed to be the one who had caused the explosion that meant we were all here. Coming from District Three, he and his district partner Wiress were very skilled with electronics and managed to short circuit the force-field in the arena using a long coil of wire and a flare gun. Wiress had been close to the edge of the arena when it blew and, like Cato and I, she had been thrown through the air. Unfortunately, she hit her head on a rock and died before she could be picked up by the rebels.
Finnick, Titus, Haymitch and Katniss had all managed to escape the arena without sustaining any major injuries, but were just as shocked as I was by the fact that the rebellion had already begun during the games. As an idea it had seemed so unlikely – until it actually happened. The only other tribute that was on the hovercraft with us travelling to District Thirteen was Peyton, Luke's district partner. She stood sullenly in the corner watching the meeting, but made no move to include herself in the discussion.
They had all been told earlier the fates of the other two tributes that had been in the arena too. Gloss and Litty had both been near the center by the cornucopia, so instead of being picked up by the rebels like they had by being at the edge, the two had been caught by the Capitol's own hovercraft that had also entered at the explosion. No one was particularly grieved by the idea of Litty's capture, but Cato had gone unnaturally quiet at the mention of Gloss and had left the room – making the excuse that he was just drowsy. The harsh slam of the door as he left the room said otherwise.
"Districts 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 have fully rebelled and taken over the Peacekeepers there, but a few other districts are restless or engaged in combat." The Commander replied to Finnick's question in a gruff voice. Commander Steel – who went only by 'Commander' because he thought his surname made him a joke – was a tall, hulk of a man with a shaved head who looked like he had ulterior motives to take over the world, which probably wasn't far off. Upon meeting the man Cato and Titus had both stood to attention and saluted, and after that Commander Steel had directed all his words to the ex-careers – probably recognising the only ones who had fighting experience.
But now that Cato was holed up somewhere alternating between sleeping and pretending he wasn't mourning Gloss the Commander had to direct his attention to everyone sitting at the table.
"As soon as we arrive in District Thirteen you will be sent into combat training to increase your skills working in a team, and then we will take District Two." Commander Steel had barely brushed on the fact that District Thirteen – which had been thought to be destroyed – was actually still prosperous, so we were forced from the get-go to accept the fact that it was just there. Ever since I had woken up in this hovercraft I had seemed to be doing that a lot – just accepting the facts and moving on.
"District Two? The Capitol's lap dog you mean." Peyton calls out with a sneer, walking slowly towards us with an air of disrespect. It's the first time she has spoken since showing her face and the Commander sneers back in reply – unimpressed with her attitude.
"That's one way to put it," Steel growls icily, "However, Two is the district that will come across the most trouble when rebels attempt to take over – they train all the Peacekeepers in Panem after all – so we need to take it down first before the rest of the higher districts will follow. Understand?" It's not a question that warrants an answer so Peyton shrugs with a sneer and says nothing.
"With that out of the way, you are all dismissed. We will arrive in Thirteen in twelve hours – your rooms are down the hallway ordered by gender and district if you wish to rest." The other ex-tributes disperse from the table instantly, so by the time I walk along the corridor myself it is empty. I pass Finnick's room and come to a stop in front of my own beside it, but I can't make myself walk inside. While discussing how we were going to fight the Capitol – by hiding away until we were stronger – I had been thinking about Luke's words to me. I needed to be the one to kill President Snow – I couldn't just be in the back while everyone else fought for me. The small wooden scythe that my fingertips brushed in my pocket was a constant reminder of that. I had someone's death to avenge.
I decide Cato will know what to do. Finnick or Haymitch would probably persuade me that I needed to train and running rashly into battle was a bad idea, but running rashly into things was Cato's forte.
The District Two room is a bit down the hall from my own, and I notice that alongside it are rooms without labels. I realise that these must be the rooms for the tributes that didn't make it through the games. Sure enough, there are numerous unlabelled rooms between the occupied ones that must have been for the deceased tributes. They had been planning this rescue for a while.
I touch my hand to the sliding door of Cato's room and it silently opens for me. The room is dimly lit and I see him fast asleep on his stomach – fully clothed – with his head face-down into the pillow. He's normally a light sleeper, so the fact that he has yet to wake up even as I'm walking into the room tells me that he's still somewhat drugged on the painkiller for his ribs. I perch on the end of the bed where his feet are resting and gently remove the muddy arena boots from his feet.
"Grey?" Cato's voice sounds heavy from sleep as he lifts his head slightly when he feels the weight of the blanket I wrap around him. I crawl over his legs until I am at his pillow and then cradle his head in my hands.
"Did you sleep well?" I ask him, and Cato's body tenses ever-so-slightly telling me that he was plagued by the bad dreams he tries so hard to hide from everyone else. He hadn't told me of his nightmares for a very long time – since before the Quell – but I let the matter drop and allow him to change the subject while I stroke the hair away from his face.
"I thought I was back in the games and that you were gone, but now that we're together I'm not letting you leave again. So, what did I miss in the meeting?" He yawns, beginning to return to full thinking capacity after a long sleep. My expression blanches slightly as I wonder if Cato knows I'm thinking about leaving him so I can go fight the Capitol, but he's smiling at me so I decide that it was just a coincidence.
"Lots of military talk. The outer districts are fighting the Peacekeepers for power, but we're going out to Thirteen to train before trying to take over…" I pause abruptly, realising that we are going to be the ones to attack Cato's district. Who knew where his friends and family would fall when the district had a conflict. I think of his best friends Lux and Seb – they were in the academy, so they would be fighting against us.
"District Two, yeah I figured Grey." Cato interrupts as he sits up out of my lap and begins to pull on his boots again. His voice is clipped. "I'm going to have to stare my training buddies in the eyes and stick a sword through their chests."
He stands up and I stand up to meet him, pressing my face into the crook of his neck while he has his back turned away from me.
"No, Cato, please. Don't say that. We won't kill anyone – we'll just hold them until there's no one left to fight! Everyone in the academy, and the civilians too, they don't really want to fight. It'll be fine." Cato turns his head and scoffs, causing me to step away from him.
"You obviously know nothing about war and nothing about the people in my district." He spits harshly, but the hurt in his eyes makes me rush forward again and wrap my arms around his waist while he's defenceless. He grumbles to himself but eventually embraces me back.
"We're going to get through this together, and we're going to raise our child together in a Panem that is not plagued by the Hunger Games or war. And then maybe we can have a couple more and they'll all run around together in our yard. Would you like that, Cato?" I find one of his hands and press it against my stomach until his head slumps down and presses against my forehead.
"Yes, I would like that." He whispers in reply, not taking his hand off his child.
Suddenly, there is an explosion underneath us and the floor sways violently. I shriek and Cato instantly wraps his arms around me as we are thrown into the wall like he had done while protecting me during the explosion in the arena. He grunts as he hits the wall but I'm unharmed and instantly help him into a standing position. He rubs his back where I know his broken ribs are but when I reach out to touch him he holds his other hand up to stop me and together we rush out of his room into the main hallway.
It's chaos out here. Having felt the explosion themselves all the other tributes have left their rooms and are running towards the main hangar where there might be some explanation. I see Finnick pass without even glancing at me and I realise that this might be the only chance I have to act. The confusion over the explosion would mean that no one would notice my absence until I was long gone.
Cato takes my arm and practically drags me down the hall following the other tributes, and we pass a nervous looking orderly standing guard by the doors into the hangar.
"What's happened?" Cato demands, and the man stutters a reply that we're being attacked by another hovercraft – presumably one owned by the Capitol. When Cato wanted information he got it just by glaring.
Cato tries to pull me into the hangar but I dig my shoes into the ground and put a look of shock-horror onto my face.
"Wait! I need to go back to your room, Cato, please. I forgot something. I'll meet you inside, okay?" I speak so quickly that the blonde gives me a bewildered look and does nothing as I tear out of his grasp and hurry back in the direction we had come shouting, "I'll meet you there!" I can only hope he doesn't realise something is up until I've gone. I couldn't put Cato in danger like that without him knowing – he needed to be in District Thirteen to help the rebels. It was better for both of us if I did what I promised Luke without dragging anyone else into it. And anyway, who were they more likely to notice: one young girl with no more than a tooth-pick for a weapon, or a whole troop of trained soldiers kicking down everything in their path?
Luckily everyone had quickly run to the hangar as soon as we were hit, so no one is around to ask me why I'm disobeying orders. I pick up speed once I pass Cato's room and hope that I'm heading in the direction of the loading bay.
The hovercraft lurches again just as I reach the bay and I roll with the movement so that I stay on my feet. On the far side of the room I see large doors looking as if they are struggling to stay closed while being attacked from the outside. I duck behind a large crate as the doors finally break under the pressure and Peacekeepers beginning to storm in. In reality there is only half a dozen, but it seems like many when you're hiding weapon-less behind a crate.
Just as I'm attempting to come up with a good excuse that would get me into the Capitol without being a prisoner I hear someone drop down beside me.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Cato hisses furiously, and I don't think I've ever heard him this angry before. "You pretend you're just going back to my room and instead you come here! In a few seconds those Peacekeepers are going to find us, and then what? Why can't you just do what you're told for once!"
"You're one to talk! All through the Games you did what you liked, and I bet you never once followed Enobaria's orders either."
"That's different and you know it." He growls, "I wasn't going to hand myself over to the enemy!" Suddenly we both hear the sound of the Peacekeepers marching closer and Cato pushes himself deeper behind the crate so he's hidden for a little longer. Pressed close to him and looking into his face I can see that I was wrong to think he was angry at me. In actual fact, he's terrified.
"What about our baby, Grey? What will happen to it if you get captured?" Cato's voice sounds so afraid for the well-being of his child that I'm instantly washed over with regret.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I thought this was a good idea. I thought I would be able to get inside the Capitol without anyone noticing because they would all think the rebels were in District Thirteen. I didn't even think about the baby. And Luke told me to kill President Snow and I was impatient because it was Luke and he's dead now and-" Cato's tight hug halts my rambling and we curl up together hoping that we won't be seen.
Suddenly there's a tug on the back of my shirt and I'm dragged out into full view of the Peacekeepers who stand around me and laugh.
"Look who we found boys: the precious victor from District Four. Well she's obviously not precious enough if she's unprotected during an ambush, is she?" The figure talking – covered in armour – kicks me in the gut and I curl around myself praying that Cato has run to get help.
No such luck.
"Don't touch her." Comes a hissing voice and everyone turns to see Cato already in a fighting stance ready for the approaching fight. The Peacekeepers laugh between themselves, and the one who had been talking before clicks his tongue against his teeth.
"Well, well. We didn't even need to use this one-" I receive another kick to the gut, "as bait. Get him – this needn't take long." Cato suddenly straightens with an appalled look on his face – he must have taken offense by the fact that they think he will be an easy fight – and I want to scream at him to watch out.
He barely dodges the first punch aimed at him, but once he does he counters with a punch to the first Peacekeepers face that sends him sprawling, and he continues handing out punches to anyone who comes near. However he's caught off guard when one of them comes up behind him and shoves him forward, and once he loses his balance they swarm him.
"Cato!" I screech as he bucks wildly under those restraining him, but when he looks up at my voice it's enough of a distraction for the Peacekeeper that is on Cato's back to ram something into his neck. He falls flat onto his face in a dead faint before I can call out his name again.
"Ugh. Get them in the hovercraft before they can attract any more attention."