Note: The climax of the story! I hope you enjoy. Remember to review!
After being up for one hundred and twenty straight hours, I was surprised I had the energy to stand up straight, let alone think about how to protect my little sister from the people who were trying to kill her. Every time I felt like just falling over and sleeping in the middle of the control room, they gave me another shot, and my eyes shot open again. I found out what the syringe in the bag they had given Sydney and I was, adrenaline mixed with a strange batch of chemicals meant to wake you up and keep you there.
I didn't know that the game makers didn't get to sleep. Every one of us had to get these injections because the arena demanded our constant attention. I had seen more pain and suffering in the past few days than I could endure. The emotional toll was just as big as the physical one, and I was close to my breaking point.
It started the morning after Sydney had found Prim. They went out to see if they could find something to eat, and I saw that there was no one within five miles of them, so I turned my attention to the other tributes. The careers were up, and they were ready to hunt. They went out in the forest to search for their first victim, and it only took them about an hour to find her.
The girl from district four was trying to fish in the lake that stood in the middle of the woods. Emanuel tapped her on the shoulder, and she didn't even turn around. She just put her hands together and asked for mercy, but Emanuel only grunted and snapped her neck like a twig beneath his hands. She had been praying, but whatever god she pleading with didn't seem to care. I hadn't realize he was this brutal when I met him in prison, but he was a cold-hearted killer. He didn't even smile or laugh when he got his kills like Cato had. There was no emotion in his face. He was doing what needed to be done, and like he said in his interview, he didn't care who had to die.
The boy from nine was next. He was still asleep in what he thought was a well-camouflaged shelter, but Katrina had spotted it easily, and Zahara had thrown a spear straight through his heart. They also killed the girl from five that day, so at the end of the second day of the games there were twelve tributes left in the arena. I sighed and flashed their pictures in the sky, thinking about their families and the lives that were being ruined as I tapped away at the keyboard in front of me.
I thought about what would happen if Prim died. My mother would never recover, and neither would I. I could never live my normal life without Prim. I would fall into a deep hole and never come out. She had to survive this. I needed her pureness to keep me sane. I had protected her for so long, and I wouldn't stop now. I tried to set up some traps that would protect Sydney and Prim if anyone came around them, but the first time I tried, President Snow came up and undid my work.
"We can't give anyone and unfair advantage, now can we?" He said coldly. I was going to have to be more creative about keeping them alive. There wasn't any action on the third day, so President Snow was not happy. "Mix it up Ms. Everdeen." He glared at me. "Its your job to keep the people entertained." I knew what that meant. Death. The careers couldn't find anyone in the vast forest of the arena, so there was nothing interesting happening. All of the tributes were staying put, and the action was dull. I thought of the least destructive way I could mix it up, but nothing came to mind. Someone was going to have to die today.
Wolves. That's what I chose. I sent them after the boy from district five and the boy from district eight who had decided to team up. They had eaten raw rabbit because neither of them wanted to make a fire and alert the careers. It was a good plan, but both of them got extremely ill, and they were weak. I sighed as I told the proper game maker my plan, and he smiled to himself as he made it happen. The wolves materialized on the screen out of nowhere, and the two were caught off guard. They ended up running up a tree where the wolves couldn't reach them, and I was relieved. I had done my job and no one had died.
"Not good enough." Snow said from behind me. "One of them will die. Use your imagination!" I groaned in frustration. What did he want me to do? I knew I had to be cruel and unusual, so I tried to think like Coin. What would she do? She would pit them against each other. I input a few commands, and made the wolf speak. They were mutts after all, they could do whatever we wanted them to.
"We only need one." It said in a deep warped voice. "We only ask for one." The boy from eight shook his head.
"We're a team, we won't—" But he couldn't even finish his sentence before the boy from five shoved him off the branch he was standing on. I watched the wolves devour him, and grimaced as I sounded the cannon. I hated the boy from five. He had allied with this kid, and then killed him at the first opportunity.
"Kill him." I ordered Bartimaeus. He nodded at me, and typed in a command to knock the tree over. The boy from eight was startled, and he tried to jump, but it was too late. The tree fell over on top of him, and I watched his picture get covered over with a red x. I was disgusted with myself. I was becoming one of them, but I had to save Prim. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to continue on. I felt another needle in my arm. Another injection to help me continue the torture.
So at the end of the third day, there were nine tributes left. Sydney and Prim had spent the day hunting peacefully in the woods, and I had watched them bond in my free time. They became close instantly. I guess it was because Sydney and Prim both had the same effect on people. They were both so likeable, that their personalities just clicked. Sydney became fiercely protective of Prim. She seemed to adopt her as her own sister, and every time there was a possible threat, Sydney jumped out of her skin in her attempts to protect Prim.
I expected it to be totally one sided, but Prim turned out to be a pretty good team mate. Sydney had eaten a poisonous berry, not nightlock to my relief, and became violently ill, but Prim knew the precise cure for it, and Sydney made a full recovery in a matter of hours. They worked perfectly like that. Sydney was the hunter and the fighter, and Prim was the gatherer and the healer. There was a surprising peace around them for a while, and I was happy for that, but I knew it wouldn't last long.
The careers were getting by, but their lack of survival skills was apparent. They also didn't ration the food very well, and I knew they would run out soon. By this time, they only had enough food to feed the four of them for another day, and there were still five other tributes left for them to kill.
On the fourth day in the arena, someone finally found Prim and Sydney. They were out hunting, and when they returned to their shelter, they found that someone had been there. There were footprints around the outside, and I saw the alarm on Sydney's face. She put her hand over Prim's mouth before she could speak, and pointed up a tree. Prim nodded and began to climb, going as high as she dared. Sydney trod carefully around the tree, and held her sword up in a fighting position. She turned around a bush adjacent to their shelter, and swung viciously at the girl who popped out from it.
"Lexie?" She said, dropping her sword to the ground. Luckily she had missed the girl, so Lexie was just standing with her arms up, ready to fight. "What are you doing here?"
"I've been running from the careers. They're on the hunt again, trying to find their next victim." Lexie looked awful. She was covered in scrapes and bruises, and she looked so exhausted. She had been alone, so she probably hadn't slept much. "What are you doing here?"
"This is our shelter." Sydney answered. "We've been here the whole time, hiding from the careers."
"We?" Lexie asked carefully, and at that moment Prim jumped down from her tree. She looked from Lexie to Sydney. Sydney narrowed her eyes, evaluating Lexie carefully. They had been good friends in the factory, but out here it was a different game. Lexie's eyes widened. She eyed the food that Prim held in her hands hungrily, and Sydney noticed.
"You want some food?" She asked. It was a peace offering. She seemed to want to protect Lexie too, so she was welcoming her into their little group. Lexie nodded, trying to be nonchalant, but as soon as they roasted the rabbit over a small fire, Lexie jumped on it like she had never seen food before.
They were enjoying their meal in silence, and I was forced to turn my attention back to the action. My stomach twisted into a knot when I found out the careers had found another victim. Alexei got to her this time. He lifted the girl from four up off the ground, and slammed her head into a rock until she bled to death. He exchanged high fives with Zahara and Katrina, while Emanuel leaned against a tree sullenly. Just then, out of nowhere, the girl from nine bursted through the trees, and before Emanuel could yell out a warning, she stabbed Zahara straight through the heart. She pulled her sword back out and sliced Katrna's back. I saw Katrina buckle over, and fall to the ground, but before the girl from nine could deliver a fatal strike, a spear rammed through her stomach. It all happened so fast, I barely had time to process it.
Three more cannons. Three more deaths. There were six of them left. I saw Alexei run over to Katrina and yelled her name. "Katrina! Wake up!" He shook her limp body back and forth, but blood spewed form her wound, and I looked away from the gruesome scene. I turned my head to the picture board and watched the red x flicker over Katrina's face. The final cannon shot rang through the air, and I looked at the horror written on Alexei's face as he held Katrina's limp form in his arms. He was finally realizing this wasn't just a game. Emanuel pulled him up off the ground, and they walked towards the lake. The hovercraft picked up the bodies, and just like that they were another whisper in the wind. Alexei washed the blood off of his hands, and it was like Katrina had never existed.
That was the worst part of the games. Even when someone you cared about died, you had to keep going. You couldn't rest for a second. There was no time to mourn the dead because you could be next if you lingered for too long. Emanuel and Alexei stared at the ground and didn't say anything as Alexei changed his bloody clothes for a change they found from a pack. Finally, Emanuel spoke. "Three more to go." He said coldly. They gave each other another look, and set off into the forest to find their final victims.
It was almost dusk, so Prim, Lexie and Sydney put out there fire and headed into the shelter to get some sleep. "I'm glad you found us Lexie." Sydney said as they drifted off. "I was beginning to worry about you." Lexie smiled and punched Sydney on the arm, and I could their old comradery was back. Lexie had always been Sydney's closest friend other than me in the prison, so she seemed relieved that Lexie hadn't died yet, but in my mind, it was just another problem I would have to face when it came down to choosing who got to live. Obviously Lexie wouldn't be a option, but if Sydney refused to kill her, I would have to do it. I didn't want to risk that. I sighed nervously and fretted over killing Lexie all night.
It turned out that I wouldn't have to worry about that. It was in mid-morning on the sixth day that became the beginning of the end. Lexie had volunteered to go hunt, and Prim and Sydney stayed behind to relax in the shelter. Sydney tried to insist on going with her, but Lexie said that she had survived five days without them, so she would be fine on her own.
Sydney paced restlessly around the tree that supported their shelter. Her and Prim told each other riddles and ran through combat situations while they waited, but it did no good. It was mid-afternoon and Lexie still wasn't back. I could tell Sydney was worried, and Prim finally spoke up. "Do you think something happened?" She asked softly.
"We would have heard the cannon if she had died. She'll be back." She was trying to convince herself more than Prim, so when they exchanged a look and Prim raised her eyebrows, Sydney grunted and picked up her sword and the bow and arrows. "Let's go. We need to move on anyway. We've been here too long." They destroyed the shelter and smothered the remains of the fire. Then, they set off into the forest. They didn't dare say Lexie's name for fear of alerting enemies, so they relied on their tracking skills to attempt to find her.
I looked over to her screen and saw her casually picking berries, her catch for the day slung over her shoulder. She seemed to have gotten lost, which was a relief for me because she was safe. She was still a little ways away from Sydney and Prim, and when I realized they were headed in the wrong direction, I had a bird call out the four note tune from behind them. Sydney looked at Prim. "I think we should follow it." Prim said. "It's a sign from Katniss." Sydney nodded in agreement and they headed towards my bird call. I smiled to myself, and looked back at Lexie. To my horror, I found that someone else had caught up with her before Sydney could.
She was walking towards a large oak tree when Emanuel and Alexei appeared out of nowhere. "Well, well, well, looks like we found one of them." Alexei said. "Not the one we wanted, but still, I feel like she'll be of help to us." He didn't grin like he had before. It seemed like Katrina's death had taken the fun out of killing for him.
"What are you talking about?" Lexie asked, trying to sound brave. The fear crept into her voice, and she started to back away from them.
"Just tell us where they are." Emanuel said. "If you tell us, we'll kill you quickly, I promise." He said it like he was making an actual deal, like he thought he was doing her a favor. The realization of her death hit Lexie like a brick. She looked at the ground and tears started to fall down her face.
"I won't tell you." She said defiantly. "I won't tell you where Sydney and Prim are. Yes I know that's who you're looking for. We're the only ones left." Emanuel sneered at her. He was becoming impatient.
"You'll tell us." He pointed at Alexei to hold her arms, and Lexie tried to squirm away, but it was no good. She screamed loudly, and I looked at Sydney's screen. She had heard, and she started sprinting towards the sound. Alexei clamped a hand over her mouth, and Emanuel took out his knife. "Where are they?" He said, slowly running the knife across her stomach. It cut her skin deeply, and blood ran down her abdomen. She screamed again through Alexei's fist. When she still didn't reply, he cut her again.
I saw her eyes open wide. Sydney and Prim were standing behind a tree, just feet away from them. Alexei was too busy turning his head away from the blood and trying not to puke, so he didn't see them, and Emanuel had his back to the tree. Lexie raised her hand shakily and pointed, in the opposite direction of where they were standing. I put my hand over my mouth. I could feel tears of gratitude well in my eyes, and I saw the same look reflected in Sydney's. Then Emanuel stepped up to her. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" He asked kindly, running a hand down her cheek. Then he grabbed her head and snapped her neck.
I let out a gasping moan. I saw Sydney's mouth open in a fit of rage, but Prim clamped her hand over it. She wouldn't let Lexie's sacrifice be in vain. When the time came, Sydney and Prim had to catch the boys by surprise, and Lexie had sacrificed her life to give them that opportunity. Emanuel let Lexie's body fall to the ground, and a hand touched the button next to me to fire the cannon. He pulled Alexei away and they started walking in the direction Lexie had pointed.
Sydney and Prim stayed put for fifteen minutes, waiting until they were sure the careers had disappeared. I didn't send in the hovercraft. I wanted to give Sydney time. She ran out and knelt down to Lexie's body. I saw the tears rolling down her cheeks in waves. She didn't sob, she didn't yell, she just silently cried, the water droplets falling onto Lexie's body. Prim stood at a distance, waiting to see if Sydney moved or how she should react.
Sydney just sat still for a long time, not moving or making a sound. She reached up and tried to touch Lexie's face, even though it was twisted from the violent twist Emanuel had given it. In that moment, as she held Lexie in her lap and saw her lifeless face, Sydney changed. I knew that moment. I had it when Rue had been shot with the spear. It's the moment where the games no longer matter. It's not about you or them or anything else. Its about the Capitol, and how this is all their fault. It's the moment when you realize that there is no such thing as purity. No soul, no heart is pure. Everyone is greedy and out to save themselves, and the Capitol plays on that. Sydney clenched her fists and looked up into the canopy of trees.
Then, she let go of Lexie's hand, and stood up slowly. She was covered in blood, but she didn't move to wipe it off. She just turned to Prim with this cold, determined look in her eyes. "It ends now." She said. "They're gonna pay for this." Prim nodded. I knew she wasn't talking about just Emanuel and Alexei. She was talking about all of them. The Capitol, Snow, and even Coin. She had hated them before, but now it was more than that. They had just made a very dangerous personal enemy.
She started walking without another word. She knew where they were, and she was going to find them. Prim followed behind her in silence. I couldn't tell if she was afraid that Sydney was going to kill her too, or if she was just respecting Sydney's space. I stepped back from the controls. I had to let her finish this herself. This was her battle.
Sydney walked out onto the field that surrounded the Cornucopia. I wasn't sure exactly what her plan was, and I was nervous to find out. She waited, still as a statue, for what felt like hours. The sky began to turn dark, and finally, Emanuel and Alexei stepped out of the trees. They walked toward the Cornucopia, clearly angry about not finding Sydney and Prim. Sydney raised her bow and knocked an arrow. She pulled back and took a deep breath, fierce determination written in her eyes. Her nostrils flared and she let the arrow fly.
I remembered how she had never been a good shot while we were together on the squad, but I guess anger made her arrow fly perfectly straight. It buried itself in Alexei's chest, and he stopped moving. He clutched at the end that stuck out in front of him, and Emanuel turned around to face him. His eyes widened, and Alexei's mouth gaped open and closed. He fell straight forward, and I sounded the cannon as soon as his heart stopped. Emanuel walked over and closed his eyes. Alexei had been his partner after all, and while Emanuel was a ruthless killer, he seemed to acknowledge that silent respect that came with a fallen comrade.
He stood up slowly, and turned towards Sydney's position. "I see you've decided not to shoot me too." He said, nodding. Sydney threw the bow on the ground and ripped the sheath of arrows off of her back.
"Stay here Prim. Don't move until I say so." She whispered, placing a light kiss on Prim's forehead. "That would be too easy wouldn't it?" She said to Emanuel, walking towards him. She unsheathed her sword, smirking at him. "Besides, I think we both know I couldn't hit a target like that again." He took the longsword he had slung around his back and drew it out. Sydney stopped about ten feet away fromm him. The look in her eyes was pure hatred. I held my breath, waiting for one of them to make the first move. The wind blew through the field, and the grass whipped at their ankles. It blew Sydney's hair across her face, but she just continued to stare at Emanuel.
Finally, Sydney swung at him. She moved like a snake, her blade slicing through the air, but Emanuel was just as fast. He parried the blow like it was nothing, and knocked her sword to the side. He tried to swing down at her back, but she twisted around and side-stepped the strike. They dueled like this for a long time, both anticipating the others movements. Waiting out to see if their endurance would help them, but they were too evenly matched. Their strikes got slower and their arms got heavier. I could see the fatigue building up inside of them.
It was Emanuel who got the upper hand first. He moved in on Sydney, and when she blocked his strike, he dropped his sword and elbowed her under her rib cage, then he used his free hand to twist her sword away, and it flew through the air and landed too far away for Sydney to reach it. Emanuel stabbed his sword out, and I couldn't help but yell. I thought Sydney was a goner, but her reflexes came to the rescue and she moved out of the way quickly enough. Sydney lashed out with her leg and hit Emanuel's wrist with a vicious kick. He cried out in pain and let his sword go, and Sydney kicked it away. He fell to the ground and clutched his hand.
She moved away from him, doubled over. She coughed up blood, and sweat dripped down her forehead and into her eyes. She grimaced in pain, struggling with each breath. Emanuel staggered back to his feet and clenched and unclenched his fist, gritting his teeth in pain.
"Just let me kill her." Emanuel snarled, nodding at Prim. "You know what's going to happen, and I warned you of it before. If by some miracle you can kill me, it'll be down to you and her, and then you're a dead woman. You think Katniss Everdeen loves you more than her sister? You're naïve Harper. Friends mean nothing to her. Thresh saved her life, and she didn't give a damn about him. She didn't try to save him after all he did for her, so what makes you think you're any different?"
"You're disgusting." Sydney answered. "This is what they want! They want us to be animals, Emanuel. They want to turn us into killers. The Capitol wants us to forget our humanity, but we can't let them. We have to stand up to them, or we'll turn into one of them."
"Give me a break Sydney. We can't do anything to them. Everdeen tried, and they blew up her district. You think this stupid rebellion is going to work? You're a fool." He snarled. "So just listen to me. Step aside and let me kill Primrose, then you and I can finish duking it out and decide who is the real winner of these games."
Sydney looked back at Prim with dark eyes and shook her head. This was her moment. She was going to defy the Capitol here and now, or she was going to give in and let Emanuel kill my little sister. I gripped the table in front of me so hard I thought the metal would bend under my fingers. Prim's life was totally in Sydney's hands. The fate of the rebellion was too. If she gave in to the Capitol, it would give them all the power they needed to fuel their support. "You know I'm right." Emanuel shouted from across the field.
Sydney slowly turned her head back to him and narrowed her eyes. "You are right. At least about one thing. You and I are going to fight it out, but I will never let you murder that girl as long as I'm still breathing." Emanuel shook his head at her. Then he charged.
He lashed a kick out at her head, but she ducked underneath his leg and struck back, kneeing him in the stomach. She tried to lock him, but he undercut her and pushed her away. His fist thrust out and hit her square across the face, and she staggered back. He tried to punch again, but she blocked it and kicked him in the stomach. He grabbed her foot in his hands and twisted her around, throwing her to the ground.
He climbed on top of her and she punched him in the side. I could hear the crunch from the microphones, and Emanuel grimaced and grunted at the pain of his own ribs breaking. He didn't stop thought. He held Sydney's arms down with his knees and hit her repeatedly in the face, then, he put his hands around her throat. I jumped up from my chair and started frantically pushing buttons, trying everything I could to stop what was happening. Nothing I did worked. All of my commands were being short-circuited. I punched the table over and over again. "No!" I yelled, looking at Bartimaeus for help, but he only shrugged at me. I could see Sydney's face turning blue as she struggled to breath under Emanuel's strong grip. His face was screwed up into a maniacal grin, and I knew she was going to die. I didn't want that. I couldn't let that happen.
"There's nothing you can do." A voice said from behind me. I didn't want to hear Snow. Not now. "She will die. When it comes down to this, the game makers are no longer necessary. Its better to watch them fight it out on their own." I could hear the smile in his voice, but I wouldn't accept what he said.
"Let me help her!" I screamed, fighting with the controls. I started slamming my hands down on the control board, attempting to force the buttons and knobs to work again. Sydney couldn't die. I looked up at the screen and watched in horror as she squirmed underneath Emanuel. I could feel the scream building in my throat, but all of a sudden, Emanuel's hands dropped. Blood spurted from his mouth, and he put his hands to his chest. He rolled off of Sydney and layed on his side. The red x appeared over his face, and I noticed the knife sticking out of his back. Behind him was Prim, shaking where she stood, two more knives in her hands, poised to be thrown. "Give it a flick and let it fly." She said, repeating the instructions Sydney had given her in training.
Sydney rolled over onto her hands and knees and took huge gasping breaths. She coughed and sputtered, but she was going to be ok. Prim made her way over to her friend, and tried to help her up. "Sydney, are you ok?" Sydney raised her eyes up to meet Prim's, and they were watering from the strain of being unable to breath. She didn't say a word. She just threw her arms around Prim's neck and hugged her.
"And all this time it was supposed to be me who saved you." Sydney said, laughing. She pulled Prim away and held her at arm's length. "We're ok." She looked over at Emanuel's lifeless body, and I saw the fear creep into her eyes. Blood dripped down her forehead and ran down the side of her face.
"What happens now?" Prim asked warily. They looked back at each other, and I knew that neither of them knew what to do. They wouldn't kill each other, that much I knew. So maybe the games would be over. I would make sure they wouldn't be harmed, so they would survive in the arena, and eventually President Snow would have to let them leave. Everything was going to be ok. For the first time since these games had started, I felt happy.
I didn't realize what was going on until I felt the Peacekeeper's hands clutch my arms. I was still standing at the control panel, and they pulled me back to let President Snow by. I struggled against them to get free, unsure why I was being restrained. Snow frowned when he saw that I had destroyed the panel with my pounding when Sydney was about to die, so he nodded to a Peacekeeper, who plucked Bartimaeus out of his chair and dragged him from the room. "No…what are you going to do to him?" I said to Snow.
"I'm afraid, there is no room for rebel sympathizers in the Capitol." He answered. I watched in horror as they carried him from the room, and he reached out to me in his final gesture, but there was nothing I could do. He was a dead man. His sympathy for me had killed him.
Snow stood at his station and punched in a few codes. I looked back at the screen, worriedly awaiting whatever twist he had decided to throw into the arena. I saw Sydney's eyebrows raise. "Do you hear that?" She asked Prim slowly. She backed away and cocked her head to the left, trying to identify the sound. "It sounds like wind, or something. Like something is coming towards us." She looked back at my sister, who was also listening intently. I noticed it then. A huge wall of fire was bearing down on them. Sydney yelled as it swept in a circle around them. They were surrounded by a circle of orange and yellow flames. Prim started to move towards Sydney for protection, but suddenly, another jet of fire sliced across the middle of the circle, cutting them off from one another.
"What are you doing?" I asked Snow incredulously. "How is someone supposed to win if they can't even get near each other?" I dreaded what he was going to say next. Part of me didn't want to know the gruesome end he had in mind.
"You see, Ms. Everdeen, this year, its not so much about winning. This year, the games are less about them," he said, pointing at Sydney and Prim, "and more about you." He looked at me with his sharp blue eyes. "I don't care if we have a winner this year. Everyone knows these games are a joke. They were to show our power, but your district didn't take the bait and surrender like we hoped, so I had to think of a new way to use them to our advantage, and I knew you were the key."
He paced across the room in front of me. "See, I was going to just use you as game maker to torture you. Make you become the person you loath with all of you heart. I thought that would be a good punishment for your insolence, but then I got a genius idea. I decided the moment that buzzer started that Sydney and little Primrose would be the last two competitors standing. I decided I wouldn't let them kill each other. I would make someone else choose who won, and that someone is you."
My eyes widened and I gasped. I shook my head repeatedly. "I won't." I answered him. "I can't. I can't kill one of them."
He laughed at me coldly. "Well, if you don't choose one, I'll just kill them both." His hand hovered over the keyboard. "I don't care who survives."
"No!" I shouted at him. "No…don't. Please." I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes. This couldn't be happening to me. How did he expect me to choose between Sydney and Prim. I blinked them away, trying not to show my weakness.
"You have five minutes to decide." He said. I had been pushing the thought to the back of my mind ever since the chariot parade, hoping that I would find a way to save them both. Some part of me always thought that it would be obvious. Of course I would choose Prim, but that part of me also thought along the way, Sydney would do something to make the choice easier, like going with the careers or turning Prim over to Emanuel, but she didn't.
Every time her loyalty to me or to thirteen was tested, she proved herself. She held her ground and refused to give in. She protected my sister from killers and animals and everything else that could have gotten her in the arena. Sydney had hunted for her and helped insulate the shelter. They had shared stories about their lives to pass the time, and she had been there for Prim the whole time, comforting her and assuring her that everything was going to be ok.
I also thought about everything Sydney had done for me. She had stood up for me when guards tried to beat me for no reason. I remembered the story of her father, and how she told me she just wanted to make him proud. She had definitely made him proud. She was the strongest person I had ever known. I couldn't kill Sydney Harper. I wouldn't know what to do without her.
But Prim was Prim. She was my little sister. I had been protecting her for my whole life. This had all started because I volunteered for her at the reaping, so wouldn't it be a waste if I let her die now? She was my family, the only thing that kept me going when I felt like giving up. I wouldn't kill her either. It was an impossible choice, but I couldn't let them both die. How was I supposed to choose? The clock was ticking. I knew I had to choose.
"You have the power now, Katniss." Snow said to me. "You get to choose who lives and who dies." And I did. It was my time to show my strength. To stand up to President Snow and all of his oppression, but how? By killing my family member or my best friend? That sounded a lot like just giving in to me.
"I don't understand." I heard Prim say, shouting over the noise of the fire. "What is Katniss doing? Trying to set us on fire?"
Sydney shook her head. "It's not Katniss. It can't be. At first I thought it was her. I thought she was trying to separate us and stop either of us from doing something rash, but I don't think that's it. I don't think she's in control anymore." The fire started creeping closer and closer to them. Prim backed away from it, afraid.
"What are we supposed to do?" She asked. "How can there be a winner if neither of us will kill each other?" Sydney looked up at Prim, and a look of realization spread across her face. She knew what was happening.
"We don't get to choose the winner." She said slowly. "It's about Katniss. This whole thing has been about her. She's not in the arena because Snow decided to do something much more cruel." Prim looked at her quizzically. "She has to choose Prim. Don't you see it? She has to choose who lives and who dies."
Prim shook her head violently. "She won't choose. She'll let both of us live." The flames closed in on them even more. "She'll save us Sydney, I know she will."
"I don't think it works that way Prim." Sydney shouted. Her eyes fixed on the ground. She looked to her left, and I saw her jaw clench. "They're evil." She shouted. I couldn't tell if she was talking to Prim or me or herself. "They can't do this to her. They can't turn her into a monster. I won't let them." Her hands turned to fists at her sides. "You're better than them Katniss!" She shouted into the air.
"Choose Katniss." I heard Snow whisper from across the room. "Choose." I couldn't choose. How was I supposed to do that? I started to panic. I looked from Prim to Sydney to Prim to Sydney, my head whipping back and forth. I was a monster. I was a murderer if I killed one of them.
"I won't let them." Sydney whispered again.
"Choose!" I heard Snow repeat. His voice beginning to rise. He stared at the screen, his face angry.
"Prim…I need you to turn around." Sydney said. Prim started to protest, but Sydney quieted her. "Turn around Prim, and don't turn back until you hear the cannon."
"What do you mean?" Prim answered, her voice a panicked scream. "Are you going to kill me?"
"Just turn Prim." Sydney demanded. Prim turned around slowly. I could see her shaking. Sydney knelt down and pulled something out of her boot. It was a small knife. She examined it carefully, and held it in her right hand. "I need you to be strong Prim. I need you to be strong for Katniss." She said bravely. Not a single tear touched her cheeks. Not in this moment. "She's going to need you. You have to tell her that its not her fault. Remind her that I did this for all of us. That I did this to help destroy them."
"CHOOSE!" Snow yelled. His fist slammed down onto the table. "Dammit you will choose who dies!"
"Goodbye Prim." Sydney said, before plunging the knife into her stomach.
Time seemed to move very slowly. I felt my jaw drop and a gasp fall from my lips. I watched the pain spread across Sydney's face. I saw Prim turn on her heels. I vaguely heard her scream, but it was so far away. Snow was shouting some angry words to a few guards, but I didn't understand him. The noises of the world seemed so far away. All I could hear was the wind in the arena. All I could see was Sydney, still clutching the handle of the knife. Her head turned upwards slightly, and she fell onto her knees. Her eyes looked so far away, like she was looking beyond the fire and out into the wilderness. I heard a banging noise from behind me, but I didn't turn. I could only watch Sydney. I saw the blood running down her stomach. She fell onto her hands, and I could see her struggling to breath. I heard the muffled sound of Prim yelling her name. The screen went fuzzy, and it was like I couldn't see anymore.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, tugging at me. I vaguely registered that the pressure from the Peacekeeper's grip on my arms were no longer there. I looked down at my hands, and saw them shaking. Why had they let me go? I felt the hand tugging my shoulder again, and I turned around, tearing my eyes from the screen. The room was blurry. I couldn't make anything out. Tears and confusion and pain blocked my vision. Someone was yelling at me. I saw the figure standing right in front me, looking at my face and yelling, but I couldn't tell who it was. I tried to refocus myself. I tried to zone back in on the real world. I heard shouts and bangs and gunfire around my head. Then I heard a familiar name say my voice. "Katniss! What are you doing?" He yelled frantically. "Katniss, run. We have to go now!"
The world suddenly snapped back into focus, and I saw Peeta standing in front of me, a worried look on his face. I could feel myself just staring at him, but I couldn't speak. He waited for me to say something and when I didn't, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the control room. As we ran out the door, I took one last look at the control room. It was being torn apart by thirteen soldiers. The Peacekeepers were either surrendering or being shot. The screen had gone completely blank, but a large red light was beeping on the control board. The Capitol was being invaded.
I whipped my head around and made my feet move. Peeta had been dragging me, but I forced myself to run. We sprinted out the door and down the hallway. I hadn't set foot outside the control room for six days, and my legs were stiff from lack of use. Peeta kept looking back at me nervously, but I didn't say anything. I was still trying to process Sydney's death.
She had sacrificed herself for me. Not directly, but it had been on my account. It was so I didn't have to suffer, so I didn't have to choose. As we ran through the corridors of the central building, I saw thirteen soldiers everywhere. Most were chasing down Peacekeepers or clearing out rooms. Peeta pulled me down several flights of stairs, and we stepped out into the blazing sun.
It had been nearly two months since I had been outside. First solitary confinement, then the prison, then the games and the control room. The sunlight nearly blinded me, and I doubled over and shielded my eyes. I blinked a couple of times and stared at the ground, waiting for the colors to come back to me. I squinted and looked up at Peeta. He looked terrified, like he was unsure if I would make it. I still didn't have words, but I leaned into him and closed my eyes, my lips pressing against his.
It was unlike any other kiss we had ever shared. This kiss was hungry and passionate and needy. It was full of longing and loss and love. I had thought I was never going to see him again, and yet here I was in his arms, kissing him again. His lips were just as soft and strong as I remembered. He put his hand on my cheek and his tongue pushed against mine. I grabbed his hips and pulled him closer to me. It had been so long. I was here with him again. I was with Peeta again and everything was going to be ok. It had all been a dream. I would open my eyes and we would be standing in the bedroom, getting ready to go to the ball. He would bring me back. He would save me.
"You got her!" It was Gale's voice that broke us apart. He ran up to us, a smile spread across his face. I pulled away from Peeta and turned to Gale. He looked so happy. He must not know about her. Of course they wouldn't know. If they had been invading the Capitol they wouldn't have seen the end of the games. They wouldn't have seen Sydney take her own life. I didn't want to tell him. I didn't want to watch the pain sink in. He hugged me tightly. "Welcome back Kat!" He laughed. "We're going to be ok! But we have to get out of here now." Peeta nodded at him and placed a rifle in my hands, kissing me one more time. I loaded the gun and flipped the safety. It looked like we were going to have to fight our way out.
I could feel the exhaustion catching up to me. I hadn't slept in six days, and I was beginning to feel delusional. I pushed myself forward, forcing myself to keep up with Gale and Peeta. I stumbled a few times, but I kept my gun ahead of me and managed to take down a few Peacekeepers. We ducked behind a building for cover as a bomb exploded to our left. "What's going on?" I yelled to Peeta over the gunfire.
"We're ending this war." He yelled back, rising up and firing at a Peacekeeper across the alley. "As soon as we saw the games start to heat up with the death of Lexie, we headed in. We figured the Capitol would be distracted, so it was our best opportunity. It worked! They don't know what hit them." He pointed across the alley to a tall building. "That's our extraction point. We have to get to the roof and there will be a hover craft waiting for us." I nodded, and Peeta signaled to Gale that it was time to go. He ran out from cover and fired across the road, mowing down the Capitol soldiers that were in our way. Peeta and I sprinted after him, and we squeezed through the door just as another bomb exploded behind us.
Gale laughed. "They're trying to retaliate. They don't realize it's too late for them." He waved at us to follow him, and we started up the stairs. As we climbed, I could feel my legs giving out. I knew we had to reach the top, but I was so tired. I just wanted to stay and rest, but I knew I couldn't. I stumbled on the top step of one of the landings and fell hard on my knee. My breath came in shallow rasping gasps. The floor was spinning beneath my feet. I couldn't go on. I was too exhausted. They had to get out of here without me.
I felt myself being lifted off of my feet, and Peeta's arms were around me. Gale was next to him, asking if he needed help, but Peeta shook his head. "We have to go now!" He yelled. They sprinted up the stairs. I tried to focus on Peeta's face, but I couldn't. It was like every muscle in my body had gone limp. All I could feel were Peeta's strong arms around me, carrying me home. Peeta Mellark, saving my life once again. I would never stop owing him.
We reached the roof and the hovercraft was waiting for us. Haymitch stood on the ramp and waved his arms, screaming at us to hurry. Why was he here? I guess command came out for this one. This was our moment of triumph after all. They wanted to be here to soak it all in, and so they could accurately gloat about it later.
Peeta carried me up the ramp and the coolness of the helicopter air conditioning hit me. I tapped him on the shoulder, signaling that I could stand. He kept his arm around my waist and I kept one around his shoulders. We walked to the center of the craft, where the flight deck was. I looked up, and President Coin was standing there staring at me. The generals were around her. I felt the craft lift up from under us, and we were in the air.
The rest of my team was there as well. Johanna was nursing a small stab wound, but the look of victory was spread across her face, and she waved to me excitedly. Furman and Finnick were both wrapping up bruises and cuts that covered their arms. They looked up and smiled when we walked in. They were congratulating each other on a job well done, and everyone came over to clap Peeta and Gale on the back. "I guess you did get them out alive after all." Finnick said with a chuckle. "And here we thought they were goners! I'll never doubt the power of love again." He said sarcastically. Them. He meant me and Sydney. So none of them knew. They had all been in the field. I looked up at Coin and stared her in the eyes.
She looked at me knowingly. She had to have been watching. She had to have seen Sydney die, but she didn't tell them. She would leave that for me. "What's the status of the other craft?" Gale ran up to the pilot. "The one from the arena. Did it make it out ok?" The pilot nodded at him and reassured him that its status was good, and it was headed back to the Capitol.
I watched the smile spread across Gale's face. I had to tell him. I couldn't let him believe he was going to see Sydney again, then have him watch her body being laid out in before his eyes. I wanted him to hear it from a friend, from someone who was in just as much pain as he was. "It doesn't matter." I choked out, staring at the floor. I felt the tears start to flow. I hadn't cried before out of shock, but it was all hitting me now.
Gale looked at me, confused. "What do you mean?" He asked. I took a deep breath in, I was about to break his heart for the second time. I looked him in the eyes. Trying to hold back the sobs.
"She won't be there Gale." He shook his head in disbelief.
"We saw her. She was fine. Her and Prim and those two guys were in the arena. They were fine. That girl had just saved her. The careers walked away from her, they were headed in the other directon."
"She went after them." I held onto Peeta even more tightly. I looked at the faces of my team. Their eyes were all fixed on me. "She went after them and fought with Emanuel. He tried to strangle her, but Prim saved her life."
"Then it was just the two of them left, and our craft got there. They got there and pulled them out. There's no way one of them killed the other." He was in denial. He wouldn't believe what I said.
"Snow…he made me chose. He was going to kill them both if I didn't get pick which one I wanted to survive, but I couldn't pick one. Sydney….Sydney killed herself to save me from that. She didn't want me to have to make the choice, so she made it herself. She wanted to defy them one last time." Saying it out loud made it real. The best friend I had ever had was dead, and it was my fault.
I looked back at Gale. I watched him fall into a million pieces before my eyes. His face contorted, and a snarl crossed his lips. He looked at Coin for answers, like she would tell him that I was wrong. "Katniss is right. My daughter…is dead." She said coldly. Gale went crazy. He flipped a table over and threw his gun against the wall. Then he slammed his hand repeatedly into the desk and fell to the floor. I could feel his heart snap in two. It was the only time I had really seen Gale cry. When we were in the woods before the mission in district seven, he had teared up, but it was nothing like this. He buried his head in his hands and sobbed, saying her name over and over again.
Coin sighed. "Give him some tranquilizers." She said to the guards who stood by the door.
"She's your daughter." I spat out. "Shouldn't you need tranquilizers?" I couldn't believe her nonchalance. She really didn't give a damn about Sydney. She was heartless. I looked into her grey eyes, searching for any sign of remorse or pain, but I couldn't find any.
"I have more important things to do." She turned to the man on the right of the pilot.
"We're at the proper distance." The man said, typing away on his keyboard.
"Blow them away." Coin said slyly. "Let's end this damn war." The man nodded to her and pressed a few buttons. A timer appeared on the screens in front of us, counting down from sixty.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"We're destroying the Capitol." She answered frankly. "Once and for all."
"You can't!" I yelled. "Our soldiers are in there. There's no way you got them all out. They weren't even close to being evacuated when we got up here. We have to get them out of there before they get caught in the explosions."
"There's no time." She said. "We have to surprise them. If we give them a chance, Capitol citizens will get out, and we wouldn't want that."
"Some of them are just people." I argued, thinking of Bartimaeus. "It's just Snow and the keepers you want to kill. Don't punish the citizens."
"O we have Snow. He will die a slow, painful death." A wicked smile crossed her lips. "As far as the Capitol citizens, they're all evil as far as I'm concerned. And those soldiers will have sacrificed their lives for a good cause. We will remember them as heroes." She turned her back on me and stared out the window of the hovercraft. I watched the counter click down to thirty seconds.
Those men probably didn't know what was about to happen. They were about to be blown to pieces, and they didn't even realize it. They probably didn't think their President would lead them in to die, but they didn't know Coin. She was evil, and she didn't care about anyone but herself.
I don't know if it was the death of Sydney or the exhaustion I felt or the look on Gale's face, but something inside me snapped. I thought about everything Coin had done. How she had sent Prim over to the Capitol. How she had slapped Sydney and put her down at every opportunity. How she had constantly bullied me and everyone else so she could get what she wanted. She had tried to kill Peeta. She had threatened my family. She had controlled Gale to the point where he went insane. She was the epitome of cruel. I hated her. This was all her fault in the end. She hadn't even cared when Sydney had died. No. Worse than that. She hadn't even pretended to care.
The timer hit zero, and the hovercraft shook as the Capitol was blown into bits behind us. I had enough of her. Of her lies and her betrayals and her control. I was done being owned by her. Snow had said I got to choose who lived and who died, so I was choosing. I raised my rifle up and aimed it carefully at the back of her head. Before anyone could stop me, I pulled the trigger.