A/N: Sorry about the long wait. My laptop broke and I thought I'd lost most of my files. Thankfully I was able to recover most of them and put them onto my new computer

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Katniss forced herself not think about her tracker jacker hallucinations. She threw herself into the task of travelling between Districts, focusing on nothing else but battle plans and ideas for what they were going to do once they reached the Capitol. It was difficult because every so often she'd see a dandelion, or a Mockingjay, and it would remind her of Peeta.

And every time she thought of Peeta she thought of the leash Capitol Katniss had strangled his throat with.

She remembered what she had woken up to and it really hadn't been any better as to what she had suffered through in her hallucinations. Maybe only a little bit better. Marvel had been curled up in a ball in the grass, sobbing uncontrollably. Cashmere had been sitting in the pond, her teeth chattering like skeleton bones rattling together. Rue had been crying into Thresh's lap, while he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger as if trying to recollect his thoughts. Clove had been cradling Cato's head, crying as she assured him that it was over and that the memories couldn't hurt him anymore.

It seemed that everyone had suffered through images they hadn't wanted to see. And they were all as keen to get moving as Katniss had been.

On the way, they met Haymitch and Maysilee, two rebels originally from 12 who had went on holiday in District 9 and got stuck. They joined them on their quest to the Capitol without question, neither too keen to try to get into 12 with security being as tight as it was. Haymitch was obviously an alcoholic but Maysilee kept him in check, only letting him drink from the flask in her pocket occasionally.

Despite the fact that being an alcoholic was a bad thing, Haymitch made Katniss smile. It wasn't too often you saw males who were treated well enough to actually have the chance to become alcoholics. Maysilee must have really looked after Haymitch, even if she should have gotten a better lock for the wine cabinet.

They had just left District 5 when Katniss caught up with Clove again. It had been a full week since they had ditched Madge and they were making great progress. Another week and they'd be in the Capitol if they kept travelling at the rate they were going. Katniss had been wanting to talk to Clove since their conversation before Glimmer broke the Tracker Jacker nest but hadn't had a chance to. It seemed that whatever Cato had saw when he had been unconscious had greatly shaken him because Clove hadn't left his side since and they constantly talked to each other in hushed voices.

Cato had broken away on his own for the first time since the Tracker Jacker incident, joining Thresh at the front of the group. Katniss took this opportunity and went to Clove, who welcomed her with a wide grin. "Hello, Mockingjay," she teased.

"Is everything alright?" asked Katniss. She didn't know why but she felt concerned for Cato. Out of everyone, he was the most shook up by his hallucinations, and even though she didn't know him all too well, Katniss was concerned.

"Yeah, it's fine," Clove assured. She stared wistfully at Cato as he walked on ahead. "He just saw things that happened him in the Compound, things he had buried in his subconscious so that he didn't have to relive them. You know, stuff Jackson did and the experimenting and hijack and stuff."

Katniss nodded. Jackson seemed to be the root problem of all of this. She wasn't even the President of Panem and yet she seemed to be a bigger issue than President Coin, who was reportedly lying low until the storm blew over. Apparently she didn't believe there was anything to worry about, certainly not concerning the revolt.

"Clove," Katniss began, "can you tell me more of the fantasy world?"

Clove quirked an eyebrow. "Fantasy world?" she asked.

"Yeah," Katniss said sheepishly. "You know, the world where Peeta and I are together and he's safe and I make him coffee? I don't know, after everything I saw because of those goddamn tracker jackers I need to hear more of it."

Ever since Katniss had saw herself as a Capitolite, treating Peeta like dirt before using him as a pleasure toy before hissing that she would conform, she had been craving to hear more about that fantasy world Clove had described when she had been seeking coffee making advice.

Clove's grin widened. "Ah, that fantasy world," she said. "What sort do you wish to hear? Dirty or clean?"

"What do you mean dirty or clean?" Katniss didn't believe that Clove could come up with anything relatively dirty involving herself or Peeta. Wasn't clean the only option here?

"Well, I have been known to be able to go on for hours in the field of filth," said Clove. When she saw that Katniss clearly wasn't getting it, she cleared her throat and began to recite in a clear, story telling voice, "You roll over so you're on top, never letting your lips leave his once. You need this, your power fix. He doesn't have to work anymore and, to prove it, you're doing to do this for him. You're going to ride his big-"

Katniss slapped her hand over Clove's mouth before she could finish. The raven haired girl chuckled, clearly amused. "Urgh, no more, please!" she exclaimed, her cheeks flaming in shame.

Clove slapped her hand away from her mouth. "I could go dirtier, I could describe how his butt is as plump as two ripe plums," she teased, nudging Katniss and winking.

Katniss groaned. "Please don't," she said. A thought suddenly came into her head. She looked at Clove in horror. "You didn't look at his . . . did you?"

Clove barked out a laugh. "Of course I didn't," she replied. "I'm just very good at painting a picture. Cato's ass is the only ass for me. But, judging by how pink your cheeks are going, I've hit the nail in the head."

Katniss rolled her eyes in denial. Leaving it at that, she asked, "Which District are we headed to now?"

"Four," Clove answered. "It's the largest and has a larger ratio of women supporting the Capitol. It may be difficult to get through. I think our costumes are becoming to get put under suspicion. I think we should acquire a car of some sort."

"A car? Where in the world are we going to get a car?" This was Cashmere speaking. She turned around and walked backwards, glancing over her shoulder every now and then to walk sure she wasn't going to bump into anything.

Clove chewed on the inside of her cheek in deep thought. "Okay, hold on, we need to stop for a second. Hey, guys! Guys, stop a second!" The people way ahead of them didn't hear her and kept walking. Katniss shoved her fingers into her mouth and whistled, the sound whipping through the air and ripping the eardrums of the others.

"Jesus Everdeen!" Haymitch exclaimed. He, along with the others, rubbed their ears irritably. But it worked. They stopped and turned to stare at her and Clove.

"Clove says we should stop for a second," Katniss explained.

"Where did you learn to whistle like that?" Rue asked.

As they gathered into a tight knit circle, Katniss shrugged. "My mum taught my sister and I how to do it as a signal," she said.

"What did you need signals for?" asked Maysilee.

Katniss picked at the loose strands of fabric on the sleeve of her Peacekeeper uniform. They must have been in that bag in the Justice Building because they were defective, falling apart, no longer suitable for use. "My dad basically lived in the basement of our house because we didn't want to make him work. The only time we could see him was at certain times of the day when we thought no one would come visit. But sometimes people would randomly visit when we weren't expecting it. When that happened, we whistled to each other so we knew to get out of the basement or at least act like we were giving orders."

"We used to signal too," Rue said. "Only we used the Mockingjays to make it travel."

Katniss marvelled at how smart that idea was. If the Mockingjays picked up a certain tune, then it would travel to everyone who needed to hear it and the women wouldn't suspect anything as they'd just think the birds were singing. "That's very clever," she said.

"Yeah, but it was difficult," said Rue. "Some of us couldn't sing so it didn't work. That's how my grandfather died. My grandmother couldn't get the song to travel and he and my sister got caught being civil."

"What happened?" asked Clove, even though the answer was pretty obvious.

"They killed him," Rue sighed. "And my sister's in Capitol prison. I'm hoping she's okay so I can rescue her."

Katniss didn't want to ruin Rue's hope but it was very unlikely that her sister was okay. Traitor girls were used in slave training as subjects. The slaves are forced to use them as learning dummies, people to practice on. Katniss shivered as she remembered how Jackson and Harper had threatened to arrest her if she didn't get pregnant. Now look where they all were, not even a month later.

"What about you, Katniss? What happened your dad?" asked Rue.

"My dad?" Katniss didn't know what to say. Truth was, she didn't know the full story about what happened her father. She just came home from school one day and he wasn't there. Her mother told her that he'd been caught and that they now had to spend most of their time trying to hide the fact that they hadn't gotten another slave. "He was executed."

"What happened?" Cashmere asked.

Katniss shook her head. "Doesn't matter right now," she said. "We need to get back to the matter at hand." She turned to Clove. "Clove?"

Clove was looking at her funny, having expected her to answer Cashmere's question. "Uh . . . yeah. Right." She fell back into her usual character and turned to the rest of the group. "We're now on our way to District 4 which is, as most of us know, the largest District in all of Panem. Our Peacekeeper costumes, I'd say, are beginning to become suspicious, so walking through is a great risk."

"Then what do you propose we do?" asked Maysilee.

"If we could get our hands on a vehicle," answered Clove, "we could get through the District in a day."

"How long would it take by foot?" Katniss asked.

"It took us three days," Cato answered.

"I'd say it took Gloss and I that long too," said Cashmere. "It was a nightmare."

Haymitch was chewing on his thumbnail, almost anxiously. Maysilee noticed this and opened up the satchel that hadn't left her side through the entire course of the walk. She passed him a tin flash, which he greedily accepted and drank from like a baby would with a bottle. "How do you propose we get our hands on a vehicle?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you guys," Clove said. She looked at every person in the group, one by one, looking for even a hint of an idea. "Any ideas?" No one answered. How could they get their hands on a car or van without bringing attention to themselves? Law Abiders didn't travel in cars. They had their own special form of transport. These massive SUV things that could carry at least twenty people. They were always defined by the Capitol crest which was stamped on the side doors.

"Does anyone know how hot wire the Law Abider vans?" Katniss asked.

"Thresh used to hot wire cars in 11," Rue put forward. The little girl turned to said man excitedly. "Do you think you could hot wire an SUV?"

Thresh thought about it for a moment. Katniss could almost see the thoughts playing out behind his eyes. All the things he knew about hot wiring vehicles. Finally, he shrugged, unsure.

"You can do it," Katniss encouraged. "I'm sure you can. The Abider Vans surely aren't that different from ordinary cars." Thresh didn't answer but still didn't look too sure. Katniss chewed on her lip, her fingers playing with the loose material on her sleeve. She met Thresh's eyes and said confidently, "I believe in you."

The four words may have seemed weak to the common outsider but to Katniss they meant a lot. Putting your belief in someone means that you have to trust them wholly and completely. She had put her belief in Peeta, the first person ever since her father died, but he hadn't abused that trust. She had spent most of her life believing that if she put her trust in someone again, they would abuse it and twist it until it was unrecognizable. But, without realizing it, Katniss had already put her trust into the people surrounding her. She had to, whether she wanted to or not. These people trusted her and she trusted them.

Thresh, taken aback by those four words, nodded and actually smiled. Rue beamed and, in that moment, she looked like she was his sister. Katniss wondered what Prim was doing right now and hoped that she was okay. She prayed every night for her safety, even though she didn't believe in God.

"Well, that's settled. We'll find the closest Abider Van and Thresh will hot wire the vehicle," Clove said.

"No pressure," Haymitch added, nudging Thresh's shoulder and drinking more from his flask. Maysilee shook her head shamefully.

Katniss looked around. "Where's Marvel?"

"He stopped walking a mile back," Cato said.

"And you didn't stop and get him?!" Katniss exclaimed.

"He stopped, doesn't want to move on. It's hardly our problem," said Clove.

Katniss stared at them in horror. Was she really hearing this? They couldn't just leave Marvel behind! He was grieving and inconsolable, in an extremely vulnerable position. He'd easily get caught and his execution would be on their heads just because they couldn't be bothered trying to convince him to come. "Wait here, I'm going to talk to him," she said. She turned on her heel and started running back in the direction they had come.

"Katniss, he won't talk to you! He's heartbroken, you can't change that!" Clove shouted after her.

Katniss stopped and turned around. "No one else is dying!" she shouted. "Not when we can prevent it!"

No one stopped her as she started running again. No one else was dying. Not now. Not ever.

Not on her watch.

A/N: Please review with your thoughts! (: