Chapter 27: The Rebel Life of a District 8 Commander, Part 5
Author's note: Some character's lines from both the movies and books have been changed.
President Paylor sat in the lounge off of the Gamemakers control room. She continued to think of her life as a rebel that led up to Amanda Snow fighting for her life and freedom in the Hunger Games.
Flashback:
2 years earlier, District 8, the hospital, 39th day of the war:
Katniss Everdeen held the hands of the patients and spoke to them. And Paylor didn't know what it was but it seemed that all of the wounded seemed to muster up some reserves of strength at her touch.
Later after she stepped out of the hospital Paylor got word that another wave of Capitol airplanes was coming in. Paylor told them to head for a bomb shelter and then she ran up a ladder to an anti-aircraft gun. It wasn't until a moment later when Paylor realized that Katniss Everdeen had followed her.
"Have either of you been trained on how to work these?" asked Paylor.
"I have." said Katniss Everdeen's cousin, Gale.
"But we don't need them." said Katniss. "We have our bows. It's deadlier than it looks."
Paylor decided not to argue. She aimed for the nearest plane when it became visible and then started shooting at it. She shot down a few, while Katniss and her cousin set another on fire. When the next wave of planes came in Katniss fired explosive arrows that then destroyed a couple.
In that moment Paylor no longer reserved judgment on Katniss Everdeen. She looked at Katniss Everdeen with awe as she shot explosive tipped arrows at the Capitol planes, and thought, 'Now this is the the Katniss Everdeen I know from television! She is our Mockingjay! She is a fearsome warrior! This is a Mockingjay that I can follow into battle!'
It was then a moment later that they realized that the hospital had been destroyed along with everyone inside it. Every television in the city then showed President Snow saying that he was sending a message, that he and the Capitol would continue to fight if the rebellion did not stop immediately.
Then Katniss looked into the camera that the camera crew was pointing at her, and she told the rebels not to stop fighting. She then told President Snow that if we burn he'll burn with us.
Katniss was then taken back to District 13.
Later that day there was then a propaganda spot. The TV showed a fiery blaze of the Mockingjay symbol, and then Katniss shooting down Capitol planes, and then her dramatic speech about continuing to fight and then burning.
Paylor was in awe as she watched it. An anti Capitol statement of extraordinary proportions. And then within the hour she didn't get just another few thousand people rallied to the cause willing to fight, but District 8's entire population. Every last man, woman, and child, agreed to fight. All of District 8 was now united.
Paylor then knew that she would need to prioritize the troops since she now had the entire population to pick from. Of course all of the strongest and most physically fit men and women would fight on the front line. Paylor then set up an adoption program where she then paired up the orphaned children with the childless parents and keep them as a reserve unit only.
Peeta Mellark made some more appearances on television with Caesar Flickerman. He seemed to be in a deteriorated state.
More propaganda spots continued to appear, including one large series that was titled, 'We Remember'. They were small segments that talked about the dead tributes, their bravery, and the things they did for there Districts before they were killed in the Games by the Capitol. The first that was shown was little Rue, from District 11. Then there was old Mags from District 4. There were a few from District 8 including old Woof, and Cecelia.
Paylor took the train to other nearby districts. She brought along several thousand of her best men. District 7 was still fighting. District 7 had been taken by the rebels initially, but the Capitol had managed to regain a strong foot hold. She waved the flag of the Mockingjay when she approached the District 7 rebels. She addressed a large group of people who were cowering and not wanting to fight. She told me about the Mockingjay and the bravery of their own Victor Joanna Mason while she is being tortured for rebel information in the Capitol. Her speeches were inspiring and she didn't even know what to say, she just spoke and the right thing came out of her mouth. The people rallied in the District 7. The Peacekeepers frontline was pushed way back with the help of her own men reinforcing the rebels.
Rumors spread that the rebels had taken District 6 and District 11. District 11 had already been taken by the rebels once before but the Capitol continued to gain a heavy foothold in it because it was Panem's primary food supplier. But the people in District 11 rallied when they saw the propaganda spots, and again the Capitol had been driven right out of District 11 after the first propo was seen.
Paylor continued to travel to other Districts with her men. She made more inspiring speeches to undecided people, and they rallied.
Peeta Mellark made another appearance on television in a continued deteriorated state, and then with extreme force of effort said that the people in District 13 would be dead by morning.
They then lost contact with District 13 for nearly a week while the Capitol then struck the districts hard and fast. Paylor and her reinforcements were in District 3 at the time, trying to rally civilians. There were air bombings. The districts had no support from the District 13 air forces at the time. But they continue to press on, and they held District 3 until the District 13 air forces could strike back again.
Paylor returned to District 8 to assess the damage. There had been another wave of Peacekeepers that had gone through it, but as the collective might of the District's entire population was united, the people had managed pushed the Peacekeepers back and hold the district.
There was then a recorded propaganda spot from District 4 Victor Finnick Odair. He told the people that two years after he had won his Games, President Snow had approached him and threatened him to become a prostitute and sex-symbol in the Capitol where he would then sleep with wealthy women who would pay President Snow a lot of money to set it up. The women then offered to pay Finnick in exchange for his time and company, but he asked them to pay him in secrets; any juicy tidbit about high ranking Capitol officials that he could get, and they told him.
Two hours of Finnick Odair talking about high ranking Capitol officials committing incest, and arson, and murder, and betrayal. And then a lot of secrets about President Snow plotting and scheming his way into power, and poisoning his friends so that he could stay in power.
'He drank from the poisoned cup himself?' thought Paylor, 'What an idiot.'
Within a few more weeks the rebels had taken every district except for District 2. The Capitol's air forces were decimated. The Capitol's vast army of Peacekeepers were also decimated.
Eventually District 2 was taken but at great cost.
The Capitol had nothing to attack the Districts with, so the fighting had completely stopped.
Two District 4 victors Finnick Odair, and Annie Cresta were married at a beautiful wedding in District 13.
District 8's wounded were on the mend. And the Districts were now spreading around supplies that were traditionally reserved for the Capitol. District 8 sent out to all the other Districts large amounts of freshly made nice clothing. District 8 in return received refined metals and minerals from District 2. Scented soaps and shampoos from District 1. Newly manufactured tech items from District 3. Freshly cut and processed lumber from District 7. Vehicles, and new train-cars from District 6. Solar-panels, and portable fusion generators from District 5, and District 5 also repaired the power-lines leading from themselves to the other Districts. Then District 8 received food. Shellfish and salmon from District 4. White-flour from District 9. Chicken, beef, and pork, from District 10. And freshly harvested fruits, and vegetables from District 11.
Paylor had the District 8 celebrate with a magnificent feast, and for the first time in many of there lives, their stomachs were finally, full. No food was wasted, the few leftovers were eaten the next day. The perishables were put in refrigerators that came from District 3, and no food was wasted. Buildings were slowly being fixed. And everyone was comfortable.
Coin, Paylor, and the other rebel leaders from the other districts gathered in a secret meeting.
"I call this war-plan meeting of the thirteen districts of Panem to order." said Coin formally. "We will now discuss and plan the invasion of the Capitol."
"Why isn't the Mockingjay here?" asked Paylor, interrupting Coin before she could go on.
"It is because the Mockingjay has fulfilled her duties of uniting districts. She may now I seek her own pursuits. We no longer need her." said Coin.
"We do still need her." argued Paylor. "Everyone will still be expecting her to be part of the Capitol invasion. Tens of thousands of my men have died for your freedom in her name."
"She is a seventeen year old girl, who has endured the Hunger Games twice, endured suffering from the Capitol, and has seen enough war. I am generously excusing her from military duties." said Coin.
To Paylor, that was a lame excuse.
"We have all suffered a lifetime of pain at the hands forces the Capitol, and there is nothing you can say to make me believe that Katniss Everdeen doesn't want to help in the invasion." said Paylor.
There were murmurs of agreement at Paylor's words.
Coin knew she wasn't going to get Paylor to end the argument on a technicality.
"I didn't say that Katniss Everdeen didn't want to go. I'm saying now that I'm not letting her go." said Coin. "Katniss Everdeen is a liability. Ever since she got here, she doesn't work, she doesn't obey orders, in the field she takes foolhardy risks. She is stubborn, arrogant, thinks she's too good for contributing to the community, she is lazy, she sleeps and hides in closets all day, and cares about no one but herself. That is real person Katniss Everdeen is. That is your oh so precious Mockingjay. The only thing she was good for was the fake image that the people thought she was. But she has been a thorn in my side ever since she got here, and a pull on my resources."
"Well, as you said, she has been through a lot, maybe she deserves a little slack. But the people still believe in her either way." said Paylor. "And besides, I'm taking thousands of my troops to the Capitol who are in a lot less condition than her. Also other victors like Finnick Odair are going to the Capitol."
"Most of the Victors such as Haymitch Abernathy, Annie Cresta, and Beetee, are all unfit for military service." said Coin, "Peeta Mellark has been highjacked. Joanna Mason is still recovering from severe torture. Enobaria from District 2 has joined our cause, but I will only deem her trustworthy after the war. Finnick Odair on the other hand is the strongest Victor the Hunger Games ever had. He is fast, fearless, skilled in combat, and he follows orders. He is an asset to me through and through."
"Joanna, Haymitch, and Katniss can still get in shape before the invasion." argued Paylor.
Coin paused for a moment and thought of how to make her case against Katniss Everdeen.
"Commander Paylor. How many of your troops have ever disobeyed your orders before?" asked Coin.
"None. Why?" asked Paylor.
"That is my point." said Coin, "Your fighters follow you unquestioningly. You don't need to worry about their loyalty. You trust them. You need them. And now, you Commander Paylor, I need you, and I trust you. I have complete faith in you. I however, don't trust Katniss Everdeen. And I do not need her."
Coin allowed it to sink in.
"Does that explanation satisfy you?" asked Coin.
Paylor thought for a moment.
"Yes." said Paylor simply.
Coin then went on with a long and detailed plan of getting through a city of booby-traps.
"Is that entirely necessary?" asked Paylor. "The Capitol has no aircrafts, and the Capitol's ground forces are depleted. Does President Snow really still believe he can win the war? Why don't we just call him and ask him to surrender? If he has any sense, he will agree because it will save us and the Capitol citizens a lot of unnecessary bloodshed. Fighting our way in will take weeks, at a cost of thousands of lives both District and Capitol alike."
"He will not surrender." said Coin, "He will have us fight our way in, and have the Capitol citizens fight to the bitter end, and he will take as many of us with him as possible."
"If that's the case, he'd might as well hit us with nuclear weapons." said Paylor logically.
Coin didn't respond to that.
The meeting went on. Coin made it sound like she was going to be President of Panem when the war was over. They talked of making the system of government a democracy, turning Panem into a Republic. All the people spoke of an election after Snow was deposed. But Coin acted as though there wouldn't be an election, and the people would simply follow her rule. Paylor had about a hundred questions for Coin to put her on the spot, but thought better of it. Paylor thought. Something had to be done about Coin; she needed to be removed from office. But that would have to wait till after the war, at the right time.
Five weeks later. Turned out the Mockingjay did get into shape and went to the Capitol. The collective might of all 13 districts surrounded the Capitol on all sides. The outer edges of the city had been evacuated and the people had been moved closer to the center of the city.
Paylor led an army of 10,000 on one side of the city, which were made up of elements of five other districts. Most of the people in many of the other districts embraced Commander Paylor's leadership.
It took days to make their way through the traps that surrounded the outer edges of the city. Eventually there was word that the Mockingjay had been killed. Paylor trusted neither Coin nor Snow, so she wasn't entirely sure what to believe, and it was possible that Katniss Everdeen had escaped. President Snow made a televised address that with the death of the Mockingjay it would turn the tides of the war in favor of the Capitol.
'Well, that is highly unlikely.' thought Paylor, 'Your forces are diminished, you have no chance of winning. If you had any sense President Snow, you would surrender now.'
A few days later. After many Pods were triggered, Peacekeepers were fought, and many of Paylor's men were killed, they got to the inner part of the city. Paylor commanded the Capitol citizens to get down on the ground and stay there, though some people fought back and therefore had to be shot, while some more cooperative people were shot by accident in the crossfire. The battle raged. Then as they approached the President's Mansion, they saw a Capitol Hovercraft de-cloak in the air and drop little silver parachutes on the children that Snow was using as human shields. The little parachutes then exploded.
The Capitol citizens looked at it in horror, and when the Peacekeepers saw what their faithful President had just done to the children, especially after the secrets that Finnick Odair had told on TV, they turned to Paylor, put down their weapons, got on their knees, and put their hands behind their heads. The rebels then took the surrendered Peacekeepers into custody.
There was then a second round of bombing in the President's front yard. After District 13 paramedics moved in.
President Snow was placed under arrest. The Districts provided 'humanitarian-aid' to the Capitol citizens; housing from the cold, food, clothing, and the wounded were given medical care.
Katniss Everdeen was found alive among the wounded, though heavily burned, and because she was the Mockingjay she was bumped up to the top of the list for immediate surgery.
Katniss's sister Prim was also found, though she was dead. 'Why was she there?' thought Paylor, 'Only 14 year-olds or older could serve in the District 13 military, even as a medic.'
It didn't make sense? thought Paylor. Why would Snow bomb his own human shield? As evil as Snow was, and he was evil, in the past Snow's actions were always predictable, and this was completely out of Snow's character and personality profile. What did this bombing of the children accomplish except to turn his own people against him, bring a swift end to the war, and let the rebels win. It sounds like something Coin would do. And then it hit her; President Snow wouldn't do this, it served him no purpose. Coin however had everything to gain by a hovercraft with the Capitol seal on it bombing children for no reason on Snow's orders. And who would doubt that Snow did do it. And who would believe him if he denied it. Snow was guilty, make no mistake about that. And he deserved the punishment of death, but pinning a horrible crime on a guilty man who did not do it was still an injustice. Paylor had to do something about Coin.
Paylor suggested to Coin that they put Snow in his indoor rose garden until his execution. Coin agreed. Paylor then went into the room to meet with Snow.
"President Snow." acknowledged Paylor to President Snow's presence.
"Commander Paylor." acknowledged President Snow to Paylor's presence. "I can only assume that there is a reason that you have come to see me?"
"I'm not here to talk about the problems that you cause to the people of the districts, no." said Paylor. "I'm here to speak to you of a different matter."
Snow could tell by Paylor's tone of voice what the issue might be about.
"We have a problem you and I." said Paylor matter-of-factly.
"Alma Coin." said President Snow.
"I did not fight long and hard in a war for my freedom, and the freedom of my people at the cost of tens of thousands of my men just to have you be replaced by someone worse." Paylor said with irritation.
"I think you and I understand one another." said Snow. "I assume that you have nothing to offer me in return though?"
"You have done horrible things." Paylor said to Snow matter-of-factly. "You deserve to die, and you will die one way or the other. However, if it is one thing I know about you, it is that you care about this country and how well it will be run and who runs it well. I might, can't promise you, but might, be able to offer you… shall you say… revenge against President Coin."
President Snow smiled maniacally.
"What do I have to do?" asked Snow.
"The only assassination against President Coin that the people of this country would understand, would have to come from the Mockingjay." said Paylor. "I will subtly send her in here, and you tell her the truth; everything about Coin, about her plans for the war, and Coin killing Primrose Everdeen."
"She won't believe me." said Snow matter-of-factly.
"Maybe not." said Paylor. "But it's a chance. I will take care of Katniss Everdeen afterwards. But for now, if we can get Katniss to kill Coin, then that is your revenge and my reassurance at a better leader for this country."
"Agreed." said Snow.
Paylor turned to leave. But Snow stopped her halfway to the door.
"Commander Paylor, one more thing. said Snow.
Paylor turned back to him.
"What?" said Paylor.
"I was wondering if you would make me a promise… a reasonable request of course?" said Snow. "Promise me that you will protect my granddaughter Amanda! She is my little girl, and I love her more than anything else in this world."
Paylor could feel in the tone of his voice his heartfelt feelings on the matter. And then she thought of her own girls who were safe, and the reassurance on her soul if she was about to die and she knew that they would be safe.
"You have my word." said Paylor.
Paylor then left the room.
Paylor then posted two District 8 troops to guard Snow's room. She then waited for the Mockingjay to come down the hallway. Katniss was walking down the hallway when she then wanted to go into the indoor rose garden for her own reasons. The guards denied her entrance.
"Let her in!" ordered Paylor.
The guards responded. Katniss entered the room. Paylor waited several minutes when Katniss came out.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" asked Paylor.
"Yes. Thank you."
All of the high ranking Capitol Officials had been executed except Snow, which would be carried out by the Mockingjay.
The only peace that eluded Panem was that there were thousands of district citizens that were demanding the blood of the Capitol's entire population.
'This is not what I fought for!' thought Paylor, 'I didn't lose tens of thousands of my troops to perform as massacre on the Capitol's innocent women and children after the war was already over.'
They however agreed to a compromise of poetic justice with the Hunger Games. The descendants of high ranking Capitol Officials would be pulled out of a bowl in a public reaping and fight to the death in the arena on live television if the remaining Hunger Games Victors gave a majority vote of yes. And the vote was yes, four out of seven. When the Hunger Games start, they would follow the exact same procedure as any other year, the tributes would live the high life up to the start of the Games, and the winner would be bathed in riches for the rest of their life.
'It's still barbaric!' thought Paylor. 'This is a setback. What can I do if Amanda Snow goes into the Games?'
The district malcontents seemed appeased.
It was the day of Snow's execution. His hands had been tied behind his back behind a post. Katniss Everdeen was wearing her Mockingjay uniform with her bow and a single arrow. President Coin read to Snow the full list of charges, which was extensive, ending with the bombing of the children that was not his fault. He was declared guilty and sentenced to death by arrow through the heart.
"Solder Everdeen, you may carry out the sentence." said Coin.
Katniss fitted the arrow into the string, pulled back and took aim. She paused for a few moments... and then without warning aimed for Coin and shot her through the heart.
Katniss was grabbed by guards and her suicide was foiled. Katniss was carried away. Paylor caught up with them and ordered them to put her in solitary confinement in her old bedroom in the Training Center, and give her no means of killing herself. They obediently followed her orders.
It was pandemonium in the area. But fortunately no one was killed. But a little later order was restored.
The next day. The leaders of the District factions formed and administration to make sure all day-to-day operations were in order; with a population to take care of, they made sure no one was unemployed.
They immediately had a spontaneous election for President of Panem. The nominated candidates on the spot were Paylor, Beetee, and a few others. A few even nominated Katniss, but the people in charge did not recognize her candidacy on the grounds of her being mentally unstable. The population of the country were all told to vote that day. Paylor won by a large margin, she got not only the votes of everyone in District 8, but quite a few votes in the other districts and the Capitol.
After a quick and short formal ceremony declaring to the country that Commander Paylor of District 8 was now President of Panem, Paylor sat down in a meeting with the rest of the district leaders.
"Okay now, I believe that we should address the thing that is on all of our minds. What are we going to do about the Mockingjay?"
Everyone sitting around the conference table remained silent. Paylor went on when nobody responded.
"Fair enough," said Paylor, "now the straight out fact of what happened is that Katniss Everdeen killed President Coin by premeditated murder in front of everyone. Now I will ask you all, do any of you feel that President Coin deserves to be avenged?"
Everyone around the table answered with a negative.
"I thought so." said Paylor, "Now, we can't give Katniss Everdeen a fair trial for the crime because if we do it cannot be held behind closed doors. It would have to be a public trial for everyone to observe the proceedings. During the trial, when she takes the witnesses stand, we would need to ask her questions and she would have to answer such as 'why she killed President Coin?' And then we would have to ask her questions based on her answers, and then additional questions based on those answers. Ultimately, the entire country which still supports the Mockingjay will see that if Katniss is against President Coin who many of the people in the country also look at as a hero, it could lead to Civil War."
No one in the room argued with the dilemma.
"If another war starts up again soon," said a man at the far end of the table, "then we may yet need to the Mockingjay again."
"People are demanding answers." said another man. "What exactly are we going to tell them?"
"I am ordering that Katniss Everdeen will remain in solitary confinement until further notice. And to avoid any awkward explanations, tell people that Katniss Everdeen killed President Coin because she had a mental nervous breakdown caused by stress from everything that she has been through. I don't think anyone in the country will question that explanation."
Everyone sitting around the conference table was in agreement.
"Now that that is out of the way," said Paylor, "I think that there are some administrative government issues to tend to. As we are the government now, there is no point in calling ourselves rebels anymore. I think that the community shall need a police force to enforce the law within the community among the population of the country. We shall still refer to them as Peacekeepers. However, I am writing a law that will be strictly enforced; the Peacekeepers will show kindness to the people, and offer them aid when they need it."
Such new laws were explained around the table for awhile. Paylor then pulled out some papers which were a formal written proposal from herself.
They went over the details of how the community would be served, how employment for all would be taken care of, and how the food from all the districts would be equally divided between everyone, so that no one would have more or less food than anyone else. Everyone sitting around the table who had suffered from horrible living conditions felt that all of the details for the new system was good.
All other details were swiftly taken care of.
Paylor now resided within the presidential suite within the President's Mansion. A standard of living that she felt was a little too high for her (but she got used to it, for she couldn't stop herself from indulging herself in the giant jetted bathtub). So she tried to spreading her high lifestyle around. She of course had her two daughters brought from District 8 to live at the Mansion, for whom she devoted plenty of time to every day, for that was the whole point of the war, that loving families could be together. And because there was so much space in the President's Mansion, she personally adopted another 10 orphaned children to sleep in some of the empty bedrooms, devoted time to them every day and loved them just as she did her own daughters.
The capsule citizens felt compelled to stick to the Capitol. A few district citizens moved into the Capitol. And many people from different districts moved to other districts.
As for District 12, some of the district 12 refugees were moving back to District 12. Paylor supervised for some raw-materials to be taken there for the construction of buildings. All of the houses in the victors village were filled up by the refugees except for the living victors homes which were being saved for them.
Another thing that Paylor felt compelled to do was to tell the country that the 76th Hunger Games would be canceled because she felt it was too barbaric. But at the same time, as President, the people looked to her for a sense of continuity. Her first order of business as President could not be to undo the last order of businesses from her predecessor who just happened to be President Coin. A Hunger Games of Capitol tributes made up of the descendents of high-ranking Capitol officials was promised to the district malcontents, and a Hunger Games of Capitol tributes made up of descendents of high-ranking Capitol officials was what the district malcontents were going to get.
End flashback:
And that was how she had came to this. That was what forced her to go through with the 76th Hunger Games. That was 18 months ago. They had needed more than a year to set their affairs in order before they could have the Games.
Paylor watching the television as Amanda Snow, Blaze Trenton, and Susanna Xavier had finished making the special kind of medicine from the alien plants and dead muttation monsters to tend to their wounds. They then picked through the cache of weapons for whatever they could carry.
President Paylor felt sick to her stomach as she thought of how this year's Games were going to end. She was unable to protect Amanda Snow. But she wanted to fulfill President Snow's dying wish for an inocent granddaughter, but the problem was is that she just didn't know how.
Please review!