Chapter 69: Pawns
Their last day in District 4 passes too quickly. The beach is enticing and the children continue to enjoy the fresh air and freedom while the Mentors make the most of the relaxed atmosphere. Katniss has begun to make peace with idea of Gale and Annie becoming closer. She would never want to deny anyone what she and Peeta have, but it had been an unexpected revelation and a jolt to her sensibilities. Peeta realized that, and reminded Katniss that they were not the only ones who deserved happiness going into the future.
During their final evening meal, just before heading back to the Capitol, an announcement appears on the screen in Annie's kitchen. It is Mandatory viewing and advises that due to difficulties with the communications system there will be limited broadcasts for the time being. Gale wonders what that could mean and something about the broadcast seems ominous to him. He needs to get back to the Capitol and talk to Beetee about what is happening. If it is interference by the Rebels then it means they have been effective in stirring up the hornet's nest. The Government and the Mentors will need to be prepared.
As they ready themselves for return to the Village, Prim decides she doesn't want to leave. She begins to fuss and Katniss tells her that they will come back soon. They would all like that, she thinks. The weekend has been good for Peeta and there has been no sign of him having any more flashbacks. In fact, he and Katniss have become even closer, bonding through memories of what they had already survived. Peeta is going back to the Capitol with renewed resolve. Katniss can sense it.
When they finally get back to the Capitol, Gale's first stop is Beetee's apartment. Beetee informs Gale that there has been attempted interference with the Capitol's communications network and it is assumed the Resistance are behind it. He tells Gale that the interference indicates they were trying to hijack the system, rather than disrupt it entirely, which could mean someone has a message for the people...a message that will attempt to set them at odds with the Government and disrupt the current status quo. Gale asks Beetee if there has been any word on Snow's whereabouts and Beetee replies in the negative. Snow's family are all under house arrest, but Snow has been careful not to divulge any of the details to his loved ones. He has done this for his protection and theirs. They can't be made to provide information which they do not have. Unfortunately, it has not prevented his granddaughter from becoming a pawn in the new Government's Games. It is a clever way to get to the heart of the Resistance, using their children as pawns, but even if his family's resolve has been weakened Snow knows they are helpless to provide the information the Government wants. It will have to come from the Resistance or Snow himself.
The following morning the Mentors are called to a meeting. Paylor and Gale are in attendance. Paylor informs the Mentors that there has been an attempted hijacking of the Capitol's communication system and they are now trying to determine where the interference came from. She advises them that the Resistance are reacting to the initiative of the Games, but there is still no further word on Snow. This means weapons training will be going ahead today and the Games are set to begin at the end of the week. The Mentors can choose to participate in the training or are now free to leave and return to their Districts. This is to relieve them of any further stress, as Gale had requested. Paylor states that they have all played their parts admirably and she thanks them for their efforts which she knows must have been difficult in the circumstances. She also tell them that if she receives any word on Snow they will be the first to know, and she hopes this will be soon.
The Mentors leave the meeting feeling somewhat dejected. They have played their part in the Capitol Games and are now only nominal in the lives and deaths of their Tributes. They are being dismissed, sent back to the lives they have attempted to piece together since the Rebellion. Johanna is the first one to decide that she has had enough of being a pawn in these new Games and tells them she is returning to District 3. If there is going to be an increase in Rebel activity, she wants to be part of the efforts to bring Snow to justice. Beetee knows he should return to District 3, but still wants to give his Tributes a fighting chance and pass on as much of his knowledge as possible. Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch feel the same. Enobaria will stay because fighting is what she knows best and she is not immune to the fact that these Tributes have had very little time to prepare for the Arena. She had a whole lifetime to prepare for her victory.
Katniss and Peeta return to their apartment to mull over what Paylor has said. There are still a few days for information about Snow to trickle through, and neither of them want to leave their Tributes to face the prospect of the Games without a Mentor by their side. The Tributes families are absent and, by all accounts, prepared for them to die. This is not what Katniss and Peeta were hoping for and neither of them had wanted to see any more children forced into the Arena. After acknowledging to each other that they have made a connection with their Tributes, Peeta and Katniss decide they will remain with them until the bitter end. More of a presence, than active participants, they will do whatever they can to ensure their Tributes are prepared and ready for what will be a fight to the death.
In the training centre that afternoon, Peeta and Katniss watch on as the Tributes confront this new reality. The reality of deadly weapons and deadly intentions. Ottilia is refusing to pick up a weapon and spends a lot of time in tears again. She says she doesn't know why she is here…she has never done anything wrong. Lorcan tries to comfort her and tells her just to focus on the things she is already good at, like running and hiding. He tells her a weapon will just give her a better chance if she is caught or found by one of the other Tributes. This seems to reassure her and she reluctantly agrees to learn how to use more long range weapons, like the bow and arrow. Katniss can help her with this and does.
The boys learn to use close combat weaponry, such as knives and machetes, as they are more likely to survive an attack and end up in close quarters with the enemy. Brute force might win the day and Lorcan and Ramsay put all their energy into practicing deadly close quarter manoeuvres with the trainers. Verity focuses on the stealth attack. She wants to kill quickly and quietly and hopefully not have to look the enemy in the eye...at least not until they are dead.
Peeta and Katniss aren't able to explain to the Tributes that they will be the only four Tributes in the initial arena, and that they will need to confront one another in order to survive. Perhaps the option for allies still exists, but it won't last long. There are not enough Tributes, and sooner or later they are going to work out that only one of them can escape the first Arena. Plutarch has made sure of that.
Katniss recalls how she had not known Peeta's intentions as they had gone into the Games the first time. He had been sending her mixed messages, or at least that was how she interpreted them, and she had probably done the same with him. At the time, it seemed there was no other way. They had been thrown together during the Reaping, forced to train together, and encouraged by Haymitch to bond as a way of encouraging sponsors. Then, they been torn apart, forced to compete and made to confront one another as enemies. No wonder they were confused. None of it made sense at the time. Only a desperate attempt at survival had made sense. That is, until the announcement that there could be two Victors if they both originated from the same District.
Katniss hopes there will be an announcement during these Games, too. One that will put an end not only to the Games, but to the mystery of Snow's whereabouts as well. It is Snow who needs to die and she is still determined to be the one to kill him.