I went to bed the night after the opening ceremonies and dreamed of something weird. Almost as if I was having some kind of weird out of body experience.
S.D.D.
Capitol: Present day-
I was coming to, and I was struggling to breath. Doc—Zedo, came through the door, and removed the breathing tube from my mouth.
"…Ick! Fi…ick!" Zedo said.
"What…What?" I said.
"I can'…the…gene…from here. We…" He trailed off.
"What?" I asked.
"The gene editing that Snow did to you at birth can't be fixed here. We need to get you to the hospital were we have the equipment and the personnel to correct it." He said, coming through more clearly.
"Do we know that the doctors, or the surgeons are still alive?" I asked, sitting up and getting off of the table.
"The scientists required to complete the job are currently in jail beneath the Presidential Palace."
I start to black out and see moments from the past, but Zedo cut me off. "I need you to pull it together Finnick."
"Easy for you to say, dad." I said.
"I can tell that you're revisiting scenes from the past six to twelve months, but I need you to keep it together." He said.
"Again, easy for you to say." I said.
"We have at least, give or take, two hours before the rebels are upon us." He said.
"Are they going door to do—Ah! Not now!" I exclaimed, grasping my head, and shaking it side to side as if I'm trying to shake the cobwebs out.
"The rebels aren't going door to door, but their arrival will give you some cover to get to the palace." He said.
"Where's mom?" I asked. I haven't seen a Scarlet since I was in the Capitol for Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games.
"She's being held in the palace. Probably attached to Snow's hip." He said.
"What exactly am I going to wear?" I asked.
"Huh?" He asked.
"What am I going to wear? If I go out like this, I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb." I said.
"Take some cold weather gear, it will buy you some time." He said.
I followed Zedo to a bedroom and put on the gear.
"Is this yours? It fits me perfectly?" I asked.
"Yeah. Katniss and her group are three blocks over from us, here." He said, bringing up the holographic image of the city.
"I'm not going to know where they are because they will probably dress in cold weather gear as well. I'll just try to meet them at the palace." I said, pulling on the pants, and then the coat.
"Just keep a low profile until the rebels get there." He said.
"I know the play." I said, as I was heading for the door.
"Finnick." he said, as I grasped the and turned.
"Yeah." I said, looking over my shoulder.
"Your mom and I never wanted this life for you. The life of a victor, or to be Snow's agent. We never want that for you." He said.
"I know, but let's finish the job so no one else has to live our life." I said.
"Don't let me stop you, son." Zedo said.
"I'll see you on the other side." I said, opening the door and stepping out into the city.
The first thing I felt was the icy air that was stinging my lungs and skin, I could see the breath of the civilians heading to the palace, and my own. I forgot how cold it got here in the Capitol. I was about to reach the street corner, and scan the area, when I felt myself start to blackout. I found a safe, out the way spot where I won't be bothered by either civilian or Peacekeeper and let myself pass out.
S.D.D.
Arena during the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games-
Even though I blinked at the moment, I knew what was about to occur. I feel the burning sensation in my lungs, the weight on my back. Even though it's been six months, I knew the moment in question. I open my eyes to see that I'm running through a jungle, the I can see the hands on my grabbing my shoulder. I can hear Katniss telling Peeta to keep up. I remember the fog that burned when you touched it. I remember that keeping Katniss and Peeta alive was the rebel plan, but at this moment, that seems like a tall order. I don't know what happened, it was all a blur, I know is that somewhere along the line I traded Mags for Peeta and kept running. This didn't last long because Peeta, even with his prosthetic leg, is a hefty fellow. My reserves were starting to get low, and my energy waning, but I kept running. We stopped for a moment; Katniss was talking as I turned around to see the fog coming our way. I hear Katniss saying something about me taking both Peeta and Mags, I can't because the fog was affecting my arms. Peeta is carrying one of my tridents, but the fog is starting to affect him as well.
What happened took us all by surprise. As I'm sucking wind, Mags walks up and gently kisses me on the lips and runs directly into the fog. I tried to scream for Mags or reach for her as she ran into the fog, but I couldn't move. All I could do was watch in horror as Mags died a horrible, but fast death because we could all hear the cannon blast. I grab Peeta, my arms getting some use again, throw him over my shoulder and start running again.
Again, time blurs, and days pass, and the final hours of the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games are ending. I'm being chased by Enobaria back to the lightning tree. I prepare to go down fighting, and as I'm approaching the tree I turn and prepare to fight Enobaria. We trade blows, but nothing to cause damage. Next thing I know I hear the lightning preparing to strike. We both turn to watch, but when the lightning strikes the tree, I notice two things as I'm blown off of my feet: The blue light races back into the sky, and Katniss was about five meters away from us.
Katniss tied the wire to her arrow and sent the arrow into the sky. I thought.
I hit the ground with a thud, and I felt some crunching and my head was spinning. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a bright flash, and a fireball. As I lost consciousness, I realized that Katniss destroyed the arena.
Bravo. I thought.
S.D.D.
Present day-
I wake up and shake the cobwebs out of my head. My vision is strong and unimpeded; I didn't have any back circles or double vision. So, I got up and made my way to the palace. I get to the corner and scan for interlopers. I don't see any Peacekeepers, or rebel forces, but the gun fire is louder than when I left however long ago that was. I don't have a watch, so keeping track of time is a moot point.
I fell in line with a group of citizens making their way to the palace. I keep my hood up, and my face covered, so the citizens don't out me. I hear gun fire, which is getting closer, and the groups of Peacekeepers is getting more frequent. I'm approaching a checkpoint, and the Peacekeepers are checking faces, but they are only checking ever other face. As I was getting closer, the Peacekeepers started checking more faces. I was starting to sweat because I was going to be found out, but by some act of God, one of the Peacekeepers that was in the APC opened a door and signaled for a four of Peacekeeper to get in. I'm not exactly sure what was going on, but an explosion five blocks to my left would explain the reason. This development left two Peacekeepers to check faces passing through the check point.
As I was passing a Peacekeeper, they shouted at me to stop so they could check my face, but the front line found its way to the checkpoint, and I just followed the crowd running away to the palace. As I was approaching, all I could see was a sea of people gathering in the square. At the flagpole I can see Katniss, but what gets my attention is all across the crowd, one-by-one, the start pointing into the sky. I look up to see a hovercraft with the Capitol seal painted on the underside appear and drop a mess load of parachutes. Two things strike me as odd. Why are there children gathered out front of the palace? And why does the hovercraft have the Capitol seal on it? I thought reports said that the Capitol Air Force had been disabled.
Something's not right. I thought.
Before I could react, a moderate explosion erupted in front of the palace where the children were being kept. The shockwave hit my body and caused the black circles to return.
Now is not the time for this. I thought, pounding my fist against my head. I tried shaking my head side to side, which brought me some relief.
I waded into the sea of civilians seeing if I could help them, but it was going to be a rush against the clock because the black circles hovering in my peripheral vision. I see people in white coats descend on the plaza to assist in aiding the wounded. To my left I see Katniss staring in the direction of the palace. I look in the direction of the palace and see someone aiding the wounded.
I don't have much time. I thought, as I waded into the crowd looking for…whoever Katniss was looking at. As I'm approaching, I hear Katniss speaking. "Prim."
I turn and see a teenager turn to look at Katniss. It was Primrose Everdeen, Katniss sister.
"The whole country adores Katniss's little sister." I heard Johanna's voice from the Hunger Games last year.
There wasn't a moment to lose. I rip my coat off and charge Primrose. I wrap Primrose in my coat as I shout, "Katniss! Run!"
I threw Primrose over my shoulder and ran from the center of the plaza. I can feel Primrose kicking and hear her muffled screams of protest. Just as I'm approaching the edge of the plaza, the rest of the bombs detonate, but I wasn't far enough out of the blast zone to escape the shockwave. I dropped Primrose as I was thrown into a crowd of people. As I hit the ground, I smacked my head on the ground knocking my unconscious on impact. As I was drifting off into the abyss, the medics swarmed my body, and Katniss'—who hadn't been able to escape the blast radius—and checked our wounds.
S.D.D.
District 13: months ago-
I'm running through the halls of District 13 looking for Katniss. She's leaving for something important, and I'm being left behind. I catch up to Katniss and her District 13 escort.
"Katniss, they won't let me go! It told them I'm fine, but they won't even let me ride in the hovercraft!"
Katniss takes in my outfit, or lack there of, and thinks against taking me along. I see Katniss smack her hand on her forehead and say, "Oh, I forgot. It's this stupid concussion. I was supposed to tell you to report to Beetee in Special Weaponry. He's designed a new trident for you."
At the word trident, remnants of myself old surfaces. "Really? What's it do?"
"I don't know. But if it's anything like my bow, you're going to love it." She says. "You'll need to train with it though."
"Right. Of course. Well, I better get down there, then," says Finnick.
"Finnick? Wearing pants would be a good idea." Katniss say.
I look down at my legs as if noticing my outfit for the first time. I rips off my hospital gown, leaving me in only in underwear. "Why do you find this"—I strike a ridiculously provocative pose—"distracting?"
S.D.D.
Present day-
Katniss and I were loaded up in the same ambulance and driven to the hospital. Katniss was still conscience and was reaching for my hand, but she almost jumped out of her skin when she saw the blood on my stretcher. The blood was enough for her to pass out.
Our ambulance arrived at the hospital, and the two of us were wheeled into the operating room. Katniss was in and out of surgery and wheeled to another room to get skin grafts; while I was in surgery for the better part of the night, and I didn't wake up for a few days. When I did wake up, I was in for a rude surprise.
S.D.D.
Capitol hospital-
I'm jolted awake when my bed was violently, and suddenly shaken.
"He…o." I said, groggily.
"Ah Finnick, you're awake." A voice said.
"O…y, but …at do you n…d from me?" I asked.
"He just woke up, give him a minute." Zedo said.
The fog in my eyes cleared and I can see that my room is crowded with people ranging the spectrum, mostly the government type.
"I would love to, but the brass need a statement from Finnick, and they need it soon." Plutarch said.
"W…y do they need a statement?" I asked, the fog finally clearing.
"A lot has happened since you last conscious." Plutarch said.
"It's been what twelve hours since the explosions at the Presidential Palace?" I asked.
"Give us a moment." Zedo said, and then everybody cleared out of the room.
"Just give it to me straight." I said.
"It's been three days since the explosion at the palace. Snow and Coin are dead." He said.
"How did they die?" I asked, shocked but a little out of it because of the anesthesia.
"Nobody knows how Snow was killed. He was probably killed when the mob jumped Katniss and carried her off to prison." He said.
"And they want my statement to clear Katniss?" I asked.
"The only people to survive the breakdown of Squad 452 were Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and yourself. The brass is trying to make account of Katniss' actions." He said.
There was a moment of silence before I asked. "What would be the reason for Katniss assassinating Alma Coin?"
"That and try to make account of your trip through the Capitol." He said.
"Not much to tell. Boggs set off a pod which killed he, but not instantly, and we scrambled for about two or three days to stay one step of the Capitol. It wasn't until I came to see you that we gain some breathing room." I said.
"Plutarch." Zedo said, calling Plutarch back into the room.
"Yes." Plutarch said, sticking his head back into the room.
"Finnick just woke up from surgery, and I refuse to let him testify in person. If the brass wants to send a couple of people to get Finnick's statement they can, but Finnick needs his rest." Zedo said.
"Okay. I'll let them know." Plutarch said, and then left.
Three hours later, the brass had just left my room satisfied with my account of events leading up to the fiery events in the square outside of the Presidential Palace. I can tell a few of them were unhappy, not that I give a crap about what they thought, while others were in shock at my report.
Again, I don't give a crap about what these people think. I thought.
"Need anything else from me?" I asked.
"That will be all?" Zedo asked.
"Good night." I said, and then went to sleep.