Chapter 17: Feral

"I'm still shocked that no one shot him."

"I guess they weren't expecting him to...to do all that. Must've been a shock." Lee held up the loop of thin wire he had just fashioned. "This okay?"

"Almost." Katniss took it and began making an adjustment. "You have to leave the knot a little looser to start, see…"

Beyond the frosty mountainside meadow they had found themselves in, District Two's looming peaks, lower portions covered in swathes of conifer trees and higher parts in light snow, blocked out half the gray-clouded sky. From further down the hillside, Kori and Twyla's voices could be heard on the chilly breeze. Somewhere else nearby, Lee knew Helvius was hunting.

Katniss handed back the wire. "Now show me how to set it."

By the time the Twelve was satisfied with Lee's work, the sun had dipped close to a relatively low mountaintop. With the assumption that Helvius would catch up with them, they headed down to meet Twyla and Kori, who had supposedly been trying to set a trap or two themselves. Lee and Katniss found the young women sprawled on a boulder, chatting. "Gonna scare off any game if you're not careful," Katniss said with a grin. "Did you even set any snares?"

"Oh, a couple over there," Kori said with a wave at a nearby grove of trees. "Wouldn't be surprised if they don't catch anything."

"Still, this was more fun than sitting around watching nothing happen around the Nut all day." Twyla slid off the boulder. "I'm looking forward to a hot dinner, though."

Kori followed her down. "Ugh, same."

Winter has all but arrived here in Two. It will be freezing in Six soon.

Night was closing in as they entered the outskirts of Two's main urban center under the shadow of the mountain widely nicknamed "the Nut", which contained the subterranean fortress where the last of the district's armed loyalists, Peacekeepers, and hovercrafts remained. Barricaded in with a fair number of civilians.

A final hurdle to overcome in the districts. Then on to the Capitol.

Helvius caught up to them before they reached their assigned housing, not far from the town square and Justice Building. The pair of grouse he'd shot soon went to the nearest commandeered kitchen, and the rebel forces occupying the town center continued their streak of getting slightly more meat than others thanks to their proximity to Victors who had the time and skills to hunt.

Just over two weeks in Two, and a drawn-out siege is not making for good propo material. Ira's been shipped back to Nine, Finnick and Orla to Thirteen with another side trip to Four. Nobody will let us still here so much as go on a patrol, let alone one of the mountain-capture attempts. Twyla was being grouped with the remaining four Victors in that respect. No basic training, either, not outside of Thirteen. "Our leashes have been shortened," as Katniss has said. Ever since Helvius went rogue. Excellent propo footage aside, that was...too much too much for rebel leadership's liking. Although I think Celeste wouldn't be unhappy if it happened again.

With nothing much going on, Kori and Twyla being more of a unit every day, and Helvius clearly wanting space more often than not, Lee had found himself spending more time with Katniss Everdeen than he'd ever expected to. They'd spent a lot of that time exploring nearby parts of Two that were considered secure as long as they wore trackers. Often they spoke very little. Sometimes they spoke a lot.

Helvius's behavior in One had come up a few times. Katniss seemed to find the entire sequence of events oddly intriguing. Lee found it, and the aftermath, worrying.

He was only so reckless that day because of Cashmere and the run-in with his parents...He just needs time...He's told me directly that he's not ready to talk about it yet, and that's a good sign, better than after I was rescued…

Despite all the reassurances he could give himself, he still fell asleep next to Helvius afraid that the other man might be gone when he woke up. Gone off doing something dangerous.

But every morning, he kept waking to Helvius either getting dressed or still snoring, usually half-sprawled over him. Then he'll keep me informed of what he's up to all day. No secrets, no lies, no risks. Well, not any more risks that any of us are taking.

Another thing Katniss, along with Kori, kept bringing up was the inevitable invasion of the Capitol. "If they think they're keeping us out of that, they're mistaken," Katniss had stated during one such conversation over dinner. "If Johanna Mason, Cerise Patel, and that kid Millward get to help storm the Capitol, then so do I."

"Well, my dad says Johanna and Ira aren't very camera-friendly," had been Twyla's response. "And Cerise was leading Eight's resistance long before the 100th Games."

"And I'm camera friendly?" Katniss had retorted.

"Eh, often enough. And you're the Mockingjay, anyhow."

"How do you explain Glitz, then?"

Speaking up for the first and last time in days, Helvius had said, "Why do you think I chose to specialize in bows and arrows, Everdeen? You inspired me, in some way. Same as when I followed you around Eight to shoot at hovercrafts when we were both told to hide. That makes good TV."

Katniss had reacted with a half-confused, half-disgusted face and a muttered, "Fucking hell. At least I get why Kori's so popular..."

Lee found himself reflecting on that conversation, after a night of fitful sleep thanks to nightmares, the morning after he and Katniss had set that game snare on a nearby mountainside. Katniss inspired Helvius, Helvius indirectly helped Kori win...and now the mockingjay, infinity symbol, and crossed arrows keep showing up. In the past couple weeks, he'd seen several renditions of the graffiti they'd seen in One, not only in Two but in recent footage from other districts. I thought it would be Katniss and Darien, the faces of the rebellion...Darien's still mentioned, still important to the cause especially in Five, but he's also dead.

Sighing, he rolled over. For once, Helvius wasn't draped over him, instead slumbering peacefully on his side. The dim dawn light through the room's single window lit his face just enough to show his relaxed features.

Absently, Lee reached out and ran a finger over the still-red scar on Helvius's temple. Shimmer gave him this, moments before Kori...

"Hmm." One green eye cracked open. "Is it time to get up?"

"Almost."

"How long have you been awake?"

"A while."

Both eyes opened then. "Are you okay?"

"Nightmares, that's all."

"Oh, that's all." Helvius propped himself up on his elbow. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"It's just the usual, Hal." He rolled onto his back and stretched. I think I can feel all of my limbs and digits today. That's nice. "How about you? Need to talk?"

"Not now."

"Okay."

Leaning over, Helvius kissed him, softly. "Thank you."

Lee caught him before he could pull away and kissed him in return. "Don't mention it."

They, along with Katniss, Kori, and Twyla, went out later that morning to check traps. The only one that had caught anything was one Katniss had set by herself; they found a rabbit ensnared in it.

"It takes practice," Katniss said. "It can take years catch game in snares consistently."

"Jack did pretty well," Kori said. "And he had a few days to learn."

Giving her a searching look, Katniss replied, "He was a smart one, your district partner."

"He really was." Unexpectedly, Kori almost smiled. "His siblings are, too. They're in Thirteen now, them and their parents. They were lucky."

A call from Twyla's radio, the only one they had bothered to bring, interrupted them then. Maybe something's actually about to happen, Lee thought as he heard Lieutenant Hawthorne's voice summoning them to a meeting at the Justice Building. Or maybe it's just another strategy session that will go nowhere.

The meeting was a large one, well-attended by rebel leadership that included President Boggs, Colonel Jackson, and Kiro Aoki by video call. The Victors, per usual, immediately headed for a spot at the back of the room. They haven't been asking us for our input much.

"I swear I get a jump scare every time I see her in a meeting," Kori whispered as they walked past Tatiana Onyx, Two's Victor of the Seventy-Eighth Hunger Games. The black-haired Career had never appeared like anything to Lee beside a fierce, loyal Victor, not until he'd arrived in Two to find her as one of the rebel leaders there. She seemed to avoid cameras and notoriety, instead leading her soldiers in the field with little to no fanfare.

As their group found their place, Helvius said, "I know what you mean. She was one of the few Careers I wouldn't every pick a fight with during Games season."

"According to my dad," Twyla put in, "She was the last tribute mentored by one of Two's longtime rebel Victors. Lyme, I think. They were close for years afterwards, until Lyme died. Guess some of that rebellion rubbed off on Tatiana."

The meeting started a few minutes later, and, predictably, it was another discussion of how to capture the Nut and why all previous attempts had failed. Ten minutes in, Helvius and Twyla got bored and started making dirty jokes just loud enough so only the people in their immediate vicinity could hear. As a result, the most difficult part of the meeting for Kori, Katniss, and Lee turned out to be holding in laughter and annoyed groans.

Until Gale Hawthorne suggested bombing the mountainside. "Trigger some landslides, block the ventilation system. That'll bring down the Nut."

"That's risky," Colonel Jackson said. "We've been trying to avoid catastrophic damage. That fortress is valuable."

"As are the lives inside," Kiro said sharply. "That plan means capturing the fortress because everyone inside has suffocated."

"Believe me, I'm aware." The lieutenant shrugged. "We could leave the main entrance open. There's a rail line out. People can escape, and we can be ready in the square in case they start shooting."

"Also," said a vaguely-familiar rebel engineer Lee thought might be named Elias, "targeting the ventilation will probably not cause major damage much of the fortress. It's a gamble, but I would call it a reasonable one."

After a pause, Boggs said, "Can you guarantee that the necessary landslides won't block the escape route?"

"...Probably not." Tatiana exchanged glances with the engineer who had spoken before; both looked uncomfortable. "But nothing else has worked."

The plan was agreed upon shortly afterward, pending some logistic decisions. On the way out, Katniss said, "Trust a former miner to come up with a strategy like that," right in front of Hawthorne.

He didn't take it lying down. "Katniss..."

She did stop and look at him then. "I'm just being honest, Gale. At any rate, you did suggest a way to save the people inside. I respect you for that."

"Tension's not improving much there, I see," Helvius said once he and Lee were safely away from both Twelves.

"Obviously not."

"It is better, though. The yelling when she first saw him in Thirteen, I tell you…"

Hal's feeling better if he's talking like this. Good.

Rebel hovercrafts dropped bombs on the mountain that night, and a couple hours later, no one had emerged.

It was suggested that the loyalists might be holding out as long as possible, so Katniss recommended that she go on air on the Justice Building steps to try and convince them to surrender. "And if I don't work, put Glitz or Aoki on. Someone will have to listen. Even if it's just everyone else in Panem."

In the end, they put mics and uniforms on everyone in the propo team. "Might as well be ready for anything!" Cressida said, rather too cheerily for the situation. "But we'll start with Katniss."

The propo had hardly started when a train came screeching out of the mountain and people...Peacekeepers, loyalist soldiers, civilians...began to spill out. Bullets started flying on both sides. Katniss ran out in the middle of it all, screaming for the rebels to stop shooting when she saw injured people.

In the general chaos and brief yet massive dust cloud that accompanied the train, Lee got it into his fogged-up head that Helvius had gone after her. This time, Kori didn't catch him.

This time, it turned out the Helvius had some self control.

So it was Lee who ended up with a gun pointed at his head.

I'm a fucking idiot.

The man in front of him was bleeding, covered in dirt. Around them, everything had gone almost quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, Lee could see Katniss, bow raised, aiming at the person holding him hostage.

A bullet is faster than an arrow.

"Why shouldn't I shoot you?" the man snarled. His finger on the trigger looked surprisingly steady. His gaze moved to Katniss for an instant. "You're one of them…"

One of the people who bombed their fortress, one of the people who killed their tributes...

Abruptly, the fog was gone. "Katniss, lower your bow."

"Lee…" Her voice sounded tight.

"Put it down. Just do it."

He saw the arrow drop a few inches, then focused his attention on the man. "You probably should. Shoot me, I mean. I killed one of your tributes in my first Games." Somehow, from somewhere, his mind dredged up her name. "Tephra. I killed her. My friend over there killed another one of yours in her Games, then Conan killed her sister, then she killed him...Never ends, does it? Even when we were supposed to be safe, it didn't end."

"What's your point?" The steadiness of the man seemed to waver.

Under the dust, he looks younger than me. "I'm not a soldier. I'm barely a Victor. I never had a quarrel with anyone from your district, or any, until I was Reaped. Sometimes I don't even understand how I got here. I'm just an addict from Six. I just wanted to survive. Don't we all?" I' know I'm not ready to die yet. He looked right into the other man's eyes. "If you kill me, Katniss or Helvius or someone else will kill you in retaliation, then everyone will start shooting again. Who knows how many more people will die tonight. The only people who win in that scenario are in the Capitol." Cold eyes, burning, breaking, blood on a wooden desk. "The person who will really win is President Snow. So if you want to make him happy, go ahead and pull the trigger." The fog's coming back. Shit. "Better a bullet in the brain than starving to death in a bathtub."

The man blinked, the rage turned into confusion, and perhaps something else. He began to lower the gun.

Lee heard a shot right as Katniss shouted his name and something struck him hard enough to drop him to the ground.