Welcome back everybody! Oh no—another cliffhanger! Let's hope it'll get resolved, and soon, in the next chapter of this adventurous story…

Hostage Problems

It was absolute pandemonium in the hijacked hovercraft. Everyone inside of it was awake now, anxiously wondering how the occupants of the other hovercrafts had known where to extend their magnets, what they meant by both science and magic being able to hurt the hostages, why Rue and the fake Peacekeepers had attempted to come out of her house without her parents, and most of all, how they were going to get out of the terrible situation they were now in. The only person who wasn't downright scared was Clove of course, but she knew better to make that clear right now. She could easily get knocked out cold or something if she let her true colours show when the real Peacekeepers were too far away from her to protect her.

"What are you doing, Mr. Gearington?" Rory loudly asked. "Blow up the hovercrafts that have us!"

"I can't," said Coyle. "The hostages could be in them."

"Isn't there a button we can press so we can see through the other hovercrafts and make sure the hostages aren't in any of them?" Astilbo inquired.

"There isn't," Geolo reluctantly told him. Which stunk, really. Hostage situations were scary in general, but when your gut was telling you that one of those hostages was that one person who believed in you and had gotten captured by the Capitol…that stung. Deeply.

The giant hologram hovering in front of the rungs of the third newly-arrived hovercraft disappeared for a second, then reappeared with a new message: COME OUT OF YOUR VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS UP, AND WE WON'T HARM THE HOSTAGES.

"What's a hostage?" Nessa asked, terrified knowing that the bad guys of Panem had not only caught up to them, but also trapped them.

"Remember when I mentioned that the Peacekeepers could use Lili against you?" Foxface said. "Well, that is called using someone as a hostage."

"So my friends didn't save everyone? They're still in trouble?!"

The furtive tribute sighed. "It seems that way, yes."

Geolo swallowed hard. "We have to obey them. We have to turn ourselves in."

"No we don't," Appara told him, placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "We just have to think of a way to escape the clutches of these magnets, and—"

"And let something bad happen to Sonia?" Geolo exclaimed, shocked. "We can't just jeopardize her life like that!"

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Prim. "If something happens to Katniss, I won't be able to live with myself!"

Silence filled the hovercraft, as everyone tried desperately to think of an idea that would help them out of this horrible mess. Yet no ideas came to them. Some people in the vehicle were just too scared to really think clearly, and others would come up with an idea, only to realize there was a reason why it wouldn't work. They couldn't use a claw or something to pull the hostages into the hovercraft should they be pulled into view, or else the hostages could get killed (not that that part was said out loud), and they couldn't use the hyperdrive to escape for the same reason, plus the fact that the magnets probably had such a tight grip on them that they'd get dragged along if they tried that idea. But they had to do something, or else the hostages would at the very least get hurt! What could they do?

Then suddenly a ladder was extended out of the third stronger hovercraft, and a Peacekeeper that was on its first few rungs emerged into view as a result, carrying someone small but noticeable in his left arm. He then turned around so the evacuees and company could see who he was holding more clearly, and Nessa was the first to recognize that person. "Oh no! Lili! He's got Lili!"

Astilbo, Fern, and Toolip dashed to the windshield, and when they saw she was right, and that the fourth stronger hovercraft had now landed so that a large troop of Peacekeepers could get out of it and apprehend Rue and her companions, their fears only grew. Nessa, meanwhile, was very scared. Lili's love for her might not have been genuine, but it was still a worrying sight to see her there, in the clutches of a mean man. It didn't matter if she didn't love her. She couldn't let anything bad happen to her. But she also couldn't let anything bad happen to her allies from Panem…

Nessa thought hard, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't up with an idea of what to do. There was just so much stuff happening…so much stuff going wrong…she just didn't know what they should do!

Finally, the former giraffe backed away from the windshield, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm…I'm so sorry, everyone. I really thought we'd make it out of Panem…"

Virt stared at her in surprise and worry. "No, Nessa, you were the one who got us this far! There has to be something we can do, and you have to have an idea of what that something is! You're…you're just too positive to not."

However, hearing those words only made Nessa feel even worse. It made her realize how much everybody on her team depended on her for a better life, and how much they cared about her. She'd let them down…she'd let all of her allies down…

But just as she was ready to give up because she had no other choice, something extraordinary and unexpected happened. The hovercraft suddenly turned into a giant cage that sat on top of a large wooden platform, which everyone swore hadn't been there before. And attached to the platform was a very long and bright yellow slide filled with twists and turns, which led all the way to the ground.

As for the two hovercrafts holding onto what used to be the hijacked one, however, they were still holding onto it and their layout hadn't changed. The layout of the fourth newly-arrived hovercraft was still the same too, but that of the third one had been altered as well. It was now a hover-pickup truck with the Peacekeeper holding Lili dangling out through one of the front doors and a cage attached to the vehicle's rear, and several other Peacekeepers along with three prisoners could clearly be seen inside the cage. Two of those prisoners were instantly identified as Yuri (by Rue's siblings and Nessa) and Sonia (by Geolo), but the third took the group a moment to recognize, since she'd been shaved bald during her time in the Capitol's custody and, like Sonia, was now dressed in a white dress with a long skirt and a sort of revealing top part. Yet within a few seconds, Clara and Prim both recognized that prisoner. It was Katniss…and unlike the other hostages, she was unconscious. Not a good sign.

And then, just as the two Everdeens became aware of their missing relative's presence, two missiles were fired at the two hovercrafts with their magnets extended, causing both vehicles to blow up. Fortunately both explosions occurred too high for Nessa and her teammates to get hurt, and as the spectacle happened, Mec took the opportunity to try and open the cage door. Unfortunately, it was locked. Only a key could open the door, and that key was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't see Matt, Iris, and Daisy in that flying truck," Nessa observed, as the Peacekeeper holding Lili put her back inside his vehicle, apparently confused and trying to find out why the hovercrafts' layouts had changed. "But why is Yuri there? What happened?"

Vick watched as another missile appeared, seemingly from out of nowhere, and headed straight for the fourth stronger hovercraft as it flew towards the sky, the driver apparently noticing the missile too late to dodge it. "I don't know, but I think we might be about to find out."

As one more hovercraft was blown into smithereens thanks to the defence system of their own, Haymitch, Effie, Golias, Bongo, and Objectiva steered their vehicle toward the scene before them. They were still invisible to everyone outside, but Haymitch doubted they'd be for very long. They'd seen those two particular hovercrafts' magnets holding onto an invisible vehicle as though they could see it just fine, and he had a bad feeling that they could see it just fine despite it being invisible. It was all thanks to the DNA those Game Makers had taken from Golias…

"At least now we know which of the vehicles is containing all of the baits," Effie said nervously, trying to be positive.

"That's probably because our magic's making an adventure happen on its own again," guessed Golias. He squinted at the cage containing Nessa and her friends from Panem, and saw one of the men in there trying unsuccessfully to open the cage's door, with the help of one of the other people in the cage. "It looks like they need a key to open that cage," he remarked.

Haymitch sighed heavily. "One of us is going to have to go out there and find it. Any volunteers?"

"I'll do it," said Golias. "Then I can save Yuri while I'm there."

"No," Objectiva told him. "That is just what they want of you. 'Tis the whole point of calling him a bait! You will be better off remaining here."

"But Yuri's—"

"No. Do not think about Yuri. Remember the promise you made to Johanna?"

Golias sighed in disappointment. Yes, he remembered that promise.

Flashback - Half an hour ago, District 11.

"What if they try to use Yuri against you for real?" Johanna asked him in suspicion. "Or Nessa? You're not going to freak out and mess up again, are you?"

Golias stiffened. "I'll…I'll try not to."

"No. Promise me you won't."

"Okay. I promise I won't mess up again, Johanna."

Then Bongo and Objectiva either climbed or flew into the hovercraft, and once they were in, the ladder was retracted. Next, one by one, Golias and Effie were lifted into the vehicle by claw, and the moment they were onboard too, Haymitch steered them back up into the sky.

End of flashback

"Then me and Effie will go get the key!" Bongo chimed. And before Effie, wanting to avoid getting blown up in an explosion, had a chance to ask if she could actually stay in the hovercraft, he bounced toward its entrance/exit, saying, "Come on!"

"Wait," said Effie, "why do I need to go with you?"

"Because you're the only one who can get it high enough to reach Nessa when we find it," answered Bongo. "All you have to do is spin your neck around super duper fast and throw it, like she taught you."

Effie froze in fear. "What?! No. No, no, I really don't think—"

"Effie," Haymitch cut in, "stop procrastinating. Sometimes you just have to do things that you don't want to do. Like risking your life to save one of your tributes. Yes, Katniss is in that hovercraft that turned into another kind of vehicle. Maybe you didn't recognize her without her hair, but that's her."

"It's not that I don't care about Katniss, Haymitch! It's just…it's just…"

"It's just what?"

"That I'm scared!" Effie finally admitted. "Not simply of hurting myself by spinning my neck around, but of…all of this! I was never supposed to care about Katniss or Peeta, but I do! I was also never supposed to wish to swap bodies with someone just so I wouldn't have to deal with my illegal emotions, or rebel against the Capitol, and yet here I am! I don't even regret it. Not really. I know how awful President Snow and the Peacekeepers are now…but I've still spent my entire life looking up to them. And, well…it's hard to forget that even after all we've been through together. I want to help you, I really do, but at the same time…I simply can't let go of what the past had to offer." Tears filled her eyes, and she looked away from her companions, starting to cry.

"Oh, it's alright, Effie," Objectiva consoled her, as Golias left the control panel and went over to comfortingly wrap his ear around her back. "You know, you have every right to feel afraid. Getting accustomed to new things is truly never easy, especially in circumstances as dark as the ones surrounding your situation. But you know what? 'Tis where friends like us come in. All you have to do is talk about how you are feeling, and we can help console you whenever you may need it."

"Except right now," said Haymitch. "Nothing personal, it's just that with so many people in trouble right outside our hovercraft…"

"No, I understand," Effie told him. She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "Perhaps all of you can reassure me later, when everyone is safe." The very knowledge that they would all on its own made her feel a bit better, and she hoped it would be enough for her to accomplish what needed to be done.

"Sure," said Bongo. "'Cause right now I might have to do bouncy stuff." He then glanced downward at his neck pouch, and while Haymitch and Objectiva didn't get the message, the other two did, and a tense energy appeared within them. They certainly hoped that dagger wouldn't try to control its current keeper again…

A second later, Haymitch flew the hovercraft downward and hid it behind a few houses, before allowing Effie and Bongo to jump out of it and onto the ground. Once they were outside, he steered the vehicle upward again, while the duo discreetly headed back towards the area Nessa's team was in so they could find the key.

As he watched his friends leave the vehicle, Golias gulped. He was just going to have to trust that they'd be able to save Yuri for him. It was the only way he could help without risking making things worse…oh, he didn't like being in this position. It made him feel so helpless—but then again, if he wanted to make Johanna happy, and make up for not taking Foxface's advice earlier, then doing nothing was the best way to do it. Even though Yuri was the one in trouble, this time for real…

"Open the cage and come on out! That's an order!" the Peacekeeper driving the vehicle with the hostages in it bellowed through a speaker that allowed his voice to be heard by anyone outside his vehicle even with the windows up.

"We can't! We don't have the key!" Nessa yelled.

Reading her lips, the Peacekeeper bellowed back, "Well then tell me where it is, so that I can unlock that cage for you!"

"But we don't know where it is!"

The Peacekeeper sitting next to the first one took the speaker from his companion and said into it, "You'd better do some thinking then, or you'll never see your friends again."

Geolo frantically looked around the cage's floor, hoping the key was there. "Are we sure none of us are sitting or standing on it?"

"Positive," said Virt. "I would have felt it if it was under me."

"Please, Geolo," Appara pleaded, "calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down! Not when one of my closest friends is in trouble!"

"But that's exactly why you must calm down, honey. If you stay calm, they won't hurt her."

Geolo sighed. He knew his mother was right. On the other hand however, he couldn't obey her. He was sick of making mistakes that gave everyone he held dear the impression that he didn't care about them. He'd already done so with Tally; he couldn't afford to do it again with Sonia. He just couldn't.

"The key's got to be somewhere below this platform," Etain said. "Probably somewhere near those two mutts…wait a second! MUTTS!"

Everyone followed his gaze, and instantly Nessa said, "Wait! Those aren't mutts. That's Effie and my friend Bongo!" At least she hoped he was her friend…but this was not the time to think about that. She and her allies were in trouble, and they were probably the only ones who could save them.

"Really?" asked Mr. Mellark, who, unlike the other adults in Nessa's team, preferred to be referred to by his last name. He looked at her, surprised.

"It is true," Foxface told him. "Nessa is friends with talking animals and used to be one herself."

Everyone who hadn't already been aware of that fact nodded. Unfortunately, the Peacekeepers inside the vehicle with the hostages in it noticed Effie and Bongo at that exact moment, and the one sitting next to the driver smiled wickedly. He then got out of his seat, lifted a large canister off the floor underneath him, and tossed it through the glass of the windshield. The glass shattered as the object went through it, and then with a loud CLUNK, it landed on the ground in front of the duo. Next, yellow fog began to seep out of the canister, heading straight for Effie and Bongo.

Luckily, Effie had seen enough poisonous moments in various Hunger Games to know that the fog was undoubtedly a poisonous one, or at the very least one that had the power to knock them out. So she was quick to hold her breath and duck her head down to the ground, and instruct Bongo to do the same. He obeyed her and even puffed out his cheeks…and that was when the escort noticed a small gold key lying on the ground, next to the area her head was now in. It looked far too fancy to have possibly come from District 11, and she highly doubted that the overly observant Splennencio Sparker, the tribute escort for this district, had dropped it when he'd come here for the reaping. Which meant it had to be the key required to unlock that cage!

Effie's heart raced. She knew what she had to do now. Oh, but she couldn't do it! What if it really did hurt? What if doing it was suicidal? There had to be some other way around this…but then she looked at Bongo, who was starting to struggle with holding his breath by this point, and realized that she was simply going to have to trust him—if there was another way, he would have told her. And if curving his neck downward so far that it dipped his head into his neck pouch hadn't hurt him, then spinning her own neck around and around very quickly probably wouldn't hurt either…as crazy as that sounded. Yes, she would just have to take Bongo's word for it.

"Whatever you do, don't breathe in the yellow fog," Effie instructed her friend. He nodded and bounced back a bit so he wasn't close to the fog anymore, while she gulped, opened her mouth, and grabbed the key with it. She then stepped away from the fog, looked away from it, and exhaled and inhaled. And then finally, she braced herself and began to spin her neck around, faster and faster until she felt like she was on the scariest roller coaster ever made. She then released the key, and as it flew out of her mouth she fell backwards, causing her neck to stop spinning. But the peculiar thing was, as she lay there, trying to recover, she realized that through the entire experience, she hadn't felt any pain. Not even any dizziness. The whole thing really hadn't been so bad…and she found herself feeling…happy because of it. Proud of herself, to be honest. And even more open to trusting the Big Big Friends on various matters.

Suddenly Bongo exhaled very sharply, snapping Effie out of her thoughts. Quickly she got up and looked his way, just in time to see him inhaling the air in front of him deeply. Luckily, the air he breathed in didn't include the fog, but it could have if he'd waited a second longer before exhaling.

"What are you waiting for?" bellowed the Peacekeeper at the wheel of the flying pickup, through the speaker. "Breathe it in!"

The key came flying past the slide, with Buttercup being the first to notice it. He meowed in a sudden and quick way, and then Coyle noticed the key too, followed by everyone else in the cage, few by few. He did the calculations in his head within milliseconds, and then rushed toward the part of the cage that faced the flying pickup. Next, he bravely stretched his arm out between two of the cage bars, and the key flew right into his hand.

"It's the key! I've got it!" Coyle called to his companions.

"Well then come on, Dad, unlock the door!" Virt said. "Hurry!"

"Alright," replied the man. He then put his arm back through the gap in between the cage bars, walked over to the door, reached through the gap closest to the lock, and very carefully inserted the key into the keyhole.

"I said breathe it in!" the Peacekeeper at the wheel yelled. When neither Effie nor Bongo obeyed him, his anger increased. He started to say something else, but the Peacekeeper sitting next to him motioned for him to be quiet and then said something to the Peacekeepers who were in the cage. One of them nodded, and as he grabbed Katniss by her left arm and lifted her up, the Peacekeeper next to the one at the wheel said through the speaker, "You have a choice, Miss Trinket. Breathe it in, and all four of these hostages will be released. If you choose not to, the Girl On Fire gets extinguished first."

Effie froze. It was either sacrifice herself or sacrifice Katniss. A choice she had to make, but couldn't. Her fear of what might happen later if she sacrificed herself prevented her from making that move, but she didn't want anything bad to happen to her tribute either. She didn't deserve this…none of them did…

"Wheeee!"

Suddenly Nessa came sliding down the slide attached to the platform the formerly locked cage was on top of, carrying the Capitolite clothing her teammates had stolen from District 8. Right behind her came everyone else on her team that was present, with Prim carrying Buttercup, and Virt, Appara, Coyle, Clara, Hazelle, and Mr. Mellark carrying all the backpacks and extra food. The Peacekeeper at the wheel then looked up at the sky for some reason and said through the speaker, "No! Don't—"

Then the much bigger hovercraft that Haymitch, Golias, and Objectiva were still in came into view, and a bright beam of light was cast upon the evacuees' team from its entrance/exit, sucking the entire group into the giant vehicle, which turned invisible as soon as everyone was inside of it. Immediately the Peacekeeper next to the driver of the flying pickup rolled his window down and began shooting the contents of the blaster he had with him at the hovercraft's wings, trying to sabotage it and make it crash. The bullets all missed the target, but just barely each time because no matter how many times the hovercraft moved around, the Peacekeeper kept his gaze behind the windshield and somehow always managed to predict which area it would be at next.

Yup. In Haymitch's mind, that confirmed it. The Peacekeepers were using the DNA taken from Golias to upgrade their vehicles so that as long as they were looking through their windshields, they could see any vehicle even if it had turned invisible. This was information he quickly shared with Nessa and everyone in her team as he kept his eyes on the windshield and constantly steered them away from the bullets and fireballs that came towards them, along with what'd happened during their attempt to rescue the current hostages, Cecelia's predicament, and where Matt, Iris, Daisy, and Johanna were now. Not to mention who they were with now.

"So you found Thresh's family?" Nessa asked, excited.

"Without meaning to, we did," said Objectiva. "Now come on. Let us reunite with them inside the chalk drawing. I feel we will be safe inside of it."

"But what about Bongo and Effie?" Golias inquired.

"And what if the Peacekeepers follow us to the right place?" added Bizz.

"And what about—"

But before Toolip could finish asking that question, Haymitch saw several bullets get shot into the flying pickup's thrusters from another direction, causing the vehicle to fall and then crash once it hit the ground. In the few seconds that the Peacekeeper next to his vehicle's driver spent in too much surprise over the fall of the vehicle to shoot some more, the mentor from District 12 looked through the windshield and saw that Paul, Esther, Gale, Dial, and Rue had finally officially left the latter's house. All five of them were each holding a Peacekeeper blaster now, meaning the former four must have either killed or effectively fought off the Peacekeepers that had gone after them, and the bullets that were being fired at the vehicle were coming from the blasters held by Dial and the Woolweaves.

Effie and Bongo, meanwhile, were looking away from the spectacle because of how close it was to the now-very-large cloud of yellow fog. They were both taking advantage of the distractions that the Peacekeepers were being faced with and looking away from the fog to pause their breath-holding, but it was clear that they'd only be able to keep that up for so long. The fog was spreading quite rapidly, after all…

The flying pickup landed forcefully on the ground, severely damaging the bottom part of itself. Once he got his bearings, the Peacekeeper next to the driver of the vehicle began trying to shoot at the hovercraft again, prompting Haymitch to start steering it in different directions again to avoid letting any parts of the vehicle get struck. He didn't have to do that for too long though, because as soon as that happened, Paul, Gale, and Dial held their breath and charged into the fog just as it began to seep around the flying pickup's windshield. Paul then went to the right side of the vehicle while the other two chose the left side, and using the handles of their blasters, they quickly pried the doors open before bravely lunging at both Peacekeepers and stopping them from doing anything to endanger their allies.

The fog then began to seep into the flying pickup, and with no bullets coming out of it, Haymitch was able to seize the opportunity to get Effie and Bongo back into the hovercraft. He then went and rescued Esther and Rue, with the latter informing them that they hadn't found her parents.

"Paul said we could go to the district square and see if that's where they are," said Rue. "But then the Peacekeepers showed up, and we had to get back inside the house and come up with a plan for how to get past them." She then noticed Bongo and Objectiva and said, "I take it you're Bongo and Objectiva?"

"Yup!" Bongo said. "And we've got the magic amulets."

"'Tis nice to meet you," added Objectiva, "but I highly recommend reuniting with everyone by or within the chalk drawing before we go to the district square. That way more of us can be safe in case more Peacekeepers show up."

"Chalk drawing?" Esther asked, confused.

While Golias told Esther and Rue what they'd missed, Haymitch looked through the windshield again. Paul and Gale were still wrestling with the two particular Peacekeepers, but Dial was now exiting the flying pickup, something tiny in his hand. He then went to the cage attached to the back of the vehicle and inserted something—most likely a key—into a tiny hole in the cage. It swung open, and Yuri, Lili, and Sonia all rushed out of it before the Peacekeepers that had been guarding them in the cage could catch and stop them. That one Peacekeeper was still clutching the unconscious Katniss by her arm however, and seeing this, Dial ordered the three former hostages to make a run for it. "I'm with Nessa's team, so you can trust me. And don't breathe that fog in, got it?"

It wasn't until a second after he said that that the fog fully engulfed the back of the vehicle as well, giving Yuri, Lili, and Sonia just enough time to inhale deeply so they could hold their breath. The first two former hostages then made a run for it, forcing Sonia, who didn't fully trust Dial, to follow them in order to protect them. Seeing that, Haymitch steered the hovercraft after the trio, and within seconds, Yuri, Lili, and Sonia were all in the same vehicle as him and most of the other rebels.

"Sonia!" Esther shouted. She was in disbelief, shock, fear, and…joy. She just…she couldn't believe it! The rebels had actually saved her daughter!

"Mom?" Sonia asked. She then looked at all the unfamiliar faces in the vehicle, and then at the familiar ones including her mother's, and then didn't waste a second. She ran forward, her mother doing the same, and then both of them hugged each other tightly at the same time. Simultaneously, a similar emotional reunion transpired between Yuri and Golias, though unlike the first, no tears were shed on either end. They were just really happy to see each other again, and boy was Golias relieved when he found out that this truly was the real Yuri (by asking him what his favourite colour was and receiving the correct answer without any hesitation or uncertainty) and that he hadn't gotten any booboos during his time in the Capitol. Trusting his friends with Yuri's safety and taking Foxface and Johanna's advice really had paid off. Wow…but now that his best friend was safe, Golias made a promise to never let anything or anyone separate them from each other again for the rest of the journey. Not even Johanna. Not now that Yuri was back, safe and sound.

Lili, meanwhile, immediately found Nessa and raced over to hug her, relieved to see her again. But much to her confusion, Nessa stepped back a little and said, "No…please don't hug me."

"What?" Lili asked, surprised. "Why don't you want me to hug you?"

Nessa started to answer her, but before she could come up with an idea of what to say, another person got emotional due to Sonia's return: Geolo, whom she instantly went over to comfort. He tried to hold it back at first because he knew her reunion with her mother meant the world to her, but in the end his tears came spilling out in sobs, and Sonia heard it right away. She then left her mother's embrace to give Geolo a much-needed hug, and once they were in each other's arms, he whispered, "You're my best friend, Sonia. You're my best friend…and I never want to leave you again…"

"Oh, you're just saying that to cheer me up after what the Capitol did to me," Sonia modestly replied. Although those words made her feel more touched than anything ever had before.

"No, I'm not," Geolo said, his voice still soft (so Clove wouldn't hear). "I know we haven't known each other for that long, but I really needed you by my side. Being with you is just…it's incredible, Sonia. It makes me feel more confident, and more like…I can do it. And I just…thanks for helping me feel that way."

"You're…you're welcome," murmured Sonia. She was caught off guard by his speech, but she had to admit…it was so beautiful. She'd never realized just how important she was to Geolo, or to the mission, and hearing what her friend had to say now was just…it was beautiful. This was a spectacular, special moment, in her opinion, and she wanted to bask in it forever. But she knew she couldn't. There were a ton of questions she had right now, like where her father was, why the Career tribute Nessa had replaced was here, and why there were three animals and a fairy in here too. So she asked these questions, and was quickly filled in on the details by Foxface.

"Nessa, why don't you want me to hug you? You always love getting hugs from me!"

The former giraffe sighed. She really didn't want to talk about that now. Not when so many people were happy to have Sonia back, or when Golias was overjoyed to be with Yuri again. Or when Paul, Dial, and Gale were still out there, dealing with those Peacekeepers. But still, she couldn't just not answer Lili's question—that would be a rude thing to do. So she simply said, "I just wanna make sure our friends Paul, Dial, and Gale get inside the hovercraft first."

"Are you sure?" Lili asked suspiciously. Both of them knew that normally, when it came to receiving hugs from her best friend, Nessa was all for it. She could never say no to them, no matter what else was going on!

"Yeah," said Nessa, frowning and looking away from the girl. She just wasn't ready to talk to Lili about the whole pretend love thing. In fact, she would much rather do it alone, when everyone else wasn't with them.

While Lili reluctantly accepted her best friend's answer, Haymitch kept his gaze glued to the windshield. Now Dial was standing there, holding his breath and pointing his blaster at the Peacekeepers in the cage, most of whom had their own blasters pointed at him in return. As for Paul and Gale, they were still fighting the two other Peacekeepers, but they were now doing so outside the vehicle. The fog was still surrounding the vehicle and the large area around it though, and he could tell the breath-holding was interfering with the battle on both sides. Then suddenly something terrible happened: one of the Peacekeepers kicked Paul in the gut, forcing him to stop and gasp for air—and breathe in the fog!

Haymitch stiffened the moment he saw that happen. Luckily, the fog didn't kill him, or even make him woozy or something. All it did was make him sneeze uncontrollably for a few seconds as he lay there, only able to watch helplessly as both Peacekeepers gained the upper hand and not only took away his blaster, but also pinned Gale to the ground, confiscating his blaster too. When that happened, Haymitch knew that there was no way those three adults would be able to take out the Peacekeepers and save Katniss on their own, so he sent Coyle to go outside with the blaster Esther had acquired, which she'd clipped to her belt just before going to hug her daughter. He accepted the task, knowing what he had to do despite the man not being too specific on the details, and once he did, Esther gave him her blaster. "I'm trusting you with my husband's safety," she told him softly.

"I know," he said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens to him, or my son. Or yours," he turned to Hazelle as he said that last part.

Haymitch extended the ladder of the hovercraft downward, and Coyle climbed down it with the blaster in his custody. With the element of surprise on his side, he was able to hold his breath and shoot the Peacekeepers who had beaten Paul and Gale each in the heart, with nobody other than Haymitch seeing him doing so, allowing Gale to get his and Paul's blasters back.

Then, while Haymitch retracted the ladder and used its bright light setting to suck a still-recovering Paul back into the hovercraft (where Sonia immediately asked if he was okay, only for him to need to wait a bit before he could give her an answer), Coyle and Gale took the other Peacekeepers by surprise and shot all of them too, except the one who was holding Katniss. Dial then rushed forward and grabbed the guy's blaster, startling him long enough for Gale to wrench his best friend out of his clutches. Dial then lost his grip on the Peacekeeper's blaster, but before the soldier could do anything in response to this, Coyle shot him in the stomach, and then Haymitch steered the hovercraft toward them and used the bright light setting to get him, Dial, Katniss, and Gale inside the vehicle too.

Once they were all in, the newly-arrived men all collapsed and began gasping for air, though none more so than Gale, who'd held his breath the longest. Haymitch began to steer them back towards Thresh's house, and Sonia once more asked, "Dad, are you okay?"

"I…I am," Paul gasped. "For now that is…since I breathed in the fog…"

Sonia gasped in horror. "You breathed it in?! Oh, first Katniss and now you. This is awful!"

"What do you mean by 'first Katniss?'" Foxface asked.

Shivering, Sonia explained, "The Peacekeepers used the fog on Katniss just before going to intercept you. They had this red liquid in a butterfly needle that they said was stolen magical DNA, which I guess was the sample they took from you, Golias, and they inserted it into the canisters of fog they had with them."

"There's more than one fog canister?" Effie asked in fear.

"Yeah, and more than four hovercrafts," said Sonia. "It's only a matter of time before the other ones get called in after everything that happened out there. Anyway, they also put the liquid inside the engine of each of their vehicles, and they told me about that lie Katniss told about her having magic powers and not the kids. They wanted to find out for sure whether or not she was telling the truth, so they used the fog on her. She sneezed uncontrollably for a few seconds and then started hallucinating after a while, and then she passed out. They said that the way they programmed the fog, once the magic ingredient was added to it, that was what was supposed to happen if someone who doesn't have any magic powers breathed it in. If someone who does have magic powers breathes it in, they aren't supposed to sneeze like that. They're also supposed to sleep forever unless the Capitol provides them with an antidote."

Suddenly Paul underwent a dizzy spell and fainted. "Dad!" Sonia cried. She quickly tried to shake him awake, as did Esther. However, nothing they did could do the trick. He was out. Not dead, but out…and that was when Geolo realized something. Turning to Sonia, he asked, "Is the fog an upgraded version of tracker jacker venom?"

"Yeah," she replied, "it is. Luckily, since my dad doesn't have any powers, he should just be out for a week." She then sighed sadly. "My poor dad. He must have been hallucinating while I was explaining all that stuff to you."

"Uh, what's tracker jacker venom and hallucinating?" Bongo asked.

"Hallucinating is seeing things that are not actually there," said Foxface.

"And tracker jackers are sort of like bees, but different," added Nessa. "When they sting people, they don't just hurt them. They also make them hallucinate weird and scary stuff, and then pass out for a week or so. But if you get stung too many times, they'll never wake up at all." She then looked at Geolo and asked, "But you never told me what venom is."

"It's the liquid that goes into you when you get stung by a tracker jacker," explained Geolo. "It makes all the hallucinations and nightmares happen."

"Oh," Nessa and Bongo said in unison. Now they both understood.

Simultaneously, hearing these descriptions, Golias finally fully understood what his mistake from last night had caused Blight and Chaff to experience. Oh, poor them! Now they were going to spend the rest of their lives having nightmares, and like Johanna had said, it was all his fault! If he hadn't stopped running during the tracker jacker chase, Blight and Chaff would still be here. In fact, a lot of things had been his fault. Wish-Trish getting squashed, the Peacekeepers being able to use magic…

Golias sighed in sadness. Every time he tried to help, something went wrong and it made things worse. So…maybe things would go better if he didn't try to help. Maybe if he simply stood back and let his friends do everything, and just trusted them, nothing would go wrong. Johanna had made it clear that she didn't want his help, and he knew that even though she could come off as very mean, she wanted to help the rebels. And him not doing anything was what had allowed Yuri to get saved from the Peacekeepers. So maybe it would help make things better some more. Not that he wanted to not help; he didn't want to not help at all. But if it was for the best, he might as well sit back and watch.

"What about Rue and her siblings' parents?" Esther inquired.

Sonia turned to Rue, looking genuinely surprised. "Your parents?"

"Yeah," said Esther. "Are they okay?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

Astilbo stepped forward, looking concerned. "Because Rue, your parents, Dial, and Gale went to our house to get them in here, and they weren't there."

Esther nodded. "I was under the impression that they were taken hostage just like you were."

"No, it didn't sound like they were," said Sonia. "We just came to District 11 because the Peacekeepers knew you'd be here. They wouldn't tell us why, they just said they 'had evidence' of it. By the time we got to your house, Rue, you were all already there."

Silence filled the hovercraft. That was sort of a relief, but also very strange. If Rue and her siblings' parents hadn't been taken hostage, then where were they? Were they in the district square? Were they at a friend's house? Where were they? This was such a mystery, and they had to solve it—fast. If they didn't, Peacekeeper reinforcements would be sent in, and goodness knew what would happen next.

But first, there was one more stop they needed to make: the chalk drawing. Because like Objectiva had said, the more members of the team who were safe by the time more Peacekeepers showed up, the better.

Oh boy. Where are Rue's parents? And can everyone find them before time runs out? Stay tuned to find out :)