Mockingjay: Washed

Chapter 7

3rd Person.

"They warned us. That was a warning."

Haymitch pointed at the screen that was now blank and looked at Boggs for confirmation. Paul and Katniss were staring at the screen with blank expressions.

"Yes, It was."

Realization dawned on the burnet and she approached Haymitch desperation clear on her face.

"We have to get him out before they kill him."

"Is there anything in the air?"

The President ignored the girl and went to the radar systems to look over everything.

"Nothing on Doppler, ma'am."

"They were in the mansion, they could have overheard something."

The women looked at Heavensbee hoping that he would have some sort of answer.

"Possibly but there is no guarantee."

"It is time for an air raid drill."

She looked at the operator who nodded and started hitting buttons before speaking into a mic.

"This is a code red alert. Please, remain calm and begin evacuation protocols."

Paul looked at the girl that was still unmoving from Haymitch's side. He was gentle and grabbed her wrist to pull her away.

"Come on Katniss, we have to go. The others are already headed that way."

The girl nodded and let the man drag her away from the control room and into the stairwell where she froze.

"Prim! I have to get Prim."

Paul cursed under his breath and nodded.

"Ok, where would she be?"

Katniss thought and didn't answer. She went to the diner looking for her sister.

"Prim! Prim!"

Paul was quick on the girl's heal listening to the Air Raid Drill.

"Proceed to your nearest stairwell and descend to level 40. Blast doors will be sealed in six minutes."

"Katniss, we need to go, she might already be down there. Now come on!"

The girl nodded and allowed the man to drag her down the stairwell quickly. The girl looked over the crowd of people for her mother and sister.

"This is a code red alert. Please, remain calm and begin evacuation protocol. Proceed in an orderly fashion to your nearest stairwell and descend to level 40."

Paul made sure to stay with the girl as the descended the staircase. Then the lights go out. The man lost grip on the girl and water started to rain down on the group making a panic occur.

"Katniss! Katniss!"

The man runs down the remaining stairs looking for the younger girl. He couldn't see much but soon a familiar blonde finds him grabbing his arm before he could go running after the younger girl.

"Paul! Paul! We need to get into the room. We don't have time for this."

Paul looked down at the blonde from 4. He looked back to where the girl disappeared and allowed the boy to drag him away. He was reluctant as he was forced to sit on a cot where Finn sat next to him, handing the boy a pack. The count down for the doors closed echoed around.

"You know she will be alright, right?"

Paul looked down at Finn from where he spoke. He knew he was talking about his fiance and let out a sigh. Did he really know that? She looked terrible, but a smile crept on his face anyways.

"Kit always had a knack for miracles."

Finn chuckled.

"That she did."

Just then the younger girl with a cat in hand, Sister and mother next to her came into the room. Gale wasn't far from them and the group joined the two men in cots near them.

"She went after the cat didn't she?"

Paul looked at the burnet waiting for an answer. The girl smirked handing the cat to her sister.

"She did."

The room was quiet and the sound of bombs echoed around. The older girl flinched as did the other Victors in the room.

"Prim, talk about something. Anything."

The blond pet the cat contemplating what to say.

"They promoted me at the hospital. I forgot to tell you. They're training me to be a doctor."

The older girl scuffed.

"They'd be stupid not to."

More bombs came down entering their conversation. Katniss gets up and walks over to where Paul and Finn sat in their bunker.

"Hey. Can I sit?"

The blonde nodded up at the girl focusing back on the picture in hand.

"Yeah."

The girl caught glips of the photo of Annie along with Cato, Kit, Paul, and Jo laughing in the water.

"Snow's using Annie to punish you. He's taunting us with them. I didn't understand until just now watching that stupid cat."

The group looked at where the cat was trying to catch the light on the wall. Finnick took a deep breath before putting the photo back in his wallet. Paul was silent, watching the cat as it tried to catch the light.

"After your first Games, I thought the whole romance was an act. We all expected you to continue that strategy. But it wasn't until Peeta's heart stopped and he nearly died that I knew I'd misjudged you. You love him. I'm not saying in what way, maybe you don't even know yourself. But anyone paying attention can see it."

The burnet stayed quiet and looked down at her hands.

"How do you live with it?

"I drag myself out of nightmares and there's no relief in waking up. But it's better not to give in to it. It takes ten times longer to put yourself back together than it does to fall apart."

No other words were exchanged between the three before they all went to sleep. They were all tired from the night's events. One common thought ran through their head though, that those in the capital were still alive.