Hunger Games - From the Ashes

Chapter Eight - District 12

We arrived in district 12 the next day. I had asked Mr Mellark to come with us though, Coin was anything but happy about it. Yet here we were.

"So I want to start with you in front of the Justice Building, okay." I nodded and walked on ahead. I looked at the crumpled building where I stood as tribute for two games.

"Lily, tell us what happened here." I didn't say anything just looked at it.

"We were all standing right here..." I turned to Gale "...watching the games as you fired that arrow. The screens just went dark, nobody had any idea what happened. Peacekeepers forced us into our homes. For maybe an hour the two was just dead quiet." He told me Kat came forward joining him.

"Little past nine, the trucks pulled out. All of them. Every single peacekeeper." Kat continued " We knew what that meant. Gale and I with some guys from the mines started pulling people out of their houses and trying to get them to the fence line...."

"But a lot of people were scared of the forrest." Gale took back over "So they headed up onto the road make a break for it that way." He pointed in one direction and then took us down the same route.

"916 of us made it to the fence. Then we watched as bombers circled back towards the road. They firebombed them as they ran away." We stomped over the valley of bones. "916 out of 10,000. I should have grabbed people. I should have dragged them with me. Some of the kids I could have carried." Gale crouched down and Kat joined him.

"We both could have."

"You saved so many people, Gale. Without you there would be no district 12, not even a memory of it."

"Kol." I looked back to my father in law.

"What happened, to your family?" He came closer to me.

"Katniss banged on my door not long after the peace keepers left. She told us that we needed to leave.I didn't think twice. But my wife..she, she didn't listen and my boys... They followed despite my protests. I tried to pull them with me but they didn't listen they were like most of them, afraid of the woods and decided to chance it. I wanted to get them drag them away but I didn't I blame myself everyday since then for not doing that.

When they bombed the people I took everything in me not to scream, if I did they might have found us. I lost my wife, my sons." He broke into tears as I comforted him.

"I told Mr Mellark that he had to live for Peeta, you and him were the only family he had left." Katniss added to the testament of what had happened while Peeta and I had been away.

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While Cressida was reviewing the footage I went back home to collect some more hers and things for Mom. Kat took some too for her Mom and went upstairs to get some small things as well. When I came back down. Gale was walking away from Kat.

"What was that about?"

"I kissed him."

"Okay..." I gestured for her to keep talking

"He told me that I only kissed him when he was in pain. Do I really do that?" she wondered. I shrugged.

"I don't know, I don't exactly spy on you. Don't worry, everything will be fine. I promise."

We all sat by the lake, eating I took my shirt leaving my tank top underneath. As I was drinking some water a mockingjay landed near me and Pollux. He pointed to his copy of my pin.

"Yes, that's a mockingjay." He whistled a tune and it copied .

"Well now they never shut up." Gale grumbled. Seriously he needed to check his attitude, he was beginning to annoy me and as people like to say that never ended well.

"I think it's nice." I commented back to Gale. Pollux signed to me.

"You want me to sing?" I asked and he nodded. I cleared my throat as I thought of something.

-Flashback-

My sister had woken up with a bad dream, she asked me to sing her back to sleep

"Which one?" I asked

"Hanging tree."

"To go back to sleep?" She nodded and I sighed then began to sing

.

"Maybe that should be our song." I jumped hearing Peeta.

"Don't scare me like that." I held a hand over my heart. I got up and closed the door behind me.

"Nightmare?" he nodded and I took him back to my room, we stayed up the rest of the night. talking about things and about that song. How it would be a secret message to one another.

-end-

Hanging tree

We got back on the hovercraft and I rested my eyes while leaning on Kat's shoulder. I don't know how long I was sleep but I felt someone picking me up. I opened my eyes slightly

"Go, back to sleep sis." I hummed and fell back asleep.