kill for your love - the hunger games

(052) panem today, tomorrow, and forever

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KILL FOR YOUR LOVE.

act three.

(chapter fifty-two, panem today, tomorrow, and forever)

the cells / the lab, 75 ADD.

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JOHANNA'S GURGLED SCREAMS ECHOED around as Juniper winced, leaning against the wall of her cell. Peacekeepers' had taken the woman from Seven that morning and for the next few hours, it was silent until that moment where everyone could hear Johanna's cries. It made Juniper jump slightly as Annie sobbed and Peeta held his head, grumbling mutt to himself. 

Juniper had never heard Johanna scream before. The girl hadn't done so in her own Games. Yes, she shed a few tears to play the weak girl persona, but she never screamed. Not even in the Quell. Johanna Mason was always stoic and hard. She never let her emotions bubble to the surface. But now, Juniper couldn't get her strangled cries out of her head. 

What were they doing to her? 

"Peeta..." Juniper hissed as she stared at the boy. She got a good look at him now that the cell between them was absent for the time being. "Peeta!" 

"Mutt... mutt... mutt." 

"Mellark!" Juniper snapped and suddenly, Peeta's tearful eyes looked up to stare at her. He looked exhausted, as if his mind was fighting a constant battle. "What are they doing to Mason?" 

Peeta stared at her for a while before wrapping his hands around the bars, kneeling on the tiled floor. A lone tear dropped from his eyes and fell to the floor as he said, in a torn voice, "They're not coming, Juniper... they're not coming... they're not coming to save us." 

Confusion settled in as Juniper furrowed her brows, asking, "Who? Who's not coming to save us?" 

"The rebels," Peeta croaked. He looked insane. "Whatever they said to you... they lied. They're not coming. No-one is coming! Katniss... they have Katniss." 

"Who has Katniss?" 

"The rebels!" Peeta yelled. Annie jumped in her cell. "The rebels have Katniss! They're using her, they're punishing her! They can't be trusted. They're going to kill Katniss!" 

Juniper stared at Peeta with wide eyes and watched as the boy began to mutter to himself before crawling to the corner of his cage, rocking himself again. And severe confusion and fear settled deeply into Juniper. She recalled Johanna saying that his love for Katniss had diminished, that he didn't have anything nice to say about her. But here he was, crying over the rebels killing Katniss. And why would the rebels kill Katniss? The rebellion wanted Everdeen to become the face of their lost cause, so why did Peeta think they were going to kill her? 

The Hale woman let out a sigh as Johanna's screams began to die down, glancing over at Annie. She was taking deep breaths as she wrapped her skinny arms around her legs. Her eyes were filled with fear and agony as she kept rapidly looking around at everything. When she settled on Juniper, she let out another low sob. 

"Hey, it's going to be okay..." Juniper whispered as she moved over to the bars that bordered her cell and Annie's. Her ribs jolted in pain at the sudden movement and stung, causing the woman to hiss. "We're going to get out of here."