The love story of Aurora Nightingale and Finnick Odair.
Nothing can rip the two apart not even death.
- Life sometimes has a way of working with a perfect amount of cruelty. Not enough to kill you but enough to make you wish it did.
- they are two...
We spend the night, woken by one another's nightmares, minds buzzing with the next day's plans. I'm relieved when five o'clock rolls around and we can begin whatever this day holds for us. Tigris spends the next hour remaking the six of us, she re-dresses us so regular clothes hide our uniforms before we even don our coats and cloaks
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"Never underestimate the power of a brilliant stylist," Peeta praises, a cat like smile forming across Tigris' face.
Our plan is to slip into the crowd in three groups. First Cressida and Pollux, who will act as guides while keeping a safe lead on us. Then Gale and Katniss who intend to position themselves among the refugees assigned to the mansion today. Then Peeta, and I who will trail behind them, ready to create a disturbance as needed. What better pair than the psychotic duo?
Katniss digs into her pocket pulling out the handcuff key, but Peeta jerks away from her.
"You might need your hands," says Gale. Katniss unlocks Peeta's cuffs, and stuff them into her pocket. He rubs and flexes his wrists, finally free from his chains.
"Listen," Katniss says. "Don't do anything foolish. It's last-resort stuff. Completely," she says.
We march right into the street. Snow flurries have began to fall from the sky, the sharp, icy snowflakes bite my exposed skin. I've always hated snow ever since my games, I get flashes of Caspers body bleeding out in my arms as I slice his neck.
Agitated people swirl around us, speaking of rebels, hunger and me in their affected Capitol accents. Gunfire rips through the crowd, and several people near me slump to the ground. Screams pierce the air as a second round mows down another group behind us.
"They're shooting from the roof above us" I tell Peeta. I watch carefully, seeing the white uniforms dropping into the snowy streets. "Trying to take out the Peacekeepers, they have a shit shot, It must be the rebels."
"Or just have a bad shot like me" Peeta jokes. I love that he's being himself but now is not perfect timing.
"Peeta we have to move, common" I say dragging him off the icy white floor. We make our way running closer and closer to Snows mansion avoiding the shots of peacekeepers and rebels in the process. Everything that moves is a target, people shoot reflexively, and I'm no exception. Heart pounding, adrenaline burning through me, everyone is my enemy. Except Peeta, we are in this together. We just have to survive.
Screaming people, bleeding people, dead people, everywhere. I look around I see a little girl lying in the floor in a now red coat painted with her blood. This should not be happening. Innocent children are dying, as a mother I couldn't imagine the thought of loosing my kids.
I see Gale being pulled into a truck as they pin his arms to his side. Shit! He can't reach his nightlock pill. Katniss must be around here somewhere.
We get close to the front of the barriers and I notice that everyone inside is from the ages of 1 to 12, huddled in groups or rocking numbly on the ground. They aren't being led into the mansion. They're penned in, guarded on all sides by Peacekeepers. I know immediately it's not for their protection.
I hear shouts of "The rebels! The rebels!" and know they must've broken through.
Someone shoved me making me crashing into Peeta momentarily. "Sorry" I apologise.
"It's ok" he quickly assured me.
I notice a hovercraft marked with the Capitol's seal materializes directly over the barricaded children. Scores of silver parachutes rain down on them. Even in this chaos, the children know what silver parachutes contain. Food. Medicine. Gifts. They eagerly scoop them up, frozen fingers struggling with the strings. The hovercraft vanishes, five seconds pass, and then about twenty parachutes simultaneously explode.
The snow's red and littered with undersized body parts. Many of the children die immediately, but others lie in agony on the ground. I can tell the Peacekeepers didn't know this was coming by the way they are yanking away the barricades, making a path to the children. I go to rush over to them but Peeta quickly grabs a hold of me stopping me from getting any further. He signals over to the rebel medics coming into help and I stop struggling against his grip.
Suddenly, there's a second explosion sending us flying back.
Real or not real, Am I on fire? The balls of flame that erupted from the parachutes shot over the barricades, through the snowy air. Agony. No sight, no sound, no feeling except the unrelenting burning of flesh.
The world around me keeps turning to blackness but then reappearing. Gravity pulls me into the seaweed colour of Finnick's eyes. I see Caspers face shining in the sky. Am I hallucinating?
Is this real?
"Stay with me Aurora" I hear someone shout as my eyes flutter shut.
