Lethal Charm - THG [1]

35

Once the oil had dried, the unit had to evacuate to avoid peacekeepers. They had no choice but to leave the Leeg sisters as there was no way they could move the injured twin without causing more damage and her sister elected to stay behind with her.

The previously rather picturesque courtyard was now coated entirely in a solid layer of dried black oil. As they passed by, Knox avoided looking at either of the bodies splayed out in the middle of the yard.

Gale smashed a window with the butt of his crossbow and led the group into a tall building that had been mostly untouched by the black liquid on the inside.

They ascended the stairs and Jackson ordered for the curtains to be closed.  Knox glanced around distastefully. All of the walls were pink and the floors were covering with a fluffy pink carpet. In the centre of the room their was four screens mounted on a column on the ceiling which displayed the Capitol logo. 

Everyone fell deathly silent as they heard trucks approaching. Knox joined Finnick by the window, peeking through the gap in the curtain.

Two large armoured trucks had pulled up outside and two dozen peacekeepers piled out of them holding guns.

She watched as the peacekeepers began to shoot at the building they'd just left—where the Leegs still were. After a few minutes of shooting, with some fire returned from the Leegs, the peacekeepers shot a rocket at the building.

The group watching ducked down as the building opposite them exploded, effectively killing the Leeg sisters.

They could barely process the loss of two more unit members before the sound of the Capitol fanfare sounded from the screens in the middle of the room and a message appeared on screen: 'MANDATORY VIEWING. Attention all Panem Residents.'

Knox stepped away from the window as the image changed to that of Caesar Flickerman, looking as ridiculous as he ever did.

"Good afternoon. I'm Caesar Flickerman. Here with our continuing coverage of the defence of The Capitol." He began, "Today as our peacekeepers valiantly hold off the rebels our story takes a surprising twist." The image on the screen changed to surveillance footage from earlier when they'd been running away from the oil. "Katniss Everdeen, our once favourite daughter has infiltrated the city with some of the Victors, whose names are all too familiar. Finnick Odair, Knox Codie and Peeta Mellark."

Knox watched as the events of Peeta's earlier attack replayed on the screen before them. She glanced in Peeta's direction and saw an expression of heartbreak on his face.

"Hmm." Caesar hummed, "Clearly some alliances don't last forever. Take a look at what happened just a moment ago when our peacekeepers cornered Katniss Everdeen and her band of foolish rebels. Whatever arrogance brought this treacherous girl back to us you are about to witness a great victory not only for the Capitol but for Panem."

The air in the room was heavy as the feed changed to a video of the Leegs being blown up.

"So there you have it." said Caesar, "Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, a girl who inspired so much violence seems to have met a violent end herself. Stay tuned for more information. Caesar Flickerman. Thank you." And with that, the screen went dark again and the room fell silent.

"So now that we're dead what are we gonna do?" Gale questioned, breaking the silence.

"Isn't it obvious?" Peeta retorted, "The next move is to kill me." Everyone's attention turned to him in surprise but he didn't acknowledge them as he continued, "I murdered one of our squad members. Katniss is right. I'm a mutt. And it's only a matter of time before I snap again. I'm not in control. I need a night lock pill so I can die when I need to."