peacekeeper•coriolanus snow ✓

𝟎𝟎𝟗. excecutions

chapter nine
executions

Life has been hell.

The Mayor isn't going to rest until he finds everyone involved in the killing. He wants to find the weapons and he wants to find out who was there. Mayfair was his daughter after all.

Avery, Sejanus, Coriolanus, and Spruce are all in grave danger. But since Avery is the district girl, she's been one of the prime suspects.

As she's walked down the streets of District 12, people have shouted at her and called her a murderer all because they saw her leave the Covey's performance. They wouldn't suspect a Peacekeeper of course.

Avery knew Coriolanus was about to walk through this area for his Peacekeeper duties. So she waited in a hidden corner. As soon as she saw him, she whisper-shouted, "Coryo!"

She immediately got his attention and he sped over to her.

"Coriolanus, I have to leave District 12."

Avery didn't want those words to ever leave her mouth, but they just did. She couldn't bring her sisters with her either. If she was caught out there in the woods, they would punish her sisters too. If she found someone to take care of them, they would live a normal life (as normal as it gets in Panem).

Avery would still miss them gravely. But she would rather them live on.

His face dropped. "What, why?"

"Everyone's beginning to suspect us, especially me since I'm a citizen. If I don't go, they're going to kill me."

Coriolanus considered his options, and he looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one was listening.

"I'll come with you."

Avery hadn't even offered, but she felt overjoyed at Coryo telling her that he'd come. She could imagine it now, a peaceful life with him out in nature...

The only part missing was her home district, her sisters, and her friends. But Jessie and Otto were dead now, and the only person she'd be missing was Lucy Gray.

"When do you want to leave?" Coriolanus asked, putting all of his attention on her.

"By the hanging tree, at dawn tomorrow."

Coriolanus nodded. "I'll be there, Avery."

She gave him a small smile as he walked in the streets as if nothing happened. Avery listened and waited for her chance to return home.

"We got one!" a voice shouted.

Avery peered beyond the wall ever so slightly to see what was happening. A swarm of Coriolanus's Peacekeeper friends were coming towards him and showing him that they had caught Spruce. Coriolanus's mouth was frozen wide open.

They had no choice but to run away. All of the evidence of the crime was still out there. The weapons were still out there. They would eventually catch them just as they caught Spruce.

Coriolanus had received an offer to be transferred to District 2 for an elite training program, but he saw running away with Avery as the best option for him.

Today has come down to something terrible. An execution. The citizens of age of District 12 were forced to gather in front of the hanging tree once again.

But this time Avery was more focused on a certain Peacekeeper standing up there. Many Peacekeepers were forced to stand facing the crowd during an execution, and Coriolanus was just one of them.

Spruce stood there with the rope tied around his neck. It hurt Avery to even look at him. She squeezed her eyes shut, imagining him as her or Coryo. They really didn't have a choice in leaving. It wasn't just about her safety; she couldn't see Coryo even be in an ounce of pain.

In all honesty, Avery was glad that Jessie was shot instead of hung. It sounded cruel, but imagine being held in place by a rope for all of your district to see and knowing your death is creeping up on you. And then... you're executed.

"Normally, I'd be angry. But this is the first time I've felt ashamed."

Avery noticed Coriolanus staring at the empty rope as if he knew what was about to happen.

Two peacekeepers were dragging Sejanus towards the rope. Avery didn't say anything. She didn't let out the scream that threatened to echo across the district.

She couldn't. Then she would be killed too. It would be a repeat of Arlo's execution. They had caught Sejanus.

Coriolanus bit his lip, he looked down and shivered. The word guilty was written all over him and Avery didn't understand why.

"I expect this of a rebel, but NOT from one of our own! This is treason!"

They adjusted the rope around Sejanus's neck as he began to panic and hyperventilate. "No, no! Wait! Help!" he cried.

Avery tried to pretend this was all a nightmare. Sejanus was a kind and caring soul, he truly wanted to help the people from her district and her.

Avery remembered how he was always there for her and how he held her when Otto died in the mines. Sejanus was a friend.

"Ma!" Sejanus cried as the rope tightened.

Avery couldn't bear to watch. She looked away as Sejanus and Spruce were executed in front of everyone.

She opened her eyes and she was making eye contact with Coriolanus. He gave her the saddest eyes and then looked down before looking up and bringing himself together again.

There was one thing that made Sejanus's tragic execution worse. The jabberjays.

They repeated his last words in a million mimicking tones. "Ma!" "Ma!" "Ma!" "Ma!"

This was Avery's last straw.

Otto. Gone.

Jessie. Gone.

Sejanus. Gone.

She looked for comfort within Lucy Gray who was a few people away from her. They found each other and wordlessly embraced.

And then she confessed what she was going to do even though Avery swore it was going to be a secret between her and Coriolanus. Well, she wasn't going to tell Lucy Gray the details.

"Lucy Gray, I have to leave the districts tomorrow. I really can't tell why, but I wanted to ask you a favor."

Lucy Gray nodded, taking this in.

"Can you please watch and take care of my sisters? If it's too much, it's ok-"

Lucy Gray nodded again. "Sure thing, Avery. I'm gonna help you, I know what it's like to need support like this."

It was hard to say goodbye to her sisters when they were half-asleep and didn't know what anything she was saying meant.

Avery couldn't bring them. She just couldn't. Gretchen and Gwynn weren't ones to be able to survive in the wilderness either. They wouldn't last a week.

Avery couldn't sleep that night. It was partially because she knew she was leaving everything behind tomorrow and also because Sejanus's last words wouldn't leave her head.