Warriors ("Allies" Sequel)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I remember it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday: Peeta and I sitting together the night before our first Games, watching the celebration happening on the Capitol's streets. Peeta spoke words that I will never forget, he saw the Games as what they really were and the tributes as the pieces that made it make sense.

And now, long after that, miles and miles away from where it happened, I feel like a piece of a game, only a different game. The people that are playing with me are trying to make it seem like I'm playing willingly, but I know I'm not. They want me to be 'The Mockingjay', symbol of the revolution, and I don't know if I'm the most suitable one for the job, which is why I refused to do it but after they took me to Twelve (or what's left of it), well, I realized I have to do something and make Snow pay for destroying my District and making many others suffer.

Most of my days in Thirteen go by the same way: wake up, get my schedule printed on my forearm, ignore it and then take naps in different places that are small and make me feel a bit more secure. Life here is very routinary and so are the people . Sometimes I meet with President Coin, the leader of District 13, who looks determined to make me the Mockingjay, and will stop at nothing to take down the Capitol, guess we have that in common.

I have seen Finnick around a few times but he seems to be doing worse than me. He looks a bit disoriented and has trouble focusing on things, except for a piece of rope he carries everywhere. When we first got here he wouldn't leave me alone, kept apologizing and begging me to forgive him; but I never did. After a few weeks he stopped trying and I guess he lost himself. I wonder if the result had been different if I hadn't left him alone, in some ways I feel like I abandoned him, and I do feel guilty when I see him walking around with no purpose, but I just don't know how or even if I want to approach him.

When I start thinking too much about Finnick, I usually go talk to Prim or Gale, to keep me distracted, although they're not always available. Prim is some kind of nurse here in Thirteen and Gale is a special soldier, he even has a weird bracelet to communicate with Coin; so I always go back to thinking about those ocean-green eyes.

The only part of my schedule I respect is lunch time. Sometimes I even manage to eat at the same time as Gale, which is almost like old times. So I get out of the closet where I have been lying in for the last two hours and make my way towards the cafeteria.

People's reactions towards me are mixed. Some of them don't even look at me and some of them stare too much, almost as if expecting me to breathe fire or something like that; so I'm used to having some District 13 habitants stare on my way to the cafeteria. When I reach it, I get in line behind a dark haired girl who's just getting her food. I turn to my right and see Finnick struggling to keep his tray, water and piece of rope in balance. He drops the rope without noticing and begins to walk away.

"Finnick!" I call out as I get out of line and reach down for his rope.

He turns around with an amazed expression, his shoulders tense.

"Katniss." I hear him whisper.

"You dropped this." I say, as I put the piece of rope on his tray.

"Thank you, Katniss." His voice sounds almost surprised every time he says my name.

"You're welcome." I shift uncomfortably but he doesn't take his amazed eyes off me. "Well, see you around, Finnick."

It takes him a few seconds to react. "Oh, uh, yes. See you around, Katniss."

I go back in line and he turns to go sit down. He really is disoriented; those ocean eyes that once were steady and flirty are now shaky and nervous; the way he walks and moves his body, it's like a completely different person from Finnick, whose movements were always so graceful and calculated. And I can't lie, I felt like my stomach contracted when I saw him. Is he like this because of me? Probably. That and also because his best friend and probably only family, Annie Cresta, got captured by the Capitol, as did Peeta. Both might be dead now.