A Tale of a Boy and His Flower

Descent Into Madness

Finnick will come bounding down the steps in a minute.

I know it.

I believe it.

The first thing Katniss tells us when she wakes up was that she lied. "I made it up."

How she lied about the mission, how she jeopardized everyone in pursuit of revenge. There's a long silence after she finishes.

Then Gale says, "Katniss, we all knew you were lying about Coin sending you to assassinate Snow."

"You knew, maybe. The soldiers from Thirteen didn't," She replies.

"Do you really think Jackson believed you had orders from Coin?" Cressida asks. "Of course she didn't. But she trusted Boggs, and he'd clearly wanted you to go on."

"I never even told Boggs what I planned to do," She says.

"You told everyone in Command!" Gale says. "It was one of your conditions for being the Mockingjay. 'I kill Snow.'"

I'm not listening. I'm staring at the stairs. Counting the seconds until I see Finnick again.

"But not like this," She continues. "It's been a complete disaster."

"I think it would be considered a highly successful mission," says Gale. "We've infiltrated the enemy camp,showing that the Capitol's defenses can be breached. We've managed to get footage of ourselves all over the Capitol's news. We've thrown the whole city into chaos trying to find us."

"Trust me, Plutarch's thrilled," Cressida adds.

"That's because Plutarch doesn't care who dies," Katniss says. "Not as long as his Games are a success."

Cressida and Gale go round and round trying to convince her. Pollux nods at their words to back them up.Only Peeta, Zach and I don't offer an opinion.

"What do you think, Amaryllis?" She finally asks me.

I stare at the stairs as if a deer in head lights. I ignore the question. "How long do you think until Finnick comes back? I miss him."

Katniss looks like I've just slapped her across the face. I don't know why. I just want to know where Finnick is.

Zach pulls me closer to him. "Go back to sleep kiddo."

"But then I'll miss Finnick. I want to see him."

Everyone looks at me. I don't like it.

"Peeta?" Katniss sucked in a breath and finally looks away from me. "What do you think?"

"I think...you still have no idea. The effect you can have." He slides his cuffs up the support and pushes himself to a sitting position. "None of the people we lost were idiots. They knew what they were doing. They followed you because they believed you really could kill Snow."

Katniss pulls a paper map from a pocket in her uniform and spreads itout on the floor with new resolve.

"Where are we, Cressida?"Tigris's shop sits about five blocks from the City Circle and Snow's mansion. We're in easy walking distance through a zone in which the pods are deactivated for the residents' safety. We have disguises that,perhaps with some embellishments from Tigris's furry stock, could get us safely there. But then what? The mansion's sure to be heavily guarded, under round-the-clock camera surveillance, and laced with pods that could become live at the flick of a switch.

"What we need is to get him out in the open," Gale says. "Then one of us could pick him off."

"Does he ever appear in public anymore?" asks Peeta.