A Court of Ashes ↠ Peeta Mellark [3] ✓

13 ; Still

In the morning Tigris returns and lets them out of the small cellar. All of them stand before a television, watching as a news reporter talks about how due to the black wave of tar that'd President Snow had sent to destroy them and their troops, people are being evacuated from their homes and the Capitol is taking their cars and pushing them down the streets to set off the bombs leading to the heart of the Capitol to place new ones in their place.

"This can't last," Gale says, removing his gaze from the television. "In fact I'm surprised they've kept it going so long. The Capitol will adjust to setting off specific pods and then manually triggering them when their targets come into range."

Emberly keeps her eyes on the screen, watching as the Peacekeepers fight off the rebels, leading them through the mine pods and blowing them to pieces in front of the civilians of the Capitol who do nothing but watch as innocent people get killed.

"I bet it's killing Plutarch not to be in the control room on this one." Noah starts, referring to Plutarch's past as Gamemaker for the Hunger Games arenas.

The reporter, with a grim face, tells the Capitol what streets not to go down as Katniss marks down everything she says on the map in her hand. All of them not wanting to risk running into opposing army forces.

There has been enough casualties as it is.

Moving towards the window, Emberly lifts her fingers and bends down the blinds. In the early morning light, she see's a bizarre scene. Refugees are streaming towards the Capitol's center. The most panicked, Emberly notices, are wearing nothing but nightgowns and slippers, while the more prepared have large backpacks on their backs as they move calmly through the crowd.

Confused, sleepy children follow after their parents. It's a blur of images before Emberly's eyes. A pair of wide brown eyes. An arm clutching a favorite doll. A pair of bare feet, bluish in the cold, catching on the uneven paving stones of the alley. Seeing them reminds Emberly of Rue and her taken away innocence and she's lifting her finger from the blinds and steps away from the window.

Tigris offers to be their spy for the day, wrapping her black and gold striped body in a large bright green jacket before leaving them secure inside of her dusty shop in order to receive some intel to bring back to them.

It's by late afternoon when she returns, making them a hot meal of ham and potatoes, which Emberly eats in a rush, her stomach gurgling happily underneath her thick black vest. It's when the sun comes down does Emberly make her way towards the bathroom to wipe the sweat from her face from the lack of air conditioning in the cellar.

Running damp hands down her face, Emberly notices the dark strands of hair sticking to her forehead. Frowning, Emberly opens the panel behind Tigris's mirror, seeing many pill bottles but also a razorblade.

Grabbing the razorblade, Emberly closes the panel in the mirror and wraps a piece of hair around her finger, watching the ebony strands choke her pale finger like vines. Raising the razor, she begins to cut away at her hair, watching as the soft strands fall to the floor.

She continues like this for a while, watching as the razor chops through her hair. It's done after a few hours, and Emberly is almost certain all of them are already back in the cellar. Placing the razorblade on the corner of the sink, Emberly stares at the strands of shoulder length hair, watching the ends curl around neck and jaw.

A soft smile burns onto her face as she clicks of the light and leaves the bathroom. Her footsteps are quick like a fox as she makes her way back towards the cellar. Pushing the rack of clothing away from the panel in the wall, she opens the door, seeing the sleeping bodies of her friends before stepping in and closing the door behind her.