The Aftermath(a post-mockingjay story)

Chapter 16

Katniss POV

"Katniss! Are you almost ready? Come on we have to catch the train!" Peeta yells. We are going to catch the train to Las Vegas. We were supposed to leave two minutes ago, but as always, my mother is late. She is going to take care of Prim while we are away."I'm coming!" I come downstairs, dragging my luggage behind me.

"Sorry. My mother isn't here yet."

"Alright, well, maybe we should just drop Prim off at your mother's. Maybe she just forgot she had to come over here." He says.

"Ok. Let's go. Do you have her diaper bag, baby bottles, clothes, baby food, and her blanket?" We have to remember to bring Prim's blanket whenever she goes somewhere, even if we are just going out for the day. It keeps her calm in the car rides or at other houses.

"Check, check, check, check, annndd...check! Ok, let's go."

We walk over to my mother's house in the Victor's Village, with nothing but Prim's suitcase. Peeta and I are going to Las Vegas for five days, and our luggage is to heavy to carry around. I knock on the door and my mother finally opens the door. She doesn't look too healthy. Uh-Oh.

"Katniss, you're here." Yup. She is sick. "What are you doing here? I called you this morning to cancel."

"Well, the phone never rang. Ok, well, feel better. I guess I have to go over to Annie's and see if she's available."

I can't believe she cancelled on me. We are ten minutes late and going to miss the train! I walk over to Annie's while Peeta packs up the car at our house. Luckily, Annie is available. Prim is happily playing in the living room with Finn. Now, we just have to go to the train station.

Peeta drives as fast as he can, because the train leaves at noon. It is now 11:50. We are almost there. We might even make it, I hope we do. Peeta finds a parking space and we run inside. The lady at the front desk takes our tickets, we check into the security area, and on the train we go. 11:59. Just made it. The conductor welcomes us, tells us to buckle our seatbelts until we finally smooth out on the track, blah blah blah. I put my luggage over my head on a shelf. It will take twelve hours to drive across the country, but this is one of the Capitol's trains. The kind tributes used to ride on to train for their death. There isn't a train station in the Seam anymore. The new mayor of district 12 didn't think it was a good idea to build a new one. Most of district 12's tributes came from the Seam. The kids all had to sign up for tesserae, and the chances of being reaped were much greater in that area. Although, there is a train station in the center of the district, and that is the one we are driving from.

The train is moving at a fast pace. Everything is fine. Peeta is taking a nap, other passengers are reading a newspaper or watching out the window, like me. Like I said, everything is fine. Then the ride starts to get bumpy. The conductor tells us to put on our seatbelts, and we do. I wake Peeta up to tell him what happened. I keep watching out the window for anything coming our way. As we drive over a bridge, I spot something coming towards us in the distance. Its coming right on our track. It gets bigger every step of the way. I realize whats coming our way. Another train. Out the window, I can see sparks coming up from the brakes on both trains. It isn't working. They are going too fast to slow down anytime soon. All the passengers are panicking. They all know what's going to happen. I do too. Peeta looks over at me with panic in his eyes. I hold his hands, just in case something happens. We would need a miracle. But a miracle doesn't come. The other train is thirty feet away.

Twenty feet.

Ten feet.

One foot.

I feel the impact. Everything goes black.