Broken (Peeta Mellark Fanfiction)

Chapter 13 - Chaos

I fasten Tigris's furry hat over my head so it hides my blonde hair, grimly remembering what happened to the man who'd been accused of being me just because of his similar hair.

I pull my scarf over my mouth as the cold air whips onto my face. I merge into the crowd of Capitol citizens with my head hanging low. The sky is very dim, making it difficult to locate Katniss and Gale ahead of me. It shouldn't be a problem, I know they went this way, and I'm sure that they're headed to the President's mansion. It's essential that I find them, so I know if or when I need to cause a disturbance. At least it'll be harder for people to see my face.

I can hear gunfire in the distance, and I try to block out the desperate crying in the crowds. There's silent refugees, and curious children, asking what's going on and where they're going. A little girl in a purple tutu holds hands with who I am assuming is her mother. They're right in front of me, the little girl looks up at her mom with a confused expression.

"Mommy, where are we going?" She asks.

"We're going to the president's mansion." The mother answers in a hushed tone.

"But why?"

"He's offered us a place to stay, we will be safe there."

The little girl nods before looking back at me. She looks away, then quickly looks back at me again. I keep my eyes on the ground, and nestle my face more into my scarf so it's covered better. Luckily the little girl looks away from me again, so I can release a breath I didn't realize I was holding in. I slowly move to the edge of the crowd, thinking I can get a better view from here. Suddenly a bunch of people in front of me randomly start dropping, at first I'm confused, then I hear the gunfire above us and see the ripple of bullet wounds across their bodies. I drop down to the ground with them, a woman next to me starts screaming, and other people join in. I crawl over to the wall, my entire arm dipping into a puddle of someone else's blood. When I look up, I can see the dark uniforms of the rebels. They're the ones shooting. When my eyes glance over the motionless bodies, I see the purple tutu of the little girl who stared at me only moments ago, she's lying in the street next to her mother, motionless with the others...

I can feel my heart racing, but my mind is somewhere else, I have to find Katniss. I can hear more gunshots coming from the rooftops, I stay against the wall with a few other panicked Capitol citizens. People are running now, tearing past each other while peacekeepers shoot at the rebels above.

I move quickly against the wall, avoiding the sight of any peacekeepers, but luckily they are occupied with trying to shoot down the rebels, who are now starting to pour out into the streets and take cover behind vehicles or display stands. Many refugees aren't so lucky, a large number of them are lying out in the streets, dead. Some of them might've activated a pod, because I can hear explosions followed by piercing screams coming from up ahead.

I aggressively push away the dizziness that is prickling with madness as I try not to trip on the bodies, or slip on the pools of blood.

Maybe I should head back to Tigris's, I'm going to lose control and make things worse.

I can't head back now, I've made it this far, and I still haven't found her.

What could I do at this point? I came to cause a distraction but now there's plenty of that going on now.

I'm not going back, I'm not going to do nothing, this insanity can't control me any longer, at least not now.

I make my way towards where I think the City Circle is, it's still a little far away but all I can do is try to get there, I know that's where she'll be. The air is steamy, all I can see is snow, piles of corpses, and people shooting at each other through unclear steam. There's so much blood, flooding the streets and sidewalks, then there's the screaming, never-ending from every direction. There are so many ways Cressida, Pollux, Gale and Katniss could have already died by now. I hold onto the idea that they're still alive, but it's barely possible to think.

I duck into a doorway, then crouch down and lean my head against the wall with my hands clamped over my ears. Insanity spirals through my veins, yanking me away from the real world, but I'm still desperately holding on. As I'm slipping, her name appears, and I repeat it to myself over and over.

Katniss.

She might still be out there. I have to find her, I have to make sure she's safe.

That's what you and I do. Protect each other.

I force myself to stand back up, to step back out into the chaos. Most of the screams have stopped, and I can't see any peacekeepers and rebels shooting at each other anymore. The steam is a little faded, I can see groups of people in white uniforms pouring throughout the streets. They are medics from District 13, and it looks like they're checking every corpse, searching for survivors that they could possibly help.

I'm not too far away from the City Circle, I can see a large concrete wall that separates a big crowd of people from the president's mansion. I quickly walk towards it behind a small group of panicked Capitol women. I get close enough to see the president's mansion in the short distance, not currently taking in any residents. Citizens are crowded in front of the wall, shoving their children to the front, it looks like they are taking in the children first.

What happens next is a blur, there's shouting, pointing, falling parachutes like the kind you usually see in the Games, then a giant explosion.

The snow is tainted red with flesh as blown off body parts are randomly lying about.

I'm on the ground, covering my ears as they ring, staring at the scene in horror while feet pound past me into the City Circle. It's the medics, they're running down the street to the moaning children lying on the burnt ground.
When I look behind me at the frantic medics running past me and into the City Circle, I see a familiar face.

Her blonde braid, the innocent eyes, it's Katniss's sister Prim.

I blink my eyes several times, then look away.

I'm probably hallucinating. My hijacked mind lies to me all the time, I can't trust it. It can't be her, it's not real. But what if it is real? Then again, what if none of this is real?

My head hurts, but I find the motivation to stand up again. People are crying, children are screaming, my hearing slowly recovers from the ringing but it's still all very distant. Medics, peacekeepers, and refugees all rush past me to and from all directions. I move with them, closer to the City Circle, and I scan the many faces to see if I could find Prim's once again, but I can't.
Then I see her, on the other side of the Circle, it's Katniss, she moving closer as well. She can't see me, she's staring at all of the unfortunate children. Through all the loud roars of noise, without the slightest bit of thought, I shout her name. But when I take one step towards her, a giant fiery wave blows me backward.

A wide line of heat burns into the left side of my body. Flames slash my face, and my forehead stings. I try to lift my hand to my face, but it's burning too, the entire sleeve of my Capitol outfit has giant holes burnt into it. My neck sizzles with pain, and I'm suddenly aware of my clothes on fire. The smoky scent of burning fabric fills my nostrils. Before I can attempt to stand up again, the smokey air turns into complete darkness.