Gale's Window

Chapter 8: A New Panem

When I look back on the last few months, all I see is a blur of anger, anguish and regret. What started out as a way to help the rebels in their efforts to free a country, ended up as the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of children.

I'm ashamed to say my hands aren't clean.

I know that I'll never be able to change or erase the things I've done. I can only hope all the destruction I left along my path won't be in vain.

We did manage to free Panem from its oppressors, after all. The Capitol is no longer what it once was. We're not slaves anymore, and I know I'll spend every waking moment of my life trying to make sure we stay this way. I have to. I owe it to them. All those who gave their lives so that we could have a better one.

I can't bring them back to life. The children, the soldiers, and the volunteers who died on the battlefields and on the streets of their towns are gone forever, as are those who died trying to help the wounded and the lost. All that is left for me to do is honor them with my commitment to the country which was bought with their blood.

XXXXX

We walked along the streets of the Capitol. Storefronts and buildings which had once been full of life stood by empty, what was left of their bright façades a sharp contrast from the despair and destruction which encircled us.

I looked around me. We were surrounded by hundreds of hungry, scared citizens. They walked in small, compact groups, huddled against the cold. They were all trying to reach the president's mansion.

I was surprised to discover that, under all their nervousness and anxiety, I could still find a glimmer of hope in their eyes. These people still believed that President Snow had answers for them. They still thought their lives would go back to what they used to be. I hoped with every fiber of my being that they were wrong.

As we moved forward, I thought about President Snow. He'd clearly been expecting an attack like this one for years. He must have been terrified if he had felt like he had to arm the Capitol like that, I mused.

I had to stifle a laugh as I realized that the weapons which had been installed to protect the Capitol and its inhabitants, were the same ones that were destroying their beloved city right in front of their eyes.

A smug voice inside my head pointed out that President Snow must have been desperate if he was willing to let his city burn down to the ground.

Suddenly, I heard a loud cracking sound. The earth moved under our feet as a seam opened up down the center of the block. The huge gap kept growing, eating everything in its path.

In a desperate attempt to stay out of the enormous hole which was about to devour us, I reached out for the first thing I could grab. It turned out to be a decorative iron grating which wrapped around the door to an apartment building. I held onto it as tightly as I could. It would have been easy enough to access the building if the door had been open. I kicked on it, trying to get someone's attention, but no one answered my call.

I heard Katniss's voice calling from my right. "Cover yourself!" she yelled.

I could see her lifting her gun, so I turned away.

She pointed her weapon towards the lock and started drilling it with gunfire.

After a few seconds, the door flew open swinging into the foyer of the apartment building. I threw myself through the open doorway and landed in a heap on the floor.

I had barely recovered from the fall when a large set of hands settled on my shoulders. I was surprised by how tight their grip was until I turned around. Peacekeepers. I knew those white-gloved hands would never let go of me.