Fire is Raging On (A Hunger Games Fanfic) [#Wattys 2016]

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Peeta's POV

    "Now if you please, is there anything you have here that will be absolutely necessary to have on your person?"

    I look back at Katniss; she's stopped leaning against the wall and is now watching Dominuc. She sees me staring and shakes her head. "No, we don't have anything here that we have to have with us," I say turning back to Dominuc.

    "Then, let's get a move on. We need to get you out of here quickly before the Capitol sees us on Panem's radar," he says moving to walk back outside.

    I look back at Katniss and she nods her head at me before coming to join me. I grasp her hand tightly and pull the door shut behind us. I don't bother to lock it. There's nothing here for us now, and besides what's a locked door going to stop someone who wants to get what they want out of there?

Dominuc is waiting at the gates to Victor's Village for us. I can see his foot tapping impatiently against the ground, probably wanting us to hurry up. Katniss and I speed our pace up and follow him. Once we reach him, he turns without a word and leads us through empty streets of District Twelve. Everyone is inside their homes no doubt, grieving with us at the capture of our daughter. No one stops or notices us as we follow Dominuc to an all too familiar place: the meadow.

The meadow holds none of its usual beauty. Everything looks dead and barren, void of any life. Even the sun refuses to make an appearance, hiding behind the thick clouds covering the sky. In the middle of the meadow sits a hovercraft, much like those of the Capitol. The only exception is the crest of the London Armed Forces plastered on the side. Dominuc stops by the side and ushers us up the ramp. As Dominuc follows us in the ramp begins lifting behind him.

"Take a seat and buckle up until we get into the air," he instructs taking the seat closest to him. Katniss and I follow his lead just as the hovercraft is lifting off. It's unstable for a few moments before we stabilize.

Dominuc unbuckles himself and walks over to the far opposite side of the hovercraft. "We have a bit of a problem," he says lowly.

I look over to see who he is talking to and see a young woman unbuckling herself from her seat. Katniss follows my gaze and watches as the two interact.

"What kind of problem, Dominuc? Where is the child?" she says in an equally low voice probably so it will be harder for us to hear.

"That's the problem. Snow got her last night. We were too late," Dominuc says running a hand through his short hair.

"Not totally too late. We still got Peeta and Katniss out. The Capitol noticed our presence just as you got back. According to our radar, they've just dispatched some hovercrafts."

"Great, do you think they'll follow us to London?"

"No, that would make Panem's public question. Everyone in the Eastern World knows that Panem keeps their citizens isolated and secluded. They don't know there's anything left out there. Now let's stop being rude, and let me introduce myself." The woman stands up and comes over to Katniss and I. "Maya Jones, agent in the London Armed Forces," she says sticking out a hand to me and Katniss is turn.

I shake her hand when she offers it to me. "I suppose now would be a good time to ask what are the London Armed Forces?" I say.

"You suppose, correct. Panem likes to keep its citizens on a tight leash. Let's move this conversation to a more comfortable place. It may take most of the flight," she says motioning for us to follow her.

Katniss and I follow Maya and Dominuc into another part of the hovercraft. There's a dining area with a bar. The table ladened with different types of food. It's not as extravagant as the food tables trains to the Capitol, but this feels better, like it's more normal.

"Take a seat where you would like," Dominuc says.

"What are the London Armed Forces?" Katniss says as she sits. It's the first time she's talked since we've left the house.

"We'll get to that, but since Panem keeps anyone from seeing the outside world, we should probably go back to World War III. Panem history textbooks say that at the conclusion of World War III in 2035, the world was decimated, that there was nothing left out there, outside Panem. It's wrong. There are others of us out there. In 2035, the world pretty much was decimated, particularly in the southern half of the world. In the East, we were destroyed much like the land of the United States. Out of the ashes, we grew back slowly, it was rocky at first, much like in the United States. Unlike us, the United States had a rebellion. You are very familiar with the rebellion. It is the very one that started the Hunger Games."

"But how did Panem keep the rest of the world from us yet?" I ask, picking at the food in front of me.

"Very simple. When the rebellion was defeated, the United States changed its name to Panem and drafted an agreement with the remaining world. The agreement was kept secret and was always meant to be kept secret. The agreement detailed that we, the rest of the world, would leave Panem to their own devices and wouldn't interfere. Along with that, we would keep our existence from Panem's citizens."

"Why now?" Katniss asks, pushing away the food in front of her.

"What do you mean 'Why now?" Dominuc asks.

"Why are you interfering now? Why not interfer years ago? Or when the Games started? Didn't you feel anything for what they were doing to the children and families in Panem?"

"I cannot speak for those who came before me. I do not know why they didn't interfere. All I know is what I've been instructed to do. The London Armed Forces do not question the royal family. They gave us the order to come retrieve you from District Twelve. We did as we were told. However, I do know that we have been following what has been happening in Panem since the agreement was signed. The government turned into a dictatorship. It's not the first dictatorship in history. It's not the first one that has killed innocent people either. We do know what happened with the both of you. We do know what happened last year. We know what Vada Snow is doing now. We're finally strong enough now. We finally built back our strength to what it was before World War III." Dominuc is breathing heavily at the end of his speech, his face a little flushed.

"We should head back now. We'll be descending soon," Maya says.

We head back to the area we were in before in silence. No one talks as we buckle in and feel the hovercraft descend.

"Lewis. Jones," a man says as we step off the hovercraft. "Welcome to England, Peeta and Katniss Mellark."

So . . . I almost forgot to update this today. You can all thank joshhutchersonlover2 for just texting me and reminding me. I completely forgot it was Saturday, which is weird considering I knew I was going to the zoo on Saturday and I went to the zoo today. I don't know. Summer makes me completely forget what day of the week it is. -- Alexis