Panem Dawn: Mockingjay Reimagined

Chapter Nineteen: Tigris

As soon as Noah and I hurried to the end of the underground tunnel where the others were waiting, I hear a strange rumbling and before I really know what's happening, I hear Messala yell, "RUN!" And I see the floor of the tunnel beginning to crumble away.

So we all run as fast as we possibly can, and we reach another area, where this time, several deadly beams of light keep touching down, and we do what we can to dodge them. Unfortunately, one of the lethal beams hit Messala, and I briefly look back in horror as it burns him away. When we finally stop to catch our breath in a pod-free area (Cressida tells us to wait as soon as we come to what appears to be a back door to someone's house). "I know the woman who lives here. I've worked with her before. Relax and don't worry, she's an ally of the Rebellion." So Katniss thinks better of using her weapon and lowers her bow.

The door is opened by an older woman. Even though I am probably being rude by it, I can't help but stare at her. She looks like an extreme case of multiple Capitol cosmetic surgeries gone way too far. It's obvious she must have aimed to look attractively feline, but ended up looking feline without the attractiveness over time. The fact that she was older did nothing to help. She notices I am staring at her.

" Yes, I know I'm no longer as pretty as I used to be. But I can assure you that I'm really nothing like the people who sent your aunt to her slaughter, Alyssa. You're safe with me. Though some might say you'd be safer still if you had all stayed underground in Thirteen." She says.

"I've seen you before on T.V. when I was young. Aren't you a stylist for the Hunger Games?" Katniss asks the tiger lady with a bit of suspicion.

"I was a stylist, Mockingjay, until the wonderful President Snow decided I was no longer young or desirable enough and that I had outlived my old purpose. He cast me largely aside even as he soared to complete power over Panem, the one thing that ever mattered to him most was power. It certainly wasn't his family, let alone Lucy Gray Baird. Some loyal, loving cousin and decent human being Old Coryo turned out to be." She says bitterly.

That's still better than what happened to Athena, Cinna, and Portia, among so many others I thought. As for the Baird girl, we in the outer districts had heard whispers about her, many almost completely fabricated to the point the stories were more like myths from the early Panem. Apparently Lucy Gray could sing, oh she could sing.

And then, at some point after she'd won her Games, she disappeared. And so did much of any documented information about her or the 10th Hunger Games.

Even a few old rebellious district ballads were written about her and sung that were all unsurprisingly tragic. After all, she was the female tribute from District Twelve in the tenth Hunger Games, in a tumultuous time when Snow was a teenager determined to survive in all that was left of the world at any cost. Very little was ever officially allowed to be known about Lucy Gray. I suppose she was just one of thousands of people Snow and the powers that be were willing in the end to betray and have swept aside.

To all of this Katniss says bluntly, "I'm going to kill Snow, you know that?" After hearing that, the older woman gives Katniss a small smile.

"In prewar times, Tigris operated her own little high end clothing shop, and now covertly works in aid of our cause. This will be our current safe house until we have planned out our next moves." Cressida explains to us. "We will rest here tonight."

Suddenly I hear a pounding as though someone is knocking loudly at another door, probably the one out front. Tigris then says to all of us, "Hide here and be quiet. I'll handle this myself." And she goes to answer the front door. As Noah and I stay hidden with the others, I listen in as I hear a gruff male voice begin to talk.

"Madame Tigris, are you not aware that every Capitol resident is being evacuated from their homes and expected at the gates of the Presidential Palace by noon tommorow? You had better get a move on or people might start to think something suspicious is going on around here."

Tigris shoots back, "And what will you and your fellow Peacekeepers do if I don't leave just as soon as you'd like? Will you shoot me execution-style in my own living room? Or drag me off to be tortured in my own little prison cell? Go ahead, I dare you.

But don't think for a single second that gunning me down or dissappearing me will change anything that's about to come. You're clutching at straws in your desperation, you all know that no matter how many rebels you seek to take down, there's no way that Snow will go on for much longer. You can guarantee even he has known for months that shit has hit the fan. I'm sure you don't want to hear me spelling out loud what that might mean for loyalists to the Old Panem such as you two."

Shit may have hit the fan, but the wind from said fan can blow both ways if they uncover us here. I look around at everyone else and I realize that apart from myself and Noah, there's Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Pollux, and Cressida. We are all that remain of the Mockingjay Star Squad.

"You are certainly quite vocal in telling us which way you think the wind is blowing, for a washed-up has been with nothing left but a tiny fashion shop to your name and a few small talents in costume design. Seems to me you might be getting a little desperate yourself, with not much left to lose anymore." One of the Peacekeepers say. While the other one says, "I think that you might be hiding something here, perhaps you have the sad remainders of the so-called Mockingjay Star Squad hidden in this residence. And Everdeen and Whitestone as well."

What Tigris says next is just too good, mostly because in the end, what she had to say saved us from ending up as war prisoners, or unalived right there. But also because there were many times I felt the same way about so many Peacekeepers.

"You fools! You incompetent idiots! How the two of you ever became Peacekeepers of the Capitol under Snow, I'll never know. As if I would harbor any rebels in my home. I may be a little prideful, even salty, but I'm not suicidal. Besides, they are all dead now anyway. Our dear, ailing President has seen to that already."

"Yeah well, we were informed that a few of them are still alive. I bet you don't have a smart comeback to that now do you?" One of the Peacekeepers retorts.

"Listen to me repeat this very carefully, because I won't say it again. The. Star. Squad. Is. Dead. I don't know where your unfortunate bit of misinformative drivel came from, but it's clear that one big problem many Capitolites have is the tendency to always believe anything they hear from anywhere in this city, without even checking to see if it's a reliable source of info. Really, it's no wonder everything's getting thrown to the dogs and going to Hell in a handbasket, too! Now I suggest you both straighten up and do your jobs properly, and fight to smoke out as much of the rebels as you still can instead of harrassing prominent seniors of the Capitol!" Tigris snaps. "Get out! And take your filthy artillery with you!"

"All right, fine. We were in error, I'll admit it. But be careful, Madame. We won't be letting you off if you take one treacherous step in supporting any rebels." One of the Peacekeepers say, and then, "Just make sure you find your way up to the Presidential Square tomorrow."

And with that said, the Peacekeepers finally leave.