Mockingjay: What If......

Chapter 2-Gale

Thirty minutes later, I got on the elevator and pressed the button for the tenth floor. When I reached my destination, a speaker asked me to scan my credentials or state my name and business.
I responded "Hawthorne, Gale. I have an appointment with President Coin." The speaker instructed me to proceed directly to the last door on the left. I walked down the hallway, took a deep breath, and knocked.
" Come in," said Coin. "What brings you here today, Mr. Hawthorne? Questions about the attack, or a different matter?"
I responded with confidence, 'It has been brought to my attention, President Coin, that you are planning to murder Primrose Everdeen, and have threatened your officials with death if they reveal this to anyone."
"How do you know these things?" She exclaimed, "and what business is it of yours?"
"Any business of Katniss' is business of mine, and when I save her dear sister from our murderous president, I'll be a hero!"
She laughed a cruel, heartless laugh. "Oh, Gale. Your really think our mockingjay still has feelings for you? Despite what you may think, the "star crossed lovers of district 12" are not just a thing of the past. Katniss will never love you the way she loves Peeta Mellark." The way she said his name made me so much more determined to win Katniss over.
I said, "If you really want to hurt Katniss, why don't you kill Peeta? She would kill every person within a mile of her!"
Coin sighed. "Gale. Poor, honest Gale. So desperate for the girl he loves to love him back, he would murder the man she really loves."
No more time for formalities. "Coin, Katniss knows that I designed those bombs. When Prim dies, who do you think she'll blame? Snow? You? No! She'll blame me! Look here, Coin. If those bombs aren't back in the workshop by tomorrow morning, I will expose you to your supposedly "loyal" subjects. Trust me, if the people of district 13 are given a reason to rebel against you, they will!"
"Mr. Hawthorne," she said, "I believe you are forgetting that I still have the upper hand in this situation." She was looking at something behind me and smiling.
I realized what a big mistake I had made when I turned around. There were four of Coin's guards holding me at gunpoint.
"Now, Mr. Hawthorne," she said calmly, "I have summoned my security guards. They will escort you safely to your new living quarters, on the fiftieth floor." I sucked in a breath. The fiftieth floor was the dungeon and torture chambers. "If you try to escape, you will promptly be shot down and later executed for high treason. Understood?"
"I understand quite clearly, President Coin," I said. I scolded myself silently as the guards led me to my certain doom. How could I have been so stupid? Of course she would have a way to call security without anyone knowing. We arrived at my quarters, which were nothing more than a square room with no windows, a cot, and a hole in the floor.
The one thing I knew for sure was that I had to escape, and soon. Coin wouldn't let me live more than a few days, considering what I knew. The guards locked the doors and left me sitting there on the cot in despair. I glanced at a schedule electronically projected on the wall. The entire morning was labeled "lessons in obedience". I knew exactly what that meant. Torture. I winced as I thought about last year. I still had scars on my back where Thread had whipped me.
There were visiting hours. Maybe if Katniss found out she would come. I would still have training in the evening. Apparently Coin still needed my manpower for the attack. I knew there would be a lot of casualties on our side, and I would make sure Mellark was one of them.
I took in my surroundings. Coin apparently didn't think me dangerous enough to put me in high security. I looked toward the projector, and then I had an idea. What if I could cause an explosion using the electricity? Not large enough to hurt me, just to blow a good sized hole in the wall.
I didn't see a security camera, so I went right to work. By standing on the cot, I could just reach the projector. I started pulling out wires that weren't supposed to touch. If I put enough of them together, the explosion it caused might be big enough. I started as I heard the door open and an all too familiar voice spoke. "Mr. Hawthorne, did I not warn you against trying to escape?"
Coin spoke once more, to the guards. "Move him to high security immediately. And make sure you have at least two guards on him at all time." I sighed. There must have been a hidden camera in the room. How would I escape now? I guessed I would have to wait and see.
When we arrived at my new cell, I groaned quietly. There was no cot in this cell. There wasn't even a hole. They chained my arms and legs to the ground. One of the guards spoke. "The boss gave orders to shoot you if you try anything funny, so I wouldn't."
I sighed. "I wasn't planning on it, buster."