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

Chapter Thirty-three

Chapter Thirty-three

Peeta's POV

    The front lines of the war have moved quickly. The only opposition we came across was in District Six. They had a multitude of Peacekeepers stationed there. They were waiting a few blocks away at the Justice Building. We lost a few men there as they were shot down. They wouldn't let Gale, Madge, Katniss, myself, or anyone else of 'importance' near the front lines in case of casualties. There have been a few other injuries during the battles during Six, but other than that, nothing. Every time we arrive in a new District, with the exception of Six, we are met with only the citizens of the District. The Peacekeepers are all gone. The most information we can get from the citizens is that the Peacekeepers left after the war announcement was made. They don't know where they were headed, but their, and our, only guess is that they were headed towards the Capitol.

    We had control of all the Districts except Six. They told us one District didn't truly matter because we had support of a majority of the nation. Actually more than just a majority. We have control of eleven-twelfths of the nation without opposition. This war was going completely different from the last one. Of course, we had supporters last time, but this time it was almost overwhelming how many people supported our progress through the nation. It was different this time, too, because we didn't have civilians fighting in the "battles" like last time. Last time, all people had to do is go through the training and past the test. This time, this time all you had to do is nothing. Absolutely nothing. They don't and wouldn't allow civilians to train and test. Anytime anyone asked about it, they were told to sit back and let the soldiers take care of everything.

    Thinking of the soldiers, we had more come in yesterday and more were scheduled to arrive tonight in District One. They were all coming for the battle at the Capitol which is sure to be a bigger battle than District Six. There's nowhere else for the Peacekeepers to be except there. There's literally nowhere else for them to be considering we've been everywhere else in Panem. There's also Snow and her Regime or whatever she refers to them as.

    "Peeta, Katniss," a voice we haven't heard in a few days, Webster.

    "Webster," I say tipping my head.

    "I've come to discuss something of high importance. Do you mind?" he says gesturing to District One's Justice Building.

    "Not at all," I say, grasping Katniss's hand and pulling her toward the Justice Building.

    We head to the mayor's office with its comfortable sofas and large oak desk which rests in the center of the room.

    "What did you want to talk about?" Katniss starts taking a seat on one of the sofas.

    I take my seat next to Katniss, as Webster continues around the room to the desk. He leans back like he always does in the chair, it must be a habit of his. "First, I wanted to say how surprised I am on the progress of the war. About as soon as I would finish reading one war report I would get another one. I was expecting this to take much longer. It's certainly wonderful that this war isn't dragging on. Even more wonderful that we have had so few casualties thus far."

    "Yes, this is progressing much faster than the last rebellion. It's also much safer for the citizens and all with them not being in the actual combat," I say. "Perhaps, we will have this over in the next few days."

    "And second," Katniss prompts from beside me.

    "Ah, yes, second. This is what you both will be most interested in, I'm sure. You know, we've come this far, and we surely won't give up. We have the power in us to preserve through this troubling time. We haven't exhausted much energy on this war, so this will only serve to help us." Webster starts to ramble on.

    "What is it?" Katniss interrupts. "You're starting to ramble on. Just tell us already."

    "I have a plan. A plan to get your daughter back," Webster finally says.

    "What? Really? We're going to get her back?" I say, jumping to the edge of my seat.

    I don't hear what Katniss says exactly, but I assume it's on the same lines as myself.

    "Yes, I came to start discussing a plan with you. If that's alright, of course. I'm assuming you would want to get her back as soon as possible," Webster says uncertainty.

    "Of course, it's alright," Katniss says, tightly grasping my arm.

    "Of course, we want to get her back as soon as possible. Why would we want anything else?" I say.

    "Good, I thought it might be best to get her during the battle. Everyone else would be distracted with the battle. I think it's the best time to sneak into the presidential mansion and find her. Now," he claps his hands, "Should we talk strategy on how to get in there?"

I know this is short and this book is coming to an end. I'm going to try to make it longer when I edit it. Anyways, sorry if this author's note has mistakes or is formatted differently than normal, I'm updating from my phone today since I'm on my way to a band competition an hour and a half away. -- Alexis