Rebelling Against The Rebellion {Fourth Book to the HG} UNDER MAJOR CONSTRUCTION

Chapter Seventeen: Eye Of The Pilots

"Hello?" I call loudly in the open village, my voice booming with echos through out the area. Wooden cabins with thin, window glass surround the area, the modern looking village looking like a complete disaster zone. 

"Looks like a tornado swung in" Johanna says flatly, peeping into an open window. "Or maybe a bomb went off?" Gale and Grayson follow Johanna, creeping into various windows in search for a explanation. Peeta on the other hand stays right by my heals, his light eyes beaming around the area. "I wonder if the whole district is like this" Peeta mutters under his breath. I pick up my pace a bit, taking long, large strides down the dust road path. "The fields look fine" I retort firmly, scanning out the orchards of fruit trees and exquisite vines of grapes. "Hm, wonder what happened than" Johanna says wryly, biting down on her bottom lip. 

"Guys, look" Peeta calls from afar. I haven't even noticed he drifted off away from me. He stands by a large wooden cabin house with a large deck porch which seems duable since this place is for farms. It sort of reminds me of those country like homes where old people would sit outside, soak up the sun and rock in a rocking chair. I've always liked those houses - they seem cozy. Especially in the open area filled with acres of land. I make a mental note in the back of my mind, remembering that this house could be considerate. 

"What's up?" Gale asks, his eyes searching around. 

"Someone lives here" Peeta replies in thought. "Well, I think more than one..." 

Through a cracked up window, multiple figures are see able. Peeta's right. People do live here. "Knock on the door" Johanna says eagerly, stepping up to the porch. "You think they know about the Capitol?" 

"That depends" Grayson retorts slowly, gazing at all of us. "You guys didn't know... What makes you think they'll have a clue?" 

"Oh shut up" Johanna growls, skipping up to the door. Grayson looks around flabbergasted, his mouth draped over, wondering what he did wrong. Finally, he just gives up on Johanna and allows her to go ahead and knock. Johanna and Peeta stand up on the porch deck while the rest of us stand on the stairs. Honestly, I'm feeling a bit anxious. What if whoever lives here has some type of weapons, or was never a fan of me? What am I thinking? This fresh air is clearly getting to my head... 

The old wooden door slowly creaks open, a lady in her twenties greeting us. Her long white blonde hair glitters in the distant sun, her blue eyes resembling Peeta's. She stares around at us with a blank expression, her eyes looking lifeless with the big black bags that surround them. Her skin is paler than paper, almost looking like she haven't got sun in ages. 

"Hey" Johanna says simply, darting us all creeped out looks. The woman stays silent, her eyes now directly focusing on me. "Do you... uh... well we just came to ask a question... um..." 

The woman continues to beam blankly, ignoring Johanna's attempt to start conversation. "Uh, what she's trying to say is that... hm.. uh are you aware of the chaos going around in the... uh, um Capitol?" The woman blinks for a moment, releasing her ominous gaze on me. She focuses on Peeta now, her expression still blank. "No" she replies in a small voice. Her hand slowly creeps to the doorknob, looking as if shes ready to slam the door on all of us. In my opinion, she looks like a robot to me... With the creepy blank eyes and the pale skin... It just isn't normal. 

"Well, that's why we're here" Johanna confirms sharply. The woman slowly raises her thin pale eyebrows, her eyes now narrowing. "Are you Pilots?" she asks softly, her voice almost dreamy with a pinch of tenseness. We all stare at her cluelessly. "Er - excuse me?" Grayson questions with furrowed brows. "Pilots?" 

"Yes" says the woman nervously. "Are you people Pilots?" 

"What are Pilots?" Peeta asks, looking a bit anxious. I suddenly have the urge to just step up on the porch and stand next to him. "Knocking was a mistake" Gale mutters quietly over to me. "She's obviously a loon..." 

"I heard that" the woman snaps sharply, her voice raising. She glares at Gale, her eyes now filled with life and anger. Gale coughs under his breath, looking as innocent as possible. Hm, not working out for him... "Ignore him" Johanna replies reassuringly, waving her hand around. "He may be cute but he isn't the brightest." 

"I heard that!" Gale shouts over Grayson and Peetas chuckling. 

"You were supposed to, dim wit!" Johanna snarls from over her shoulder. "Now, uh... What are Pilots?" She turns back to the woman who doesn't even crack a chuckle. Instead she just stands like a doll, her thin lips perfectly in a straight line. "Pilots..." the woman murmurs under her breath. "The people whom talk." I blink cluelessly. Yep, I'm really regretting this. "Talk about what?" I call from the steps. The lady purses her lips and beams darkly at me. "They feed us lies." 

"Uh... can we come in?" Grayson asks, gazing up at the sun. "Y'know, so we could, um, discuss this matter?" 

"Okay" the woman replies shortly, starring into space as she steps  aside for us to enter. We all walk in thoughtfully, gazing around the place. Nothing of what I expected though. A sudden whiff of rotten mold breezes through all of us. The house is deserted... Nothing but scratched up walls and upside down photographs. The wooden floor seems to be teared up and replaced by grubby old patchwork. 

"Woah" Grayson spits out, slowly walking backwards. "Sorry, uhm, didn't see you all here." Standing in front of us are about twenty people, all huddled up in the corner of the empty spacious room. I stand their wide eyed... What in the name of Snow is going on? Gale was completely right... This woman is a loon. Grayson huddles behind all of us, looking eerily creeped out. Johanna scrunches her face and turns to the blond headed woman. 

"Who are they?" Johanna questions, pointing oddly at the group of people. Some are asleep while others stare at us with the same dreamy blank expression. "Villagers" the woman retorts, slipping through the group of us. 

"But why are they here?" I ask, stepping backwards next to Peeta. Peeta swiftly takes hold of my hand, squeezing it slightly. "To hide from the Pilots... I now know you are not one" she says as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You are outsiders, correct?" 

"...Yeah" Gale says slowly draws out, shifting his eyes from side to side. "What are Pilots, again?" 

"The watchers" a little girl says from the group of huddled villagers. "They want to find us." 

"Why?" Peeta questions quizically. 

The little girl slowly raises her index finger to her eyes. 

"They want your... eyes?" Johanna says in a shaky voice. This just got twenty times more creepier. The little girl nods her head and points to the group. Then I realize the group isn't sleeping... They have no eyes. They stare at us with no eyes, their black eyes sockets doing all the talking. Its like a nightmare of a movie coming to reality. They look like a scream mask, but in human form. All five of us jump back, horror struck. This is now making sense... When I was trapped in the pit underground, Doug and his two lab workers were saying something about the new mutants... How they needed eyes to work. Now they're going around, looking for eyes to take? This is unbelievable... 

Johanna smacks into Grayson, who smacks into me, and I smack into Peeta. "Why do you call them t-the watchers?" Johanna murmurs, almost sounding like a horrified whisper. 

"Because..." the little girl begins, her dark hair swaying by her hips. "They come to the town... They steal our possessions... They rade the village for our eyes... Then they dispose us... They watch us all the time until we can not see them anymore." The blond lady nods her head and moves over to the little girl, both with dreadful expressions playing across their pale faces. "We stay in here" she coos innocently. "And when they come to us... We take their eyes." 

"Wait what?" I question, looking around anxiously. 

Suddenly, one of the eyeless villagers walks up to us, a jar filled with gooey looking substances swaying in a watery liquid. 

Eyeballs.