The Hunger Games: Death of the Mockingjay

Chapter 5

We travel in silence on the flight out of the Capitol. Once the adrenaline of the events at the museum had passed shock took hold of Rue. I knew that she'd be fine looking after her brother when they hid behind that curtain of vegetation in the exhibit room but I also knew she'd struggle later. Not long after we took off she started shaking and muttering to herself before she finally fell asleep with the help of a sedative from one of Gale's medics. Kyler seems to of retreated into himself with his young thoughtful mind digesting everything that he's just witnessed and putting it into some sort of order. It's at times like these when he mostly reminds me of how alike we both are. The things that he's witnessed today will live with him for years in nightmares. He'll deal with it well while he's awake but the horror will always live with him while Rue will eventually gather herself together and deal with it in much the same way that Peeta does, with an inner strength that she inherited from her father.

It's a long flight and I know in my own mind that we're probably heading back to District 13, the military heart of the country. For most of the flight Gale's medics struggled to save the life of one of Ellie's government officials. He was completely unconscious when he was brought onboard and two medics worked strenuously at the operating table until the poor man finally succumbed to his injuries. Yet another victim of this senseless attack.

"I wonder who's responsible for this?" I say to Peeta thoughtfully.

"I can't think of anyone who'd wanna attack Ellie, she was so popular, everyone loved her so much. She's completely turned the country around"

"But the attack seemed too organised, the planning that went into it. To have gunmen stood by ready to take advantage of the chaos, it seems almost a bit too familiar"

Gale hears our conversation and comes over and sits opposite us. "I know what your thinking guys, that it's the same strategy that I dreamt up during the war. To trigger an explosion, then draw in others to help before hitting them again with another blast" he says

"It did kinda cross our minds" says Peeta

"Yeah but this time someone's taken it to a new level, using gunmen added a new element, almost as if it was an attempt to make it personal and attack the injured and the defenceless first hand"

"But why Ellie, it just doesn't make sense" I say in an exasperated tone.

The lights in the cabin change to a reddish glow to let everyone know we're landing.

"Really Katniss, how do we know she was the intended target?" he says as he gets up and heads off to the flight deck.
I look at Peeta in confusion, what does he mean. If Ellie wasn't the target then who was it, and, what was the idea of the attack, what were they hoping to gain?"

We're jolted from our thoughts by a loud thump as the drop ship touches down, the ramp lowers and a number of medics with stretchers rush onboard to attend to the wounded. I take Kyler's hand and lead him down the ramp and into a dank overcast evening. I can see that we have indeed returned to District 13 but so much has changed in the years since I was last here. I can see that the ruins of the old town have been replaced by a large number of houses and new buildings. The huge landing platform hasn't changed but it's clear that a large amount of money has been spent on a new anti-aircraft system. Placed around the compound are huge gun emplacments with their massive gun barrels pointing skyward ready for any potential attack. This is no doubt in response to the hundreds that were killed during the war when the training ground was fire bombed by Odin Wolfe's air force. A group of District 13 soldiers come over and lead the four of us out of the rain and into the elevator where their commander stands waiting.