I'm Not Your Mockingjay

One

Chapter One

I open my eyes, scanning the room around me. Tubes run out of my right arm and I'm only in hospital sheets. How is this even possible? The last moment I recall is the arena collapsing around us. Bright flames lit up, almost like the muggy heat added to their fuel. I was trying to find Katniss when hell broke.

Katniss!

I immediately scramble, looking to find her. She has to be somewhere near me. I bolt up, though my body aches in protest. I groan, gripping my stomach. That wasn't the wisest decision, but I have to find her and make sure she's okay.

But first I have to know where I am.

Taking slow, deep breaths, I search the room for anything familiar. Across the room is Beetee, who is hooked up with so many tubes it's difficult to even know if he's stable or on the brink of dying.

Realization begins to dawn on me as I look at Beetee. If I'm where I think I am, then Katniss is farther away than I originally thought.

We must be in the Capitol.

The Games were interrupted somehow, so they must have retrieves us. I'm relieved at first, knowing they couldn't possibly kill Katniss, especially since everyone knows we weren't dead when the arena exploded, but then I feel a pang in my chest. They have to have their victor. They wouldn't allow what happened in the last Games to ever repeat again.

That meant we were being healed to only be thrown back into that godawful arena again. At the thought, my back and forehead begin to sweat. Would they add more tributes to equal 24 again? I know districts like One, Two, and Four have plenty of tributes that could easily be taken, maybe even volunteer to play in the Games.

I shake the current thoughts out of my head. First things first, I have to know where Katniss is. Going against my better judgement, I rip the tubes out from my arm and swing my legs to the side of the bed.

Surprisingly, it's easy to stand. I'm evenly balanced on my prosthetic leg, which I figured would be a main contributor to my struggle of escaping, but I find that I can soundly walk away.

As I exit the room, I hear voices. Familiar voices.

I pause, listening to a hoarse voice speak and a Capitol accent quickly argue with them. What was going on? I cautiously step towards the door, hoping I could decipher who was speaking and what it was about.

"No. I'll tell him." Haymitch says.

Haymitch!

I burst through the door, not exactly sure what to expect. At a table is Haymitch, Johanna Mason, and Plutarch Heavensbee.

I open my mouth to question what kind of mess Katniss and I have now made to invoke these three to meet but can't decide what to say, let alone how to use my voice. But they must read my expression because Haymitch gestures to the seat beside him as Plutarch pushes a bowl of soup towards the spot. I glance out the window, seeing we're flying. If I'm not in the Capitol, then where am I?

I still quietly, still horribly confused.

"Glad you finally woke up." Haymitch greets, studying me. But his smile didn't reach his gray eyes. Inside them is something else. Grief? Anger? I can't tell.

I stare at the soup that reminds me of nothing but the arena. They begin to talk to me, trying to explain everything to me, but it seems hard to concentrate. Apparently, there was a plan to get us out of the arena when the Quell was announced. The victors from 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 11 all had different levels of knowledge about it. Plutarch has been secretly apart of a group to overthrow the Capitol. Again, I'm used as a piece in a game I never consented to.