Battleborn

Shatter Me

 Katniss Everdeen began to leave the hospital, and I knew it was my cue to leave too. The old man I’d spoken with was patched up and now lay asleep on the ground, his lips stretched in a thin smile. I felt guilty leaving so many helpless people to suffer, but there was little I could do for them. Besides. My job was to protect Katniss.

 When I got outside the hospital, Katniss and Gale were talking and Katniss was laughing. Gale’s face wasn’t quite smiling. I’d never seen him smile. But he looked happier than usual. I remembered how defensive he got when I thought they were cousins. Could they be lovers instead?

 Suddenly, a voice appears in my earpiece. It’s Haymitch, Katniss’ mentor.

 “Get back to the airstrip quickly. Attack incoming.” Boggs can clearly hear the voice too. Katniss looks panic stricken, like she did back in the arena. Boggs pulls Katniss’ helmet onto her head and shouts “Let’s move!”

 I had no time to process what was happening. Before I knew it, I was running hard, my feet pounding hard against the ground. Gale fell in step beside me. I kept looking to the sky, wondering where the Capitol planes were. And then in a flash, they appeared, soaring over our heads in a V formation.

 Then the bombing began. All of us were knocked off our feet, and my face hit the ground hard. I felt my nose shatter, and I could see black. Gale and Ronan pulled me over against the wall, giving me time to muddle through the searing pain. But when everyone began to move again, I still hadn’t recovered. My ears were ringing. Gale threw my arm over his shoulder and helped me along, until eventually I could see a little better. Then the second wave of bombs arrived, and Ronan pulled me to the ground with him. I pressed my face to the floor, unable to register my fear with the pain in my face taking over everything. I could swear I heard screaming, but I couldn’t be certain. Nothing was certain, lying there with my senses in turmoil.

 The bombing ended again and I managed to stand without assistance. I heard Katniss saying something about the hospital, and I whipped my head around, a fresh wave of nausea hitting me hard. I watched Katniss remove her earpiece and make for a ladder, beginning to scale it. Gale followed her, taking out Boggs with a kick to the face that left him stumbling backwards, clutching his nose. By that time, Katniss had reached the roof where, I dizzily observed, rebels were opening fire on the Capitol ships.

 “Damn it,” I heard Haymitch say, making me smile. Katniss was the biggest rebel of them all. Ronan quickly explained that Katniss had figured out that the bombers were aiming for the hospital. I got my missile gun out from its sheath at my side and nudged one of the camera girls, Cressida.

 “Let’s take that roof,” I said “Katniss is already up there, we’re more use helping than on the ground. Ronan, with me.”

 Before Boggs could protest, the three of us were climbing a ladder to another roof. I tried to focus on where I was putting my feet, but I still slipped several times. What I was doing was reckless in my condition, but I refused to stay put when people were in danger. People we could help, maybe.

 We reached the roof, and I aimed my gun at the sky. The planes were fast, and they formed a V shape in the sky. I knew we’d probably be too slow to get them, but it was worth a shot. Ronan came to my side and Cressida shot some footage of Katniss on the other roof while we attempted to take down the Capitol ships. We missed a lot, even though between us, our firing was almost continuous, and the missiles fell onto abandoned buildings, but just as the second wave was ending, I hit a straggler ship, watching it explode and crash into the ground. It was small victory, but there was no time to celebrate.

 The third wave arrived. I began firing again, keeping a constant eye on Katniss Everdeen. She was out in the open, barely protected. I’d failed my mission of guarding her, but the least I could do was assist her attack on the ships. I kept firing until there was nothing left in the sky to shoot. Yet still, I had a sense we hadn’t stopped something terrible happening.