The Hunger Games: Uprising!

Chapter 42

"Megan!"shouts Gale, his panic rising.
We hear nothing, only the sound of our breathing and the water dripping from the tunnel ceiling. One things for sure, she didn't fall. If she had her body would of been at our feet by now.
"Megan!" he calls again, this time his voice cracking with emotion.
I lift my head from my hands listening intently, and then we hear her from way up above us.
"I..I'm here, I'm Okay!"
Gale tosses his head back, closes his eyes and sighs. Peeta gives Gale's shoulders a shake with a comforting smile. The rest of use all let out a sigh of relief. She's okay, well, at least she's alive.
We all listen to her scrabbling at the shaft wall, what she's doing we have no idea but it sounds like she's still climbing.
"Here catch this" she calls down from above. The rope drops down to us and Lyndon tugs on it to make sure it's secure. He signals Conrad over and he starts to climb up the shaft, his feet flat against the wall, walking hand over hand. It takes him a matter of minutes before he's calling back down for the next squad member to climb. Paylor goes next, then Haymitch who easily takes the longest. I go up next and by the time I reach the top my arms are burning with the strain. Paylor and Conrad pull me over the edge and I Iay on my back whilst I get my breath back. Once I'm settled I look around in the dim light to see we're in a small room leading off the shaft. A corridor leads into the darkness. But what worries me is Megan who's propped up against the wall with blood seeping from a wound in her forehead. She looks pale and exhausted as Haymitch tries to stem the bleeding with a bandage from his first aid kit.
"Megan what happened" I ask her.
She doesn't seem to be very coherent, her head lolls from side to side and it looks like she could pass out at any moment. Something tells me that this wouldn't be a good idea.
"Oh, its you Katniss, Hi. I fell from the ledge as I was climbing and hit my head against the shaft wall. I managed to get a grip before I fell but I don't feel too good right now"
She looks pale, and its clear she's lost some blood and is suffering from a concussion, I think back to when that happened to me, both when Johanna hit me with the coil of wire and the concussion at the lake in our first encounter with the man mutt. I'm suddenly joined by Gale who rushes to her side, he takes over from Haymitch in trying to stem the loss of blood, cradling Megan's head in his arms, his eyes filling with tears. I'm suddenly filled with loneliness at this simple act and crave Peeta's touch. I look at Haymitch and he looks just as ill. He's too old for this sort of thing and I start to become concerned for his well being.
"You Okay Haymitch"

"I'll be fine sweetheart, I just feel a little tired right now. Don't worry about me"

I look at him and I'm filled with a sense of dread at losing Haymitch. Yes he's old but he's very dear to me and Peeta and we've been through so much together. I honestly don't know what we'd do if we lost him. He's become like a father to us and I can't think of a better person to help bring up our first child. I suddenly feel a comforting hand on my shoulder and turn to see Peeta holding his arms open for me. I walk into his embrace without hesitation, everything's fine I think to myself. As long as his arms are wrapped around me nothing bad can happen. We all tend to Megan's needs and Lyndon tries once more to make contact with the drop ship and district 13 but once again without success. We rest awhile then make our way through the tunnel into the darkness. This time we make do with our flashlights as the powerful floodlight on Pollux's camera is starting to drain it's battery. The tunnel does exactly the opposite to the sewer tunnel we we're in before. It still turns from side to side but at least we end up climbing a few steps from time to time, bringing us closer to the surface. We eventually emerge into a large cavernous warehouse. The floor is littered with rubble and glass from the roof high above us. As I look up I can see a sky full of stars and realise its way past nightfall. I get a feeling of hope and optimism as the drop ship would of reported us missing by now and perhaps a rescue party is trying to track us down I think to myself. The Rapiers fan out to secure the area and the rest of us sit down in an old abandoned office in the corner of the warehouse.
Megan doesnt look any better and its becoming obvious that she needs medical attention either at a hospital or on the drop ship. As a matter of fact when I look round at the others we all look at bit strung out. At the end of the day we're supposed to only be used for propaganda shoots, not for actual combat. I look outside to see Lyndon huddled in the darkness around the holo. I can tell by the glow on his face that he's finally got a signal.
"Whats the story Lyndon?" I ask as I walk toward him.
"I still can't raise the drop ship or 13 but I at least know where we are and where the drop ship is"

"And?"

"Well, its all a bit confusing Katniss. At the moment we're just here" he says pointing to the hologram, "about 2 kilometers south of the justice building so we should be well safe from the Mutts provided they stayed in the town centre. Its the drop ship that worries me. They should of taken off at sundown to pick us up. But as I look at this the drop ship hasn't moved, it's still in exactly the same position it was this morning after it dropped us off"

"But why, do you think they've been taken?"

"I don't know Katniss, I only know we have to go and find out. Maybe we should wait til morning when everyone's rested and we're a bit more prepared"

I look back to the abandoned office and see Paylor and Gale continuing to look after Megan, I don't think she's going to last without the drop ship.

"No Lyndon, I think we need to press on, I don't think Megan will last the night and we need that drop ship to save her" I plead.

Lyndon looks over my shoulder at Megan and nods. "Okay Katniss, get the rest of the team together and I'll get the Rapiers formed up.

We get prepared to leave and Gale carries Megan in his arms. We carry on as before with the Rapiers securing the area ahead of us whilst the rest of the squad make their way up behind them. We creep outside into the darkness, a moonless night aiding our efforts at staying hidden. Peeta and I bring up the rear with our arrows strung ready to shoot. I still feel exhausted but I'm now operating on adrenaline, my heightened senses working overtime. Peeta suddenly stops in his tracks and stares at me, my heart sinks at the look on his face and then I hear them far off behind us, mutts. Somehow they've managing to hunt us down. Whether its some sort of scent they're able to pick up or they can hear us I don't know. But they're coming all the same. I call Lyndon on my earpiece "Lyndon , copy"

"Go ahead Katniss"

"We're hearing mutts tracking us from behind, Its impossible to know how far back they are but you can almost guarantee they'll be closing in"

"Copy that Katniss"

Lyndon presses on hoping that if the mutts are behind us we should be safe to speed up our progress. We finally stop when we're on the outskirts of the forest. The Rapiers equip themselves with night vision goggles and we continue on with a little more caution. After about another 30 minutes Lyndon stops us about 200 meters from the clearing. In the distance I can see a camp fire glowing and I can just about make out figures walking around in the gloom, its easy to see the floodlights of the drop ship parked nearby. Why haven't they come to find us I think to myself. I'm suddenly startled by the mobile phone vibrating in my pocket. Fortunately I remembered to put it on silent before I left 12 this morning.
"Hello" I ask
"Katniss, where are you?" I hear Elise say over the phone, almost whispering.
"Why Elise, whats up"
"Because I'm standing on the deck of a drop ship in District 2 holding your spile and pearl in my hands"