The Third Everdeen

Chapter 51

Silence. That's all there was as we made our way to the checkpoint to the Presidential Palace. The only sound heard was the echo of our footsteps. Well..that and the loud voice speaking through the deserted streets telling people to go in a calm and orderly fashion. Even though at that moment it was only the three of us out in the open. I felt so exposed, yet I had knives stored in my robe. I could see the crowd of people gathered at the checkpoint, I could feel my heart rate increasing thanks to the nerves. I saw our faces flash on the screen under the words "Wanted: Dead or Alive."  

We merged in with the crowd of thousands of civilians. Peacekeepers were scattered on the outskirts of the group moving toward the estate, but none of them payed close enough attention to us. I kept my head down put my eyes looked up and met the once immaculate mansion that belonged to the man I was going to assassinate. It looked untouched, yet the air around it was different. It was no longer bright, cheery and clean. The outside looked dusty, and it had a gloomy aura. 

I peeled my eyes away from the mansion and had a peek at the Peacekeepers, they seemed to be scanning the civilians, looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary; they turned their heads in our direction, I quickly lowered my eyes and kept walking. Katniss noticed how nervous I was and she slipped her hand into mine. I looked up to thank her and I accidentally caught the eye of a young girl. 

She must have been around four or six, she was wearing a bright yellow jacket- when she saw me her eyes widened in awe. She just stared at me, I didn't flinch or do anything. I just kept walking. Looking ahead of us I saw the Peacekeepers stopping people, pulling down those with hoods and looking at their faces. Seeing what I saw, Gale grabbed the two of us and made us turn around. We started walking the opposite direction but saw more of them walking straight toward us. We faced the estate again and I felt Gale reaching into his pocket and lifting the pistol a bit out. Katniss did the same. We continued walking when for a brief moment I felt a hand on my shoulder, and just before it turned me around the explosion saved me.

Whatever they fired hit one of the buildings a few feet away from us. We all crouched close to the ground, I could hear the Peacekeepers shouting orders to each other.

"It's the rebels!" "The rebels are attacking!" So many civilians were getting caught in the crossfire between our people and the Peacekeepers firing back. Bodies dropped like flies as our people closed in. There were more explosions and I could feel the bodies falling from balconies. 

The three of us stayed on the ground, I clasped my hands over my ears, the explosions triggering me. I had to close my eyes and try to keep control of my breathing. Looking up I saw that familiar yellow jacket, sitting over a body crying, "Mama! MAMA!" Hearing that little voice broke my heart. 

Gale looked up into the distance and forced me up, Katniss was waiting for me. She put her hand over my shoulder and Gale was gasping "Come on! Let's go!" We started running, keeping ourselves close to the ground and narrowly missing bullets every second. The people around us weren't as lucky; I saw body after body falling to the floor as we evaded the gunshots. I jumped over a safety and took cover while they grabbed guns from fallen Peacekeepers. Katniss pulled me up, "We have to keep going!" 

That's what we did, my sister and Gale were shooting shot after shot at the enemy as we evaded death, my knives slipped into my hands but I never got close enough to use them. We ran and I dragged Katniss to hide with me behind one of the trucks, the second Gale caught up someone blew up the vehicle. The explosion caused the car to flip forward, I dodged to the right while Katniss and Gale went to the left. The car landed between us in a ball of scolding fire. 

Through the flames I saw Peacekeepers grabbing them. I scrambled to my feet and picked up the knives that had fallen to the ground. I took one in each hand and aimed. They started dragging two of the people I cared about most into a van. I could hear them screaming at me.

"Kill us! Do it!" I knew they'd both rather die then be taken captive; but I knew deep down I would never forgive myself if I killed them. They were put into the van and i did nothing. An explosion erupted nearby and I took cover by an overturned truck. My breathing was hard, and I could feel my heart beating heavily in my ribcage. 

I looked around, trying to compose myself. I saw innocent Capitol people running for their lives, Peacekeepers with guns going every which way. Then a thought crept into my head; you have a job to do. Finish this. I nodded to myself, I wouldn't let them take my sister or my best friend from me. They had already taken too much. I stood up, put my hood back over my head and started sprinting toward the Presidential Estate.

I got to the large crowd of people trying to get through the gate which was closed. Overhead we could faintly hear the sound of a voice, "Stay calm, bring children forward first. The gates will be open momentarily."  I shoved my way through the frantic people, keeping my face covered. "Children will be received first."  I looked at the tank and climbed up to see how much further it was to the gate. My mouth opened in a gasp, there must have been hundreds of people on front of me; there was no way I would've been able to make it to the gate unnoticed. Paying closer attention I saw a tragic sight. 

Peacekeepers ripped children from their mothers, both of which were sobbing hysterically. The mind has a way of making a bad situation even worse. Seeing those little girls being ripped from their mothers arms, For a moment it was like I saw myself, and my baby. The Capitol took my baby from me just like they were doing to these other families. And who knows if they would ever be reunited again; I would never let go of the heartbreak I went through when I lost my unborn child to the Games, so I couldn't even imagine what those mothers were going through seeing their babies; who they'd loved and cared for for years; being ripped from their very arms. The kids screaming and crying, stretched their arms out trying to reach their mothers, but the Peacekeepers kept them separated. 

Suddenly there was an aircraft flying over us. Some of the adults seemed relieved seeing it above.

"It's the Capitol!" Someone exclaimed. As it flew over, it seemed to drop hundreds of small parachutes that slowly descended to the ground, "Gifts from the Capitol!" 

I watched fearfully as the small packages came closer and closer, making that oh-so familiar beeping noise. Men and women blindly extended their hands in the air, in hopes of catching one of the packages. I watched as the moment a package made contact with a fingertip, an explosion erupted, and the first one triggered the others to do the same. A black cloud of smoke, the flames singeing the clothes of the innocent people who only wanted protection. 

While I was spared from the initial explosion, the second one threw me off the tank and onto the ground. Around me, survivors were running every which way, trying desperately to get to safety. I looked up and saw a man holding up a little girl laying limp in his arms. More and more parents found their way to injured children. A man started yelling for a medic. 

Suddenly I felt arms go around me. I screamed thinking it was a Peacekeeper but then the voice calmed me down.

"Lily it's me! I got away, Gale helped me but he stayed behind!" Katniss grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at her. She's okay. My sister was okay. I Hugged her. Katniss smiled at me, but then her eyes caught something behind me. "PRIM?" 

My eyes widened as I turned around; sure enough there she was. My baby sister; in a medic uniform. "PRIMROSE!" I took a step forward but Katniss held me back.

She smiled at me, It was the first time I'd seen her smile in months, "I'll get her, you stay here." Without even giving me a chance to follow Katniss sprinted to Prim and engulfed her in a hug. I smiled at their reunion. Suddenly a bomb exploded and I didn't see my sisters anymore. 

I was thrown back, my body felt warm, I could smell my robe burning. The impact from the fall messed me up; I'm staring up at the sky, watching the black smoke welcome unconsciousness.