The Hunger Games 3: Mockingjay

Chapter 1
I looked down at my shoes, a fine layer of dust slowly falling on the worn leather.Right now, I'm standing where my sister, Prim and I's beds used to be, with the dining table not far away.The chimney has collapsed, and the charred and blackened broken bricks are piled up in a pile. With this, I can barely recognize the original location of the room. Otherwise, how can I recognize the direction in this vast gray sea?

Almost everything in District [-] is gone.A month earlier, Capitol firebombs had destroyed the homes of poor miners in the Seam, the town's shops, and even the judicial building.The only thing that survived the fire was the house in the village of Victor.I can't tell why.Maybe it is to leave a suitable place for those who have to come from the Capitol to work in the [-]th district. They may be one or two reporters who come to interview, maybe the staff who inspect the mine, or inspect the returning refugees. The security police squad.

In fact, no refugees have ever returned, and my return was only for a brief stay.The authorities in the thirteenth district did not allow me to come back, thinking that it would be risky and pointless for me to do so.In order to ensure my safety, they must send at least a dozen stealth planes hovering over my head, and I will not get valuable information when I come back.However, I have to come back and have a look.I take this trip as a prerequisite for any meaningful cooperation with them.

Plutarch Havensby—organizer of the rebellion against the Capitol and chairman of the Hunger Games committee—finally raised his hand in approval. "Let her go. Losing a day is better than wasting a month. Maybe let her go back to District [-] and she'll believe we're on the same side."

same front.There was a stabbing pain in my left temple, and I quickly put my hand on it, and that's where Johanna Mason hit me with the coil.This memory flashes through my mind whenever I try to tell if something is true or not.What sequence of events led me to find myself in the ruins of my hometown?I couldn't figure it out, the concussion from Johanna hitting my head hadn't quite gone away, and my mind was still in turmoil from time to time.Also, I think the pain suppressant pills they give me are also making me hallucinate.The floor of my hospital room was covered with writhing snakes one night, but I still couldn't believe it was a hallucination.

I took advice from a doctor and tried to clear my head.I start with the simplest facts and slowly think about more complex issues.Let a chain of events unfold in your mind...

My name is Katniss Everdeen, I am 17 years old, I live in District [-], I participated in the Hunger Games, I survived, the Capitol hates me, Peeta was captured, he is believed to be dead, Most likely he is dead, maybe death is for the best for him...

"Katniss. Want me to come down?" I heard the voice of my best friend Gail, from where the rebels in District [-] insisted that I wear a headset.He is sitting in the plane now, and he is closely watching my every move. If there is any situation, he will come down immediately.That's when I realized I was squatting down, elbows resting on thighs, hands clasping my head.I definitely looked like I was about to break down.No, they can't let them see me like this when I'm about to stop taking my medicine.

I stood up and waved to him, indicating that I was fine. "No, I'm fine." In order to reassure the other party that I was fine, I left my old home and walked towards the city.Gail had asked to come with me, but I declined and he didn't insist.He understands that today I don't want anyone with me, not even him.This can only be done by me alone.

This summer has been scorchingly hot and dry, with little to no rain, so the piles of ash left behind by the bombings have not changed in any way.Dust kicked up where my feet had trod, and not a breath of wind blew it away.In my memory, this should be a road. When I just fell from the plane to the "ranch", I accidentally kicked a rock.In fact, it's not a rock - it's a human skull.It rolled out and finally came to a stop face up.I couldn't help staring at the teeth of this skull, wondering whose skull is this?If I were in the same situation, it would look the same, right?
I used to walk down this road, but it was a terrible choice, and the road was littered with the remains of people who had escaped.Some of them were completely charred, and others, who escaped from the smoke and flames at first, were doomed to die in the end. Their corpses lay in the wilderness, emitting a strong stench and covered with flies. A delicious meal for scavengers.As I passed the pile of corpses, I was twitching violently, thinking, I killed you, you, and you.

It's all because of me. It's my arrow that hit the electromagnetic force field above the arena. The whole country of Panam was in chaos.

I can hear President Snow's words on the morning of the Victory Tour, "Katniss Everdeen, burning girl, you set a spark, let it spread, maybe it will Turn into the fire of hell and destroy the entire country of Panam." In fact, his words were not exaggerated to intimidate me.Maybe he was really asking for my help then.But now it's a done deal, and everything is irreversible.

Burning, still burning.I thought dumbly.Black smoke still spewed from the mine in the distance.But no one cares about it anymore, more than 90.00% of the people in the twelve districts have been buried in the flames.The [-] or so people who survived by chance became refugees in District [-]. In my opinion, they lost their homes forever.

I know I shouldn't have thought that, they were sick and hungry and broke.The thirteenth district accepted them, and I should be grateful.But I still can't turn the corner. I feel that the [-]th District also contributed to the destruction of the [-]th District.Of course, I am also to blame.But anyway, without them, I wouldn't be able to participate in the plan to overthrow the Capitol, not at all.

The citizens of District [-] did not organize a resistance movement, they had no voice at all.Unfortunately, District [-] has people like me.However, some survivors consider themselves lucky. They finally escaped from District [-], from the never-ending hunger and oppression, from the dangerous mines, from the caning of Sheriff Srad, and some Consider yourself lucky.It is already a miracle to be able to settle down in a new place. You must know that not long ago, they didn't even know the existence of the thirteenth district.

This time he was able to escape from District 15 thanks to Gail, but Gail refused to take all the credit for himself.The situation at that time was that just after the end of the Century Xtreme Race, that is, when I was rescued from the arena, the power in District [-] suddenly cut off, the TV screen went black, the "seam" was dead silent, and people could even hear the thumping heartbeat.No action was taken, neither protest nor celebration, about what was happening in the arena.However, in less than [-] minutes, the sky was suddenly filled with black helicopters, and then bombs rained down.

It was Gale who first thought of "The Ranch," one of the few places in the twelfth arrondissement that wasn't overrun with coal-dusty log houses.He told everyone to run in that direction as best he could, and Mom and Prim were there too.He led them through the fence - which was out of power at this point, it was just a non-dangerous barbed wire fence - into the woods and took them to the only hiding place he knew, my dad when I was a kid The lake that took me.It was there that they watched as the distant fire consumed everything they knew.

By dawn, the helicopter had long since departed, the fire was less ferocious, and the last few survivors had gathered.Mom and Prim set up a makeshift health care facility, treating wounded people as best they could with whatever they found in the woods.A total of more than 800 people escaped. They were still in shock and panic.Gail found two bows and arrows, a hunting knife, and a fishing net, and with these tools, he managed to get food for more than 800 terrified people.Some people who were still able to move also came to help, and everyone barely survived for three days.Unexpectedly, at this difficult moment, the helicopter from the thirteenth district appeared and evacuated them to the thirteenth district.District [-] has clean and white residences, adequate clothing and three meals a day.Although they live underground, have single-style clothes, and the taste of food is not very good, to the people in District [-], this is nothing. The important thing is that they are safe, survived, received care, and received Warm welcome.

Everyone felt that the warm hospitality of the 14th district was out of their kindness.But a man named Dalton, who escaped on foot from the [-]th to the [-]th a few years ago, revealed to me the secret. "They need you, they need me, they need us. Not long ago, there was a plague here, many people died, and many people suffered from infertility. In their eyes, we are a group of bearers." Ren used to work on a cattle farm in District [-], where long-term frozen cattle embryos were implanted into cattle to maintain genetic diversity.His guess about the thirteenth district may be right, because there are indeed not many children here.But so what?We are not penned in, we are trained, children are educated, children over [-] years old can join the army, put on a decent uniform, become a "warrior", and every refugee is also granted a citizenship of the thirteenth district legal status.

But, I still hate them.Of course, now I hate almost everyone, but myself the most.

The ground began to harden under my feet, and I seemed to be stepping on the stones of the square buried under a thick layer of dust.The low ruins that surround the square are left over from the collapse of the original shops.The tall judicial building also collapsed, leaving behind a mass of black rubble.I walked to the approximate location of Peeta's bakery.There is almost nothing left here except the melted oven.Neither Peeta's parents nor his two older brothers escaped to District [-].Of those rich people in the [-]th District, only a dozen or so escaped from the flames.Even if Peeta gets home, he won't see anyone else, except me...

(End of this chapter)