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Are there Capitol hoverplanes speeding in to blow us out of the sky? As we travel over District 12, I watch anxiously for signs of an attack, but nothing pursues us After several e between Plutarch and the pilot confirin to relax a little

Gale nods at the howls coo back"

"If there was even a chance of his recovery" I duins a low, deep-throated growl "Oh, shut up," I tell the bag as I sink into the cushionedseat across from it

Gale sits next to me "Pretty bad down there?"

"Couldn&039;t be rief reflected there Our hands find each other, holding fast to a part of 12 that Snow has somehow failed to destroy We sit in silence for the rest of the trip to 13, which only takes about forty-five minutes A mere week&039;s journey on foot Bonnie and Twill, the District 8 refugees who I encountered in the woods last winter, weren&039;t so far from their destination after all They apparently didn&039;t h When I asked about the about Died in the woods, I guess

From the air, 13 looks about as cheerful as 12 The rubble isn&039;t s, the way the Capitol shows it on television, but there&039;s next to no life aboveground In the seventy-five years since the Dark Days - when 13 was said to have been obliterated in the war between the Capitol and the districts - almost all new construction has been beneath the earth&039;s surface There was already a substantial underground facility here, developed over centuries to be either a clandestine refuge for government leaders in time of war or a last resort for humanity if life above became unlivable Most important for the people of 13, it was the center of the Capitol&039;s nuclear weapons develop the Dark Days, the rebels in 13 wrested control froovernment forces, trained their nuclear ain: They would play dead in exchange for being left alone The Capitol had another nuclear arsenal out west, but it couldn&039;t attack 13 without certain retaliation It was forced to accept 13&039;s deal The Capitol demolished the visible remains of the district and cut off all access froht that, without help, 13 would die off on its own It alh due to strict sharing of resources, strenuous discipline, and constant vigilance against any further attacks from the Capitol

Now the citizens live alo outside for exercise and sunlight but only at very specific times in your schedule You can&039;t , you&039;re supposed to stick your right arm in this contraption in the wall It tattoos the smooth inside of your forearm with your schedule for the day in a sickly purple ink 7:00 - Breakfast 7:30 - Kitchen Duties 8:30 - Education Center, RooThat&039;s hatever keeps it water resistant breaks down and the whole schedule rinses away The lights-out at 22:30 signals that everyone not on the night shift should be in bed

At first, when I was so ill in the hospital, I could forgo being imprinted But once I moved into Coet with the progranore the words on o back to our compartment or wander around 13 or fall asleep somewhere hidden An abandoned air duct Behind the water pipes in the laundry There&039;s a closet in the Education Center that&039;s great because no one ever sees here, waste is practically a criminal activity Fortunately, the people of 12 have never been wasteful But once I saw Fulvia Cardew crumple up a sheet of paper with just a couple of words written on it and you would&039;ve thought she&039;d ot Her face turned to the silver flowers inlaid in her plump cheeks even more noticeable The very portrait of excess One ofthe handful of pa as they try to fit in

I don&039;t kno long I&039;ll be able to get aith ard for the clockwork precision of attendance required by ht now, they leave me alone because I&039;ht on my plastic s But that can&039;t last forever Neither can their patience with the Mockingjay issue

Fro pad, Gale and I walk down a series of stairways to Compartment 307 We could take the elevator, only it reminds me tooa hard tiround so much But after the surreal encounter with the rose, for the first time the descent makes me feel safer

I hesitate at the doorthe questions fro to tell them about Twelve?" I ask Gale

"I doubt they&039;ll ask for details They saw it burn They&039;llit" Gale touches ainst his hand for a moment "I&039;ll survive"

Then I take a deep breath and open the door My mother and sister are home for 18:00 - Reflection, a half hour of downtime before dinner I see the concern on their faces as they try to gauge , I e and it beco and rocking that awful Buttercup, who interrupts his purring only for an occasional hiss atlook when she ties the blue ribbon around his neck

My ainst her chest and then places it, along with the book of plants, on our govern my father&039;s jacket on the back of a chair For a uess the trip to 12 wasn&039;t a co down to the dining hall for 18:30 - Dinner when Gale&039;s coins to beep It looks like an oversized watch, but it receives print e that&039;s reserved for those important to the cause, a status Gale achieved by his rescue of the citizens of 12 "They need the two of us in Co a few steps behind Gale, I try to collect myself before I&039;m thrown into what&039;s sure to be another relentless Mockingjay session I linger in the doorway of Co/war council roo walls, electronic iant rectangular table with control panels I&039;h, because they&039;re all gathered at a television screen at the far end of the room that airs the Capitol broadcast around the clock I&039;ht be able to slip ahen Plutarch, whose aht of ently for ine how it could be of interest to anda Replaying the boe fro to see Caesar Flickerer Gaive an interview Until the cauest is Peeta

A sound escapes roan that coen to the point of pain I push people aside until I a on the screen I search his eyes for any sign of hurt, any reflection of the agony of torture There is nothing Peeta looks healthy to the point of robustness His skin is glowing, flawless, in that full-body-polish way His manner&039;s coe with the battered, bleeding boy who haunts my dreams

Caesar settles hiives hi look

"SoPeetawelcoht you&039;d done your last intervieith me, Caesar"

"I confess, I did," says Caesar "The night before the Quarter Quellwell, who ever thought we&039;d see you again?"

"It wasn&039;t part of my plan, that&039;s for sure," says Peeta with a frown

Caesar leans in to him a little "I think it was clear to all of us what your plan was To sacrifice yourself in the arena so that Katniss Everdeen and your child could survive"

"That was it Clear and siers trace the upholstered pattern on the arm of the chair

"But other people had plans as well"

Yes, other people had plans,I think Has Peeta guessed, then, how the rebels used us as pawns? How ? And finally, how our mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, betrayed us both for a cause he pretended to have no interest in?

In the silence that follows, I notice the lines that have foruessed or he has been told But the Capitol has not killed or even punished hiht now, that exceeds my wildest hopes I drink in his wholeness, the soundness of his body and ivethe pain of the last weeks

"Why don&039;t you tell us about that last night in the arena?" suggests Caesar "Help us sort a few things out"

Peeta nods but takes his tihtto tell you about that last nightwell, first of all, you have to i an insect trapped under a bowl filled with steareen and alive and ticking That giant clock ticking away your life Every hour proine that in the past two days, sixteen people have died - so, the last eight will be dead bySave one The victor And your plan is that it won&039;t be you"

My body breaks out in a sweat at the s lies from the Games He works just as well in words

"Once you&039;re in the arena, the rest of the world becos you loved or cared about alle and the tributes ant your blood become your final reality, the only one that everto have to do soet one wish And it&039;s very costly"

"It costs your life," says Caesar

"Oh, no It costs a lot more than your life Toyou are"

"Everything you are," repeats Caesar quietly

A hush has fallen over the roo in toward its screens Because no one has ever talked about what it&039;s really like in the arena before

Peeta goes on "So you hold on to your wish And that last night, yes,about the rebels, it didn&039;t feel right Everything was too co I hadn&039;t run off with her earlier in the day, as she had suggested But there was no getting out of it at that point"

"You were too caught up in Beetee&039;s plan to electrify the salt lake," says Caesar

"Too busy playing allies with the others I should have never let them separate us!" Peeta bursts out

"That&039;s when I lost her"

"When you stayed at the lightning tree, and she and Johanna Mason took the coil of wire down to the water," Caesar clarifies

"I didn&039;t want to!" Peeta flushes in agitation "But I couldn&039;t argue with Beetee without indicating ere about to break away fro just went insane I can only re Brutus kill Chaff Killing Brutusbolt hit the tree, and the force field around the arenablew out"

"Katniss blew it out, Peeta," says Caesar "You&039;ve seen the footage"

"She didn&039;t knohat she was doing None of us could follow Beetee&039;s plan You can see her trying to figure out what to do with that wire," Peeta snaps back

"All right It just looks suspicious," says Caesar "As if she was part of the rebels&039; plan all along"

Peeta&039;s on his feet, leaning in to Caesar&039;s face, hands locked on the arms of his interviewer&039;s chair

"Really? And was it part of her plan for Johanna to nearly kill her? For that electric shock to paralyze her? To trigger the bo now "She didn&039;t know, Caesar! Neither of us knew anything except that ere trying to keep each other alive!"

Caesar places his hand on Peeta&039;s chest in a gesture that&039;s both self-protective and conciliatory "Okay, Peeta, I believe you"

"Okay" Peeta withdraws froh his hair,his carefully styled blond curls He sluht

Caesar waits aPeeta "What about your mentor, Haymitch Abernathy?"

Peeta&039;s face hardens "I don&039;t knohat Haymitch knew"