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District 2 is a large district, as one es spread across the inally associated with aand training of Peacekeepers None of this would present e, since the rebels have 13&039;s airpower on their side, except for one thing: At the center of the district is a virtually impenetrable mountain that houses the heart of the Capitol&039;s military
We&039;ve nicknah nut to crack" coed rebel leaders here The Nut was established directly after the Dark Days, when the Capitol had lost 13 and was desperate for a new underground stronghold They had some of their military resources situated on the outskirts of the Capitol itself - nuclear nificant chunk of their poas now under an enemy&039;s control Of course, there was no way they could hope to replicate 13, which was the work of centuries However, in the old mines of nearby District 2, they saw opportunity From the air, the Nut appeared to be just another mountain with a few entrances on its faces But inside were vast cavernous spaces where slabs of stones had been cut, hauled to the surface, and transported down slippery narrow roads to s There was even a train syste the miners from the Nut to the very center of the ht to the square that Peeta and I visited during the Victory Tour, standing on the widenot to look too closely at Cato&039;s and Clove&039;s grieving families assembled below us
It was not the ued as it was by hed the concerns As they&039;d cut deep into the e pillars and walls of stone to support the infrastructure The Capitol reinforced these and set aboutit with co roo entrances to allow the exit of hovercraft frothe exterior of the le of trees and wildlife A natural fortress to protect them from their enemies
By the other districts&039; standards, the Capitol babied the inhabitants here Just by looking at the District 2 rebels, you can tell they were decently fed and cared for in childhood Some did end up as quarry and mine workers Others were educated for jobs in the Nut or funneled into the ranks of Peacekeepers Trained young and hard for coer Galory not seen elsewhere Of course, the people of 2 sed the Capitol&039;s propaganda more easily than the rest of us Embraced their ways But for all that, at the end of the day, they were still slaves And if that was lost on the citizens who became Peacekeepers or worked in the Nut, it was not lost on the stonecutters who fors stand as they did when I arrived teeks ago The outer villages are in rebel hands, the town divided, and the Nut is as untouchable as ever Its few entrances heavily fortified, its heart safely enfolded in the mountain While every other district has norested control from the Capitol, 2 remains in its pocket
Each day, I do whatever I can to help Visit the wounded Tape short propos with my camera crew I&039;m not allowed in actual cos on the status of the hich is a lot more than they did in 13 It&039;s much better here Freer, no schedules on round in the rebel villages or surrounding caves For safety&039;s sake, I&039;iven clearance to hunt as long as I take a guard along and don&039;t stray too far In the thin, cold , iness But with this mental clarity comes an even sharper awareness of what has been done to Peeta
Snow has stolen hinition, and s, who ca, it was a little too easy to rescue Peeta He believes if 13 hadn&039;t made the effort, Peeta would&039;ve been delivered todistrict or perhaps 13 itself Tied up with ribbons and tagged with rammed to murder me
It&039;s only now that he&039;s been corrupted that I can fully appreciate the real Peeta Even more than I would&039;ve if he&039;d died The kindness, the steadiness, the warmth that had an unexpected heat behind it Outside of Prim, my mother, and Gale, how many people in the world love me unconditionally? I think in my case, the answer may now be none Sometimes when I&039;m alone, I take the pearl from where it lives in my pocket and try to re arhtmares on the train, the kisses in the arena ToI&039;ve lost But what&039;s the use? It&039;s gone He&039;s gone Whatever existed between us is gone All that&039;s left is my promise to kill Snow I tell myself this ten times a day
Back in 13, Peeta&039;s rehabilitation continues Even though I don&039;t ask, Plutarch gives me cheerful updates on the phone like "Good news, Katniss! I think we&039;ve alot him convinced you&039;re not a !"
When Hayets on after, he admits Peeta&039;s no better The only dubious ray of hope has co to hijack hi up the distorted , likeWe&039;ve only tried it on one memory The tape of the two of you in the cave, when you told hioat"
"Any improvement?" I ask
"Well, if extreme confusion is an improvement over extreme terror, then yes," says Haymitch "But I&039;m not sure it is He lost the ability to speak for several hours Went into so he asked about was the goat"
"Right," I say
"How&039;s it out there?" he asks
"No forwardout a team to help with the mountain Beetee and some of the others," he says "You know, the brains"
When the brains are selected, I&039;ht Beetee would bring hiical expertise, but in the hopes that he could soinally, Gale offered to co hiht and stay where he was most needed I didn&039;t tell him his presence would make it even more difficult for me to mourn Peeta
Gale findson a log at the edge of oose A dozen or so of the birds are piled at h here since I&039;ve arrived, and the pickings are easy Without a word, Gale settles beside ins to relieve a bird of its feathers We&039;re through about half when he says, "Any chance we&039;ll get to eat these?"
"Yeah Most go to the caive a couple to whoever I&039; h?" he says
"You&039;d think," I reply "But word&039;s gotten out that jays are hazardous to your health"
We pluck in silence for a while longer Then he says, "I saw Peeta yesterday Through the glass"
"What&039;d you think?" I ask
"So selfish," says Gale
"That you don&039;t have to be jealous of hiive a yank, and a cloud of feathers floats down around us
"No Just the opposite" Gale pulls a feather out of htI&039;ll never compete with that No matter how much pain I&039;er "I don&039;t stand a chance if he doesn&039;t get better You&039;ll never be able to let hi withhiaze "If I thought that was true, I could almost live with the rest of it"
"It is true," I admit "But so is what you said about Peeta"
Gale makes a sound of exasperation Nonetheless, after we&039;ve dropped off the birds and volunteered to go back to the woods to gather kindling for the evening fire, I findthe faded bruises ontheir way to my mouth Despite what I feel for Peeta, this is when I accept deep down that he&039;ll never coo back to hio to the Capitol and kill Snow, and then die forht I shut my eyes and kiss Gale to make up for all the kisses I&039;ve withheld, and because it doesn&039;t matter anymore, and because I&039;m so desperately lonely I can&039;t stand it Gale&039;s touch and taste and heat remind me that at least my body&039;s still alive, and for theI eh htly, I ap, but I feel his hand under my chin "Katniss," he says The instant I open my eyes, the world seems disjointed This is not our woods or our oes to the scar on my left temple, which I associate with confusion "Now kiss , I stand there while he leans in and presses his lips toon in your head?"