A Whole New Game: A Hunger Games Story

Chapter 29: The Martyr

Athena

"Get down!" Gale hisses.

We crouch behind the blue dumpster in the dark alleyway between two buildings, remaining absolutely silent as the peacekeepers who had been chasing us run past the alley.Thankfully Gale had ordered the few straggling soldiers who had been sectioned off with us in the tunnel collapse to find the main herd. I only hope they found them. Once the peacekeepers pass, I look to Gale.

"We need to find a way to get around the city easier," I say. "They're crawling all over the place."

"Why don't we just shoot them all?" Cato suggests carelessly.

Gale ignores him, and shakes his head at me. "We can't use the tunnels, the peacekeepers have occupied them completely.And the ones they haven't are all being destroyed." He digs around in his pocket a moment, then pulls out a small hand held device shaped similarly to a watch and presses a few buttons. Soon, a holograph pops above it, revealing a map of the Capitol.

"The red dot is us, and the yellow 'X' is where we think the prisoners are being held," Gale explains. I glance at the map; we aren't very far at all.

"We think?" I ask.

"Well, it's not like the Capitol told us where they are," he scoffs. "Honestly, they could be in completely different district.We have people on the inside though, and they believe that the families might be in this building, if any."

I remain silent, suddenly despondent. I dawns on me I might not get Sammy out alive, let alone any of the other families if we aren't even sure where they are being held. I shake off the feeling as Gale continues.

"Okay, the area looks clear, just stick to the shadows," he says.We get out from behind the dumpster and make our way quietly across the empty street.

"Where is everyone?" Cato asks as we jog past empty shops and beauty salons. I

had been wondering the same thing; we haven't seen one Capitol Citizen.The whole city seems eerily dead in the moonlight, minus the occasional explosions off in the south side of the city.What could Katniss, Peeta, and Rue be doing over there?

"They probably have been evacuated to the City Circle, so they don't get caught in the crossfire from the attacks," Gale says as he checks his map once more. He motions for Cato to go down another long alleyway, this one tighter than the other, so much so that we can only go single file with Cato in the lead and I at the rear.

"Okay, I see the building," Gale says quietly. He's breath is squished, like his large frame. I can't see around Cato's and Gale's heads to where he means; they are both at least a foot taller than I am and blocking my line of sight.

"That can't be right," I hear Cato chime.

"Why?" I ask.

"Well I mean look at it."

"That's not really an option at the moment," I chide irritatedly.

"Well, there aren't any guards."

"So? Maybe they're all inside," Gale suggests.

"Wouldn't there be someone outside though? Like a sniper? Just to make sure nobody even got a chance to get in?" I ask.

"Exactly," Cato says.

"Maybe they want to lure us in by all being on the inside. Maybe the families aren't priority anymore, and all peacekeepers were called off," I offer foolishly.

"No, they know we are coming for them.They're half the point of this goddamned war," Cato says. "The Capitol has plenty of soldiers. It can't be that building." It's the first thing Cato has said that has been remotely intelligent. He's still tipsy from our wine raid. Maybe he gets smarter when he drinks.