Captured || Book 1

Chapter 5 | District 12

//You DO NOT see Katniss in that picture! It's Peeta with really long dark hair :P//

Peeta's POV

The ash and ruble beneath me bury my feet in a fine layer of dust. The ruins of what was once District 12, my home, stands before me as if taunting me about how I couldn't save the thousands of people who died because of those bombs.

There stood the Seam. The neighborhood Katniss grew up in. Just the thought of it makes me want to cry, but I know I can't. They are just starting to wean me off my medication. I don't want them to give me more because I am unstable. All the medicine causes is hallucinations and more nightmares. I can't live with that anymore, I want to escape it.

I find myself at Katniss' old house in the Seam. Or at least the remains of it. I've never been here before, or inside for that matter, but I know it is her house because everyday I would watch her go home, always ending up in this location. 

I can make out the fact that this was a fireplace, remains of the wood from the fire still there. There are pots and pans that aren't disintegrated like the rest of the town, but burnt to a crisp. The black resembling the charcoal and coal from the mines.

The rest of the house is too destroyed to make out, nothing but ash and a few stones sticking up from the ground remain.

The memory of her house make me sad, so I leave quickly, but only to end up in a place that seems too overbearing to even process. The Bakery. 

There's nothing left of it, just burnt and destroyed bricks that look as if they've been thrown around from place to place. They probably have.

I look at where the door stood, the glass now shattered, only a few pieces remaining on the ground I stand on. The bakery sign, now charred and too destroyed to even read but I can partly make out the word Bakery with numerous letters missing. The whole top of the sign, which read Mellark, is now completely destroyed. You could have never figured out what the sign actually read.

I stare at where the oven used to be. The spot I cooked my first piece of bread in and quite frankly the last. I haven't been allowed to cook in 13, but I might be able to bake again someday, if I make it out of this war alive that is.

Tears spring to my eyes as I remember my deceased family. The family who I loved so much, even my mother, who didn't really love me... (Way to ruin the moment Peeta! :P)

Nothing made it out alive. Not the bakery, not the Hob, nothing but Victors' Village. I'm not sure why, maybe so people forced to come here on Capitol business has somewhere decent to stay. But nobodies coming back, only me. There's nothing left here but a graveyard.

I go to Victors' Village, not wanting to see anymore of my destroyed home. My house is the first place I visit. I decide to take some things with me back to 13 so I won't completely lose my mind. I grab a bag and stuff it with a sketch book, pencils and a picture of my family. I don't have many things, and I know they wouldn't want me bringing a trunk full of things, so I make my way to Katniss' house. 

Before entering I stop and just stare at it, trying not to cry. Once I compose myself I enter, but instantly feel an odd wave of emptiness and sorrow. For the lost girl in the Capitol.

I try my best to ignore it and grab somethings for Prim and her mother, even Katniss for when she gets back. I grab their family's plant book, a picture of Katniss which I end up staring at for longer than I should and Katniss' hunting jacket, just in case. 

I take one long look at the house, before deciding to leave. Right as I am about to exit I hear a low growl. I turn around to find Prim's cat, Buttercup.

I show a hint of a smile at the thought.

"Out of all the things that survived the bombs it had to be you!" I say, mimicking the way Katniss always spoke to it. "You wanna see Prim?" His ears pop up at the mention of her name. "I thought so,"

I stuff the cat in the bag, he lets out a hiss but I ignore it and go back out.

"Peeta," Haymitch's voice booms through the ear set I was forced to wear. "It's time to go,"

"Okay," I say and take one long look at District 12 before leaving it for good.

I think of how this wasn't only my home, but also the place I fell in love with Katniss at. In the schoolyard when I first laid eyes on her. Her red dress, perfect for the first day of school. The day I threw her that burnt bread, which saved her and her family's lives. The last night I saw her in the arena, the last kiss. 

All those days, watching her go home from school, all those of it was worth it. The suffering I had to go through for her. It was all worth, just to see her smile.

..........

I know a bit of a lame chapter, but I had fun writing it. :)

I already wrote chapter 6, because I got excited, so I'll publish that today also.

Have a great day and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Here's Peeta throwing Katniss the bread scene. :)

Here's the last kiss ;)