Return of the Mockingjay

Chapter 57

There's a stampede as the hundreds who flocked to the city circle run for their lives. Screaming, yelling and the thunder of hundreds of feet break the silence. The most unlikely person rushes forward to check on Cato. Johanna falls to her knees next to him, pulls off her gloves and rolls him into his back. She checks for his pulse as I crawl over to them. A pool of blood has already started to form around his abdomen and I can see the bullet wounds, one in his chest and another in his gut.

"He's still alive, barely" says Johanna as she cocks her head over his open mouth to sense if he's breathing or not.

"Okay, let's get-" I suddenly get pulled up by a strong arm around my waist and I crane my head round to see Gale lifting me off the ground.

"Gale put me down!" I scream.

"Sorry Catnip, you've gotta get on board in case there's another attack"

I struggle against him but it's a lost cause as he's so much bigger than me. He carries me up the ramp into the dropship and dumps me unceremoniously in the middle of the deck before he runs back out to help the others carry Cato into the dropship. Johanna, Steph and Blane carry Cato in and place him on the table at the front of the cabin. The dropship's engines wind up and Alek lifts off even before the ramp's fully closed. I watch on as Steph cuts away Cato's uniform exposing his chest. Blood seeps from his wounds and Johanna takes some gauze and starts to press against his wounds to try and stem the bleeding. "I think the bullets passed right through" I hear Steph say.

"Katniss, I need you up here!" I hear Alek yell from the flight deck.
I step away from Cato and make my way up the steps to the flight deck.

"I've got Plutarch on the line" he says handing me a headset.

I pull the headset over my head "hello Plutarch, it's me" I say.

"Oh thank god Katniss, I really thought you'd been hurt" he sighs.

"No I'm fine Plutarch, but it's Cato. I'm not sure he's gonna make it"

"You need to get him to 13 as fast as you can, hopefully we can still save him"

"But how, he's a mutt. Where do we start?"

"I've already got Beetee working with the doctors down in medical, hopefully they can figure something out"

"Okay we'll be as quick as we can, have them ready for us when we land"

I pull the headset off my head and sit in the seat next to Alek.

"How long to get us to 13?"

"Probably about 3 hours, I'm already going as fast as I can Katniss"

"Yeah I know Alek, just try your best"

I sit back and think of my ally, how he's always been there to save me. From the moment he had his training he's only ever thought of me and my safety and today that could cost him his life. Sure he's got amazing recovery skills but two bullet wounds might be too much even for him. But maybe there's another option, it would mean me going against my orders again but I need to help my ally, especially after what he's done for me.

"Alek, how long would it take us to get to District 1?"

Alek slowly turns to face me, a frown slowly emerging.

"About 30 minutes, why?"

"I want you to change course, I want you to take us to the mutt farm" I say quietly.

"Katniss you're kidding me, District 1's held by Wolfe, we'll be shot down before we even get close!"

"Maybe, but I still want you to try. It's the only way we can save Cato, if I can get him back in his Mutt tube he might still survive"