Chapter 7 Chapter Seven Angry Bows and Arrows

The helicopter hovered in the air and quickly landed on a road on the outskirts of District Eight.Almost at the same time, the door of the plane opened and the ladder was lowered. We stepped out of the cabin and stepped on the asphalt outside. As soon as the last person's foot touched the ground, the ladder was retracted, the plane took off quickly, and then disappeared from sight.A bodyguard team of Gale, Boggs, and two other soldiers followed me; the film crew consisted of four members, two burly Capitol photographers who carried heavy insect-like carapaces. a dolly camera; a female director named Cressida, with extremely short-shaven hair and green vine stripes on her scalp; Wears several pairs of earrings.On closer inspection, I saw that his tongue was also pierced, with a silver stud the size of a pinball.

Boggs moved us quickly to a row of warehouses, as the second helicopter landed.The plane had brought in six doctors and boxes of medicine - the doctors were instantly recognizable in their white coats.We followed Boggs down a narrow lane between two rows of drab gray warehouses with rusted sheet-metal walls and an occasional ladder or two leaning against the roof. .When we come to the street, it seems that we have entered another world. Those wounded in this morning's bombing are being carried repeatedly into warehouses on homemade stretchers, wheelbarrows and four-wheeled carts.Some had slings on their shoulders, some had splints on their arms, some were bleeding profusely, some were missing arms and legs, and some were unconscious. They were hurriedly pushed into the warehouse, and an H was crookedly written on the door of the warehouse. .I've seen something like this in my own kitchen before, where my mother was dealing with dying patients, and there were ten, fifty, a hundred times as many patients as there were at home.I thought I would see a large number of bombed buildings when I came here, but I didn't expect that what I faced was a large number of wounded with mutilated limbs and blood.

This is where they plan to shoot me?I turned around and said to Boggs, "This is not going to work, I can't find my form here." He must have also seen the panic in my eyes, he paused, patted my shoulder and said: "You will, let them see you, for them, this is better than all the doctors in the world." Works." A woman directing the wounded people in and out saw me, hesitated for a moment, and then walked over with big strides.Her dark brown eyes were slightly swollen with fatigue, and she stinks of sweat.The bandage on her neck should have been changed about three days ago, and the strap of the automatic rifle on her back was stuck on her neck. She shook her shoulders, adjusted its position, and then raised her thumb to signal the doctor to come in. In the warehouse, the doctor did not speak, and completely obeyed her instructions.

"This is Pella, Commander of District Eight. Commander, this is Soldier Katniss Everdeen," Boggs said. For a commander-in-chief, she looked young, probably in her early thirties.But there's an unquestionable sense of authority in her voice that makes you think her appointment as commander was no accident.Standing next to her in my brand-new military uniform, I felt like a chick just out of the hatch, ignorantly watching what was going on in the world. "Yes, I know who she is," Pera said. "So you're alive. We've never been sure." Did I hear wrong, or was there an accusation implicit in her words?

"I'm not sure myself," I said. "She's been recovering." Boggs tapped his head. "Severe concussion." He lowered his voice. "Miscarried, but she insisted on visiting the wounded." "Well, we have quite a few wounded," Pera said. "Do you think this will work? Pile the wounded here like this?" Gail frowned and said, "I don't think it's good. Once there is an infectious disease, it will spread like wildfire." "I think it's slightly better than leaving them alone and letting them die," Pera said.

"That's not what I meant," Gail told her. "No way, this is my only option at the moment. If you can come up with a good way to get Cohen to support me, then I'm all ears." Pera waved to the door, "Come on, mockingjay. Anyway, let you friends, come in." I looked back at our weird combination, pulled myself together, and followed her into this makeshift hospital.A heavy factory curtain hangs from the roof to the ground, forming a long corridor.Rows of corpses were laid out on the ground, their heads just above the curtains, and their faces were covered with white cloths. "We're digging a cemetery a few blocks west of here, and I haven't freed up people to move the bodies," Pera said.She found a tear in the curtain and tore it open with one blow.

I held Gale tightly with my hand and said in a low voice, "Don't leave me." "I'm right here," he said softly. I walked through the curtain, and the stench was so unbearable that my senses were overwhelmed at once. My first instinct was to cover my nose quickly to block the smell of rotting flesh and moldy linen, and at the same time, I couldn't bear it. Let yourself spit it out.The warehouse was hot and stuffy, and the metal skylight on the top had been opened, but the outside air could not penetrate the foul stench.A thin ray of sunlight coming in through the skylight is the only source of light here.My eyes gradually adapted to the dim light here, and I saw a large number of injured people squeezed into a small space, some lying on camp beds, some on container racks, and some on the ground.The black flies were buzzing around, the wounded were groaning in pain, and the people visiting the wounded were weeping sadly, and the mixed voices were filled with incomparable sadness and sorrow.

There is no real hospital in the 12th district, and everyone dies at home. Even so, it seems better than dying in this place before my eyes.But then it occurred to me that many people here had lost their homes in the bombing. Sweat started to trickle down my spine, and my palms were covered with sweat.I opened my mouth to breathe, trying to get rid of the stench, and there were stars in front of my eyes, as if I was about to faint.But suddenly I caught a glimpse of Pera, who was looking at me very close, as if to see if I was strong enough, if they were right in trusting me.So I let go of Gale's hand and forced myself to walk down the middle of the two rows of beds.

"Katniss?" came a hoarse call from my left, and in the dim light a hand was reaching out to me.This voice gave me a little strength to hold on.It was a young woman with a wound on one of her legs, blood had already soaked the thick bandage, and it was covered with flies.Pain was written on her face, but besides the pain, there was something in her eyes that was incompatible with the surrounding environment. "Is that you?" "Yeah, it's me." I blurted out. hapiness.That's what's in her eyes.After hearing my voice, The pain disappeared temporarily, and my mood suddenly became brighter.

"You're still alive! We didn't know, everyone said you were... we didn't know!" She became excited. "I'm badly hurt, but I'm fine, just like you, and you'll be fine too," I said. "I've got to tell my brother!" the woman struggled to sit up, calling out to the person a few beds away from her. "Eddie! Eddie! Here she is! It's Katniss Everdeen!" A boy, about twelve years old, turned to look at us.Bandages covered half of his face, and the exposed half of his mouth was open, as if wanting to shout.I walked up to him, pushed back the wet hair on his forehead, and said hello softly.He couldn't speak, but he looked at me intently with one good eye, as if he wanted to imprint every feature of my face in his heart.

In this stuffy air, I heard my name being called over and over again, and the sound spread to every corner of the hospital. "Katniss! Katniss! Katniss!" The voice of pain and mourning receded, replaced by a cry of hope.Voices came from all directions.I walked around, holding hands that were extended to me, stroking people who were mutilated and unable to walk, saying to everyone: hello, hello, nice to meet you.These words are so ordinary, without passion and rhetoric, but it doesn't matter.Boggs is right.Everyone needs to see me, a living me, that is hope. Everyone reached out to me, eager to touch me.When a wounded man cups my cheeks in both hands, I silently thank Dalton in my heart for suggesting that I wash off the pastels.How ridiculous and unnatural it would be if I appeared in front of everyone with a Capitoline affectation.I'm hurt, I'm tired, I've got scars, that's who everyone sees me as, and that's how I belong to them. Even though Peeta's remarks during the Caesar interview were controversial, many people asked about Peeta and they told me that Peeta must have been coerced into saying those words.I try to be upbeat and positive in front of everyone, but people are still very sad to hear that I have lost a child.A woman was crying in front of me, and I wanted to tell her the truth, that it was just a hoax, a move in a game.But presenting Peeta as a liar doesn't do him any good, and it doesn't do me any good, nor does it do the business. Only then did I truly understand what kind of heart everyone is protecting me, and what I mean to the rebels.I've always felt alone in my struggle against the Capitol, but now I know I'm not alone.Thousands of people are on my side.I was their mockingjay long before I accepted myself as a mockingjay. A new feeling rose in me, but it wasn't until I stood on the table and said goodbye to all the people who said my name silently that I didn't know what it was.That is power.I've always had it, but never knew it.The moment I took out the poisonous berries, Snow knew.He knew it too when Plutarch rescued me from the arena.And Cohen knows now.She was so aware of this that she needed to announce in public that she didn't have total control over me. As I walked out of the warehouse, I leaned against the warehouse wall, gulped in the fresh air, and took the water Boggs handed me. "You did a good job," he said. Yeah, I didn't pass out, I didn't throw up, I didn't run away screaming.I just follow everyone's emotions and show my true self. "We got a lot of good shots," says Cressida.I looked at the director, my face was covered with sweat, and McSara was recording the details.I had even forgotten that they were filming me. "I didn't do anything, really," I said. "You should affirm what you've done before," Boggs said. What have I done before?I thought of what I had done, and the devastation that followed - my knees went limp, and I sat on the side of the road. "Those things are mixed with good and bad." "Yeah, you're not perfect in everything, but there's nothing you can do about it," Boggs said. Gail squatted beside me, shaking his head, "I can't believe you let everyone touch you, I always wanted you to go outside and catch your breath." "Shut up." I said with a smile. "Your mother will be so proud of you when she sees the video," he said. "I'm afraid my mother won't notice me. It will surprise her." I turned to Boggs and asked, "Is it like this in every district?" "Yes, most jurisdictions were attacked. We tried to provide support, but not enough." He paused and listened intently to the voice in the headset.I suddenly realized that I hadn't heard Haymitch's voice for a long time, and I shook my headset, wondering if it was broken. "We need to get to the airstrip quickly. Do it now," Boggs said, pulling me up with one hand. "There's a situation." "What's going on?" Gail asked. "The bombers are coming," Boggs said.He reached the back of my neck and helped me put Cinna's helmet on. "Go!" I didn't know what was going to happen, but I just ran along the open space at the front door of the warehouse towards the path I came from, and the plane took off and landed in front of me.But I didn't feel that the danger was approaching. The sky was blue and cloudless, and I couldn't see anything.There was no one else on the street except for a few people who took the injured to the makeshift hospital.No enemies, no alarms.But then, suddenly, the alarm goes off.Within seconds, a low-flying V-shaped Capitol column suddenly appeared above us, and bombs began to drop.Immediately I was blown away and fell hard against the warehouse wall.Immediately, the pain behind my right knee was excruciating, and my back was hit hard, but it didn't seem to have penetrated my protective vest.I tried to get up and Boggs held me down, covering me with his body.When bombs fell from the sky and detonated on the ground, the ground trembled violently. The feeling of being pinned to the base of the wall while the bombs were raining down was horrific.How had Dad used to describe such an easy kill?It's like killing a fish in a bucket.We are the fish and the high street is the barrel. "Katniss?" Haymitch's voice in the headset startled me. "What? Yes, what? I'm here!" I replied. "Listen. We can't land while we're bombing, but make sure they don't see you," he said. "So they don't know I'm here?" Again, as usual, I felt that my presence had caused the disaster. "Based on intelligence, they didn't know. The attack went as planned," Haymitch said. At this time, Plutarch's firm and decisive voice came.As a Hunger Games organizer, he was used to giving orders under pressure, "There is a light blue warehouse three warehouses away from you, and there is a bunker at the northernmost end of the warehouse. Can you get there?" "We're going to do our best," Boggs said.Everyone must have heard Plutarch's voice, because by this time all the bodyguards and film crew members had stood up.Instinctively I searched for Gale and saw that he too was on his feet, obviously unhurt. "There are now about forty-five seconds until the next attack," said Plutarch. When I stood up, I let out a groan of pain as I put my weight on my right leg, but I gritted my teeth and kept going.There's no time to examine the wound, and it's best not to look at it now.Luckily, I'm wearing a Cinna-designed shoe that grips the asphalt well when the foot is down, and is bouncy when it comes up.It would be bad if I was still wearing the ill-fitting shoes issued by the thirteenth district at this time.Boggs took the lead and walked ahead of me, but none of the others passed me. Instead, they kept the same pace and speed as me, protecting me on the sides and behind me.Time ticked by and I forced myself to run.We've run past the second gray warehouse and are running along a khaki building.Not far ahead, I saw a faded blue building, where the bunker was.We approached another narrow passage, through which we came to the warehouse door, and another round of bombing began.I instinctively threw myself on the sidewalk, and then rolled towards the blue wall in front of me.This time it was Gale who fell on top of me, protecting me with his own body.The bombing seemed to last longer this time, but we were farther away from the blast site. I turned sideways, but looked directly into Gail's eyes, and for a split second, the whole world receded, and all I saw was his flushed cheeks and his pulse throbbing in his temples, and he was breathing rapidly, The mouth is slightly opened. "Are you all right?" he asked.His voice was almost drowned out by the loud explosion. "Yes, I don't think they noticed me. I mean they didn't follow," I replied. "Yeah, they're targeting something else," Gale said. "I know, but there's nothing there except..." I immediately thought of what was there. "Hospital." In an instant, Gail stood up and shouted at the others: "Their goal is the hospital!" "This is not a problem for you to deal with. Go to the bunker." Plutarch's firm voice came from the headset. "But there's no one there except the wounded!" I said. "Katniss," Haymitch warned me, and I knew exactly what he was going to say next. "Don't even think about it!" I pulled the headset out of my ear and let it hang by my ear.The sound in the headset stopped disturbing me, and I heard other sounds, which were the sound of machine gun fire above the khaki warehouse across the road.The plane turned around and bombed again.Before anyone could stop me, I rushed to a ladder and started climbing.Climbing is one of my best skills. "Don't stop!" I heard Gale say behind me.Then I heard the sound of his boots hitting someone's face.If Gale had kicked Boggs in the face, he would have paid dearly.I quickly climbed to the roof and stepped on the tar roof.Then we stopped, pulled Gale up, and we ran up to the street side of the roof, where there was a bank of machine guns.I jumped into the bunker, and there were a few soldiers inside, hiding behind the bunker. "Does Boggs know you're here?" To my left, I see Pera behind a machine gun with a puzzled look on his face. In order not to open my eyes and talk nonsense, I hesitated: "He knows where we are, it's okay." Pera laughed. "I bet he knows. Have you been trained to use this?" she said, patting the butt of the gun. "I'm trained, in District Thirteen, but I'd rather use my own weapons," Gale said. "Yes, we have bows and arrows." I held up my bow, and suddenly felt that this thing is like an ornament here, "This bow is much more powerful than it looks." "Just be strong. Well, I reckon they have at least three more attacks, and they need to push the shields before they drop their bombs, so this is a good time for us to attack. Get down!" I got down on one knee, ready to shoot. "Better fire arrows first," Gale said. I nodded and took an arrow from my quiver.If we missed the mark, the arrows would have landed elsewhere—perhaps on top of the warehouse across the street.If it catches fire, it can be extinguished; but if it explodes, the result will be catastrophic. Suddenly, the plane appeared about a hundred yards above our heads, two warehouses away.A total of seven aircraft formed a V formation. "Goose!" I yelled at Gale.He understood exactly what I meant.We always hunt together every year when the migratory birds fly south.In order to avoid two people aiming at the same target, we divide the work.Now I shoot the farthest aircraft in the V formation and Gale shoots the closer ones.There is no time for discussion.I estimated the time, aimed a little ahead of the plane, and fired the arrow.I shot a plane in the wing and it caught fire immediately.Gale missed the lead plane.An empty warehouse across from us was on fire.Gale cursed viciously. The plane I shot flew away from the formation, but dropped the bomb anyway.It's not gone.The other aircraft that was hit by machine guns was not shot down either, but damage to components is presumed to have caused its shutters to malfunction. "Good game," Gale said. "I wasn't aiming at that plane at all," I muttered.I aimed at the plane ahead. "They're flying faster than we thought." "Everyone!" Pella yelled.Another flight formation has flown over. "Fire arrows don't work well," Gale said.I nodded and we both hitched the dynamite arrow.Anyway, the warehouse across the street looked deserted. When the flying formation approached us silently, I suddenly had another idea. "I'm going to shoot standing up!" I yelled at Gale, standing up.I aim best in this position.I aimed a little ahead of the plane, and shot the arrow resolutely, hitting the pilot just right, and piercing a hole in its belly.Gale then shot the trailing plane as well.The shot plane tumbled toward the ground and burst into flames as it hit the ground. The bombs on board caused a series of explosions. Without warning, a third flight formation appeared.This time, Gale hit the lead plane with an arrow, and after I knocked off the wing of the second plane, it circled into the plane behind it.Two planes crashed together atop a warehouse opposite the hospital, and a fourth was shot down by machine guns. "Okay, it's all over," Perla said. Flames and smoke from the downed plane obscured our vision. "Did they blow up the hospital?" "It must have blown up," she said sullenly. As I headed toward the ladder at the end of the warehouse, I was startled by McSara and a Beetle emerging from behind the smoke.I thought they were still hiding in the narrow lane. "They're always sticking to us," Gale said. I climb down the ladder.As soon as our feet hit the ground, I saw my bodyguard, Cressida, and another Beetle waiting for us.I thought they were going to blame me, but Cressida just waved in the direction of the hospital and beckoned me over.She yelled into the headset, "I don't care, Plutarch! Give me five more minutes, please!" Nobody bothered to ask me where I was going, so I walked straight into the street. "Oh, no." When I saw the hospital, I let out a miserable cry from the bottom of my heart.The place that had been a hospital just now was in a mess.I walked past the wounded, through the wreckage of the burning plane, and gazed at the devastation ahead.People were crying and running around like crazy, but there was nothing they could do.Bombs have blown the roof of the hospital, and the warehouse is on fire, trapping the wounded inside.A rescue team has been organized and is ready to break in.But I know what they can find in it.Even if falling debris and fire didn't engulf them, the smoke would suffocate them. Gail was right there with me.He didn't take any action, which further confirmed my suspicions.It stands to reason that if the miners could save lives, they would never give up. "Come on, Katniss. Haymitch says there's a helicopter coming to pick us up right now," he told me.But I couldn't move my feet. "Why are they doing this? Why are they targeting people who are already dying?" I asked him. "Intimidate them, keep the wounded from seeking help. Those you see are dispensable. To Snow anyway. If the Capitol wins, what do they want with a bunch of wounded slaves? " I remember Gale lashing out at the Capitol all those years ago when I was hunting in the woods.I didn't pay much attention to it at the time.I've always wondered why Gale had to analyze their motives, why he had to know how the enemy thought.Obviously, judging from what happened today, it is very meaningful to explore this question.When Gail thinks about the hospital, he's not thinking about the disease, but about the soundness of the arrangement.He never underestimated the brutality of the reality we face. I couldn't bear to look any longer, and slowly turned around.Cressida was standing a yard or two from me, surrounded by two Beetles.She didn't show the slightest fear, and she could even be said to be calm at this time. "Katniss, President Snow just had the bombing live on TV and he gave a televised speech saying it was a message to the resistance. How are you? Do you want to say a few words to the resistance? ?” "Yes." I whispered.The camera's red light came on, and I knew it was filming now. "Yes." I said more firmly.Everyone—Gale, Cressida, the Beatles—all backed away to give me some room to shoot.I'm still looking straight at the camera's red light. "I want to say to the rebels, I'm alive. I'm right here, District 8. Capitol planes just bombed the hospital here. There are unarmed men, women and children. There will be no more survivors." The shock I had just now was replaced by anger. "I want to tell you that if you think that the Capitol will treat us well after a ceasefire, you are very wrong. Because you know exactly what kind of people they are and what they are going to do." My hands stretched out involuntarily Come out, as if to point out the horrors around you, "This is what they did! We must resist!" Out of anger, I get closer and closer to the camera lens. "Didn't President Snow say he sent us a message? Well, I'll send him a message too. You can torture us, bomb us, burn our district down, but do you see that?" I Pointing to the burning wreckage of the plane on the top of the opposite warehouse, the camera lens also followed the shooting. On the wing of the crashed plane, the logo of the Capitol clearly appeared through the flames. "The raging flames have been ignited." At this time, I was already shouting loudly, and the words and sentences were clearly distinguishable, "If we are ignited, you will also be buried in the flames like us!" My last few words echoed in the air for a long time.I feel like time has stood still.I was lifted up by a passion that came from within me, not the heat from around me. "Stop!" Cressida's words brought me back to reality.She nodded to me affirmatively, "Let's end here today."