Chapter 10 Chapter Ten Underground Refuge

My heart was overwhelmed, and I wanted to shout, but my voice was choked in my throat and I couldn't shout out.I became Avax, pain clogging my throat.Even if I could let go of my throat and yell out loud, who would notice?The room was already in a mess, everyone was discussing in one go, trying to figure out what Peeta said. "And you...in the thirteenth district...you will all die in the morning!" No one cared about the person who delivered the news, he was bleeding. At this time, a voice came, asking everyone to be quiet. "Shut up!" Every pair of eyes fell on Haymitch. "It's no big secret! That kid wants to tell us we're about to be attacked, right here, District Thirteen."

"How did he get this information?" "Why should we trust him?" "How did you know?" Haymitch yelled in despair, "They beat him out while we were arguing. What more do you need? Katniss, hold me up and let me out!" I pulled myself together before speaking. "Haymitch was right. I don't know where Peeta got the news, or if it's true. But at least he believes it's true. And they..." I can't say out loud what Snow did to Peeta for. "You don't know him," Haymitch said to Cohen, "but we do. Get your men ready."

The president didn't seem alarmed when this happened, just puzzled.While everyone was discussing, she didn't say a word, just tapped the command and control panel in front of her with one finger.When she finally spoke, she said calmly to Haymitch, "Of course, we were prepared for such a situation. Although we have believed for decades that if the Capitol attacked the Thirteenth District, The Capitol would be affected as well. Nuclear bombs would release radioactive material into the atmosphere, causing irreparable adverse effects on the environment. Even a conventional nuclear attack would destroy our military installations, and we know they always wanted to Recapturing these facilities. Of course, if they do so, they will also invite a nuclear counterattack. One possibility is that because of our current alignment with the rebels in the districts, they may think this is a risk worth taking.”

"You think so?" Haymitch said.There was obvious sarcasm in his words, but in the thirteenth district, everyone was not sensitive to the voice of the conversation. "Yes. Anyway, we're overdue for a Level 5 security exercise," Cohen said. "At this point, we need to go to Level 1." With that, she tapped the keyboard quickly to send her order.The moment she finished typing on the keyboard and raised her head, the order had been executed. Since I came to District 13, I have conducted two secondary security drills.I have no memory of the first security drill.At that time, I was receiving intensive care in the hospital. I thought that patients could not participate. Transferring patients is very troublesome. It is better not to let them participate.I vaguely remember the siren being sounded, telling everyone to gather in the yellow zone.Level 2 security drills are for smaller disasters, such as a flu outbreak, and involve temporarily quarantining citizens and conducting physical checks on them.During the second exercise, we were instructed to return to the area where we lived.I was hiding behind the big pipe in the laundry room, paying no attention to the regular siren blaring from the loudspeaker, quietly watching a spider spin its web.I stayed out of both drills when this blaring, panic-stricken siren blared.But now this kind of panic has penetrated into every corner of the thirteenth district.In the thirteenth district, no one can ignore the siren.Although it seems intent on throwing the entire precinct into panic, this is the Thirteenth District, and no one can ignore the siren.

Boggs led Finnick and me out of the headquarters, through a hallway and a door, and up a wide staircase.The crowd has gathered here, forming a powerful stream of people, which is pouring deeper into the ground.No one yelled or pushed, and even the kids were well behaved.We walked down and passed through the stairs one after another. Everyone was silent. At this time, no words could penetrate the sound of the surging crowd.I searched for Mom and Prim in the crowd, but no one could see it except those around me.Both of them are working at the hospital tonight, so they should not miss it. My eardrums were swollen and my eyes were sore.We've come down to the depths of the mine.The only comforting thing is that the shrill whistle of the siren gets fainter the deeper we go.The siren seemed to be trying to drive us underground, and I thought it was.Groups of people had already entered the designated gates, but Boggs still led us down.It didn't stop until a huge cave appeared at the end of the stairs.I was about to go straight in when Boggs stopped me and made me wave my arm in front of a scanner so I was taking the record.Apparently, the information is passed through the computer to make sure no one goes the wrong way.

It seems that this place is difficult to determine whether it is artificially dug or naturally formed.Some places are stone walls, and some places have steel frames installed or reinforced with cement.The sleeping bunks are embedded directly into the stone walls.There are also kitchens, bathrooms and a first aid station.It seems that the design here is for a longer period of emergency shelter. Signs with letters and numbers hang from the inner walls of the cavern.Boggs directed Finnick and I to report to the podium that corresponds to our area—for example, podium E corresponds to room E where I live—at this time, Plutarch walked slowly towards us, and he Said: "Ah, here you come." Many recent events have not affected Plutarch's mood very much.He's still basking in the joy of Bit's successful TV break.He sees the forest but not the trees; he focuses on the impending attack on Thirteen and ignores Peeta's plight. "Katniss, obviously this is the worst time for you. Peeta has been thwarted, but you know other people's eyes are on you."

"What?" I said.I can't believe he's downplaying Peeta's unfortunate situation as a setback. “The eyes of the people fighting in the bunker will be on you. If you are brave, they will be brave. If you panic, the panic will spread like wildfire,” Plutarch explained.I said nothing, just looked at him. "The flames are burning, I should say," he went on, as if I were slow to understand what he was saying right away. "Then why don't I pretend I'm filming, Plutarch?" I said. "Yeah! That's great. People always get braver in front of an audience. Look at Peeta!"

I tried my best not to slap him. "I'm going back to Cohn's before the first level of combat readiness is activated. You did a good job!" With that, he turned and left. I came to the sign with a big letter E on it.Our designated living area was a twelve-foot square with lines drawn on the floor.Two bunks are built into the stone wall - one of our family sleeps on the floor - and there is a small space on the ground floor for storage.A piece of white paper wrapped in a transparent plastic sheet reads: Regulations on the use of berths.I stared hard at the small black letters on the paper.For a moment, the blood that floated in front of my eyes seemed to prevent me from seeing anything else.Slowly, I finally saw the writing on it clearly.The first part is subtitled "Check-in".

1.Make sure everyone in this area is verified. Mom and Prim aren't here yet, but I'm the first to arrive in this residential area.They may still be helping to house patients. 2.Go to the Supply Station to retrieve a package for each occupant, place the items in the living area, and return the empty packages. I looked around the cavern and finally saw the supply station, a deep room with a counter in front.Everyone is waiting outside the room, but there are not too many people now.I walked over, handed over our residence numbers, and asked for three packages.A man checked the log, took the designated package from the shelf, and threw it on the counter.After I picked up one package and grabbed the other two packages with my hands, I found that there was a long queue behind me. "Excuse me," I said, and walked out with the package.Is it a matter of time?Or is Plutarch right and people are doing things the way I behave?

Back in my living area, I opened one of the packages, which contained a thin mattress, bedding, two sets of gray clothes, a toothbrush, a comb and a flashlight.After opening the other two packages, the only difference I found from the previous one was that these two packages contained both gray and white clothes.This is for Mom and Prim in case they need to do medical work.After I made my bed, packed my clothes, and returned the package, I had nothing to do but look at the last rule. 3.Awaiting further instructions. I sat cross-legged on the ground and waited.More and more people come here, find their area, and pick up packages.Before long the place was full.I wonder if Mom and Prim are spending the night with a patient tonight.But, no, probably not, they are on the list here.I started to get a little worried when my mother appeared.I watched the stream of strangers behind her. "Where's Prim?" I asked.

"She's not here?" she answered. "She should have come straight from the hospital. She left ten minutes before I did. Where is she? Where can she go?" I closed my eyes and tried to figure out where she was, like hunting after a trail of prey.She heard the siren and immediately started to act. She rushed forward to help the patient. When someone told her to go to the underground bunker, she nodded and stood on the stairs but hesitated and felt uneasy.But why? I opened my eyes suddenly, "It's a cat! She ran back to find that cat!" "Oh, no," Mom said.Both my mother and I knew that my guess was right.Then we went against the flow of people, trying to get out of the underground cave.Above the stairs, I could already see someone closing the heavy iron gate.They were slowly turning the metal wheels on the inside of the door.Somehow, I knew that once the door was closed, it would be impossible for the soldiers to open it with any words. Maybe by then the door would be out of their control.I pushed the crowd away desperately, yelling at them not to close the door.The door was still closing slowly, only a yard away, a foot; I stuck my hand in the door gap with inches to close. "Open! Let me out!" I yelled. Surprised by the soldiers, they began to spin the wheels in the opposite direction.The gap is too small, I still can't get through, but it's not enough to squeeze my fingers.I took the opportunity to squeeze my shoulders in. "Prim!" I yelled towards the stairs above.Mom kept pleading with the soldiers while I tried to squeeze my way out. "Prim!" Then I heard a faint sound, the sound of footsteps on the stairs. "Here we come!" I heard my sister shout. "Don't close the door!" It was Gail's voice. "Here they come!" I said to the soldiers.They opened the door another foot.But I dare not go out, for fear that they will shut us out together.Then Prim came running, panting, flushed, with buttercups in her arms.I drag her in, and Gail follows her, still holding a bunch of things in his arms, and he squeezes in sideways through the gap.With a loud bang, the door finally closed. "What are you doing?" I shook Prim angrily, and wrapped her in my arms with the buttercup between us. Prim had a good reason ready, and she blurted out, "I can't leave it, Katniss. Can't throw it away again. It's running around the house, and it's here to protect us." "Okay, okay." I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down too.Then he took a step back and grabbed Buttercup by the collar. "I should have drowned you." It drooped its ears and raised a paw.Before it could yell, I just whined.It seemed displeased, and it felt that it was the only one who could purr in defiance.It had no choice but to make the helpless meow of a cat, which immediately drew its sister to its defense. "Oh, Katniss, don't laugh at it," she said, holding it tightly in her arms. "It's already disturbed." So I hurt the little brute's feelings, and I really want to taunt him.But Prim was really sad about it.So, I just used buttercup fur as a nice pair of gloves.For many years I have survived by this kind of imagination. "Okay, I'm sorry. Our residence is on the other side of the stone wall, and there is a place with a big letter E. Let's settle it quickly before anyone chases it away." Prim hurried to our living area.That's when I realized Gail and I were standing face to face.He was holding medical supplies from my kitchen in District 12.Then scenes flashed before my eyes: our last talk, kiss, everything.My game bag slung over his shoulders. "If Peeta's right, it's all over," he said. pita.The blood flowed like rain on a window, like wet mud on a boot. "Thank you...for all you do." I took the things, "What are you doing at our house?" "Just checking. We live in block 47 if you need help," he said. When the gate was closed, everyone had already arrived at their specific positions.So when I walked through the cave to my new home, there were at least five hundred people watching me.It was too reckless to rush out in a panic just now. In order to make up for it, I am acting extremely calm now, as if I can deceive everyone by doing so.Stop thinking about setting an example.Oh, who cares?Anyway, they all think I'm crazy.One of them, whom I may have bumped into just now, met my eyes and was rubbing his chin resentfully.I almost hissed at him. Prim put Buttercup down on the bunk below, wrapping the blanket around her body except her head.That's what Prim does when Buttercup Thunders gets scared.Mom put her box carefully in storage.I squatted with my back against the rock wall, trying to see what Gale had packed in my game bag.The book about plants, the hunting jacket, my parents’ wedding photos, and my personal belongings in the drawers.My mockingjay brooch—it's now pinned to a costume Cinna designed for me, a gold souvenir lanyard, a silver parachute-wrapped cannula, and Peeta's pearl.I wrapped the pearl tightly in the parachute and hid it in the back of the game bag, as if this was Peeta's life, and as long as I guarded it, no one could take it away. The faint sound of the siren stopped suddenly.Cohen's voice came over the loudspeaker, thanking everyone for the swift and orderly evacuation from the floors above.She emphasized that the evacuation was not a drill, as Peeta Mylark from District 12 hinted in a television interview that District 13 might be attacked tonight. At this moment, the first bomb hit District 13.First there was a strong tremor, and then there was a rumbling explosion.Accompanied by this loud noise, my internal organs vibrated. It seemed to be hitting my bone marrow and shaking my teeth roots.We're all going to die, I thought.I raised my eyes to the roof of the cave, thinking there might be cracks and rocks raining down on our heads, but the subterranean bunker only trembled slightly.Suddenly the light went out, and the cave was completely dark.The sounds of people all around—screams, heavy breathing, children's cries, nervous laughter—were mixed together.Then came the hum of an engine, and a dim, flickering twilight replaced the usual incandescent lights of District Thirteen.It's a lot like the dim wax glow or the faint firelight on a winter night in your home in District 12. In the dim light, I grabbed Prim's leg and pulled myself closer to her.She reassured Buttercup in a calm voice, "It's all right, baby, it's all right. We're all going to be all right down here." Mom put her arms around both of us.I let myself snuggle on my mother's shoulders like I did when I was a child. "It's not like the bombs dropped in District Eight," I said. "Maybe it's a penetrator," Prim said.Fearing that the buttercup would be frightened, her voice was very soft. "I saw it in the New Citizen Knowledge Guide. This kind of bomb can penetrate deep into the ground and then explode. It's useless to bomb the ground in District 13 anyway." "Is it a nuclear bomb?" I asked, shivering all over my body. "Not necessarily. This kind of bomb is just a lot of explosives. But... both kinds of bombs are possible, I guess." Prim said. In the dim light, the heavy iron gate in the distance could not be seen clearly.Will it protect us in the event of a nuclear bomb going off?If the door can completely block the nuclear radiation, which is unlikely, can we still go out here?The thought of possibly spending the rest of my life in this cave terrifies me.I was tempted to run frantically towards the gate, asking for it to be opened and let me out, no matter what it was like outside, but it didn't make any sense.I'm afraid they'll never let me out, and I'm just running around. "In this deep place, I'm sure we'll be fine," Mom said weakly.At this time, is she thinking about the scene where her father was blown to pieces? "It's dangerous, thank god Peeta warned us." warn.This is such an unremarkable word, but he paid a lot in order to give us a "warning". First of all, he must obtain information, find an opportunity, and need to show courage.But there is also something I don't understand. Peeta seems to be struggling a lot when sending out this information.Why?Navigating language with ease is what he does best.Was it difficult for him to make up his mind because he had been tortured too much?or something else?Is there something wrong with his spirit? Then came Cohen's voice, and her tone sounded very serious.As her voice rose and fell, so did the lights. "Obviously Peeta Mylark's information was accurate and we are extremely grateful to him. Sensors showed that the first bomb was not nuclear but powerful. We expect more bombs to come. During the attack, If you have not been notified, citizens are requested to stay at their designated places." A soldier came to inform Mom that the first aid station needed her there.Although the first aid station was only thirty yards away, she didn't want to leave us. "We'll be fine, really. You think it won't know what's going on?" I said, pointing to the buttercup.Then the cat meowed at me absent-mindedly, and we all laughed softly.Even I feel sorry for it.After Mom left, I said to Prim, "Why don't you climb up and sleep with him, Prim?" "I know it's a stupid idea ... but I'm afraid that when the bombs come, the bunk will collapse and hit us," she said. If the bunks could collapse, the whole cave would collapse, burying us all in it, but I don't think that logic helped us either.So I cleaned out the storage area and planed a nest for buttercups.Then I laid out a mat in front of the cat so Prim and I lay on it. Everyone is divided into groups, and they take turns using the bathroom, brushing their teeth and washing their faces.But bathing is not allowed today.Prim and I curled up on the cushions, double-folded, because of the dampness of the burrow.And buttercup, even though Prim kept comforting it, it was still very sad, and it also curled up in its "nest", panting weakly. Although the conditions here are very poor, I am still very happy to be with my sister.With all the troubles I've had since coming to District 13—no, since the beginning of The Hunger Games, really—I've barely paid her any attention.I should have guarded her as well as I did in the past, but I didn't.Anyway, it was Gail who ended up checking on our place, not me.I want to make up for her! I realized I hadn't even asked her how it felt to be in District 13, after such a turn of events. "Well, Prim, what do you think of District 13?" I asked. "You mean now?" she asked.We both laughed. "Sometimes I miss my hometown very much, but I remember that everything in my hometown is gone. I feel safer here. We don't have to worry about you anymore. Well, it should be said that even worrying is different." Said Well, she paused, then smiled shyly, "I think they're going to train me to be a doctor." This is the first time I've heard of it. "Of course they will, and whoever doesn't is a fool." "When I was helping in the hospital, they kept watching me. I have already started to take pharmacology classes. But the content is elementary, and I already know a lot when I am at home. But anyway, there is still a lot to learn Yes." She told me. "That's really nice," I said.Prim is a doctor.If it was in the twelfth district, this would be something she would never dare to think about.Suddenly, a small fire of hope quietly ignited in my heart, sweeping away the haze in my heart, perhaps, this is the kind of future that the cause of rebelling against the Capitol can achieve. "What about you, Katniss? Are you comfortable here?" Prim said, gently rubbing Buttercup's forehead. "Don't tell me you're fine." That's right.Well, it doesn't really matter to me.So I told her about Peeta, and from watching Peeta on TV it's getting worse, I think they might be killing Peeta right now.Prim's attention was drawn to me, and Buttercup was left alone.Prim moved closer to me, smoothing my hair behind my ear with her thin fingers.I stopped talking, because I had nothing to say, all I could feel was the colic in my heart, the pain was so painful that my heartbeat was gone, but what was there to say. "Katniss, I don't think President Snow will kill Peeta," she said.Of course she said that, to comfort me.But what she said next really surprised me. "If he kills Peeta, he won't have anything you want, and he won't be able to hurt you anymore." Her words suddenly reminded me of another girl who had witnessed all the evils of the Capitol, and she was Johanna Mason, the "tribute" from District Seven in the last Hunger Games.The twittering birds in the jungle were making the sound of your loved one being tortured, and I was worried she would be hurt and tried to stop her from entering the jungle, but she pushed me away and said, "They can't hurt me, I'm not like you , I don’t have any lovely people anymore.” Yes, I think Prim is right.Snow wasn't going to let Peeta die for nothing, especially now that the Mockingjay was causing so much confusion.He's killed Cinna, destroyed my home, and my family, Gale, and even Haymitch are out of his reach.Peeta was his last card. "So, what do you think they'll do with him?" I asked. When Prim uttered the following words, she seemed to have turned into a profound old man. "Anything, as long as it can destroy you."