Chapter 12 Chapter 12 Goodbye Peeta

Today I risk losing both of them. I try to imagine a world where both Gale and Peeta are gone.With cold fingers and glazed eyes, I stood over their bodies, taking one last look at them before leaving the room where they lay.When the door opened and I stepped out into the world, everything was so empty, and what awaited me was a pale and empty future. "Need to sedate you? Until this is over," Haymitch asked.He wasn't kidding.This is a man who has spent most of his life dealing with bottles, to numb himself so that he can escape from the painful memories of the Capitol.The sixteen-year-old boy who won the second Century Xtreme must have loved ones -- family, friends, maybe a girlfriend -- and he's fighting to stay alive and get back to them.But where are they all?Why was there no one else in his life before me and Peeta stumbled into his life?What did Snow do to them?

"No, I want to go to the Capitol, and I want to be part of the rescue," I said. "They're gone," Haymitch said. "When did they leave? I can catch up with them. I can..." What?what else can I do? Haymitch shook his head, "That's never going to be possible, you're too precious and too fragile. Some say you're being sent to another district during the rescue to divert their attention. But everyone thinks you can't control the situation .” "Please, Haymitch!" I begged him, "I gotta do something, I can't just sit here and hear bad news about someone dying. I gotta do something!"

"Okay, let me tell Plutarch. You don't move." But I couldn't stay.Before the sound of Haymitch's footsteps disappeared from the corridor outside, I slowly climbed out of bed and slipped through the curtain that separated the hospital bed.I found Finnick sprawled out on the bed with his hands under the pillow.Although it was my cowardice and it was cruel to him to pull him back into the brutal reality from the twilight dreams, from the silent world of sedative drugs, I did it because I couldn't Face it all alone. After I explained everything to him, his initial uneasiness somehow eased. "Can't you see, Katniss, it's going to be clear soon. It's either this or that. By the end of the night, they're either dead or they're coming back to us. This... far exceeded our expectations! "

Yeah, that's an optimistic view of where we are right now.It is comforting that there is an end to all this. The curtains were pulled back, and Haymitch stood before us.If the body allows, he will give us a task.It is still necessary to photograph the thirteenth district after the bombing. "If filmed in a few hours, Beetle could send it before the rescue operation begins, which might divert the Capitol's attention elsewhere." "Yeah, distract them. Set them a trap," Finnick said. "What we need is something that's really strong enough that even President Snow couldn't walk away from the TV. Is there such a thing?" Haymitch asked.

Now we have to do a job that helps the rescue, and it got me thinking.As I was having breakfast and getting ready for the camera, I was trying to figure out what to say.Peeta was bloodied and Snow gave me roses, and Snow must have wondered what it was doing to me.If he wants me to break down, I have to be strong.But just leaning in front of the camera and yelling a few words of contempt is not enough to explain anything.Plus, it won't save the rescue team time.A righteous call cannot occupy a long time. I don't know if this will work, but I'm willing to give it a try.When the crew assembled on the ground, I asked Cressida if she could start by asking me about Peeta.I sat on the broken marble column where I had gone crazy the last time, and after the red light came on, Cressida started asking me questions.

"How did you meet Peeta?" she asked. When asked, I started talking—something Haymitch had wanted me to do since my first TV interview. "I was eleven years old when I met Peeta, and I was about to die." Then, I recounted the process of meeting Peeta.I told how it was a miserable day, how I tried to sell Prim's baby clothes in the rain, how Peeta's mother chased me from the bakery door, how he was beaten for giving me bread, How that bread saved my life. "We hadn't even spoken before. The first time I spoke to Peeta was on the train to the Hunger Games."

"But then he was in love with you," said Cressida. "I think so." I smiled shyly. "How did you feel when you were separated?" she asked. "It doesn't feel good. I know Snow could kill him anytime, especially after he warned District 13 was going to be bombed. It's a horrible life to live in. But because of what they did to Peeta Because, I no longer hesitate, I will do my best to participate in the struggle to overthrow the Capitol. I am finally free." I raised my head, stared at the sky, and followed the goshawk flying in the sky, "S President Noah once admitted to me that the Capitol is fragile. At that time, I understood what he meant. At that time, I couldn't see the truth because I was too scared. But now I am no longer afraid. The Capitol is very fragile. Because they depend on the various jurisdictions for everything, food, energy and even the vigilantes who control us. If we were free, the Capitol would collapse. Thanks to you, President Snow, I am officially declaring that I am free today .”

My words were not impassioned, but they hit the nail on the head.Everyone loves the story about Peeta giving me bread.What I said to Snow inspired another idea in Plutarch.He immediately called Haymitch and Finnick to him, and had a tense chat with them for a while.I could see Haymitch wasn't very happy.But Plutarch finally seemed to convince them - Finnick paled, but finally nodded. "You don't have to do this," Haymitch said to Finnick, who was sitting in front of the camera where I had been. "Yes, I've decided. If it helps her." Finnick gripped the rope in his hand, "I'm ready."

I don't know what he will say, love story with Annie?Or the humiliation he suffered in the fourth district?But what Finnick Odile said was completely unexpected. "President Snow used to...sell...sell my body, I mean," Finnick began in a flat, nonchalant tone, "and I wasn't the only one. President Nuo will give them away as a reward, or allow someone to buy them at a high price. If you refuse, he will kill the person you love, so no one dares to refuse." It turned out to be like this.No wonder Finnick has so many lovers in the Capitol.They were not his real lovers at all.Like our former Sheriff Clay, who pays desperate girls to live or die at his disposal.I really want the video to stop and ask him to forgive me for all the misunderstandings I made about Finnick.But we still have work to do, and I feel like Finnick has a much bigger role than me.

"I'm not the only one, but I'm the most popular. And maybe the most helpless, because all the people I love are helpless. My patrons often send Give me money or jewelry as a gift. But actually, I found a better way to get paid." Secret, I thought.Finnick once told me that his lover paid him for it, but I thought it was his choice. "Secret," he said, confirming my thoughts. "Don't change the channel, President Snow, because many things here are related to you. But let's start with others." Finnick began to tell those stories, in so many details that there was no doubt about their veracity.Bizarre sexual orientation, betrayal of the heart, insatiable greed, bloody power games, truths uttered by the pillow late at night.Finnick was sold and bought as a slave from the precinct.Of course, a beautiful slave.But in fact, it will not pose a threat to anyone.Who can he tell?If he said it, who would believe it?But some secrets are too interesting to share.I didn't know the people Finnick was talking about—they all seemed to be big names in the Capitol—but I knew from the mouths of the makeup artists how even the slightest lapse in judgment drew attention on the Capitol.If a bad haircut can cause them to babble, what about incest, assassination, blackmail, and arson?These revelations will send shockwaves through the Capitol, but the Capitol will be waiting, as I am now, to hear stories about the President.

"Now, a word about our good president, Coriolanus Snow," Finick said, "who rose to power at such a young age, and who was so smart to keep his power. You must ask, he How did it happen? Two words, you gotta know, poison." Finnick recounts how President Snow rose politically—which I knew nothing about—and eventually became president. .He mentioned the mysterious deaths of some of Snow's opponents and even allies who were potential threats to Snow.Some of these people died violently while attending the banquet, and some disappeared strangely and slowly over several months.Some complained of eating stale oysters, contracting an unknown virus, or neglecting arterial clots.Snow himself drank from a poisoned cup to reassure people.But the antidote doesn't always work.It is said that this is why he always wears roses, for their fragrance masks the bloody smell from his rotting mouth.They said, they said, they said...Snow made a list and no one knew who was going to be the next victim. poison.The perfect weapon for a Viper. Since I've always had a low opinion of the Capitol and its venerable president, Finnick's confession didn't come as a huge surprise to me.But his words seemed to have had a greater impact on those Capitol rebels.Like our film crew, and Fulvia—even Plutarch occasionally acting surprised, maybe wondering why a certain anecdote just passed him by.When Finnick finished speaking, the camera was still on, and finally Finnick himself had to say, "Stop." The film crew hurried to the room to edit the material, and Plutarch called Finnick aside and chatted for a while, probably to see if he had more interesting stories.Haymitch and I stayed on the rubble-strewn site.I wonder if Finnick's fate would have been mine if all of this hadn't happened.why not?Snow could have put a high price on Burning Girl. "Did the same thing happen to you?" I asked Haymitch. "No, my mother and my brother, and my girlfriend, they all died two weeks after I wore the victor's crown, because I used the electromagnetic force field stunt. Snow can't use anything anymore People are coming against me," he replied. "I'm surprised he didn't just kill you," I said. "Oh no. I'm a warning to Finnick, Johanna, and Cashmere, later on, what happens to a 'tribute' who gets in trouble. But he knows he can't use someone to Deal with me," Haymitch said. "Until Peeta and I show up," I whisper.Haymitch ignored me, didn't even shrug. After the job was done, Finnick and I had nothing to do but wait.We went to the Special Defense Department to pass the long hours.Tie a knot.Unable to eat, he took a spoon and stirred the rice in the bowl vigorously.Destroy anything within range.Because they were afraid that the communication signal would be detected, the rescue team did not send any information back.At the scheduled rescue time of 15:00, we stayed quietly and tensely in the control room full of screens and computers, watching Bit and his team try their best to control the broadcast signal.His normally relaxed and natural facial expression was replaced by a focus and determination I had never seen before.Most of my interviews are uncut, and the length of the footage just shows that I'm alive and I'm still fighting.But it's Finnick's sensual, bloody tales of the Capitol that take up most of the show's time.Is Bit's technology improved?Or are Capitol viewers too enthralled by Finnick's story to block his channel?During the next sixty minutes of broadcast time, the two sides fought, one moment was the standard news of the Capitol, the other was Finnick, and the TV went black for a while.But the technicians of the rebels were superior, and finally gained the upper hand, and successfully played the entire video that exposed Snow. "Let him go!" Finally, Beetle raised his hands and handed over control of the broadcast to Capitol.He wiped his face with a cloth. "If they haven't been rescued by now, they're all dead." He turned his chair around and watched Finnick and I react to his words. "But this plan is really thorough. Did Plutarch tell you?" of course not.Beet took us into another room and told us how the Rescue Squad planned to rescue Victor from the dungeon with the help of insiders.The whole process appears to have involved knocking out the ventilation system, cutting power, causing an explosion in a government building miles away from the prison, and now TV signal jamming.Bee was glad to see that we didn't quite understand what he was saying.In this case, the enemy will not easily guess. "It's like the current trap you set up in the arena?" I asked. "Totally accurate. Want to see how they work?" Bit said. Hmm... don't read it.I wonder. Finnick and I wanted to get into command, where we'd be the first to hear.But we were not allowed, because the war was going on everywhere.But we refused to leave the special defense department, and finally arranged for us to wait in the hummingbird observation room. Tie a knot.Tie a knot.silence.Tie a knot.Tick ​​tick.This is the clock.Don't think about Gail.Don't think about pita.Knot only.We don't want to eat.The finger is already sore and bleeding.Finnick stopped at last, hunched over and squatting aside, just as he had been when he was attacked by the chirping birds in the arena.I went on to tie a small knot. The words to "The Hanging Tree" were playing over and over again in my head.Gail and Peeta.Peeta and Gail. "Did you fall in love with Annie immediately, Finnick?" I asked. "No." He paused for a long time before continuing, "I fell in love with it slowly." I searched my mind, but at that moment, all I could think about was President Snow. It must have been midnight, it must have been early morning, when Haymitch pushed the door open. "They're back. Tell us to go to the hospital." My questions flooded Haymitch, but Haymitch cut me off, saying simply, "That's all I know." I want to run, but Finnick is so weird, it seems like he won't go anymore.So I took his hand and led him like a child.We walked through the special defense department, got on the elevator, turned this way, then that, and finally came to the annexe of the hospital.There are a lot of people here, and the noise is abnormal.The doctor shouted and directed the men to push the wounded on gurneys across the hall. A gurney came by and my mother was pushed aside, and on the bed lay a thin young woman with a shaved head, unconscious.She was covered in bruises and scabs that were oozing pus.It was Johanna Mason, who actually knew the secret about the riot.At least know my situation.And that's the price she paid. Through the door, I caught a glimpse of Gale, his upper body unclothed, and the doctor using a long pair of forceps to remove something from his shoulder blade.He was wounded but still alive.I was yelling his name and was about to walk towards him when a nurse pushed me away to stop my yelling. "Finnick!" came a shriek of joy and excitement.A muddy but lovely woman—black curly hair, eyes green like springs—running toward us with only a single quilt over her body. "Finnick!" Suddenly, it seemed that there were only two of them left in the world, and no one else existed. They passed through the space separating them, and flung themselves into each other's arms, entangled, but lost their balance. , Hit the wall behind them, so they leaned against the wall and hugged each other, inseparable. I felt a twinge of jealousy.Not because Finnick and Annie are good, but because of their unwavering love for themselves.No one who sees them will doubt that there is genuine love between them. Boggs looked exhausted but unhurt, and he saw me and Haymitch. "We got them all out, but we just didn't see Inobelli. Since she's from District 2, we suspect maybe she's locked up in a special place. Peeta's at the end of the hall, gas poisoning going away , When he wakes up, you can go and see him." pita. He's alive and well - maybe not so well, but alive.away from Snow.safe.with me.After a while, I'll be able to touch him, see him smile, and hear him laugh. Haymitch grinned at me. "Go ahead, huh?" he said. I was a little dizzy with joy.What should I say?Oh, who cares what I say?Peeta would be wild with joy no matter what I did.He will most likely kiss me.I don't know if this kiss will feel the same as the last kiss on the beach in the arena, the sweetest kiss I dare not recall until now. Peeta was awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, looking bewildered as the three doctors comforted him, shone flashlights in his eyes and checked his pulse.I feel sad that the first face he saw when he woke up wasn't mine, but he sees it now.Then he looked in disbelief, and seemed to have a stronger emotion, which I could not at the moment say.eager?despair?Definitely both.He pushed the doctor away at once, stood up, and walked towards me.I ran forward and stretched out my arms to hug him, and he stretched out his arms to me, his hand has touched me, go and touch my face, I thought. I was about to call out his name when I found my neck was grabbed by his hand.