Mockingjay

At the hospital room door, I watch Joha

«What’s that?» she says hoarsely. Damp edges of her hair form little spikes over her forehead.

«I made it for you. Something to put in your drawer.» I place it in her hands. «Smell it.»

She lifts the bundle to her nose and takes a tentative sniff. «Smells like home.» Tears flood her eyes.

«That’s what I was hoping. You being from Seven and all,» I say. «Remember when we met? You were a tree. Well, briefly.»

Suddenly, she has my wrist in an iron grip. «You have to kill him, Katniss.»

«Don’t worry.» I resist the temptation to wrench my arm free.

«Swear it. On something you care about,» she hisses.

«I swear it. On my life.» But she doesn’t let go of my arm.

«On your family’s life,» she insists.

«On my family’s life,» I repeat. I guess my concern for my own survival isn’t compelling enough. She lets go and I rub my wrist. «Why do you think I’m going, anyway, brainless?»

That makes her smile a little. «I just needed to hear it.» She presses the bundle of pine needles to her nose and closes her eyes.

The remaining days go by in a whirl. After a brief workout each morning, my squad’s on the shooting range full-time in training. I practice mostly with a gun, but they reserve an hour a day for specialty weapons, which means I get to use my Mockingjay bow, Gale his heavy militarized one. The trident Beetee designed for Fi

Sometimes we shoot at Peacekeeper dummies to become familiar with the weaknesses in their protective gear. The chinks in the armor, so to speak. If you hit flesh, you’re rewarded with a burst of fake blood. Our dummies are soaked in red.

It’s reassuring to see just how high the overall level of accuracy is in our group. Along with Fi

«Squad Four-Five-One, you have been selected for a special mission,» he begins. I bite the inside of my lip, hoping against hope that it’s to assassinate Snow. «We have numerous sharpshooters, but rather a dearth of camera crews. Therefore, we’ve handpicked the eight of you to be what we call our ‘Star Squad.’ You will be the on-screen faces of the invasion.»

Disappointment, shock, then anger run through the group. «What you’re saying is, we won’t be in actual combat,» snaps Gale.

«You will be in combat, but perhaps not always on the front line. If one can even isolate a front line in this type of war,» says Plutarch.

«None of us wants that.» Fi

«You’re going to be as useful to the war effort as possible,» Plutarch says. «And it’s been decided that you are of most value on television. Just look at the effect Katniss had ru

Actually, Katniss isn’t complaining because she has no intention of staying with the «Star Squad,» but she recognizes the necessity of getting to the Capitol before carrying out any plan. Still, to be too compliant may arouse suspicion as well.

«But it’s not all pretend, is it?» I ask. «That’d be a waste of talent.»

«Don’t worry,» Plutarch tells me. «You’ll have plenty of real targets to hit. But don’t get blown up. I’ve got enough on my plate without having to replace you. Now get to the Capitol and put on a good show.»

The morning we ship out, I say good-bye to my family. I haven’t told them how much the Capitol’s defenses mirror the weapons in the arena, but my going off to war is awful enough on its own. My mother holds me tightly for a long time. I feel tears on her cheek, something she suppressed when I was slated for the Games. «Don’t worry. I’ll be perfectly safe. I’m not even a real soldier. Just one of Plutarch’s televised puppets,» I reassure her.

Prim walks me as far as the hospital doors. «How do you feel?»

«Better, knowing you’re somewhere Snow can’t reach you,» I say.

«Next time we see each other, we’ll be free of him,» says Prim firmly. Then she throws her arms around my neck. «Be careful.»

I consider saying a final good-bye to Peeta, decide it would only be bad for both of us. But I do slip the pearl into the pocket of my uniform. A token of the boy with the bread.

A hovercraft takes us to, of all places, 12, where a makeshift transportation area has been set up outside the fire zone. No luxury trains this time, but a cargo car packed to the limit with soldiers in their dark gray uniforms, sleeping with their heads on their packs. After a couple of days’ travel, we disembark inside one of the mountain tu

We come out in the rebel encampment, a ten-block stretch outside the train station where Peeta and I made our previous arrivals. It’s already crawling with soldiers. Squad 451 is assigned a spot to pitch its tents. This area has been secured for over a week. Rebels pushed out the Peacekeepers, losing hundreds of lives in the process. The Capitol forces fell back and have regrouped farther into the city. Between us lie the booby-trapped streets, empty and inviting. Each one will need to be swept of pods before we can advance.

Mitchell asks about hoverplane bombings—we do feel very naked pitched out in the open—but Boggs says it’s not an issue. Most of the Capitol’s air fleet was destroyed in 2 or during the invasion. If it has any craft left, it’s holding on to them. Probably so Snow and his i

After three days, much of Squad 451 risks deserting out of boredom. Cressida and her team take shots of us firing. They tell us we’re part of the disinformation team. If the rebels only shoot Plutarch’s pods, it will take the Capitol about two minutes to realize we have the holograph. So there’s a lot of time spent shattering things that don’t matter, to throw them off the scent. Mostly we just add to the piles of rainbow glass that’s been blown off the exteriors of the candy-colored buildings. I suspect they are intercutting this footage with the destruction of significant Capitol targets. Once in a while it seems a real sharpshooter’s services are needed. Eight hands go up, but Gale, Fi