Pure Torture: a Hunger Games Fanfiction

Chapter 11

Peeta

My body is numb.

Finnick doesn't say anything reassuring to me, because he probably Can't think of anything reassuring to say. We both know that Katniss is as good as dead. We both heard that gunshot. We both heard her screams. We both saw Johanna squeeze her eyes shut the moment it happened. We both know she's probably dead. Finnick and I don't speak a word. We just sit there, waiting for something to happen that never does.

It must be at least 15 minutes after the broadcast when Haymitch comes in. When he sees us, he doesn't speak either. He knows, too, that she's probably dead.
"Hey," He says sadly.
"Hey." Finnick replies for me.
Tears are rolling down my cheeks, and I stand up. I don't know why, but Haymitch does. He comes over to me and pulls me into a hug.
"I know you loved her. A lot." He says to me, still hugging.
"I did." I reply.
"Did you hear what she said?" He asks me.
"I did." I reply again.
"Peeta, she loved you too. She said it knowing what would happen to her. She knew about the consequences, but she did it anyways. If that doesn't show how much she loves you, I don't know what does." He says to me.
I don't answer. He's right.

She really did love me.

Haymitch then asks Finnick and I to come with him. He leads us into the dining hall. It's deserted. Not a soul in sight. He sits down at a table, and we sit across from him.
"So, I have some news for you guys. It's mainly for Finnick, but I thought you would want to know, too. Even after what just happened." He starts.
"Okay." I say.
"Alright. I came to tell you that they're going to go to the Capitol." He says.
"To start the invasion?!" Finnick asks, alarmed.
"No no no, Finnick," He replies, trying to calm him down,"They're rescuing Annie, and Johanna."
"Are you serious?" Finnick asks.
"Yes." He answers.
Finnick laughs, excitement taking over.
"I want to go with them. I want to help!" He says to Haymitch.
"They've already got a team together. They insisted that you're too well-known and, at the moment, unfit for the job." He says back.

And then, Haymitch turns to me.
"Peeta, I need you to know something, too." He says.
I nod, ready to hear whatever he says.
"When they go, they're going to see if they can get Katniss's body and bring it back here."
"Oh." Is all I say.
"Peeta, look at me. You do realize that people can survive gunshots, right?" He asks.
"Not to the head or the heart, Haymitch. Especially not in the Capitol! Haymitch, face it. She's dead!" I say, my heart breaking.
"And how exactly, may I ask, do you know that she was shot in the head or the heart?" He asks.
He's right, again. I don't know.
"Why wouldn't they kill her, right then and there? She's committed treason 3 times now." I argue.
This time, it's not Haymitch who talks. It's Finnick.
"So they can break you." He says quietly. He sounds so broken. He looks up at both of us.
"Isn't it obvious? He's trying to break you, so you can't try to unite the Districts... So you can't perform. He's punishing her to punish you. That's what they're doing to Me with Annie." He says.

What he says sticks in my head. Haymitch is awe-struck.
"I never thought about it that way." I say.
"Me either," Finnick says, "not until now, at least."
--
It's a guessing game, now.

It's been a few days. Is she alive? Is she dead? I don't know. I want to have hope she is alive, but what if she's not? I don't want to misplace my hope, and be devastated when they come back with her dead body... Or with nothing at all. I decide to keep thinking she's dead. She probably is.

I continue with these thoughts all night. It's my final night in the hospital.

Again, Haymitch comes into my room.

"Hey, Peeta." He says.
"Hi." I say back.
"So, as you know, you're being discharged tomorrow. Conveniently, tomorrow is the day of the rescue. Early tomorrow, we want you to film a Propo to air."
I agree, and he leaves.

I try to sleep, not knowing if I should be excited for tomorrow, or terrified.
--

When they bring me outside of 13 to film the Propo, I'm blinded my the sunlight. Cressida, a young woman with blonde hair and a half shaved head and a tattoo going down her head and neck, sits me on a broken pillar.
"Okay Peeta, we're just going to do some Q and A. I ask, you answer, alright?" She asks.
I nod.

"Peeta, can you just tell me about Katniss?" She asks, once the camera is rolling.
"She's... She's amazing." I start.
Cressida gives me a nod, so I keep going.
"She was so beautiful... I remember thinking that when I was 5. Ever since then, whenever I see her I think the same thing. I used to tell her that. She never believed me, but everyone knew she was stunning." I continue. After I say this I grin a little, remembering her beautiful face.
"And she was beautiful on the inside. Sure, she's got a hard shell on the outside, but on the inside she's just as beautiful as on the outside. She's the strongest girl I've ever met. She loved her family more than anything else in the world. She always made sure they were okay. Katniss was the most amazing girl I ever met. She could sing, too. Her father used to sing, and when he did, even the birds fell silent. Listening. Once, when we were little, she sang too. I listened again to hear if the birds fell silent for her, too. They did."
Cressida looks happy. I still continue.

"In the Games... She saved me. I wouldn't be alive here if she hadn't risked her life to get me my medicine. If she's dead, I have to make my life count for something still. If I don't, everything she's done to keep me alive will have gone to waste. I can't let that happen.

I now know what Snow is doing. He's trying to break me," I say. I know this is something Katniss would want me to say, or would say herself.
"And if Snow wants me broken, I'll have to be whole."
[A/N: this is a quote from Mockingjay. I take no credit for this quote, as it was actually said in Mockingjay by Katniss. All credit for the words goes to the wonderful Suzanne Collins!]

I feel as if I've been very good. Everyone seems satisfied with my words, including me.

I'm glad, because now I'm sure the odds will be in our favor.

We're going to get Annie, Johanna, and maybe even Katniss out of there. We have to.

**sorry if this is long! It turned out a little longer than expected, but I'm eager to get the Rescue going! Thanks for all your reads. Please please please vote for this :)

- Aly (amalady21) **