"Hawthorne, no!" Jackson shouts at me as I run out. "Hold your position!"

But I kneel down beside Boggs anyway. "It's okay, it's okay."

I am reminded of another situation when I do this. Rue. And that most certainly wasn't okay. "The holo," he chokes out, and I see it a couple of metres away; must've got blown out of his hands.

I snatch it up and lie it on his chest. His hands instantly go to it. "Unfit for command, transfer primary security clearance. Say your name," he orders me.

"Willow Hawthorne," I say unsurely.

There's a few beeps and it scans my face. "What did you just do-"

"Willow," Boggs grabs my arms, imploring me to listen. "Don't trust them, Willow. Kill Austin if you have to. Do what you came to do."

What I came to do? Assassinate Snow. But how can Boggs know this? Kill Austin if I have to... don't trust them...

"Boggs?" I ask as his eyes flutter shut. He stops breathing. Lies still.

A hand reaches my shoulder and I can tell it's Gale. Another and I can tell it's Katniss. "It's okay, it's okay..."

That's a lie.

"No!" Suddenly, I see one of the Leeg sisters run forward, and I see her destination. The other sister got the hit just like Boggs, and she's on the ground as well.

But as she runs forward, her foot steps on a loose tile. At least that's what everyone thinks.

Until all the gaps in between the houses begin to shut with black covers. What's going to happen?

Suddenly, a big wave of black... black something comes raining upon us. Nobody knows what's in it, or what it would do if it touches us, but one thing we do know, is that we need to run.

Fast.

"Come on, come on!" Jackson shouts. Leeg One (I decide to number them, because I don't know their first names) helps Leeg Two up and carries her. The rest of us just run.

"Get to higher ground!"

We run up the way and I just see people going to a random house when I feel my collar getting pulled back into my neck. I turn around just in time to see Austin, shoving me backwards. He forces me down and is just about to slam the gun Boggs gave him (which he also assured he would do no damage with) into my head when I roll over. He hits the stone instead.

Mitchell (I think that's what his name is) wrenches Austin off me, but Austin fights back, and now the black stuff was nearing them-

Austin chucked Mitchell off him and right into the black ooze.

"MITCHELL!"

His body then got lifted out by four metal spikes, and impaled repeatedly.

"Austin, NO!" Finnick holds Austin back as he attempts to either chuck someone else off or chuck himself off. I wouldn't put either past him at the moment.

"Get inside!" Holmes yelled as Gale, Finnick, Katniss, Austin and I rushed inside, through a broken window that had clearly been shot by the people before us.

We climb up stone steps, running and running until we meet a section of stair that has been shot down. We couldn't get any further up.

So we'd damn well better hope the black stuff stops before it gets to this level.

"Keep going, to the top!" Jackson shouts, but in my heart, I know we can't.

We all get up and cower there. "It's slowing down!" Cressida points out, and I see that it is. The Capitol must've programmed it to stop after a certain level had been reached.

Even so, it's still coming towards us, and it still might touch us, given the chance.

Meanwhile, the squad's not in good shape. Leeg Two is crying out, pain from the bomb, I expect. Finnick is trying to calm Austin, who is now muttering gibberish under his breath, and everyone else is just warily watching the black ooze that's slowly advancing on us.

We watch as it floods over to the level we're standing at. Then it stops. Just like that.

Then the level slowly begins to go down, only leaving a layer of black stuff on the steps, but nothing major.

"Gamemakers are still putting on quite a show," Cressida remarks. I roll my eyes. She comments on this so lightly that it becomes instantly clear she's from the Capitol.

"Four-five-one to base, over," Jackson calls sternly into her radio. "Four-five-one to base, over!"

She repeats this, but no one answers back.

"Hey, we'd better move," Finnick speaks up. "If peacekeepers didn't know where we were before, they do now."

"Those surveillance cameras caught us," Gale nods.

"Four-five-one to base, come in!"

I look down at the holo in my hands.

"This is a bad spot, we need to move now."

"Four-five-one to base, over!" Jackson finally gives up. "I can't get a signal, but I can get us back to base. Hawthorne, give me the holo."

Of course, I think, with Boggs gone, she thinks it belongs to her.

"Hawthorne, what did I just say, the holo? Come on let's go!"

"Boggs gave it to me," I stand my ground.

"What are you talking about?" Jackson looks at me as if I have two heads.

"He did," Holmes, who I don't even know, stands up for me. "He transferred security clearance to her. I saw him."

"And why would he do that?" Nothing moves but Jackson's lips.

Somehow, I just know that this is the time to lie. "I'm on special orders from Coin," I insist.

"To do what?"

"To assassinate President Snow," the words come to my lips before I can make anything sensible of them.

"I don't believe that for one second," Jackson sees so easily through my lies. "And as your new unit commander I order you to transfer security clearance to me. Now."

"I can't do that."

Suddenly, Jackson raises her gun at my head and Gale at her heart. They stand there for a second as the bullets click into place.

"Let's not lose our heads here," Gale says as more guns go up.

"I'm not asking you again, Hawthorne," Jackson's voice goes from angry to dangerous. "Give me that holo."

"She's telling the truth," suddenly, Cressida jumps in between Jackson and me, and wait a second, she's defending my lies? "Plutarch wants it televised. He thinks if we can film the Mockingjay assassinating Snow, it'll make the Capitol surrender before the casualties get too high."

"While we're arguing there's a hundred peacekeepers on their way here," Gale reminds us all.

I shove Gale's gun down and step out from behind Cressida. "Boggs promised me that when the time came you would help me."

She says nothing, but instead lowers her gun. "Alright soldier. Holo's yours."

Gale goes to a stair and puts his foot down on the black residue. He brings his boot back up and stamps it on the stone that's clear. No mark.

"I don't think we're gonna leave any footprints we should leave now. Those cameras outside should be covered up by whatever that black stuff was.

"She can't move forward like this, her leg's too bad," Holmes and Leeg One are down beside Leeg Two. "We have to evacuate her. I'm sorry," he adds to Leeg One.

"I'll stay with her," she offers.

"As soon as we make contact, I'll send somebody back, I promise you," Jackson says kindly. She stands up. "Alright everybody, move out, let's go!"

We climb slowly down the stairs, and get outside the house in a couple of minutes.

I try not to look at Mitchell, impaled above us, as we walk.

☘︎☘︎☘︎

We break into another abandoned house. "Get those curtains closed!" Jackson shouts as everyone draws the curtains.

There's a TV in the room, blank except for the Capitol seal in it. There's also a plush sofa, armchairs and tables.

Suddenly, we hear a crash from outside, one look and I see peacekeepers, trucks, guns and tanks. All searching for us.

But they're not interested in fighting whoever's in the houses. They just start shooting at them.

"It's the Leegs," Finnick says what everyone's thinking.

Then they fire a bomb at the house that Leegs One and Two are in. We all withdraw ourselves from the curtains, saying a silent goodbye to the two sisters.

Then, all of a sudden, the TV turns on and the anthem's playing. A second later and Ceasar Flickerman's on the screen, a sick smirk on his face.

"Good afternoon, I'm Ceasar Flickerman, here with our continuing coverage of the defence of the Capitol. Today, as our peacekeepers valiantly hold off the rebels, our story takes a surprising twist."

I suppose it was only a matter of time before my name was mentioned.

"Willow Hawthorne, our once favourite daughter, has infiltrated the city, with some of the victors, who's names are all too familiar. Finnick Odair... and Austin Thatcher."

Footage shows on the screen of us running away from the black stuff, of Austin choking me, of him throwing Mitchell in...

Ceasar continues smugly. "Hm. Clearly some alliances don't last forever. Take a look at what happened just a moment ago, when our peacekeepers cornered Willow Hawthorne and her band of foolish rebels. Whatever arrogance brought this treacherous girl back to us, you are about to witness a great victory, not only for the Capitol, but for Panem."

The footage of peacekeepers shooting the houses shows, and them throwing the bomb...

Then it hits me. They think I was in there, they think we all were. Ceasar goes on to announce-

"Yes, Willow Hawthorne, the Girl on Fire, a girl who inspired so much violence, seems to have met a violent end herself. Stay tuned, for more information, Ceasar Flickerman, goodnight."

The Capitol seal shows again.

"So now that we're dead, what are we gonna do?" Gale asks.

"Isn't if obvious?" Austin speaks up sensibly for the first time since they brought him here. "Our next step... is to kill me."