The Hunger Games - Surviving The Storm - book 3

Chapter 3

10 days passed by and with those days went 10 Districts after the first. The Districts 2, 5,7, 8 and 9 had a change of head for the Mayorship. Districts 7 and 8's ex mayors didn't go down without a fight and resulted in their untimely deaths.

The ex Mayor from 7 was beheaded and 8 was thrown onto a bed of long needles that shish kabobbed her. They were both gruesome but because we were the head of the operation we had to watch and confirm the death.

Finally after we finished District 11's visit we were on our way to 12, my home District. I didn't know what to expect. Would anyone recognize me? We were dressed in our outfit for District 12 and were standing at the doors prepared to exit.

District 12's Mayor was Madge Undersee. She took over after her father and had been successfully running 12 since then. I had only ever seen her one time and that was before her placement as Mayor of 12.

Jackson and I stood by the doors of the train as it rolled into the familiar station of District 12. People pointed towards the train as Jackson and I shared a kiss. The moment the doors open we stepped out and headed onto our business.

After we visited the mayors house and spent the three hours on paperwork we were changed out into our dinner outfit and sat around the table. The once single Madge was now married for the first time. What surprised me was that she was married to the lonely widowed Gale so Mayor Undersee was now Mayor Hawthorne. They had two children a girl and a boy.

The dinner with them was awkward as Gale never spoke of his deceased daughter. It was like she never existed. After dinner I looked around the house there wasn't even any pictures of his daughter or anything as rememberance. I was disgusted.

I was happy to get out of that house. Jackson and I ditched the car and decided we would walk the two blocks to Victors Village where my family and I used to live. The village was empty without the three houses being taken up by myself, my parents and Haymitch. Oh Haymitch I missed him so much.

I was thankful that he had stepped up to take my fathers place. Without his selfless sacrafice I would be without a father and my mother would be widowed. Jackson took me around the waist and I leaned my head into his shoulder.

Things between us was a bit different since that night on the train as we left District 1. We were growing on one another and we becoming more comfortable with affection between one another. Things were simple but they were honest at the least.

He held my hand as we continued walking on. I led him to the meadows behind Victor Village where my brothers grave was. Like I predicted the area around my brothers grave was blossoming with the genetically manipulated CalliRose. As I neared my brothers grave I stopped trying to real in my tears. I was unsuccessful. Tears began streaming down my face as I neared the grave.

I kneeled before it and leaned my head against the cold hard stone head. Wrapping my arms around it I sobbed even harder. I missed my brother so much and wished everyday he was here. I could use him now more than ever.

After the sun had began to set I rose to my feet. Jackson wrapped his arm around my waist and we made our way back through the meadow to where the car was waiting. The entire ride back to the train I was in tears but quickly fixed my water works long enough to get on the train with a faux smile.

The moment the windows tinted I broke down into my miserable depressed self and made my way to our room to get out of my clothes and into my pajamas. I then headed down to the tv room where I was told President Finnick had me a little message.

I sat down in the seat before the television and turned it on. Immeadiately I smiled as I saw a close up of Tierney. Then the camera pulled back and showed her being held in place by ropes that sprung from the ceiling and floor that bound her in place.

I saw the I.V's in her arms and knew that something very bad was about to happen to her. I moved to my knees and place my hand to the tv screen. Suddenly a noise was heard as the machines began pumping medicines into her veins.

I recognized the first one which was the paralyzer. This was the one that Jackson told me about when they were doing the Capitols standard executions. That meant that Tierney was going to die. I watched the drugs taking affect and instantly her legs turned to jelly and she was being held up only by her bound arms. Next was the medicine that made her nerves go haywire.

After a few minutes of having drugs pumped through her system Tierney's face had a unhealthy tint to it. In another moment in walked the man of the hour, Finnick.

"How are you feeling Tierney?" He asked her.

Tierney's eyes didn't move, they were paralyzed with the rest of her body.

"I hurt" She slurred.

Finnicks face looked happy. "Can you tell your lovely friend CallaRose that people will die if I don't like the wedding."

I watched Tierney just hang there limply. A man walked forward holding a leather whip and cracked it once against her face. She didn't scream but I saw the glisten from the tears that rolled down her face. The spot where the whip hit was bright red and I knew without heightened nerves it would hurt like a b***h so I could only imagine how bad she felt.

The man whipped her three more times and by then her face was hosting a gash that was oozing blood. I turned away and grabbed the waste basket before I vomited up my dinner. After a few more dry heaves I turned back to the tv to see Finnick telling me there was 2 more months of this to come for Tierney. This completely unhinged me.

I screamed furiously and threw the tv to the floor. The screen broke open with a loud crash and shards of glass went everwhere. In less than 10 short seconds Jackson was at my side. His eyes flickered to the broken tv screen and then to me before he brought me into his arms.

I cried into his arms and he held me silently. Respectfully he didn't bother asking me what had driven me to the point of vandalising the tv room. We went silently to our room and I climbed into bed with Jackson. He quietly held me and finally his curiousity caught the best of him.

"What happened?" He asked me.

"Tierney.... Finnick has sentenced her to death." I finished in tears.