Most of the time when people have a terrible nightmare, they wake up sweating, minds frantically spinning trying to get back to reality while their hearts hammered away. The intense relief experienced once they realize that it was just a dream is like lifting a huge weight off their chests, they can finally breathe freely. Every member of our unit was currently wishing for that relief. We hoped it was all a terrible nightmare that we desperately were trying to escape from, because it all happened so fast.

I couldn't spare another glance at Boggs's lifeless body, I didn't have the time. My feet pounded against the ground as I ran as fast as I could, away from the thick, black liquid of death. One of my hands clutched Newt's arm as I pulled him along with me, but he kept glancing back at Finnick, making sure the blond was close by. Odair, meanwhile, was busy trying to get Peeta back to his normal senses, dragging the boy from 12 by his vest as they tried to keep up with the rest of the crew.

Jackson kept shouting for everyone to keep moving, and Mitchell made sure nobody was left behind. Newt had a panicked look on his face when he turned back around to see Finnick and Peeta slowing down, the latter had his eyes set on Katniss who was a few feet to my right. We were running up the stairs towards the mansion when I knew that Newt constantly checking up on Finnick, was only slowing the both of us down. And Newt knew that too.

"Keep running forward! Don't look back! I'll get Finn!" I yelled amidst the chaos and Newt was hesitant before nodding once.

He fastened his pace until he reached up with Cressida and then I turned around to help Finn. But my blood froze when I saw Peeta push Katniss to the ground and he lifted his gun to strike her, but she was quick enough to roll away before the fatal blow had landed. The oil had now reached the step below them and they were only a few feet away from it. The liquid rose threateningly. Mitchell tackled Peeta before he could try killing her again, but the once humble baker boy grabbed the sharp-shooter by his collar and pushed him into the pool of death. Four cables, attached to tracks on the buildings, broke through the stones, dragging up the net that encased Mitchell, the man screaming in agony. With wide eyes and laboured breathing, Finnick and I ran towards Peeta and pushed him to the ground while Gale pulled Katniss in the opposite direction. I could vaguely hear Newt scream my name as Finnick and I scrambled to stand up, Peeta thrashing about in our hold.

"WE NEED TO MOVE, NOW!" Finnick yelled as we ran towards the group, the black horror chasing behind us. The rest of the group were huddled near the door, waiting for us, and they ushered us to go inside. Finnick grabbed both of Peeta's hands and held it against his back before pushing him inside the large mansion.

Newt met me halfway up the stairs and yanked my hand as he dragged me to the landing of the first floor. Our plan to get to higher ground was pulled to a screeching halt when we saw that the steps that led to the floor above were completely destroyed, so we pressed ourselves against the window of the landing, as the crew gathered around us. Finnick pressed Peeta into a corner and Homes inoculated him with a rather scary looking syringe.

"It's slowing down." Cressida said, referring to the liquid that was now a few feet below us. It sploshed against the landing but did not rise further. I let out a relieved breath and looked at Newt, who was slumped against the glass, breathing heavily. "Gamemakers are putting on quite a show."

"451 to base. Over." Jackson talked into the radio communicator but received no reply. "I can't get a signal." She concluded after a few tries.

"Hey, we need to move." Homes said. "If peacekeepers didn't know where we were, they do now."

"Those surveillance cameras caught us." Castor pointed out.

Gale looked around the place we were in and had a grim expression on his face. "We're in a bad spot, we need to move."

"I can get us back to base. Everdeen, give me the Holo." Jackson said in a commanding voice. Katniss looked at her for a few moments, silent. "Everdeen, what did I just say? The Holo. C'mon, let's go."

"Boggs gave it to me." She finally spoke up.

"What are you talking about?"

"He did." Homes backed her up. "He transferred security clearance to her. I saw him."

"And why would he do that?"

"I'm on special orders from Coin."

"To do what?"

"To assassinate President Snow."

"I don't believe that for one second." Jackson stated with a hint of venom in her voice. "As your new unit commander, I order you to transfer security clearance to me now."

"I can't do that." The girl on fire replied in a calm voice.

Jackson reached for her gun, and immediately like reflex, Gale lifted his crossbow. Within seconds, those who were still standing, had their weapons raised. Jackson at Katniss, Gale at Jackson, Finnick at Jackson, One of the Leegs sisters at Finnick, which caused me to point my gun at her head.

"I don't wanna shoot you, but I will." I whispered. She stared at me with a vacant gaze, and then her eyes dropped to her sister who groaned in pain on the floor.

"Let's not lose our heads here."

"I'm not asking you again, Everdeen. Give me that Holo."

The determined look on the Lieutenant's face made me realise that she wasn't about to back down, so I lowered my gun and stepped in front of Katniss and lied through my teeth. "She's telling the truth."

Cressida stood beside me. "Pluratch 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." Newt stated, placing his hand on my arm and pulling me out of the gun's way.

Katniss shoved Gale's crossbow away and said, "Boggs promised me that when the time came, you would help me."

Jackson scrutinised her intensely before lowering her weapon down, causing everyone in the room to slump their shoulders in relief. "Alright, soldier, Holo's yours."

Gale went towards the steps where the dried out liquid left a coating of black stain and pressed his foot on it. "I don't think we'll leave any footprints."

"We should move now." Newt said, adjusting the strap of his gun across his chest. "And those cameras outside should be covered up by the oil.

Meanwhile, Castor crouched beside the injured Leegs sister and observed with a frown. "She can't move like this, her leg is too bad. We have to evacuate her." He apologised to her twin.

"I'll stay with her." She said and nodded at him.

"As soon as we make contact, we will send somebody back. I promise you." With one final nod, she glanced at everybody else and took up her role as the commander. "Alright, move out! Let's go!"

"Let's get him up." Gale said, gesturing towards Peeta.

Finnick and Pollux hauled him to his feet and the former asked, "Can you walk?"

Peeta meekly nodded in reply.

We made our way out of the mansion, retraced our steps into the courtyard and I made sure to keep my gaze averted from the dead bodies, one that was strung up in wires only a few meters above our heads and the other washed up against the steps, covered in the oil.

"C'mon, this way!" Gale called out in the front and we followed him in a jog to another house, its size smaller than the mansion. He smashed the back of his gun into the glass window by the entrance and reached his hand through to unlock the door. We quickly scrambled inside and went into a beautifully decorated living room. This house was owned by someone with exquisite taste in decor.

"Close the curtains." Jackson ordered. As soon as we did, we heard the rumble of trucks approaching. Cautiously peeping through the curtains, I saw over a hundred peacekeepers march their way to the mansion we were in a few minutes ago. Gunshots suddenly came from the inside and a few peacekeepers fell to the ground, while others fired back.

"It's the Leegs." Finnick muttered from beside me. I watched in horror as one of the white uniformed enemies used a missile gun and launched a deadly blow at the building, causing the entire structure to fall with a loud crash, dust and smoke rising up in thick clouds. I let out a shaky breath, my stomach dropping when I came to terms with the fact that we lost 2 more soldiers from our unit.

The room lit up in a light blue glow as the Capitol anthem began playing on a holographic screen from the table in the middle of the room. The screen had a few words written in red, in front of the symbol of the Capitol.

Mandatory Viewing.

Attention all Panem residents.

Caesar Flickerman, in all his eternal glory, popped up into view. "Good afternoon." He said. "I'm Caesar Flickerman, here with our continuing coverage of the defense of the Capitol. Today, as our peacekeepers valiantly hold off the rebels, our story takes a surprising twist." The scene changed to that of our entire crew running away from the oil, and due our extremely magnificent streak of luck, the footage of Peeta's attempt to kill Katniss was also recorded. "Katniss Everdeen, our once favourite daughter, has infiltrated the city with some of the victors, whose names are all too familiar."

I watched with a grimace at how Finn and I restrained Peeta from lunging back at Katniss, while Caesar listed out our names with disappointment lacing his voice. "Newt Cresta, Finnick Odair, (Y/n) (l/n) and Peeta Mellark."

They replayed the scene of Peeta pushing her onto the ground. "Hmm, clearly, some alliances don't last forever. Take a look at what happened just moments ago, when our peacekeepers cornered Katniss and her band of foolish rebels."

Rolling my eyes, I leaned against the wall, continuing to watch Caesar berate us. "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 screen proceeded to display the footage of peacekeepers gunning down the building we were in, while the Leegs sisters fought back, before they brought the entire building down. "So there you have it. Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire, the girl who inspired so much violence, seems to have met a violent end herself. Stay tuned for more information. Caesar Flickerman. Thank you."

I slid down the wall I was leaning against and pulled the strap of my gun off my chest and detached the spear I carried from the side of my uniform before placing my weapons next to me.

I turned towards Newt who, surprisingly, had a panicked and worried expression on his face. "I hope Annie didn't watch this. She needs to know Finn is alive."

Before I could even think of a reply, Gale asked, "So now that we're dead, what are we gonna do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Peeta said in a hoarse voice. "The next move is to kill me. I murdered one of our squad members. Katniss is right, I am a mutt. And it's only a matter of time before I snap again. I'm not in control. I need a nightlock pill so I can die when I need to."

"If it gets to that point, I'll kill you myself." Gale promised. He stood up and took a deep breath before walking away, muttering something about finding food.

I looked back at Newt, whose eyebrows were furrowed, body tense. "Once we get back communication to the base, we can ask Pluratch to let Annie know that we're okay."

"No, you don't understand. She will be devastated if she thinks we are dead. Especially with Finnick."

"I know, just a little while longer and it's gonna be alright, Newt." I assured, pulling him into a hug. "We'll let her know as soon as we can."

He let out a shaky breath and nodded, but something told me his concern and worry about the matter did not subside one bit.

*****

Dusk had arrived and we managed to find canned food to feed the unit for dinner. I was sitting beside Peeta, Finnick on his other side, when Newt came to a stop before me, a small grin on his face. "Look what I found."

He held a large square box in front of him and he opened it dramatically slowly and my eyes widened with joy when I saw nearly two dozen individually wrapped pieces of chocolates. "Woah! Where did you dig this treasure up?"

"It was in a safe." He snorted. "The people who lived here really thought of it as precious gold."

"Which it is." I pointed out. "Chocolate is gold."

He chuckled and gestured to me to take a piece. "I'm not sure how old this thing is, but I assume you don't care?"

"Of course not." Tentatively taking a bite from the precious food from heaven, I closed my eyes and nearly let out a moan at the divine taste. "It's so good!" I leaned forward to grab another piece, but Newt pulled it out of my reach.

"Slow down there!" He laughed. "Unfortunately, I will have to give some to the rest of the unit because we have to share."

"I hate sharing chocolate." I grumbled.

He nudged his palm against my cheek softly. "You can have my piece."

A wide grin settled on my lips as I happily said, "This is why I love you."

He shook his head with a smile, but we were interrupted when the anthem of the Capitol played throughout the room and the screen lit up once again. The photos of the camera crew, followed by the Victors came onto the screen and Finnick let out a chuckle when his face popped up.

I frowned when I saw mine. "They couldn't get a better picture of me?"

Coriolanus Snow came into view next, dressed to the utmost elegance. "So Katniss Everdeen," He began. "A poor unstable girl with nothing but a small talent with a bow and arrow, is dead. Not a thinker, not a leader. Simply a face plucked from the masses. Was she valuable? She was extremely valuable to your rebellion because you have no vision, no true leader among you. You call yourselves an alliance. But we saw what that meant. Your soldiers are at each other's throats-"

The noise of static buzzed through the room, the screen flickering to a blue background with Coin sitting in front of the camera. "Good evening. To those of you who don't know me, please, allow me to introduce myself. I am president Alma Coin, leader of the rebellion. I have interrupted a broadcast from your president in which he attempted to defame a brave young woman. 'A face picked from the masses,' he called her. As if a leader, a true leader, could be anything else. I had the privilege of knowing a small town girl from the seam of district 12 who survived the Hunger Games and the Quarter Quell and rose up and turned a nation of slaves into an Army!" Her voice cracked as my eyes widened at her emotions. "Dead or alive, Katniss Everdeen will remain the face of this revolution." She took a deep breath to compose herself before continuing. "She will not have died for nothing. Her vision and ours will be realized. A free Panem with self determination for all. And in her memory we will all find the strength to rid Panem of its oppressors. Thank you. And be safe." The screen faded away to show Katniss's picture and the familiar tune of the mockingjay was played.

Remember the mockingjay.

"If that's not real, then Coin's a pretty damn good actress." I muttered. "Sure gave me the goosebumps."

"Snow's in his mansion." Katniss said standing up. She pulled out the Holo, turned it on and placed it on the table in front of us. "Where is that?" We gathered around the table and Cressida pointed to the corner of the hologram.

"That's us." She traced her hand further away and pointed to a circle. "That's the city circle, it's at least 70, 75 blocks north."

"75 blocks?" Finn asked with raised eyebrows. Cressida simply hummed in reply.

"This is our chance. Nobody knows we are alive." Katniss noted. "These buildings, do these look over Snow's gardens?"

"They do." Castor confirmed.

"If he goes outside at all, I could get a clear shot."

A sigh escaped my lips. "We're getting ahead of ourselves here. Whether they're looking for us or not, we are pinned down."

"Hit that button." Jackson said. "Scan for pods."

Katniss did as told and hundreds of orange dots scattered across the map and I slumped my shoulders in exhaustion.

"Just about every ten steps."

"Yeah, that doesn't even show the new ones." Newt frowned. "So we can't go anywhere in the streets."

"And the rooftops are just as bad."

Silence enveloped us for a few moments before Pollux signed something to Castor, the latter looking at us with a flicker of hope in his eyes. "There might be another way."

*****

I carefully placed my foot on the step of the ladder below me and jumped off the last few rungs and landed on the concrete floor of the sewer system. We gathered at the foot of the ladder, waiting for our eyes to adjust to the dim strips of lights, breathing in the mixture of chemicals, mildew, and sewage. "My brother knows these tunnels really well." Castor said. "He worked sanitation down here. Right after they made him an avox."

Pollux looked like he wanted to be anywhere than down here. Castor mumbled a few reassuring words to him before his brother took a few steps forward, leading the way.

"Took five years before we were able to buy his way up to ground level. Didn't see the sun once." He said in a low voice. Not knowing how to respond, we silently began to trudge forward. Katniss walked beside Pollux, Holo in hand scanning for pods.

But Pollux was worth 10 Holos. He knew details that would lead to disaster for a newcomer, like which passageways might require gas masks or have live wires or rats the size of beavers. He alerted us to the gush of water that swept through the sewers periodically, anticipated the time the Avoxes will be changing shifts, led us into damp, obscure pipes to dodge the nearly silent passage of cargo trains. Most important, he had knowledge of the cameras. There weren't many down in this gloomy, misty place, except in the main tunnels. But we kept well out of their way.

We walked for about 6 hours when we suddenly heard the rumbling of trains on our path, and we all ran towards a huge wall that concealed us from the tracks. "We're too exposed here." I said after the train passed.

Pollux seemed to think of a less dangerous route before nodding and pointing towards a small metal door across the tracks. We scurried after him, getting deeper into the system of underground tunnels.

Fatigue drowned our bones and muscles and all I wanted to do was sit down and take a nap. And thankfully, Jackson spoke up a few minutes later. "Let's stop and take some rest, yeah?"

Pollux found a small, warm room humming with machines loaded with levers and dials. Jackson worked out a guard schedule, volunteering herself to take first watch. I slumped onto the floor beside Newt and Finnick and went to sleep almost immediately after I closed my eyes.

I was woken up by a distant rumbling and the constant beeping of the Holo. I groaned as I shifted in my seat on the floor, my legs aching at the cramped position. I saw Katniss stand up and walk towards the opening of the tunnels, where the water came up to her knees. "Everdeen?" I whispered. She gestured to me to come over to where she stood and I complied. "What is it?"

"I thought I heard something." She mumbled. A sudden hiss echoed through the tunnel and we whipped our heads around in horror, trying to figure out the source. I tightened one of my hands on the handle of the gun,