Free Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins Page B

that can evoke some spontaneity in you." She walks around Command, studying the il uminated district maps that show the ongoing troop positions in the war. "Take her into Eight this afternoon. There was heavy bombing this morning, but the raid seems to have run its course. I want her armed with a squad of bodyguards. Camera crew on the ground. Haymitch, you'l be airborne and in contact with her. Let's see what happens there. Does anyone have any other comments?"
    "Wash her face," says Dalton. Everyone turns to him. "She's stil a girl and you made her look thirty-five.
    Feels wrong. Like something the Capitol would do."
    As Coin adjourns the meeting, Haymitch asks her if he can speak to me privately. The others leave except for Gale, who lingers uncertainly by my side. "What are you worried about?" Haymitch asks him. "I'm the one who needs the bodyguard."
    "It's okay," I tel Gale, and he goes. Then there's just the hum of the instruments, the purr of the ventilation system.
    Haymitch takes the seat across from me. "We're going to have to work together again. So, go ahead. Just say it."
    I think of the snarling, cruel exchange back on the hovercraft. The bitterness that fol owed. But al I say is "I can't believe you didn't rescue Peeta."
    "I know," he replies.
    There's a sense of incompleteness. And not because he hasn't apologized. But because we were a team.
    We had a deal to keep Peeta safe. A drunken, unrealistic deal made in the dark of night, but a deal just the same. And in my heart of hearts, I know we both failed.
    "Now you say it," I tel him.
    "I can't believe you let him out of your sight that night," says Haymitch.
    I nod. That's it. "I play it over and over in my head. What I could have done to keep him by my side without breaking the al iance. But nothing comes to me."
    "You didn't have a choice. And even if I could've made Plutarch stay and rescue him that night, the whole hovercraft would've gone down. We barely got out as it was." I final y meet Haymitch's eyes. Seam eyes. Gray and deep and ringed with the circles of sleepless nights. "He's not dead yet, Katniss."
    "We're stil in the game." I try to say this with optimism, but my voice cracks.
    "Stil in. And I'm stil your mentor." Haymitch points his marker at me. "When you're on the ground, remember I'm airborne. I'l have the better view, so do what I tel you."
    "We'l see," I answer.
    I return to the Remake Room and watch the streaks of makeup disappear down the drain as I scrub my face clean. The person in the mirror looks ragged, with her uneven skin and tired eyes, but she looks like me. I rip the armband off, revealing the ugly scar from the tracker. There. That looks like me, too.
    Since I'l be in a combat zone, Beetee helps me with armor Cinna designed. A helmet of some interwoven metal that fits close to my head. The material's supple, like fabric, and can be drawn back like a hood in case I don't want it up ful -time. A vest to reinforce the protection over my vital organs. A smal white earpiece that attaches to my col ar by a wire. Beetee secures a mask to my belt that I don't have to wear unless there's a gas attack. "If you see anyone dropping for reasons you can't explain, put it on immediately," he says. Final y, he straps a sheath divided into three cylinders of arrows to my back. "Just remember: Right side, fire. Left side, explosive. Center, regular. You shouldn't need them, but better safe than sorry."

    explosive. Center, regular. You shouldn't need them, but better safe than sorry."
    Boggs shows up to escort me down to the Airborne Division. Just as the elevator arrives, Finnick appears in a state of agitation. "Katniss, they won't let me go! I told them I'm fine, but they won't even let me ride in the hovercraft!"
    I take in Finnick--his bare legs showing between his hospital gown and slippers, his tangle of hair, the half-knotted rope twisted around his fingers, the wild look in his eyes--and know any plea on my part wil be useless.
    Even I