reserved for those important to the cause, a status Gale achieved by his rescue of the citizens of 12. «They need the two of us in Command,» he says.
Trailing a few steps behind Gale, I try to collect myself before I’m thrown into what’s sure to be another relentless Mockingjay session. I linger in the doorway of Command, the high-tech meeting/war council room complete with computerized talking walls, electronic maps showing the troop movements in various districts, and a giant rectangular table with control panels I’m not supposed to touch. No one notices me, though, because they’re all gathered at a television screen at the far end of the room that airs the Capitol broadcast around the clock. I’m thinking I might be able to slip away when Plutarch, whose ample frame has been blocking the television, catches sight of me and waves urgently for me to join them. I reluctantly move forward, trying to imagine how it could be of interest to me. It’s always the same. War footage. Propaganda. Replaying the bombings of District 12. An ominous message from President Snow. So it’s almost entertaining to see Caesar Flickerman, the eternal host of the Hunger Games, with his painted face and sparkly suit, preparing to give an interview. Until the camera pulls back and I see that his guest is Peeta.
A sound escapes me. The same combination of gasp and groan that comes from being submerged in water, deprived of oxygen to the point of pain. I push people aside until I am right in front of him, my hand resting on the screen. I search his eyes for any sign of hurt, any reflection of the agony of torture. There is nothing. Peeta looks healthy to the point of robustness. His skin is glowing, flawless, in that full-body-polish way. His manner’s composed, serious. I can’t reconcile this image with the battered, bleeding boy who haunts my dreams.
Caesar settles himself more comfortably in the chair across from Peeta and gives him a long look.
«So…Peeta…welcome back.»
Peeta smiles slightly. «I bet you thought you’d done your last interview with me, Caesar.»
«I confess, I did,» says Caesar. «The night before the Quarter Quell…well, who ever thought we’d see you again?»
«It wasn’t part of my plan, that’s for sure,» says Peeta with a frown.
Caesar leans in to him a little. «I think it was clear to all of us what your plan was. To sacrifice yourself in the arena so that Katniss Everdeen and your child could survive.»
«That was it. Clear and simple.» Peeta’s fingers trace the upholstered pattern on the arm of the chair.
«But other people had plans as well.»
Yes, other people had plans,I think. Has Peeta guessed, then, how the rebels used us as pawns? How my rescue was arranged from the beginning? And finally, how our mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, betrayed us both for a cause he pretended to have no interest in?
In the silence that follows, I notice the lines that have formed between Peeta’s eyebrows. He has guessed or he has been told. But the Capitol has not killed or even punished him. For right now, that exceeds my wildest hopes. I drink in his wholeness, the soundness of his body and mind. It runs through me like the morphling they give me in the hospital, dulling the pain of the last weeks.
«Why don’t you tell us about that last night in the arena?» suggests Caesar. «Help us sort a few things out.»
Peeta nods but takes his time speaking. «That last night…to tell you about that last night…well, first of all, you have to imagine how it felt in the arena. It was like being an insect trapped under a bowl filled with steaming air. And all around you, jungle…green and alive and ticking. That giant clock ticking away your life. Every hour promising some new horror. You have to imagine that in the past two days, sixteen people have died—some of them defending you. At the rate things are going, the last eight will be dead by morning. Save one. The victor. And your plan is that it won’t be you.»
My body breaks out in a sweat at the memory. My hand slides down the screen and hangs limply at my side. Peeta doesn’t need a brush to paint images from the Games. He works just as well in words.
«Once you’re in the arena, the rest of the world becomes very distant,» he continues. «All the people and things you loved or cared about almost cease to exist. The pink sky and the monsters in the jungle and the tributes who want your blood become your final reality, the only one that ever mattered. As bad as it makes you feel, you’re going to have to do some killing, because in the arena, you only get one wish. And it’s very costly.»
«It costs your life,» says Caesar.
«Oh, no. It costs a lot more than your life. To murder innocent people?» says Peeta. «It costs everything you are.»
«Everything you are,» repeats Caesar quietly.
A hush has fallen over the room, and I can feel it spreading across Panem. A nation leaning in toward its screens. Because no one has ever talked about what it’s really like in the arena before.
Peeta goes on. «So you hold on to your wish. And that last night, yes, my wish was to save Katniss. But even without knowing about the rebels, it didn’t feel right. Everything was too complicated. I found myself regretting I hadn’t run off with her earlier in the day, as she had suggested. But there was no getting out of it at that point.»
«You were too caught up in Beetee’s plan to electrify the salt lake,» says Caesar.
«Too busy playing allies with the others. I should have never let them separate us!» Peeta bursts out.
«That’s when I lost her.»
«When you stayed at the lightning tree, and she and Johanna Mason took the coil of wire down to the water,» Caesar clarifies.
«I didn’t want to!» Peeta flushes in agitation. «But I couldn’t argue with Beetee without indicating we were about to break away from the alliance. When that wire was cut, everything just went insane. I can only remember bits and pieces. Trying to find her. Watching Brutus kill Chaff. Killing Brutus myself. I know she was calling my name. Then the lightning bolt hit the tree, and the force field around the arena…blew out.»
«Katniss blew it out, Peeta,» says Caesar. «You’ve seen the footage.»
«She didn’t know what she was doing. None of us could follow Beetee’s plan. You can see her trying to figure out what to do with that wire,» Peeta snaps back.
«All right. It just looks suspicious,» says Caesar. «As if she was part of the rebels’ plan all along.»
Peeta’s on his feet, leaning in to Caesar’s face, hands locked on the arms of his interviewer’s chair.
«Really? And was it part of her plan for Johanna to nearly kill her? For that electric shock to paralyze her? To trigger the bombing?» He’s yelling now. «She didn’t know, Caesar! Neither of us knew anything except that we were trying to keep each other alive!»
Caesar places his hand on Peeta’s chest in a gesture that’s both self-protective and conciliatory. «Okay, Peeta, I believe you.»
«Okay.» Peeta withdraws from Caesar, pulling back his hands, running them through his hair, mussing his carefully styled blond curls. He slumps back in his chair, distraught.
Caesar waits a moment, studying Peeta. «What about your mentor, Haymitch Abernathy?»
Peeta’s face hardens. «I don’t know what Haymitch knew.»
«Could he have been part of the conspiracy?» asks Caesar.
«He never mentioned it,» says Peeta.
Caesar presses on. «What does your heart tell you?»
«That I shouldn’t have trusted him,» says Peeta. «That’s all.»
I haven’t seen Haymitch since I attacked him on the hovercraft, leaving long claw marks down his face. I know it’s been bad for him here. District 13 strictly forbids any production or consumption of intoxicating beverages, and even the rubbing alcohol in the hospital is kept under lock and key. Finally, Haymitch is being forced into sobriety, with no secret stashes or home-brewed concoctions to ease his transition. They’ve got him in seclusion until he’s dried out, as he’s not deemed fit for public display. It must be excruciating, but I lost all my sympathy for Haymitch when I realized how he had deceived us. I hope he’s watching the Capitol broadcast now, so he can see that Peeta has cast him off as well.
Caesar pats Peeta’s shoulder. «We can stop now if you want.»
«Was there more to discuss?» says Peeta wryly.
«I was going to ask your thoughts on the war, but if you’re too upset…» begins Caesar.
«Oh, I’m not too upset to answer that.» Peeta takes a deep breath and then looks straight into the camera. «I want everyone watching—whether you’re on the Capitol or the rebel side—to stop for just a moment and think about what this war could mean. For human beings. We almost went extinct fighting one another before. Now our
