1: District Thirteen

Gale POV

It's been less than a week since I arrived at Thirteen, but it feels like much longer. It feels like forever since I last saw Katniss. I might never see her again. I know that it being war, I should reconcile myself to that idea, but no matter how I try, I cannot. Katniss is a part of me after everything that's happened.

I stick my hand into the hole next to the door for it to tattoo the schedule of the day in the violet ink they love here. Everything in Thirteen is scheduled, including times to go the toilet and go to sleep. I hate that aspect of living here. There's no freedom, and isn't freedom what we were fighting for in the first place?

I don't want to live in a Panem ruled by District Thirteen. Alright, they have their good points: they have good education and training, jobs for everybody and excellent safety procedures. Everybody gets enough food to live on. But they also have a lot of bad. Aside from the excessive scheduling, they are also incredibly tight with resources.

In District Twelve, when I hunted I could eat pretty well. Here, even when they have a lot of food stored, people are only given a calculated amount- enough energy to get you through the day's activities and no more. I once saw somebody from Twelve throw away a piece of paper and get glared at by every Thirteen person in the area.

I glance down at the schedule. Six thirty to seven am, get dressed, washed and excrete. I've done the last two already, now all that is needed is to change from the grey ill-fitting pyjamas into some grey ill-fitting clothes. I pull them on, grimacing. We weren't rich in Twelve, but at least I had clothes bought with me in mind, not these one-size-fits-all from Thirteen.

The trousers are too short, the shirt slightly too long. I shrug and open the door into the corridor of Bunker 28. I don't know how many bunkers they have here, exploring wasn't on the list tattooed on my arm on any day. No, we arrived and gave up our weapons, then I was taken to this room and explained how basic life works here.

Seven to seven thirty, breakfast. I turn left and go down a flight of stairs to the breakfast room. They have the times staggered, for the time being at least, I'm on the day shifts. According to the times on my wrist at least. I wouldn't know down here, it's not like I can see any natural light.

Just a small bowl of porridge this morning. Looks like I don't have a very strenuous morning today. I look down at my wrist. Meetings with governors of Thirteen. Free time. Going to research and development to meet with their people, apparently that's where I've been chosen to work until they get me to stir up rebellion in any Districts that aren't yet rebelling.

It's the afternoon which has weapons training. A two hours block for hand-to-hand combat, then one hour of target practise. I'll probably get a heavy lunch then. I shovel the porridge into my mouth quickly, barely glancing at the others sharing the room with me. They look at often though, I know it. They expected something more of a symbol I suppose.

I'm just another soldier to them now, another tool to be used when they deem necessary. They call everybody above fourteen here soldier, I suppose they've all had more training than I have. But I've had something more valuable- actual experience of what it's like to have to fight. What it's like to lose loved ones.

There is a buzz throughout the room, signalling the end of breakfast. We leave the bowls, there are people here whose job it is to clean the kitchens and eating rooms. I suppose that I'm lucky that they've chosen that I will work in Research and Development for the time being, because that sounds a lot better than dish washing.

Briskly, I walk over to one of the meeting rooms, where I'm meant to see the governors of Thirteen. Maybe they want me to start being a rebellion symbol, starting tomorrow of course. Being the mockingjay isn't on the list stamped in violet ink on my arm, so it can't happen. District Thirteen takes these lists seriously apparently.

"Gale Hawthorne," a woman with grey hair tied back tightly in a bun greets. "It's an honour to meet you. My name is Alma Coin, I'm president of District Thirteen."

"Nice to meet you."

"These are my advisors," she says and gestures to the men and women around her. She makes no move to introduce them, so I shrug and sit down.

"We have tried to you some time to settle into life here but we are at war at the moment and we need you to help convince people to join the revolution. Nothing dangerous of course, all of our videos will be shot here in District Thirteen. The rebels you will be helping will be actors, we'll have sets, the whole works-"

"-That's a bit deceptive, don't you think?" I cut her off mid sentence. "Tricking people into joining the rebellion. If they find out later, they'll be angry. And the Capitol will be able to see that and point out that we are lying to the Districts."

"Our technology is good enough that we can stage it without them knowing. And don't you think that they will be doing the same thing to the people. They aren't willing to put themselves in danger either. Now we were thinking that you could start making promos tomorrow."

"I have a few conditions before I start."

"Name them. If it's possible, we'll grant them."

"One: You get Katniss back for me."

"If we could, we would. You have so much more power on audiences whilst you are together."

"Send spies, I'm sure you have people in the Capitol. I need her out of there. She's going to get tortured. You have to at least try, instead of just hiding underground like you are now. You say that you need her, I need her at least ten thousand times as much. If you don't try to get her back, I won't help you."

"I'll try and have my people in the Capitol find out where she is being kept," the president replies. "I have no guarantee that we will be able to retrieve her though. I promise that we are and will continue to dedicate time and resources to it though. Is that good enough for you to help us? The war will end faster if you do."

"Alright, but I will need proof. Two: I get to go outside everyday and hunt. I'm tired of staying underground all day." I know that I must sound whiny to her, but she's stayed underground her entire life. She doesn't know how good fresh air smells or of simple pleasures like sitting in a tree or eating rabbit stew.

"With guards, that could be allowed I suppose. Two hours per day and always above District Thirteen. Any food that you catch would go to the kitchens. Is that good enough?"

"I want to be able to eat some of my catch and I don't want guards. Post them around the area if I must have guards, but I don't want them following me around. Is that accepted?"

"One bird or rabbit," she allows. "Guards posted around the area, but you will wear a tracking bracelet and camera so that they can find you."

"Done. Condition Three: I want to visit District Twelve and see what is left of it. It was my home and I want to see it for one last time."

"We can shoot a promo there. That's easy enough to grant."

"Condition Four: If Katniss commits any crimes, I want her to have full immunity. She can't be punished for things that the Capitol made her do."

"Is that it?" she asks. "You will start tomorrow in District Twelve with the first promo?" I nod. "Fulvia, draw up a contract." She takes my arm and looks at the timetable. "We will find you in R and D in three hours and you will sign it. You may go now."

I nod curtly and leave. Maybe I should visit Rory, Posy and my mother. The last few days have been busy and I haven't seen them since they were first brought in. I know that they also stay in Bunker 28 in the rooms opposite mine. Rory will want to see me, and Posy. She was crying when I last left for the Capitol.

I find Rory, Prim and Hazelle sharing a room. Apparently you have to be pretty important to merit having a room of your own. And I was important enough to get the president of this place to bend and outright break some of her rules to make me the symbol of the revolution.

"Gale!" Posy shouts and jumps up. She hugs me tight around the middle. Posy doesn't have a timetable tattooed on her arm yet. She's only eight and people here start training at ten. Posy gets the joys of being free to run around in a tightly run military bunker. They don't have many children around here.

According to one of the soldiers, I can't remember which one, there was a nuclear accident a few years back which left most of the population sterile, which is why there were no children and they were so eager to find quarters, jobs and food for the people of District Twelve.

"Hello Posy," I say, swinging her around. She seems slightly lighter than she was in District Twelve. I suppose an eight year old with no schedule doesn't require much energy. Maybe I can bring her back some game. I should have added having more food to my list of demands.

"What have you been doing these past few days?" Rory asks. "They've been teaching me how to fight with a gun and more about the history of the rebellion and Districts. I've had to get up early these past few days and the food here isn't good, but it's really interesting and the combat training looks really useful. In under a year, they'll be calling me a soldier."

"Much the same as you," I reply. "Battle training and some history. This morning I had a meeting with the president though and I'm going to start making videos for the rebellion tomorrow in District Twelve. And I'm going to work researching new weapons for them- I start in half an hour."

"You're going back to District Twelve?" my mum asks. "Are you sure that's safe? Some of the people that we were going to escape with were killed by peacekeepers last time we were there."

"I'll be safe- they won't risk my life. I'll probably have guards and hovercrafts and people who'll sweep the place for any peacekeepers before I enter. All of the other videos will be filmed here in Thirteen if that makes you feel better. They'll make sets and have actors and scripted speeches."

"Oh. Yes, that's much better. I've heard that the Districts are dangerous at the moment, there are rebels fighting Capitol loyalists and Snow is bombing places and it's just chaos. You're much safer in here, doing what they say."

"I suppose. I don't like it much in here though. At least I have hunting rights, two hours each day now. Being underground is just.. It feels like I'm trapped. I hate it. And the way that everything is so scheduled here." I wave my arm. "Free time, half an hour. Less than ten minutes now and my next free time isn't until four in the afternoon."

"Can I come hunting with you?" Rory asks eagerly. "I hate being stuck here too and I can hunt well now. I hunted everyday when you were in the Games and being a mentor."

"I didn't negotiate that with them, but they are coming to me with the contract later. I'll see what I can do." I glance at my watch. "I have to go now, R and D pretty far from here."

"Goodbye," Posy says and hugs me again.

"Bye Posy."

I look at the map to find my way to Research. District Thirteen is set up like a grid, so in theory it should be quite easy to find my way around. It's only easy when I can find a map though, otherwise the corridor numbers mean nothing to me. The map only covers a small part of Thirteen, but I think that I'm staying in one of the important parts.

I scan my wrist through the door so that it can detect that I'm supposed to be here. That's another of the things that makes breaking schedule in District Thirteen so difficult: you can't get into many rooms unless your schedule says that's where you're meant to be at that precise time.

A light flashes green and the words access granted come up on a small screen. The door slides open and I walk through. It snaps shut behind me and I enter a room that looks similar to a meeting room. I would have expected it to look different, more high-tech. A few people sit around the table.

"Gale Hawthorne. Wonderful to meet you again," one of the men says. I examine his face. When have I ever seen somebody from Thirteen before? He isn't one of the people who came from Twelve. "You don't recognise me. I suppose I look different without the beard. You saved my life in the Capitol, don't you remember?"

Then it hits me. He doesn't have the odd-looking beard anymore and his face seems to have gone paler from lack of sunlight, but I do recognise him. "Seneca Crane. Harriet Ranger told me that you had joined the rebellion. I didn't think that I would see you here, I thought you would be in meetings about the Capitol."

"My former job made me a perfect candidate to work here. Aside from creating traps and muttations, almost every gamemaker has spent some time in the lab trying to make the creations work. Now we've been working on finding way to trap units from the Capitol and kill as many as possible with one bomb. Now if you have a look at this design.."

xXx-X-xXx

Thanks for reading the first chapter of Revolution, I hope you enjoyed it. If you like the chapter or have any criticism, please leave a review. The next chapter will be Katniss's POV in the Capitol.

-MoonOfPluto