My feet drag me through tons of piles of rubble. All around me, what used to be District 13 is collapsed into chunks of dust. Through the trick of the eye, I paint out slivers of smoke wisping upwards from between the destroyed structures, as if the disaster had only occurred hours ago. The only difference, however, was that everything was quiet, dead quiet.

Eyes glued to all the cracked concrete and bare lumps of what used to be tree trunks, I can't catch myself when I trip over what looks like a charred chair. My hands automatically move to hide my face and my eyes squeeze shut.

Rather than face the hell of the dead earth, a ready hand grabs my arm tightly, lifting my feet off the ground and to the safety of the breathable air.

"Thank you, Peeta," I coo when I gaze into his blinding sea blue eyes. His mouth smiles but the rest of his face is as still as concrete. He tries to play calm and collected, but the awkwardness and fright radiates from his body like an iridescent shine. I take a hold of his hand, trying to relieve the build up of nervousness from the both of us.

After looking around for what seems like hours, Peeta finally stops and his tight eyes stare at me.

"Katniss, we should go," he warns. I pout and shake my head. Something felt wrong here. It felt like between the depths of this wreckage, life was pulsing somewhere, like a buried heartbeat signifying its presence.

"There has to be someone here," I urge on. Peeta's hand suddenly tightens in my grip and his body goes ridged. I follow his gaze and my heart skips a beat as a soaring goldish bird swoops down and lands on a slab of concrete, such a bright color against the shades of gray. The bird turns its head and inspects us with its beady eyes, and I suddenly recognize the animal. A mockingjay. Its beak opens wide and lets out a melody.

Rue's melody.

"But how?" I begin.

The bird raises its head high and suddenly the scene around me shifts. The rubble and destruction is replaced by colossal buildings. People with horrified looks plastered on their faces shove past me and each one is screaming like there is no tomorrow.

A small child with blond, tumbling hair weaves between the strangers, crying as she clutches a beat-up doll against her powdery dress. She moves a strand of hair from her eyes and searches the unknown faces of the passersby, failing to find her mother. Tears leave dark lines against her pale face as she drops to the floor in a crying fit.

I jump as suddenly one of the houses in the distant explodes into a million chards, letting out a "BOOM" and shaking the ground beneath me. I fall to the floor, beside me Peeta. The little, blond girl stares wide-eyed at me, frightened to death. I reach out my hand to her, determined to comfort the poor child. She stands up and scurries over, her hand without the doll reaching out to hold on to me. As soon as our fingers touch, another house blows up right beside us. I bury my face in my hands as my hair whips around me. Heavy pieces of concrete knock against me or tumble to the ground beside me, deadly weapons. The ground trembles and echoes as the loud boom vibrates in my damaged eardrums. Once the trembling dies down, so does the noise of the district.

I steadily raise my head to the grim silence of the area. It was deserted; everyone either fled or had the unfortunate faith of death. Instantly remembering the girl, I whip my head back and forth, searching for her. Beside me, Peeta rises and dusts off his whole body which is now covered in powdered, white material, causing him to appear as a ghost.

Protruding from beneath a huge slab nearby is the hem of the girl's dress. I sprint towards the ruins and using what's left of my strength, I raise the concrete.

I shove the solid over and it shatters into pieces on the floor beside me. My eyes gush with tears instantly as I study what had lain beneath it. The gaunt figure of the pretty little girl lolled between pieces of stone, crushed easily and blue with death.

I break into a sob and fall to the ground beside her, clutching her tiny hand between my fingers. I burst into never-ending tears as I sit sprawled beside her dead body. Peeta rushes over to me and in his hands is the depleted doll the girl had been carrying. I gingerly take it from his hands and stroke its hair, tears falling from my cheeks and onto the doll's woven face. The button eyes of the doll stare up at me grimly.

Suddenly, the girl's body disappears as well as all the fire that had began around me in the destroyed district. Our surroundings restore to what it had been, ghastly and empty with only the debris to provide evidence of what had happened years ago.

I glance up and there, standing still on the concrete slab, is the mockingjay. Its head, which had been gazing upwards, trails back down to stare at me. It cocks its head to the side and I could've sworn a probing smile traced its face.

As if it was saying: "Now do you understand?"

A/N: Hey readers! Old readers, new readers, whoever you are I hope this chapter didn't throw you off too much. To answer your questions: Yes, it is a continuation of Catching Fire and no, she didn't find Peeta yet. You'll probably get exactly what happened here in the next chapter.

Best of wishes, and don't forget to read, read, and review,

-smyle- :)