And the mockingjays echoed Snow: "Lucy Gray, run!"

The roar of gunfire echoed through the forest. Mockingjays circled over Snow, echoing the voice of Lucy Gray, who disappeared into the woods, leaving Snow surrounded by shouts of "pure as the driven snow". When the cartridges ran out, and there was no strength left to scream, Snow returned to the house by the lake. Rifles wrapped in cloth were already waiting for him in the boat. The rain outside the forest seemed to pour harder, cooling the peacemaker's hot, wounded skin. The sky was completely overcast, as if destroying the rays of the sun that were still shining through the branches in the forest. Destroying hope for the future with the one who turned out to be a traitor, a snake – the wound on his arm clearly reminded of this. "Did I kill her?" – the question came up again and again in the guy's head. After all, there were only two barriers between him and freedom. And he will get rid of one of them right now. Jumping into the boat, Snow swam out to the middle of the lake to be sure and slowly, enjoying himself, plunged the problem into the water. Under the weight, she quickly went to the bottom. No one will know about it. The way to the second district and then to the Capitol is clear. Doubts away, he is a marksman – the songbird is dead. Returning to the shore, Coriolanus regretted that he did not have matches with him to burn the building to the ground. Although, it's raining now, so it's unlikely that it would even catch fire, but Snow didn't mind getting pleasure from burning down the bird's shelter to the ground. But for lack of opportunity, he just takes out his father's compass and heads to the district. The hand tightly squeezes the commemorative metal. Snow felt confident, as if his father himself was showing him the way.

۝۝۝

Snow ate his dinner in silence. There's a train at 10 a.m. tomorrow, and he can't make mistakes. Today he was able to evade all suspicion. It turned out to be even easier than he thought: having arrived at the camp, having been reprimanded for being late for construction, explaining that he had fallen asleep in a bar, he was reprimanded and sent to work that the peacekeepers did not like: preparing the execution site, and then, after putting the sentence into effect, cleaning the bodies, burial. On this day, the rebels were hanged again somewhere for someone who blabbed something in vain. It didn't touch Snow's heart anymore. But when the execution was over, and Snow came to load the corpse on the cart, like a madness, a hallucination: he saw Sejanus' face. A lump rose in his throat, but, clenching his teeth, Snow shook his head. The image disappeared. Digging wet earth in the cemetery, Snow unsuccessfully stuck a shovel, and dirt splashed on his face. For a moment, an image of this morning appeared in his head, when, out of pain and despair, he beat the ground with his fist, throwing up splashes of dirt that fell on his face and clothes. Trying to escape from the memories, he went even more into work. It takes more time for these annoying images to stop flashing in my head. But they will pass. Snow was sure. Going to bed, Coriolanus breathed a sigh of relief – tomorrow he would leave this barbaric district. And from the second to the Capitol is not far. He's coming home. There is no doubt about it. The morning started unexpectedly roughly: someone grabbed Coriolanus, threw him to the floor, tied his hands behind. He tried to escape, but sleepy, not understanding anything, he was taken out of the barracks. When Snow was brought to the chief's office, he was already thinking clearly. There weren't many options for what happened to him: someone turned in that he killed the mayor's daughter, or that he was trying to escape with Lucy Gray Baird. Any option seemed strange, especially considering that he got rid of all the witnesses himself or with the help of fate. Only if… But he absolutely didn't want to think about it. Pushing the guy into the chief's office, the peacekeepers closed the doors from the outside. Commander Hoff got up from the table and, in his usual manner, looked at Snow from under his brows: – Do you want to tell me anything, young man? – Absolutely not. – Well, it wouldn't have mattered anyway. You've done something stupid. You had a great future ahead of you, but you chose to contact the rebels. You are following in the footsteps of your friend Sejanus. Well, share his fate. It was as if Snow had been doused with cold water. He wanted to break the silence, but the commander had already called the peacekeepers, who grabbed the guy by the arms, dragging him out of the room. This is his last opportunity to fix something: – Commander Hoff! I'm not… But the commander, without looking at the former subordinate, sat down at the table – this is the last thing Snow saw through the closing doors. Under the piles of blows in the cell, Seyan's face floated up in front of Snow before hanging: swollen with swelling, bruised and bruised. Snow was really repeating his fate. And he was talking! I told him! Coriolanus roared like an animal, but the sound was quickly extinguished by a blow to the chest. Tied by the hands, he could not oppose anything to the peacekeepers, who fully executed the order, and maybe not only the order. Snow lost track of time. When he was left alone, the sun began to slowly penetrate into the cell. Did he miss the sound of the train that he was supposed to take him to a happy life? "Tigris, Madame Bo, I'm sorry" The crowd gathered in the square by the tree. The jays, like important guests, settled down on the crown as always. What phrase will they spread today, echoing, around the neighborhood? Two people were already standing on the platform. And the commander began his usual speech about the rebels, but continued with a speech about traitors in the circles of peacekeepers, and how unpleasant it is for him to realize that it was not limited to one subordinate. Snow was dragged through the crowd rather than led through. He could barely stand on his feet. Nothing remained of the former beauty of the blue-eyed blonde, except for the eyes that, as if reflecting the sky, looked at the people on the square. Was he just looking around the crowd, for lack of another option, or was he looking for someone? Interrupting the commander's words about the death of the mayor's daughter, suddenly a familiar voice sounded from the crowd:

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where they strung up a man

They say murdered three.

The crowd began to look around in amazement. The sound seemed to come from the crowd, but it seemed to come from everywhere. People whispered, and Snow felt a growing anger, like lava spreading through his body. This gave him strength, and although it seemed to him that he could not utter a word because of the pain and dry mouth, but he screamed: – Lucy! Lucy Grey Baird! Run! Run while you can! Otherwise I will overtake you, and you will not be saved! Run! He tried to break free, but the construction of the floor was flimsy, since the strength of the gallows was useless, so Snow broke a couple of boards and fell down. But the neck didn't break. Coriolanus Snow was hanging with a rope around his neck and was slowly suffocating. Someone screamed, someone cried, many simply turned away, unable to stand the sight. Commander Hoff waved his hand, and the design was activated. The rest of the condemned were more fortunate – their necks were broken from the sharpness. And Snow was still hanging. It was getting dark in my eyes, there was absolutely not enough air. The jays were circling around the square, shouting "Run", and among the gray crowd, on the last attempt of a sigh, Snow saw a flash of a colored dress. ۝۝۝ Three fresh graves towered in the moonlight in the cemetery. Without identification marks. This is not a farewell to the last journey with honors. This is just so that the smell of decomposition of corpses does not go to the whole district. But one mound was different from the others: Katniss towered on it. There were no roses in the district. Lucy padded over to the tree. In the light of the moon, it seemed even more gloomy and frightening, a reminder of all those people whose lives it had unwillingly taken.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it seem

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree.

Her voice spread across the square, as if enveloping, lulling. Quiet, but strong and helpless. The wound prickled again. The girl looked at her: she was bleeding again. She cannot live without proper medical care. And how? Games haunted her. Oh no, she didn't come back from them. They're still here, she's still fighting for her life, killing to survive. She can't go back to the district. The mayor is tearing up and rushing, demanding to find her. And in the woods, only death awaits her. She's hurt. Wounded by him both internally and externally. He killed her, but slowly and inexorably, just like she killed him. Are they even now?

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where the dead man called out

For his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it seem

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree.

Even before the threshold of death, he threatened her. Run… She tried, tried to run away with him. But trust… Trust is the most important thing for her.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where I told you to run,

So we'd both be free.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it seem

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree.

They both didn't escape. She then jokingly said that she was the only one who could turn him in, but... at what point did they both become monsters? Snow told her one day that Dr. Volumnia Gall told him after the first one he killed: – What we observed today is a man in all his glory, fueled by the fear of becoming prey. You see how quickly we become predators. You see how civilization is disappearing. All your fine manners, education, position disappeared in the blink of an eye. Leaving a boy with a club, who slaughters another boy to survive. Unaware, Lucy used Snow's weapon against him: a mockingjay in a cage and a remote control, left right under the mayor's door with a story about the evening of his daughter's death. She was furious. He crossed out her future, and she responded in kind. But it didn't bring her happiness or even peace of mind. They are like two parts of an inseparable whole. Their destinies are so intertwined that these roots can no longer be separated. Dying physically and mentally, Lucy looked at the platform where so many people had left this world… And they will be abandoned again. Here is a stool in place of the destroyed Snow platform, here is a rope and a square silently watching the girl.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Wear a necklace of rope,

Side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it seem

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree.