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"The equipment is available," Peeta says, once they're all settled in the town hall. "I spoke to Paylor's assistant this afternoon, and she says she will send 1000 helmets, safety glasses, boots, and gloves."
Mayellen looks interested, her usual, neutral face replaced with one of curiosity. Hudson and Acer are both smoking, though they exhale through the open window. Plutarch is conspicuously absent, but Katniss wonders if that might make things go smoother, actually. Johanna is perched on a seat beside them, her expression still skeptical. "Is that it?" she asks.
Katniss isn't sure, exactly, when Johanna became the spokesperson for District 7, but it seems that Hudson and even Mayellen are happy to defer to her. She wonders if it's the fact that Johanna has lived in the Capitol, and has been on national television, the fact that Johanna has killed people, or just the fact that Johanna isn't afraid to be rude, and doesn't seem bound to the same customs of politeness and form that everyone else is.
"No," Peeta says, continuing. "She offered to send two military-trained Healers here to work with anyone who wants to learn, so that 7 can train Healers of their own. She recommended 4 to 6 people, to start."
Now, there's chatter, and even Johanna looks impressed at this offer. Mayellen starts discussing with Acer who might be good candidates for this program, and writing down names. "Did you discuss the safety regulation enforcement?" Hudson asks.
"I did," Peeta says, but here he looks a little forlorn. "They want to show mutual trust, in their words, so they suggested a two-phased approach. First, send the equipment and Healers, and let them take the lumber that's on the tracks. Second, if everything works out with that, you can resume work and they will send inspectors to train and enforce the laws."
Katniss tries to assess the overall mood in the room. It doesn't seem like the District 7 representatives are opposed to the idea, exactly, but they seem to be discussing it to figure out ways it could be exploited. She also can't help but look at Peeta differently. He has single-handedly managed to arrange this deal, making her and Haymitch and Plutarch seem almost irrelevant. In a way, it's nice, to not be necessary, to have someone else take the reins this time. And she's proud of Peeta, for having the drive to try to solve problems when she herself felt so stagnant and weighed down with her own issues. But in another way, she wonders if she should have done more. If instead of drinking in the tavern, she should have been making calls or arranging things.
Finally, it's Johanna who speaks, her brow still knitted, her shoulders still tense. "That lumber on the tracks is our leverage," Johanna says. "If they take that, the tracks are open to send troops in if they want, and they have tens of thousands of dollars of free product."
"We will secure payment," Katniss says. She doesn't know on who's authority she is making this promise, but it seems only fair. "If we settle this efficiently, there doesn't have to be any discussion of force. But don't kid yourself, the train could just stop a mile out, and the troops could march in. You're better off selling your product than having it taken by force."
"Is that a threat?" Johanna stands now, staring Katniss down. Hudson stands as well, his hand on her shoulder.
But Katniss is saved from replying by Haymitch. "It's not a threat, Jo, she's just being realistic. Paylor was a commander in the war, and she doesn't have endless patience. Work out the best deal you can for your people."
Johanna seems to sag a bit, but she collects herself in seconds. "Fine. Bring the equipment. Bring the Healers. We'll have trainees ready tomorrow. We want full price plus fifteen percent for the lumber on the tracks. No funny business. And if it all works out, we'll return to work next week if inspectors are present to enforce all labor laws."
Katniss wants to look to Acer or Hudson, and especially to the mayor to confirmation, but she knows Johanna will be insulted by such a gesture. They seem to have accepted Johanna as their mouthpiece, so she accepts these terms. "Ok. Deal."
When she leaves the town hall, the mood feels lighter. Peeta is chatting with Acer about how he will contact the President's people to arrange transport of the equipment and Healers, and Mayellen is talking with Hudson about who she thinks she will approach about learning the skills. Johanna lights a cigarette when they step outside, falling into stride beside Haymitch and Katniss.
"You want to come get a drink?" he asks her.
She shakes her head. "Gotta catch up on some work."
"Tobacco business not striking?"
She shakes her head. "Internal businesses still operational." She turns off the path, then pauses, looking back. "I'll be around later," she says, and then walks off.
Katniss must have had a shocked expression on her face, because Haymitch bats her with a light punch to the upper arm. They eat dinner at the tavern, just the two of them while Peeta tries to make the call. "That was good," Haymitch says, once they've gotten their drinks and ordered food. "You and Peeta did well."
She nods, her finger tracing the rim of the glass. She imagines everything working out, the strike ending within a week. She imagines going back to District 12, of them having lumber to finish the rebuilding by winter. And then she thinks of herself moving just a bit further out, to the Meadow maybe, just somewhere quiet, where she can continue to sit, unbothered, except for Peeta.
"Are you going to go? To see her?" She doesn't know why she asks, she isn't sure she really cares to know, but the question comes out before she can stop it. She can't stop thinking about their walk over: the transition from opponents in the town hall to camaraderie moments later, Johanna's boldness in everything she did, Haymitch's relative calmness since then.
He shrugs, noncommittally. "Doubt it." She knows he doesn't want to discuss it, so she doesn't want to press further, but she tries to imagine it from his perspective. He could be afraid of going, of sleeping together, and then leaving again, she thinks. Of the same sins he thinks that she blames him for at the end of the war. She wants to say something reassuring, like how it's nice that they seem to be getting along better, but she doesn't think her words have much weight as a teenager who has only been in one relationship, and besides, he's too busy focusing on his liquor to pay her too much attention.
Neither of them notice Peeta until he's made it to the table, out of breath. He sits in the vacant seat next to Katniss, and she can see his brow is furrowed. "Did you get in touch?" she asks.
He nods. "I did. It's settled." A waitress comes by, and he orders a soda and the dinner special, and he turns back to them. "But listen. As I was leaving the hotel — I made the call in the lounge — Plutarch was there, with two of the 'Timber Barons'. They were sitting at the bar sharing drinks. I didn't recognize them, but I asked the desk attendant who they were. Plutarch was laughing and looked like he was enjoying himself."
"Plutarch always looks like he's enjoying himself," Katniss argues, realizing suddenly that she had not told Peeta about her own run-in with Reed Billups.
"I don't know, it's probably not a good sign," Haymitch says. "There's no reason to cozy up to them unless it's to prep them for the inspectors coming, and something tells me he wasn't doing that."
They eat dinner quietly, every once in a while speculating on what could have been happening at the hotel. It was in public, Katniss reasons, so it couldn't have been anything illegal. But Plutarch had missed the negotiations, the most effective session so far, to meet with the barons instead. It didn't make any sense.
After, she turns in early, feeling like the day was endless. She falls asleep quickly but she is restless through the night, in and out of sleep with worry or waking up from strange dreams. Near dawn, she wakes up with the scars on her arms itching, and finds she can't get back to sleep. She gets dressed and goes down to the pond, where she saw the primroses.
They're still there, in full bloom, and she sits on the dock just looking at them for a while. The flower is a very poor substitute for the real thing, her sister, but it will have to do. The hole that the grief of missing Primrose tore from her feels endless, a black pit that will never be filled in. Her mother leaving District 12 seemed to just make it larger, until she thought she would be swallowed up by something that she couldn't even see.
Somehow, looking at the flowers, remembering Prim's existence, helps, just the tiniest bit. Peeta comes out, after a few minutes, a hunk of yesterday's bread in his hand. He breaks it in half and hands her some before sitting down beside her on the dock. "Sneaking out?"
She shrugs. "Thought I'd let you sleep."
He laughs. "Let the baker sleep in. Good one."
"What time does the equipment get here?"
"Well, they sent it overnight, so hopefully around noon."
After they eat, they go to the station, where there are men using specialized machinery to move the lumber from where it is laying across the tracks, to just beside the tracks. Poppy is there, along with a few others including a man on crutches, his foot amputated. She smiles at Katniss. "You're Johanna's friend, right?"
Katniss nods. It's so odd to have someone not recognize her, but it's not bad.
Poppy smiles. "I'm going to learn to be a Healer!"
So that explained that group of people. The men with the hatchets were still at the end of the platform, presumably to keep anyone from interfering with the operation. The barons, maybe, or maybe they still thought that Katniss or Peeta might really try to trick them. She sees Hudson, directing the men with the equipment, and she sees Johanna, handing out cigarettes, chatting with the workers, back on the other side of the line.
Finally, the tracks are clear, and it's quiet as they wait for the train. Haymitch arrives, sipping from a hip flask, and though Katniss throws him a disapproving look for drinking on the job, there's not much for them to do but wait. Some of the crowd disperse to get food, most of them stand around and smoke. There's a man in the station hall who's written up an invoice for all the lumber.
And after an hour, they hear the bell of an approaching train. It shouldn't seem so strange, but it's the first train into the station since the train Johanna got off of from District 4 several days prior. It pulls in slowly, and Katniss can see it's several cars long, plenty big for transporting all the lumber. When it finally stops against the platform with a hiss of steam, there's a tentative cheer, but it fizzles out quickly.
The door opens, and no one emerges at first. Two of the men with the hatchets and Johanna approach, but then step back again as a soldier in a military uniform with the white cross of the medic corps steps down onto the platform. She is followed by a second Healer in the same outfit, and both nod in greeting.
Mayellen steps forward, much as she did when Katniss arrived. "Welcome to District 7," she says. "I am the mayor."
"My name is Sergeant Roe, and this is my partner, First Lieutenant Shaver."
Whatever Mayellen was going to say next is cut off by Johanna's yell. "It's a trap!" she calls, terror in her voice. "Get back!"
Most of the residents on the platform heed her warning and run down, back to the square, but the men with the hatchets stay. Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch stay as well, unsure of what she means. Mayellen and the Healers remain where they are standing. And despite her warning, Johanna doesn't move from her spot at the train doors, and neither do the two men behind her.
From the train comes soldiers without the medic patch, first two, then four, then eight, multiplying as they emerge, pushing past Johanna and the men with the hatchets as if they were a mere nuisance as they make their way… somewhere. Into the District, Katniss supposes.
"You said!" Johanna says, turning to Katniss and Peeta. "You promised!" Katniss can see tears welling in Johanna's eyes as the soldiers walk past. "I told my people it would… it would be alright. You gave your word."
She reaches out and shoves one of the soldiers in frustration, and he leaves the formation, pointing his gun at her. Haymitch rushes forward, pulling her back, his arms across her chest. "Hey, it's alright," he says, spoken almost into her temple. Johanna's eyes are shut, she's shaking her head 'no'. Katniss doesn't want to watch any more, but she can't look away. She reaches out and grabs Peeta's hand. "You can't shoot someone just for pushing you," Haymitch says to the soldier, with more authority than Katniss has probably ever heard him speak.
The soldier looks young, maybe around Katniss's age, and his grip is trembling on the gun. He hasn't lowered it. "I can if I want to," he says, his chin raised in defiance.
"Fallon, keep up!" The officer calls him along, and the moment is over. One of the men with the hatchet makes like he wants to chase after the kid, but the other stops him. And the moment he's gone, Johanna steps away from Haymitch and turns towards Katniss, betrayal on her features.
"What did you do?" she shouts. Katniss is still about twenty meters back, and doesn't exactly want to get any closer, but she does, creeping closer slowly, as if compelled. "We had a deal!" Johanna says. Katniss can see tears of frustration leaking out.
"I didn't do anything!" she yells back, defensive. She doesn't know who these soldiers are, or what any of this means. She has been so removed from the whole process, that she doesn't know what is going on at all.
Haymitch is a step behind Johanna, and Katniss can see him approach her slowly, like a wounded animal. "It would have worked," he says, quiet and reassuringly. "But somebody screwed us."
Johanna shakes her head and pushes him back, moving away from both him and Katniss. She runs off the back of the platform, where the wood is stacked, where there are still a dozen or so men waiting around. Haymitch runs a hand through his hair, and then reaches again for his flask.
Peeta catches up to Katniss then, and they both look nervously into the train. Katniss steps forward, determined to see if the soldiers brought along the equipment, at least. Inside it's a mess, as she would expect for a train car carrying three dozen or so soldiers. But she pushes the door to open the next car, and there are crates. She slides the lid off of one, and sees boots. Dozens and dozens of standard issue military boots. In the next crate are safety glasses. Lastly, there's a crate of medical equipment: bandages and medications, delicate instruments and other items Katniss can't even recognize. She sighs.
She remembers Reed, who recommended the soldiers to get people back to work. He had also recommended a gallows. She gets an ominous feeling about him and Plutarch both. "Peeta, did Paylor's people say anything about this?" she asks him, her voice low, but echoing in the empty train.
He shakes his head. "Not a word." He looks nervous, glancing every few seconds out the window to where they can still see Haymitch on the platform, and the loggers pacing back and forth. Katniss can't see Johanna, or Hudson anymore, but she does see Acer, and the man who had written up the invoice. "Do you think… Plutarch arranged this?" Peeta asks quietly, as if this is treason.
She shrugs. It's a valid suggestion, and she doesn't know who else could have done this, unless the barons had enough sway with the Capitol, or Paylor made the call herself. "I think we're going to have to find out," she says. She feels tired, preemptively exhausted, but she knows she must see this through. She wants to rest, to sit alone in District 12, but she did not fight in the rebellion for most of Panem. How could she sleep knowing District 7 was being exploited?
She leaves the train and rejoins Haymitch, but he no longer looks like her mentor, he looks lost. She can see him eyeing the soldiers who are lined up in the square, and she wonders what he's thinking, but she doesn't ask. Acer walks over, and he's got a cigarette lit in his mouth, and he looks twitchy.
"What is this?" he asks, in a tone that isn't angry or accusatory, just frightened and disappointed, and somehow that's worse.
"We don't know," Katniss says, because it doesn't appear that Haymitch is going to answer. "Someone directed the soldiers to come, but we don't know if it was someone here, or someone outside of here."
He looks around, as if digesting this information. "Your other negotiator… or… the President herself?"
Peeta shrugs. "Possibly. My deal was settled before dinner last night, and didn't involve anyone but the Healers. Someone changed the terms after that."
Acer sighs. "I- Do you think we'll still get paid for the lumber? Is it safe to continue to strike?"
He looks to Katniss for answers, but she can't provide any. She wants to reassure him, but there are men with guns here, men who already aimed their guns at unarmed people. "I don't know," she says. "Please, give us a little time."
He nods. "I know you want this to end, but please consider our position."
She nods. She has been. Ever since she's arrived, everything has become murkier, and the arrival of soldiers has made it murkier still. She wants to defend the Panem she helped to create, but what did she fight for if not the people who live in Panem?