Lost in the echo [Harb one-shots]

[Cato]

Harbinger Rhodes

I've spent most of the day to myself sitting outside unsure of what to do. My mind is running in so many directions, and I can't keep up with it. My stomach twists into knots nearly bringing me to my knees as beads of sweat roll from my brow. Nothing makes sense right now, and I can't stop my hands from shaking. I'm afraid. Afraid for my family. Afraid that they'll have to go through what I went through, and I don't want that to happen. I don't want to lose anyone else. Not even my family. It's been sitting on my mind for years, but now it's coming for me.

It's hard to even think right now. All I can do is think about next year and what may come. I've lost so much over the last several years. Many from my family has died for my name, and all I can do is think about who they'll try to take away from me next. Vera is eleven. This is her last year of safety for the next few years, and I don't want the Capitol to steal her away from me. It's hard, and I'm pacing the room back and forth leaving an invisible path along the floor. My family means the world to me, and I don't want to risk anything anymore. I want them to have safety. I want them to have a life they deserve, and they can't have that here. I've been trying for so long, and now it's getting to where I am powerless, and I hate the feeling. I just know I need to get them out of here as soon as possible.

I'm scrambling through the house throwing anything and everything in a bag. Clothes that belong to the kids. I'm throwing food into the bags. It's not much, but maybe it'll help them. That's all I want is to help them. I have to get them out of here. I have to send them on their way somewhere safe. Somewhere they won't have to face the same thing that I faced so many times before. I'm trying to be quiet because I don't want to wake them just yet. I need time to pack. I need time to get everything together for them so they can flee. I'm not even sure what time it is right now, but based on the moon shining bright in the sky, it's still a few hours before the sun rises into the horizon. I'll get them on their way in the middle of the night and nobody will know they're gone.

My heart is racing frantically inside my chest as I try figuring out what they'll need for their journey. I'll stay behind because they're better off without me slowing them anyway, and I'll give them the chance they need to fully run for it. I don't know if anything exists outside of the fenced in areas, but it's better than living here. Once I have everything packed, and the bags sitting at the door, I run back into my room. I don't know where to begin or what to even say to Navya, but I have to get them on the road now. Time is running out, and I must make it quick. A shaky breath catches in the back of my throat as I sit down on the side of the bed my head falling into my hands. "Navya?" I ask keeping myself as calm as I can hoping she can hear me. Hoping that maybe she's already awake, but just to make sure, I say her name once more a little louder. "Navya. You need to take our kids and run. Before they take Vera from us. I'll stay behind and take the heat."

District Eleven

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[Cato]

Harbinger Rhodes

I don't know if Navya will listen to me or not. Our children will be scared and confused if they're being asked to leave our home. This all they've known, and I'm asking a lot having them leave for safety when I don't even know what lies outside the fence. I have an idea since I saw some on the train ride after the victor tour, but that didn't give me a good idea. I've heard so much about wild animals, and maybe others are living out there, but I don't know the answer to what lies outside the fence. I would spend all my days in fear wondering what they're up to and if they're even okay. It's such a hard thing for me to ask someone let alone those I love and care for more than anything in the world.

I'm pacing around the room, my heart pounding frantically inside my chest as I try finding what I can do. I need something. Something to keep them safe. Something to make sure they're not chosen for this awful game. Vera is going to enter the upcoming reaping, and it's a quell. For a moment my heart sinks deep into the pits of my stomach as a sudden, yet terrible idea springs to mind. It'll mean my life, but what parent wouldn't give up the world for their children? I have to call President Snow and make him an offer he cannot refuse. I bite my lips as I carefully make my way over to the telephone. I've only used it a couple of times, so it's still something very confusing to me, but I dial a number, and count each time it rings, and I find myself holding my breath when someone answers.

It's not Snow though. I'm not sure who it is, but they introduce themselves as Snow's assistant. I breathe a sigh of relief. At least it's someone that can give him a message, and I only hope my message reaches him. I ask the assistant to write down what I'm about to say and deliver it to Snow as soon as possible. My heart is in my throat as I try forming the words on the tip of my dry tongue. "I want my children exempt from the reapings. Do this for me, and I'll go back into the hunger games. My life for my children's safety." I pause fighting to keep my voice calm and steady. "There's been children of victor's in the games, and there hasn't been a victor back in the games yet." I take a breath hoping the person on the other line is writing down my words. "Send me in and spare my children."

The assistant mutters something through the phone repeating back everything I've said making sure it's written down properly. Every word makes sense, it's what I need for Snow to do. I need this favor from him, and as long as my children never have to even face the possibility of going into the games, I'm okay with dying. "Signed, Harbinger Rhodes." I add before hanging up the phone. I just hope it works, but that's when my heart drops even further. What will stop him from sending me back into the games, and then reaping my children every consecutive year following that? I can't help them live if I am dead, but I just want them to stay safe. It's something I never thought of until now.

District Eleven

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[Cato]

Harbinger Rhodes

Saying goodbye was hard, but they're gone. I don't even really know how much time has passed, but seeing what happened, and then hearing about a curfew, and seeing all the peacekeepers walking through the district leaves me uneasy. I'm running through the house packing my bags. I can't stay here. I don't know where Navya and the kids have gone, and with all this happening. I close my eyes cutting the thought off. I can't think about it. They're safe. They have to be safe. They ran while they had a chance, and now I'm alone. I'm throwing my own clothes into a bag. I'm grabbing a small amount of food from the kitchen making sure I have enough. I don't know what the plan is, but I need to get out of here too.

I take a breath, throwing the bag across my shoulder as I head out the door. My eyes are peeled, darting back in forth in every direction. All I can hear is the sound of the footsteps growing louder as peacekeepers make their way through the district patrolling the streets. We're not allowed out right now. We risk punishment, but I don't know if I care. I look into Kirito's house seeing if he's still there, but it's so dark. The moon and stars aren't really helping light the way. I can't really make anyone out. I think about checking on Kass and seeing how she is, but I don't know if she really cares for me or not. She's been to my house, she's ate my food, and I always leave the door unlocked in case she needs anything, but she's a strong individual. I fear she dislikes me. I haven't talked to Kate in what feels like years, and I don't really have that relationship anymore. I think she threw it away. She's cared for herself for so long, and I'll leave it to her now.

I take a few steps towards the edge of the victor's village, and I stop hiding in the shadows as another group of peacekeepers make their way around. It's a dangerous place out there right now. I can't risk it. I can't risk walking out into the open and allowing them to see me. I've been in enough trouble since I won the games, and I must keep myself safe. I wait until the footsteps pass, and then I turn around and start heading back home careful of where I step because I don't want to alert anyone to my location. I stop on the steps, and I sit down staring at the world around me. Part of me wants to run after my family. After Navya, and our kids, but I have to stay here. I hope they're okay. I can't fathom my life without them. If anything happens to them, I've failed them. All I wanted was to keep them safe, but there's a chance I've let Navya down as a husband and my kids as a father.

District Eleven

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