THE MAN IN THE HANGING TREE | Gale Hawthorne

FORTY ONE - To The Sky

YOUR POINT OF VIEW

The sound that floats down the hall is eerie and unnerving, scratches and growls and howls of some unidentified creature. It's like the howls of coyotes back home in the forests surrounding Twelve, but about one hundred times creepier.

Gale and I rush to wake the others, but it seems they are already up. I pray silently they didn't hear us only moments before, but at this point it doesn't matter-- we need to get out of here.

I flush momentarily at the thought of what I must look like. My bodysuit a bit rumpled, my hair a mess. The ring glinting on my finger eases all my worries though, as does the hand that clutches my own lovingly.

We'll be together forever soon enough, that is if we survive whatever is out there.

Gale drags me down the tunnels first, going whichever way Pollux points. I know he's just as anxious to see the sky again as I am, but his cloud grey eyes are the only sky I need.

The howls stop far in the distance, and Gale's hand slacks a little in mine. Whatever that was they've gone the other direction, or so we think.

Katniss climbs into the next tunnel first, closely followed by Finnick, Peeta and Pollux. Gale is just helping me climb over too when a growl sounds from down the hall, apparently they weren't as far away as we thought.

No one speaks a word, too scared of what creature it may be. We freeze where we stand.

Katniss takes a deep breath, the first to move, she then knocks one of her fire arrows and launches it down the dark hall. It illuminates a bright orange, then goes out with a hiss when it falls into the ankle deep water, revealing nothing.

We all exhale in relief.

Gale lifts me over the small wall dividing the levels of the tunnels finally, then goes to follow me when out of nowhere Jackson's second, Holmes, is taken down. Chaos ensues.

"Run!" Gale shouts, shoving me ahead. He pulls out his crossbow to fire it at the creatures that are now upon us.

I've never seen anything like them before in my life. They're slightly humanoid in shape, they possess no eyes but glistening rows of razor sharp teeth, just shapes of flesh and snarling mouths.

Katniss shoots another fire arrow at them as Finnick hauls Peeta ahead. I grab my own weapon, my sniper rifle which is really best for long distances, and try to help the others best I can.

One of the creatures almost takes down Gale.

Oh no you don't! I think, before shooting it dead with about a dozen bullets, just to be sure. More keep coming from the tunnels though. We can't stop them, there are to many.

"We gotta go!" Gale says, trying to drag both Katniss and I.

"We can't leave them behind!" Katniss gestures madly to Cressida, Jackson, and Castor who are still fighting of the weird creatures, separated by flames that have now lit the sides of the tunnel.

I've only met them yesterday, but I agree with her, we can't just leave them to die. But Gale is also right, fires rage around us now, and there are too many odd creatures to fight off just the three of us.

"Go!" Cressida insists, shooting another beast down with her hand gun. "Gale's right, you have to get out of here!" So we turn and run, half a dozen beasts on our heals.

We suddenly reach a domed room, the water in the middle is so deep I can't see the bottom. We skirt around the edges like Finnick, Peeta, and Pollux have done. There's a matenince shaft there that leads up, to the sky. Finnick instructs Pollux to go up first as the howls of the creatures near the room.

"You next, Peeta." He says, but it's too late, they're here.

They swarm through the door like a tidal wave of flesh, all of us aim whatever weapons we have and shoot as Finnick tries take down the closer ones with his trident.

"There are too many!" He shouts. "You all have to get out of here!"

Snarls and growls are all I hear as I shoot, and at this point I'm not sure if it's me or the beasts.

I will not have anymore deaths on my hands.

Suddenly, Cressida, Jackson, and Castor appear through the doorway too. They take down half the beasts in their wake. Only Cressida makes it to us though, the other two are snapped up by the viscous jaws of the ghostly beings, dragged into the depths of the murky water.

I shoot down the ones who had them, but it's too late.

It seems one tried to get Katniss while we weren't looking, and Peeta saved her with only his hand cuffs. In the process, getting himself thrown into the deep water.

Finnick jumps in after him, the better swimmer of all of us, he pulls him back up to oxygen. "You all have to get out of here!" Finnick persists again.

"No!" I shout, determined myself. "You're not going to be all noble and sacrifice yourself for all of us, there has to be another way." Sure, I only met the guy the other day, but I considered him my friend. He is the reason I was starting to cope with my demons, his words are helping me greatly.

Besides, I'm not about to let Annie lose the man she loves.

But ignoring my useless pleas, Gale and Finnick share a look over all the chaos and shooting, they know what has to be done.

Finnick ushers Cressida and Peeta first up the maintenance shaft, then Katniss who leaves with one last flaming arrows and one last reassuring look to Finnick. -- all the while Gale and I cover for them with our weapons.

Finnick turns back around once everyone is up, his ocean eyes urgent. "Alright, you two next."

I shake my head, shooting at the beasts. There seems to be an endless flow of them. "No, we're not leaving you." 

He and Gale share another look, then Finnick turns back to me. "I'll be right after you, just remember what I told you before."

I know he's lying, and I will always remember his advice.

Let others help you heal, it will take a long time but heal together.

So with one last look to the man who helped me through my troubles, and one last look for my fiancé, I climb the extended ladder with a heave. I climb up the rings one by one, as quickly as I can, ascending to the sky. I know Gale is right behind me, but I also know Finnick is still down there watching our backs.

I can see it finally, the endless navy sky. I can smell the fresh air, but I hear only screams of anguish below me. Finnick will never see this sky again, nor the one he loves. It's almost not fair that I get both.

To the sky I finally arrive, or to the silent streets of the Capitol anyway. The street, that as soon as my feet touch, I crumple into a heap. Gale grabs hold of me as I sob, too much blood has been spilled.

Katniss wails down into the labyrinth we just came from, reaching down for Finnick. But it's too late, they have him. I can tell from his pained shouts.

"Katniss!" He yells, agony the only emotion prevalent. "Make it stop!"

Katniss, knowing full and well what he means, pulls out the Hollow-- the map of the entire city. "Nightlock. Nightlock. Nightlock." She utters, dropping down in the depths of whatever lies below hell.

And as it hits the surface of the water with the smallest of splashes, it erupts in an explosion of orange and yellow, the signature flames of the Mockingjay. With it's destruction bringing the death the unforgiving creatures and Finnick. 

Mercy for the man who's done so much for her.

I sit and gasp in fresh oxygen as I press my face closer to Gale's chest. They sky is starting to darken to inky black around us, and stars start to poke through like holes to heaven above.

Everything that's happening to us and those around us just seems unfair, as if Snow is just out to rid the world of all good.

The sky suddenly feels suffocating, as if he even controls that. But I just press in even closer to Gale, and his heart beat momentarily soothes my woes.

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