Blaze

Peeta: Fog

Catora is so peaceful when she sleeps. Those worry lines across her forehead disappear and she doesn't bit her lip like she does when she's nervous. I run my knuckles down her cheek and flip a strand of her hair out of her face. She sighs and smiles lightly, turning over. I smile as I look back out over our camp.

Finnick seems to sleep fitfully over by Mags who is sleeping like the dead. Finnick keeps turning and muttering things. It's so dramatic I wonder if he's even sleeping at all. He might just be dreaming though. Nightmares like the ones Catora and I get. I hope she won't have them now.

Finnick is jarred awake when the tolling of a bell sounds. Confused, I glance up at the sky as the ringing continues. Finnick is breathing heavily and glancing around wildly. I don't know if he's sweating because of the humidity, or his dream.

"Twelve." Finnick breaths out when the ringing stops.

"What does it mean?" I replied glancing over at him. Catora was still asleep, thankfully, and so was Mags. Finnick shrugs, brushing back a lock of his golden hair.

"Twelve districts?" He didn't sound so convinced though.

"I'll watch over now Peeta." He says slowly. I shake my head.

"I'm fine."

"I won't be able to fall back asleep anyways." Finnick mutters. I almost ask him what his dream was about. Instead, I bite my tongue and don't argue with him. Laying down next to Catora, I put one arm behind my head and attempt to fall asleep.

I sleep just as fitfully as Finnick though. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm back in another arena, yet again trying to save Catora at the sake of my own life or the haunting memory of her being thrown back from the forcefield. Either way, I sit up not one hour later when I hear lighting. I find Finnick standing up, facing the source of the lightening. I stand up as well.

"Is it a storm?" I ask him cautiously. Finnick, startled, nearly skewers me with his trident when he turns around. When he sees its me, he lowers his weapon and shakes his head.

"Did you hear it the first time?" He asks as the sound of lightening tappers off. I shake my head.

"It struck the ground 12 times." He says, confused. I shrug. Finnick seems to be trying to wrap his head around the meaning behind the twelve rings and the twelve lightening strikes. It could be nothing but in the arena, that's unlikely.

Not a minute later, we distinctly hear the sound of rain hitting leaves off to our right. "So it was a storm." I murmur. The rain sounded like it was headed our way, it really couldn't have been that far.

"I don't think so." Finnick murmurs, gripping his trident. He walks off without telling me what he meant.

Finnick has fallen back asleep so I'm back to standing guard. Finnick was right about the rain. It's almost unnatural. After nearly an hour, it still hasn't reached us so why can I still hear it? A canon booms just as the rain shuts off, like someone closing a faucet. I frown and glance back at everyone. They're still asleep. I ponder on who could have died this time.

Just as I've gone through a list of all the people who are still alive, I catch a glimpse of ghostly white fog creeping towards us. Normally, fog wouldn't scare me but something about this fog confused me. It was too thick. It hadn't rained that much and it seemed to be just pouring out from the ground.

"Wake up!" I shouted, acting on instinct. "Guys! Now!" I shout, beginning to grab our weapons. Catora is up in a second with Finnick right behind her. Mags is a little slower.

"What's wrong?" Catora asks, confused.

"That!" I say pointing at the fog and grabbing her hand, pulling her back.

"It's just fog Peeta it's.." Finnick smells the air which is now sickly sweet. "You're right. Hurry!" Finnick shouts pointing out in front of him. He pulls Mags onto his back and we begin running.

"The spile?" Catora asks suddenly. I swear. It's back there. She breaks away from me as Finnick and Mags run past.

"Catora!" I shout as I remain rooted in my spot. The fog has swept over our campsite she tugs at the spile and manages to yank it free as the first bit of fog curls around her ankles. She cries out in pain and wobbles, nearly collapsing to the floor. If she had, she might have died.

Running forward, I grab her hand and pull her with me back down the way Finnick and Mags went. They're nearly twenty feet ahead of us but the fog is spilling out from every direction. Catora pulls free from me again and takes her bow and arrows from me. She straights out her sheaf of arrows on her back and gets a better grip on her bow. We continue running side by side.

Finnick weaves with perfect accuracy through the fog but it's not good enough. It's closing in. Finnick trips. Mags springs up unharmed but the fog washes over Finnick. His skin begins to blister. I stare at him in shock. Is that what happened to Catora's ankles?

Catora and I pull him to his feet quickly and he's grimacing in pain. That's when the fog touches me too, tall enough to brush against my hand. I pull it back and shake out the stinging feeling but it remains.

"We have to keep going." Finnick says, motioning for Mags to get back on his back but it's badly blistered and he can't carry her, so I do it. She's as light as I expected her to be. We're nearly to the beach but I don't know how long Finnick can run and Catora seems to be struggling too.

This time, Catora falls. I shout her name and rush to pick her up as she cries out in pain against the fog. I drag her away from its tendrils and try to wake her but she's dead weight. She won't answer me when I call her. I glance up at Finnick. "I can't carry both of them!" I exclaim. Mags slides off my back as Finnick wobbles in front of me, unsure of what to say. Mags walks up to Finnick shakily and pats his cheek, smiling. Then, she takes off like a rocket, into the fog. Finnick screams but the cannon sounds seconds later. Mags is dead.

The fog is everywhere now and Finnick and I are struggling to carry Catora between us. The fog is at our backs and slipping past us. It burns in every way possible and I can't scream loud enough to try and numb the feeling. We fall forward onto the sandy beach. Finnick seems to pass out as he lays there and I know there is now way I can drag both of them out of the way far enough so we won't be overwhelmed.

I stare at the fog as it continues to creep forward. The blisters on my palms burn as I grab fistfuls of sand but I don't care. The pain will probably be worse when we die. But to my surprise, the fog seems to hit an invisible wall just behind us.

"It's gone," I must have whispered it though because Finnick doesn't move. So I say it louder. "It's gone, Finnick." He moves his head to look up at the jungle in front of us. He stares at it long enough for my words to sink in befoe dropping his head back down.

Grimacing and groaning, I finally begin to feel the full affect of the fog. Every nerve ending seemed to be on fire. I could barely feel my arms or my legs. Everything just hurt and I knew the jumpsuit did little to protect any covered part of my body.

I push back a strand of Catora's hair but she's still passed out. I can barely see her face under the blisters. My own hands burn every time I touch something and I can barely stand. I slide toward Finnick and shake his shoulder lightly. He just groans. The crashing of the waves draws my attention and for some reason I feel the need to put out the fire in my limbs by ducking them in the cold saltwater. It probably won't do much. The blisters will probably require medicine but I don't care. Right now I need to find some relief.

Making my way towards the waters edge, I dunk my hand into the shallow water. I shout and pull my hand up out of the water. It's dripping wet but the blisters seem to have shrunk a bit. Confused, I slowly put my hand back in the water. I hiss at the slight stinging but bear it until it nearly vanishes. I pull my hand back out. It's nearly clean.

"Finnick." I hiss up the beach towards him. He groans in response. "The water helps." At this, he lifts his head. As I wash my other hand free of the eye sores, Finnick begins moving towards me. When he reaches the waters edge I say, "I need to help Catora." Finnick puts a blistered hand on my arm.

"Help yourself first." I listen to him, only because I can barely stand at the moment. I soak my legs in the water. Trying my best not to cry out in pain. Finnick grinds his teeth next to me.