The Capitol Games

Chapter 60

We waited. No fireballs came. No one fished for lunch, instead we all made our way to the rocky river bank and sat, almost completely in silence. The medical bag flitted through the group, wounds being tended to almost mechanically, until someone passed cans of dried food around.

The sun in now burning and bright as I sit by Addie and Finnick, my left leg all but dead weight stretched out in front of me, my right leg not really faring any better.

I don't know when exactly I realised that the medicine that let me walk after that haze of a night was a a slice of borrowed time, but now that fact is too glaringly obvious. I barely have any energy to even register my fear and panic.

Addie is breathing, but still unconscious. Finnick sits by me, without saying anything. I stare straight ahead - watching the charred tree tops and rock, the river that's somehow a rich deep blue again, the pebbly, rocky, shore that seems like a mockery of a home.

I feel Finnick shift ever so slightly besides me. He reaches out a hand and places it on my leg.

And I'm blinking back tears. I know that that's an apology. It's understanding, and comfort. And a tether for my will that's being whipped away by the arena breeze.

I don't look back at him, nor do I say anything, as I place my hand back on his, and look out to the west- where the sun ever so slightly begins to dip. Where I see a boy backlit by that sunset, staring down at his long gloved fingers. The future glares back at me through that messy brown hair, and familiar silhouette. I've fought my very hardest. And I want that future with him so much that it the wanting swallows up the panic for a long, blissful moment.

The wind is rustling. Finnick suddenly withdraws his hand from under mine. The rustling continues, growing louder and louder.

I reach back on instinct, grabbing an arrow from my bow.

"What is that?" I ask standing up.

The tree tops begin to whip wildly, the sound of the breeze growing louder and more rhythmical.

Machanical, I realise with a jolt. Because that's not just breeze, it's -

"Hovercrafts?" Finnick asks from besides me.

They've come to kill us, I think. Kill us all finally. My spine locks up, my arms tense. Adrenaline pulses through me so sharply I see stars for a moment-

Run. My lips almost form the word as the hovercraft descends into the river. The rotating blades whip up a harsh spray of water.

But I'm frozen. Panic searing me to the spot for once, not propelling me into a blind flee. With a mighty roar, the lip of the hovercraft peels back, and out burst a surge of peacekeepers in white.

I scramble back. Finnick hoists Addie over his shoulder. There's an arm around my elbow, and it's Kace, pulling me back, towards the thicket of trees.

We're never going to make it. We're never going to beat all of them. We're never going to win-

But then, I notice that the peacekeepers aren't wearing their helmets. They have a red band around their arm.

They're not peacekeepers.

They're medics.

About six of those medics rush onto the shore, their boots soaked.

"We're here to help!" A man screams over the blare of the hovercraft. "It's over."

It's over.

The world slows at those words. My head quietens.

But somehow, all I can think of is Addie being swooped up by metal claws in the rain, Zara sprinting through bombs. Trap. This is a trap.

But then, someone lets out something between a wail and cheer. Summer. The sound is raw and joyous, as she runs to one of the medics - a slim old woman with braided brown hair- and launches into her outstretched arms, sobbing.

I then notice the men with large grey backpacks and headsets - cameramen- spill out of the hovercraft. They're taping this. It's real. Not a trick, or hazy fever dream. It's real, it's happening, it's not a trap.

A medic rushes right over to us, gently grabbing Addie from Finnick, and beckons Finnick forward. Finnick glances back at me. He's crying. Crying. A smile blooms on his face, so pure and light and my chest empties out. He reaches out his hand and curls it forward, calling me with him as he starts following Addie and the medics.

I'm still rooted to my spot. My arrow in one hand and my bow in another. The medics swirl around me, my friends scattered amongst them. Crying, laughing. I can barely feel the spray of water on my face. I can barely feel the numbness in my legs. I can just watch. Watch as they board the hovercraft. To take them away. To take them back home.

We did it. The realisation clangs through me, sending a shiver through my body. We actually fucking did it.

There's a hand on my back. Warm. I turn to look, as Leigh stands beside me. "Planning to stay here, or what?" He says. His face is turned to the swarm of medics and cameras, and the setting sun blinds his features to me.

Leigh then turns. I'm taken aback by the smile on his face. So small that it's barely there, yet it changes his face completely. It lights him up, smoothens out the hardness, the cunning trickery. Leigh dips his head, and I watch as his hands, long, and rough, take mine. The gesture holds such gentleness in it that my throat closes up. His face is awash with gratitude.

"Thank you, Lian." He says. "Thank you for saving us even when you had no cause to." He lets go of my hands, and takes a couple of steps back. Then he turns and walks towards the river.

And finally, I start walking, too. Towards the hovercraft. Towards home. But I did have a reason, I think.

As if in answer, I feel arms on my waist. I'm being turned around, and I already know who's hands those are, who's face I'm going to see, who's eyes are going to blink into my own.

In the swirl of people, in the haze of bittersweet victory, and in a moment in history, we pause. Just him and I. The boy who has my heart, the boy who is my future, the boy who is the love of my hopefully long life.

We stare at each other through a shared blur of tears. The world pauses, sighs. And I read every word that's written in his eyes.

"What?" I say rhetorically, as I reach out on my toes, in the shallow swirling blue water, and kiss him.

And I know that we are going to face hell when we get back. The trauma will chase us awake, the lives lost will linger like shadows, the new Panem will claw its way savagely to peace. But I have him. I have Addie and Finnick. Mayra, Kace, Laython, Summer and Leigh. We survived.

Zeke pulls away and I see swirling green and grey and gold stars in his eyes. He takes my hand, and together, we walk further into the river, into the spray of water, towards the Capitol. 

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Hi my readers, 

To those of you have have actually made it here, thank you. It's wild that I actually got to completing this idea for a story that I had siz years ago

-Sadie