Sunshine | Finnick Odair

| part 4 |

Katniss chooses an apartment two-thirds of the way down the block. I jimmie the doors lock open, leading everyone inside. Flashlights built into our guns illuminate a large living room with mirrored walls that throw our faces back at us at every turn. Gale checks the windows, which show no damage, and removes his mask. "It's all right. You can smell it, but it's not too strong."

The apartment seems to be laid out exactly like the first one we took refuge in. The gel blacks out any natural daylight in the front, but some light still slips through the shutters in the kitchen. Along the hallway are two bedrooms with baths. A huge television screen, blank but glowing softly, occupies one wall. Plush chairs and sofas are strewn around the room. This is where we congregate, slump into upholstery, trying to catch our breath.

Jackson has her gun trained on Peeta even though he's still cuffed and unconscious, draped across a deep-blue sofa where Finnick deposited him.

Although no one has made a move toward it, the television flares to life, emitting a high-pitched beeping sound, bringing half our party to its feet.

"It's all right!" calls Cressida. "It's just an emergency broadcast. Every Capitol television is automatically activated for it."

There we are on-screen, just after the bomb took out Boggs. A voice-over tells the audience what they are viewing as we try to regroup, react to the black gel shooting from the street, lose control of the situation. We watch the chaos that follows until the wave blots out the cameras.

The reporter identifies Katniss, Finnick, Gale, Boggs, Peeta, Cressida, and me by name.
Coverage continues from the courtyard behind the apartment where we took shelter.

Peacekeepers line the roof across from our former hideout. Shells are launched into the row of apartments, setting off the chain of explosions we heard, and the building collapses into rubble and dust. Now we cut to a live feed. A reporter stands on the roof with the Peacekeepers. Behind her, the apartment block burns. Firefighters try to control the blaze with water hoses.

We are pronounced dead. I see Finnick smile

"Finally, a bit of luck," I say.

We watch as they play the footage over and over. Revel in their victory, especially over Katniss. The screen fades back to a glow. The rebels made no attempt to break in during the broadcast, which leads me to believe they think it's true. If that's so, we really are on our own.

"So, now that we're dead, what's our next move?" asks Gale.

"Isn't it obvious?" No one even knew Peeta had regained consciousness. I don't know how long he's been watching, but by the look of misery on his face, long enough to see what happened on the street. How he went mad, tried to bash Katniss' skull in, and hurled Mitchell into the pod. "Our next move...is to kill me."

"Peeta with all due respect, shut the fuck up" I tell him. I'm not letting anyone kill him or even get close to it.

"I just murdered a member of our squad!" Peeta shouts making me flinch slightly. PTSD is a bitch.

"You pushed him off you. You couldn't have known he would trigger the net at that exact spot," I say, trying to calm him.

"Who cares? He's dead, isn't he?" Tears begin to run down Peeta's face. "I didn't know. I've never seen myself like that before. Katniss is right. I'm a monster. I'm the mutt. I'm the one Snow has turned into a weapon!"

"It's not your fault, Peeta," says Finnick.

"You can't take me with you. It's only a matter of time before I kill someone else." Peeta looks around at our conflicted faces. "Maybe you think it's kinder to just dump me somewhere. Let me take my chances. But that's the same thing as handing me over to the Capitol. Do you think you'd be doing me a favor by sending me back to Snow?"

Back in Snow's hands. Tortured and tormented until no bits of his former self will ever emerge again. "I wouldn't let that happen Peeta. I'd rather kill you then let you go back there. I promise. You won't go back" I promise him.

"It's no good. What if you're not there to do it? I want one of those poison pills like the rest of you have."

Night lock. No fucking way. He'd kill himself right now.

"It's not about you," Kayniss finally opens her mouth. "We're on a mission. And you're necessary to it."

"Think we might find some food here?" I ask no one in particular as I feel my stomach growl. We find over thirty canned goods and several boxes of cookies.

The hoarding disgusts the soldiers raised in 13. "Isn't this illegal?" says Leeg 1.

"On the contrary, in the Capitol you'd be considered stupid not to do it," says Messalla. "Even before the Quarter Quell, people were starting to stock up on scarce supplies."

"While others went without," says Leeg 1.

"That's how the Capitol works. They don't care about any of the districts. It's disgusting" I say knowing how hard it can be. Before my games, my family was one of the poorest at district 4, so I would go days without eating just so my sister could. Even after I won my games I never took advantage of money. I would help out the poorer families by buying them food and helping at whenever I could.

"We should be grateful, or we wouldn't have dinner" says Gale. "Everybody grab a can"

We're passing around a box of fancy cream-filled cookies when the beeping starts again. The seal of Panem lights up on the screen and remains there while the anthem plays. And then they begin to show images of the dead, just as they did with the tributes in the arena. They start with the five faces of our TV crew, followed by Katnis, Boggs, Gale, Peeta, Finnick and me. Me and Finnick laugh at the thought of our deaths. We're fucked up but at least we know it.

Then the man himself appears, seated at his desk, a flag draped behind him, the fresh white rose gleaming in his lapel. I think he might have recently had more work done, because his lips are puffier than usual. What's the point in a lip job when you're dying ? What's he gonna do flirt with Satan in hell? Snow congratulates the Peacekeepers on a masterful job, honors them for ridding the country of the menace called the Mockingjay. With Katniss' death, he predicts a turning of the tide in the war, since the rebels have no one left to follow.

Somewhere in District 13, Beetee hits a switch, because now it's not President Snow but President Coin who's looking at us. She introduces herself to Panem, identifies herself as the head of the rebellion, and then gives Katniss eulogy.

"Dead or alive, Katniss Everdeen will remain the face of this rebellion. If ever you waver in your resolve, think of the Mockingjay, and in her you will find the strength you need to rid Panem of its oppressors." She says chocking on her words. I'll give it to her she can act. But she was full of bullshit.

"I had no idea how much you meant to her" I joke, which makes a laugh escape from Katniss lips.

Beetee gives the reins back to Snow. "Tomorrow morning, when we pull Katniss Everdeen's body from the ashes, we will see exactly who the Mockingjay is. A dead girl who could save no one, not even herself." Seal, anthem, and out.

"Except that you won't find her" says Finnick to the empty screen, voicing what we're all thinking. I would kill to see the look on Snows face when he just lied to the whole of Panem. I bet he's so happy right now and tomorrow all his dreams will be crushed.

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