Whatever it Takes

XIV

"Run!" She screamed again.

She tripped over something, probably another vine, tumbling a few steps before Cordelia pulled her up, turning around to see what she was running from. A thick, white cloud of mist crept towards them, seeming to pick up speed with each passing second. By time Cordelia knelt down to grab the bow Katniss left behind in her sprint, the pungent substance caught her hand in it's grip, her skin burning into a raging fit of blisters upon contact. She screamed painfully, the muscle spasm brought on in her hand keeping her fingers locked around the weapon as her body collapsed to the ground. Finnick and Peeta were up now, she could hear their incoherent yelling as a pair of arms wrapped around her to pull her to her feet. She heard Peeta's voice behind her as he gestured for her to keep going. She was grateful when he pulled her into motion, for the pain would've kept her frozen in place long enough to sound her cannon. But, his tug on her wrist kicked her back into motion, and her pace quickened immediately.

"What is it?" Finnick's question was muffled by his running.

"Some sort of fog," Katniss answered in a panic, "it's poisonous, don't let it touch you!"

Yeah, so much for that.

If Cordelia would've had the capacity to scoff she would've however, another hit to the back of her neck had her throat closing up so tightly that it was hard enough to let out the occasional gasp for air, any other sound too difficult to manage. Unless it was another cry of pain. Those seemed to come loud and clear from the entirety of the group.

The blistering of her skin along with the desperation in her sprint left the inside of her throat on fire but, when she heard another scream, she was still quick to react. Her body sprung just in time to pull up Finnick before he could fully hit the ground, his body shaking from the searing contact the fog made with his back and his weight sending her stumbling back a few steps. It contained some sort of acid, it had to the way it melted through his suit so easily, and as she took another hit to her shoulder to push him forward, the blistered bits of her skin were completely exposed.

"Come on," She choked out, "we have to- keep going."

Her muscles were burnt so bad that she began to consider that the contents of the fog had pried a hole in her skin completely and were finding their way into her blood stream, slowly and agonizingly, and it was exhausting her more and more with every passing second, every passing step, making it harder to push herself forward. Her lightheadedness making it harder to see straight. Again she felt a presence behind her.

"I got you," Finnick grunted tossing her over his back at her first stumble, "just hold on."

Hold on. Hold on to what? Her mind first went to her spear, which she didn't think she could drop even if she tried. To him? Her brain was foggy, undoubtedly an effect of the mist, so now she was just confused but, lazily she tossed her arm over his shoulder and held on as tightly as she could manage.

Another scream.

It was as if her nightmare were in a way right here in front of her, and coming to life. She thought she heard Finnick mumble some sort of curse word as they watched Katniss use her weight to string Peeta along.

"I can walk-"

"No you can't, I've got you, just let me-"

"Finnick," Her need to prove anyone and everyone wrong was a need that couldn't be shaken, even when her body needed it most. Even now, it provided an energy that was otherwise completely lost "I can walk, go help them."

He put her down hesitantly but wrapped his arm around her without missing a beat.

"Finnick-"

"I'm not letting you go," He insisted, "I'm with you, always."