THE SIREN'S SONG 𓇼 F. ODAIR

9 | THE VOLCANO

No deaths occurred in the next four days. Carolina reapplied the medicine Finnick sent her every night, and by the second night in the cave, her stab wound was nearly healed, and she was able to walk again. She was amazed by how quickly the medicine worked, but the wound wasn't fatal. 

Unless she died of infection soon, she wouldn't be well enough to give the Capitol a good show.

Although, healthy or not, Carolina and Marsh weren't giving the Capitol much of a show anyway. Instead, the two had spent the past four days staying in the cave, eating the remainder of the fish and bread and keeping each other company.

"If you could be any animal, which animal would you be?" Marsh asked on their third day in the cave.

"Hmm," Carolina thought for a moment. "A stingray. They just swim all day."

"You can do that already," Marsh laughed. "I want to be a giraffe. They're so tall. I've always wanted to be tall."

If they were in any other situation, Carolina would have told him he would be tall one day, maybe in a couple of years. She changed the subject.

On the fifth day, it was clear the Capitol had gotten bored of nothing happening.

Marsh and Carolina woke up to a loud explosion and a cannon booming immediately after. 

The ground beneath them started to shake, and the top of the cave was crumbling. Carolina jumped to her feet and started shoving things into her backpack. More and more debris started falling on the two, causing Carolina to quicken her pace. She knew their camp was going to collapse in a matter of seconds.

"Grab everything you can and move!" Carolina yelled. 

She grabbed her backpack and spears, and Marsh did the same. Marsh was still waking up and didn't completely understand what was happening, so Carolina took it upon herself to pull him out of there. They were out of the cave in less than a minute.

Carolina gripped Marsh's arm with her spare hand and dragged him down the mountain. 

Marsh looked behind him as they ran and gasped. 

"The mountain was a volcano!" he screamed.

Carolina turned around and immediately regretted it. Lava was flowing down the mountain and it was dangerously close to them. If they stopped once, they'd be dead. She gripped Marsh's arm even tighter and ran faster down the mountain.

Lava started setting fire to the trees and shrubs around them. The smoke started to become too much for Marsh, who was bent over with coughs. Carolina tried to slow down to help him, but she didn't notice a nearby tree crashing down right between them. The impact of it ripped them away from each other, sending them flying down the mountain in separate directions. 

Carolina's body was going to be covered with bruises by the end of the night from the fall, but at that moment, she was more worried about living to see them. 

"Marsh!" Carolina screamed when she finally stopped rolling down the mountain. "Where are you?"

"Lina!"

Carolina struggled to get up. Her legs felt like they were on fire, and they very well could be, but she pushed through, placing all of her focus on looking for her district partner. She found Marsh lying on the ground not too far away from her. She may have been in rough shape, but he was worse.

He tried to push himself to his feet, but he was too weak. His back was completely covered in burns that soaked his blond hair with blood. He was alive, but there was no way he was going to be able to move on his own.