𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐄 ━━ finnick odair ✓

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧. ( new friends )

           The end of the line for us is one of the cleared mountain tunnels leading into the Capitol. We're turned out of our compartments and instructed by our respective leadership to group up and ready ourselves for the sixteen mile hike ahead of us. The sharp shooter squad takes up the front, just behind the fearless leader Colonel Boggs. Only a few hundred feet into the tunnel there's not a speck of sunlight visible. We all pull on our helmets and fumble to turn the flashlights on, cherishing every last LED light that illuminates the ground in front of us.

"If your birthday falls on an odd-numbered date, turn your lights off," Colonel Boggs's clear voice rings out. "We should be back in the sunlight within an hour."

Roughly half of the flashlights flicker to black behind us, leaving us with a dim, but still visible path. Nobody raises any objections, the Colonel far outranks all of the other troop leaders present in our journey. It makes sense anyway, once I can shirk the fear of the dark. We'll conserve batteries this way. He'll probably tell us to switch at some point. Finnick and Gloss flank me still, only one of their lights shining bright.

"Your light should be out Gloss," I say carelessly, kicking a pebble forward. "August 15th is odd. Or did you forget our shared birthday?"

"Shut up you little snitch," he hisses at me, aiming a kick of his own at my ankle.

"I'm sorry," I say, taken aback.

"It's arbitrary, the Colonel just wants half of the batteries conserved," Finnick says softly. "Gloss can keep it on if he wants."

When I search Gloss's face, I see tension written all over it. He never used to be afraid of the dark, this seems odd for him. He turns to me, effectively blinding me with his light, and reads my face in an instant.

"I'm not scared of the dark, Fara, don't be ridiculous."

"I never even said anything!" I protest.

"Your thoughts are always loud, like your brain is screaming," he responds. "I don't trust man-made caves, they collapse often and with little warning. I had a cousin who worked in the District 1 mines, he was crushed by a load of rock when he was nineteen. I figure that maybe I'll be able to see cracks or something if there's a dangerous spot."

"I'm sorry," I say again, much more genuinely this time. Then after a moment. "You told me you knew nothing about the rare earth element mines in District 1, I remember specifically asking you about them during a training session. You wouldn't talk about them at all."

"Yeah, it probably had to do with the dead cousin, Fara." I don't have to look over to know Gloss rolls his eyes at me.

"Can you find a better topic than mine shaft collapses? I think literally anything would be better," Finnick chastises us.

When I turn to address him, he's not even looking at us. Instead, I see his line of sight in the dim hazy air like an illuminated laser. Katniss and Gale. How stupid of me . Katniss told Johanna and I that both of their fathers died in the same mining disaster when they were children. She also said that Gale was forced to work in the same mine the moment he turned eighteen.

I keep my mouth shut for our remainder of time underground. Gloss and Homes strike up a conversation about the benefits of rolling your own cigarettes and I'm content enough to listen. When we reach the end of the tunnel, it's an instant change in group morale. Just like a cigarette, fresh air and sunlight fills our lungs in a way that rouses our spirits.