Enchanted; A Finnick and Annie Fanfic ♥ (Currently Revising/Editing)

Chapter 24: Is It True?

The next morning, the beeping started again from the TV. I hadn't slept at all, and I kept Johanna awake all night from screaming as well. I could tell she was exhausted and wanted to get me out of there so she could sleep a little, but she let me sit with her to watch whatever they were going to air.

A female reporter stood in an empty apartment building that is covered in tape, like a crime scene. "Breaking News" flashes across the bottom of the screen.

"Attention, citizens of Panem. It seems this war is not quite won yet," the reporter said, "Upon searching through the wreckage of apartments where Katniss Everdeen and her entourage of rebel soldiers were said to have died yesterday, only one body was discovered."

"What?" Johanna whispered, "That's impossible."

Mrs. Everdeen came in, bringing breakfast for the two of us. When she noticed the emergency broadcast in progress, she placed the tray of food on a table and sat at the edge of the bed to watch with us.

"Peacekeepers and Capitol soldiers have spent the morning in search of the survivors. A woman was shot with an arrow in this very apartment, presumably by Miss Everdeen, and some shells equipped with cameras were found in one of the closets next to the maintenance shaft. The group is thought to have moved underground."

The screen cut to pictures of all of the people they had pronounced dead yesterday, stating their names and brief descriptions of them all. They paused on each one, Katniss for the longest time, before cutting back to the reporter.

"If you see or hear word of the whereabouts of any of these people, you are asked to immediately report your findings to President Snow's mansion or a Peacekeeper near you." There was a quick flash through the pictures again before the screen went black.

"W--what does that mean?" Johanna asked.

"I guess it means they're all still alive." Mrs. Everdeen said, and I could feel my eyes widening.

Alive? They're all alive. Finnick is still alive. He's out there somewhere, still fighting, still breathing. I felt a smile creep onto my face before running out of the room towards Command.

But when I got there, there were two large guards in front of the door. Refusing to let me inside.

"Please," I said, so out of breath that I could barely get the words out. "Please, let me just ask them something. Please."

The guards looked at each other before one of them went inside the room. The other one continued to stand in front of the door. In a minute or so, the first guard reemerged with Plutarch right behind him.

"Plutarch!" I exclaimed, grabbing him by the arms, partly to make him look at me, partly to steady myself. I was getting a little dizzy. "Is it true? Are they alive?"

"Communication is still down. All we know for sure is that Boggs's Holo is activated, which means some of them have to still be alive. We're not sure who, but--" Before he could finish, I was hugging him tightly around the neck.

"You have to help them! You have to keep them safe now," I said, nearly in tears.

"Believe me, Annie, we're trying everything we can to communicate with them again, to see how they're doing. No one has returned to the base camp yet, so we think whoever is left is hiding out somewhere underneath the Capitol."

"Underneath?"

"It's the safest place for them to be. The place where they'd be the least likely to get detected. I'm sure they've figured that out and are hiding somewhere in the tunnels under the streets."

"Th--thank you," I said, "Can I stay in Command today? To see if anything happens?"

Plutarch shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not. After your little mishap yesterday, Coin said she doesn't want you around all the breakable things." When he saw the look on my face, he quickly added, "But don't worry. If anything happens, I'll find you personally and let you know about it, okay?"

I nodded, and he went back into the room. I started slowly walking back to the hospital so I'd have time to think.

It wasn't exactly the answer I was hoping for, but it was better than what I feared. There was no guarantee that Finnick was alive, but apparently, it was pretty likely. He could still return home. I had this strange feeling that told me he was okay. And that everything was going to be okay, because he'd be back soon.