Spark to Flame: A Finniss Story

Pt IV: Twister to Tornado

The sewers prove to be quite the adversary, even with the help of the holo.

They have to turn around and go back several times, and though it's tedious, it definitely beats the alternative of heading to the surface and taking their chances with the pods and Peacekeepers. Katniss feels somewhat embarrassed that she can't quite read the holo correctly, and though anyone else could easily make the same mistakes that she does when choosing which way to go through the tunnels, she knows that the more sour members of her squad – Jackson, Homes, and Leeg1 – hardly see it that way. As far as they're concerned, she's only in charge because they respected Boggs. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less.

They walk for a good six hours, occasionally having to turn around and take another route as they slowly make their way towards Snow's mansion. They come across a pod every now and then, but they are easily disabled or avoided and everyone silently agrees that it's far more preferable to the countless dangers on the surface. Katniss knows that the President is fully aware of their missing bodies from the black wave by now, and she tries to make as little mistakes as possible with the holo as they trudge through the endless sewage of the Capitol. They're running out of time as it is, and it could be as little as a matter of minutes before their best laid plans came undone.

"There's a maintenance room up ahead," Jackson calls behind her. "Let's stop there and rest for a bit."

Katniss turns on her, irritation flaring. "We can't afford it. If we stop now, then there's a chance that we won't be able to keep going."

"And what do you think's going to happen if we don't?" The older woman challenges. "If we don't get our rest, then we might as well give up all the same. Do you really think we're going to be able to do anything if we're all exhausted to the point we can barely stand?"

Katniss' lips angrily tremble, wanting to press forward but knowing that Jackson is right; if they didn't rest now, then they might as well be handing themselves over to Snow right this second. Though she wants to express her concerns about the horrible, creeping feeling of death that she's had for the past few hours, she knows that her wariness will fall on deaf ears; half of her team already didn't like her, and the other half preferred dealing with facts rather than feelings. There was no sense in warning them about a personal hunch she had, and even less sense in wearing themselves out just so they could reach their destination faster. She decides to relent, albeit reluctantly, and chooses to ignore what her gut is telling her.

"...Okay." She says, nodding and closing up the holo. "We'll rest there for a bit. But we can't stay long; Snow's got to know by now that we're still alive, and we need to keep moving if we want to stay ahead of the Peacekeepers."

Her squad nods gratefully, and they all file into the small maintenance room for a much needed rest. Katniss herself doesn't feel the exhaustion until she sits down; she leans against the cold cement walls and slides down to the metal grating of the floors, and immediately she's overcome with heavy eyelids and sore sides and aching feet.

She leans her head against the corner of the wall, and she's vaguely aware of Finnick resting his own against her shoulder as they settle in for some shut-eye.

She doesn't mean to, she swears she doesn't, but within minutes she's closing her eyes and letting sleep overtake her. The last thing she sees before slipping out of consciousness is Gale's serene expression as he sits across from her with his eyes closed, and she silently vows to get them through this. They would get out of these tunnels, make it to Snow's mansion, and end this war. They had to.

And if they didn't, if all else failed and she was the only one left standing, she would take it upon herself to rid the world of that horrible man.