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"death is nature's way of saying, 'your table is ready'" - robin williams ___________
We decide to go underground. Pollux knows his way around from all the years he spent as a slave to Snow. Finnick is now worried about every step I take, and I can see him asking everybody to keep an extra eye on me. Finnick and my uncle are talking, so I stand next to Marina, walking with my head on her shoulder for a second. "Tired?" She asks.
"Yeah, not because of the pregnancy; I don't think I've had an actual night's sleep in..." I count in my head. "Nearly ten years." She chuckles, and we talk like we aren't in battle. It's a nice change. She talks about being home, and how happy she was with Annie. We even go as far back as to what Blaze's father did. I remember my distract partner dying vividly; how in his dying moments, my whole view of him changed. I tell her it's an odd thing, but I miss the smell of home. She tells me she does, too.
"Train!" Jackson shouts. We gather behind a wall, and Finnick makes sure I'm next to him. It's a train full of peacekeepers, and my heart begins to race. I think of Thist, and I squeeze my eyes shut. I'm not ready to be a mother; I was still having meltdowns. How am I supposed to look after another person? I feel like I'm a burden to Finnick.
"Cora, it's okay. You can open your eyes. They're gone." I open my eyes slowly, before telling him I'm alright.
"Let's keep moving."
***
We're resting in a tunnel; we had to wade in sewer water to get there. I was sitting next to Jackson, who was on watch, but I notice it's now Katniss. Finnick is on my other side, his hand on my stomach. I want to talk to Katniss, but she's talking to Peeta, and he isn't convinced she's evil anymore. Instead, I lay my head on Finnick's shoulder, waiting until Peeta fell back asleep.
"Can't sleep?" Katniss whispers. I shake my head, sitting up straighter. We sit in silence for a few seconds, only hearing water droplets, and the other soldiers snoring lightly.
"Are you...happy? About the baby?" She asks me. I take a deep breath.
"I know that no matter what, I will love this baby unconditionally. It's all I ever wanted; a life with Finnick. I just didn't expect it so soon, and definitely not during a war. I feel like more of a burden than I already am. I'm excited, but I'm scared, Katniss." I put my hand on Finnick's. He's the only thing keeping me together.
"You aren't a burden. Not you, not Peeta, not Johanna. You got captured trying to help me. If anything, I owe you my life." Katniss tells me. I can tell she's thought a lot about this, so I change the conversation. I look over to my slumbering sister.
"Tell me about Prim." I say, and she furrows her eyebrows. "What?"
"You're happiest when you talk about your little sister. Trust me, I know the feeling. I have one of my own." I chuckle. Though we are whispering, it's not hard to hear. Katniss tells me about getting Prim a goat for her birthday, and how she had cried tears of joy when she saw the animal. She tells me that Prim hewants everyone to be happy; she had been that way since she was little. I listen closely as she talks about when her father died, and how her mother had shut down, leaving Katniss the only one able to care for Prim. She asks me about Marina.
I tell her how brave and stubborn she had always been. I say that even though I'm older, Marina always cared for me. She got that trait from our father, no doubt.
"One time she..." My chuckle stops, and I try to grasp the sound I hear. "Do you hear that?" I know she does; she's gone pale. Whatever it is, it sounds like it's calling out for Katniss. She steps out, and I stand up, this moment causing Finnick to open his eyes. Peeta jumps up as if he had been shocked.
"Mutts! Run!" He screams. We all run, splashing through the water as Gale fires arrows to light up the path. We run until Pollux crawls through an opening, and makes sure it's safe. I feel like I can't take a breath as I'm waiting for the all clear. When we get it, we all crawl through it. Jackson tries to follow us, but one of the mutts grabs her before she has the chance. I run next to Finnick, ignoring how exhausted I was. I hear a scream, but I can't turn back to look. I think it was Castor.
We're trapped with these slimy, grotesque creations and we try to kill as many as we can. I impale my trident through one of them, causing it to fall to the ground. I hit one that was sneaking up to my uncle, and tell him to climb up the ladder. I see Katniss being thrown, and Gale's neck being sliced, but they both keep fighting. One by one, we make it onto the ladder, until it's Finnick, Katniss, Marina, and I.
"Finnick, go! I'm right behind you!" I yell.
"No-"
"Go!" I scream. My trident is no longer in my hands, and I reach for the knife in one of my pockets, stabbing the mutt somewhere in it's face. I can't tell where - it's too mutilated. I'm next on the ladder, and Finnick grabs my hand, helping me up, Katniss and Marina get onto the ladder, but only one of them makes it all the way up.
"Marina!"
Marina is grabbed by one of the mutts, and they rip into her body. Her screams are mixed with mine as I watch them kill her. Memories of us running in the sand, and going out on the boats play through my mind, but her agonizing screams bring me back into reality.
"Katniss, the holo!" Finnick screams, holding me back. Katniss pulls the device out, whispering nightlock three times, and throwing it down to wear my baby sister is. The last thing I see before I pass out is the explosion that takes my sister out of her suffering.
