Tear It Apart⇸Finnick Odair [2]

24

The ground was a livewire, filling her senses with this sort of chaos that catapults her into this crazed mess of stumbling and shaking as she struggles to get everything to still so that she could focus, but you couldn't stop a war, couldn't act them to wait, to freeze for just a moment so she didn't collapse under the crushing weight of her memories.

Terra would have to face this and all the things that she'll have to do without the reassurance that he was going to be there to save her from herself.

Twisting her hands around the handle of her hammer, she lets someone push her along -- never dragging, never grabbing, just shoves that herd her in the right direction that keeps her from falling to her knees in loud tears.

"Keep up. Don't get caught into the fight," Salton urges, pushing at her shoulder. It spurs her forward, picking up her feet as she darts forward away from the hands that reach for her. She knew this part of the Capitol, had seen it from outside her room's window.

She had walked these streets, had cut meat around this corner, and as they dodged down a street, watching as they filled led citizens into the safety of the large yard in front of Snow's mansion.

The children were wide-eyed with terror, clinging to their parents as they were carried along and held close.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she focused, swearing to end this quickly, before any more innocents could get hurt. Kids, no matter where they grew up, didn't deserve to deal with the problems of their predecessors.

There were cameras linked to the suits, watching their every movement, filming each step they took, and Terra wasn't sure how that was going to help them get the footage they needed when she wasn't in any still, specific shot.

It wasn't that she cared all that much about the shot anyway, she wasn't the one that the people wanted to see, and as long as someone got to Snow, it wouldn't make much of a difference.

She was going to be the one to get to him. It had to be her.

Ignoring the shot being fired that turned into muffled noise, Terra sprinted for the Mansion, heading directly for the side entrance, away from the main doors and the large yard that was slowly filling with children and their mothers.

This was closer to his greenhouse filled with white roses. He wouldn't want anything to happen to his precious flowers, the defence would be high, but it would be easiest to slip in through here than against the crowd. The fight was pushing on this side, sending the peacekeepers back against the citizens.

There was also the chance that he had taken to sitting among his flowers instead of the equally unsafe building.

Coming up to the high gate, she eyed it carefully, Salton coming to stand at her side as they waited for the commander to check it. An electric charge through high-quality metal could be fatal.

"It's good, open it up," they ordered, two people coming forward to cut away the bars.

"Better hurry," Salton says. "They might change their mind about the electricity when they see us trying to get in."

Terra shakes her head. "No. That's too simple, too underhanded. Snow wants to put on a show till the end."

"Just get us in," the commander snaps.

The ground shakes, shuddering under the force of a blast that burns against her cheeks, heat stinging her eyes, and she flinches back, feet slipping from under her as she tumbles back -- hand coming up to shield her face.

The blast sends dirt raining down, flames flickering in the cloud of smoke that billows. Screams ring in her ears, echoing the sound over and over.