Stay with me? [Finnick Odair]

94

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Chapter ninety four
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"Put on your masks. We're going out the way we came in."

Instantly, everyone begins to argue with her. I keep my mouth shut as I watch everyone spout arguments about the street we just escaped from, something about the pods and such, and Katniss raises her voice.

"If the wave was that powerful, then it may have triggered and absorbed other pods in our path," she says, keeping her head held high as everyone quiets down to consider what she has pointed out.

Pollux turns to his brother and signs with his hands quickly. "It may have disabled the cameras as well," Castor translates his brother's signs. "Coated the lenses."

Gale decides to test this theory. He props one of his boots on the counter and carefully examines the crusty black splatter that is on the toe of his boot. Picking up a kitchen knife, he scrapes at it to see if it will come off easily. Once he's reached a verdict, he steps back and addresses the others. "It's not corrosive," he announces. "I think it was meant to either suffocate or poison us."

"So, it's safe to go out there if we have our masks on?" I ask, my brows scrunching together as I look to Gale for an answer. Though, he doesn't exactly give me one when he shrugs his shoulders.

"Most likely."

"That's reassuring," I mumble sarcastically, pulling out my mask and beginning to put it over my face.

Nobody else says anything else as we put our masks on. Finnick places a mask on a lifeless Peeta — who is still slumped over Parker's shoulder — before moving back to my side, giving me a small nod as a way to reassure me that everything will be okay. I smile at this. Cressida and Leeg 1 take ahold of Messalla and we all get ready to head out. Katniss goes first, an unsure expression taking over her features as she carefully pushes open the kitchen door. Luckily, the black sludge has reduced to a thick layer of black goo and it doesn't leave footprints when we walk through it. That's the first good thing that's happened so far. So, we all manage to make it to the front door.

When Katniss opens the door, we see that the once colourful block has been covered in the stuff. The whole thing is covered in the thick black gel — even the rooftops have been coated. As we get out of the building, we look up and see a teardrop shape of goo hanging above us. It's not difficult to know who it is. Looking closely, you can see the shape of a gun and a human hand. Mitchell. I feel my throat close up at the sight.

He died because he was protecting Katniss from Peeta. I don't want to be angry at Peeta because I know how difficult it is for him to stay himself, to stay the boy who is just trying to piece his life back together, but I can't help but think of how many other people might die if he has another episode like that. I want to be sympathetic towards him — I really do — but a pain rises in my chest every time I think of what he did to Mitchell.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. Turning my head, I look up to see Finnick staring back at me. His eyes flicker back to Peeta for a second before he gives me a shake of his head; as if silently telling me not to think about it. How could I not? Mitchell was a good guy, he died protecting Katniss... but I guess I can see his point. I was the one telling him that people should give him a break, so I can't be the one who gets angry at him now.

I sigh, nodding my head, and I place my hand on top of his.

"If anyone needs to go back, for whatever reason, now is the time," Katniss speaks up just as the others join us, her eyes glued to Mitchell's body — which is barely even visible now, thanks to the goo that surrounds his body like a cocoon. "No questions asked, no hard feelings."

Nobody moves. We have all agreed to stick with Katniss no matter what. Even if her 'top secret' plan from Coin is total bullshit. We all trust her and want to protect her, which is exactly what we intend on doing. I don't even care if nobody here wants to protect me anymore. This whole Mockingjay thing was mainly made for her — I'm just her right-hand man — so I didn't feel any jealousy or whatever when everyone agreed on following her. This is her mission, not mine.

Katniss begins to lead us through the Capitol, moving faster than she was before. The gel begins to deepen, its at least ten to twelve centimetres deep, and it makes a sucking noise each time you pick up your foot, but none of this seems to bother anyone as we continue to move deeper into the Capitol. It seems Katniss' instinct was correct about the wave being able to trigger the other pods as well. It's affected several blocks which lie ahead of us. One block is sprinkled with tracker jackers, set free once the wave hit only to choke on the fumes. Each pod is no longer dangerous to us, they've all been activated and subsequently destroyed, but Katniss still treads with care as she sprints ahead and tells us to wait to make sure there's no trouble waiting ahead for us.

We get to the fifth block when Katniss takes a sharp turn and heads towards an apartment two-thirds of the way down the block. It's beginning to get dark, the afternoon light has faded, and we desperately need a place to stay in order to think of a decent plan to get to the President. The lock on the door is broken open and we all enter the apartment as Katniss stays outside for another minute. Once she's inside the apartment, we all begin to relax a little.

Gale checks the windows for any signs of damage before removing his mask. "It's all right. You can smell it, but it's not too strong," he announces and everyone removes their masks.

It's true. The smell is still there. It kind of stings your nostrils, making you cough for a few moments, but you eventually get used to it and it no longer bothers you.

The apartment we've taken refuge in is almost exactly like the last one. There's barely any light, seeing as the gel has blacked out most of the windows, but some still slips through the shutters in the kitchen. Along the hall, there's two bedrooms with bathrooms attached to both. A spiral staircase leads up to the second floor, which is basically just a big open space with the lights still left on. A huge television takes up one wall in the living room, still glowing softly. Plush velvet chairs are strewn around the room and I take a seat on one while Finnick sits on the arm, putting his hand in mine. I lean into his side, smiling softly as his arm drapes over my shoulders and I lower my head on his thigh; closing my eyes softly as the others begin to relax into the plush interior of the apartment.

Jackson is one of the few who stays on her guard, keeping her gun aimed at the unconscious Peeta who has been dumped on the deep blue sofa by Parker. I watch Parker walking around the room, looking through the shutters nervously and keeping his gun in his hands. I see why he's nervous, but there's no way anyone will know that we're here. The cameras were covered by the goo, our footprints were covered, so there's no way peacekeepers will know where we've gone — they probably still think we're in the previous building where we hid from the wave.

Then, my eyes move over to Katniss. She doesn't look as relaxed as she should be. In fact, she's staring around the room with her hand tugging at her bottom lip. She's thinking. Her eyes flicker back and forth as she falls deeper and deeper into thought. I can't help wondering what she's thinking. I find myself wondering that a lot lately, Katniss' mind is something that I will most likely never figure out, but now definitely isn't the time to ask her.

Suddenly, the entire room shakes with the distant chain of explosions which take place and we all immediately jump out of our skins. I practically jump out of my seat, my heart suddenly going into my throat, and I feel Finnick hold me closer as a way to reassure me that we're okay.

"It wasn't close," Jackson assures us. "A good four or five blocks away."