FIFTY FOUR

THE ENEMY WITHIN

Hanson Phon was 6 feet and 5 inches of pure muscle. He carried a sniper rifle across his back everywhere he went and also a revolver on his hip. He was at least 50 years old and his face was naturally always in a grimace. Talia had spoken to him little, but she always felt his eyes, watching her closely. He had once been from District 9, and had once spent hours in the sun gathering grain. How he became so trained in sharpshooting was still a mystery.

Rover Castle was only slightly taller than Talia, and he was leaner than Hanson. He had a coolness about him that reminded Talia of Rossan. His hair was buzzed close to his scalp and his hands and arms were littered with scars- "training" he said when Talia asked how he got them. He barely spoke a word to anyone, and when he did it was usually a single word or a sharp, aloof sentence. He was the commanding leader of the squad and he had been given authority over the teams holo.

Carmen Thistle carried herself as if she was 8 foot tall. Her presence was noted whenever she entered the room. Her blonde hair was chopped sharply to chin length and a tattoo ran from her left ankle, up her leg, across her abdomen and up past her chest over her shoulder and up the back of her neck. It was a vine, and every now and then a white rose could be seen along the vine. No one had seen her naked to see the whole thing, but she'd told them, and her right arm was completely covered in white rose tattoos and vines. District 2 had been her home, but she's served as a Peacekeeper in the Capitol for numerous events. She was educated in following trails and mapping places out, and it helped that she also knew how to throw knives- a District 2 speciality.

Talia regarded the three of them as she stood with them, surrounding a table that projected a map of the Capitol from its round surface. Any one of them could be the traitor, the person Plutarch had warned her of. She looked over her shoulder, her rebel team were packing their bags ready to move out. Could it be one of them? Could they betray her?

"Squad 589, are you ready to move?" Hanson asks, Rover had named him second in command and apparently, he was now speaking for him too.

"Yes, sir," Numerous voices call. Talia nods her head to the three new team members before turning towards her small encampment area her and Finnick had made upon arrival.

Finnick was sitting on his cot, the ultrasound scan in his shaking hands. "Finnick?"

He looks up and folds the photo in half, tucking into the pocket of his black coat that all the high ranking male soldiers of importance wore.

"Sorry, I was lost for a moment," He admits as Talia sits beside him.

"Its okay. It happens to me too," She admits, smiling softly. "Everyone is ready to go,"

"Right," He mutters. He picks up his pack and stands up, slinging it over his shoulders and fastening it round his waist. Talia does the same with her bag.

"If the weight gets too much-"

"I know," She says, taking Finnick's hand. "I see you,"

"And I see you," He replies softly before pressing a warm kiss to her forehead. "Lets go,"

They leave their little tent and join the others. Jamie hands Finnick his trident and Talia her kukri's. Talia herself inspects her guns before loading them and putting them in the holsters on her thighs.

"Are we ready?" Carmen asks, she was holding an assault rifle in her hands, staring down all of them.

"There's one more thing," Rover says, stepping forwards and revealing a metal case. He places it on the table that now appeared as any other table would. It clicks open and inside are purple pills.

"These are nightlock pills. Each of us will receive one. If you are captured, if you are injured with no hope of rescue, if your legs are blown off- the pill is there. It will kill you almost instantaneously," Rover explains, "Take one each,"

Slowly everyone comes forward to collect their pill, Talia reluctantly steps up and takes the pill, looking at it in her palm. She hopes she won't find herself in a position where she has to take her own- and her child's- life. Talia puts the pill in the pocket on her bullet proof vest and glances at Finnick, he was also putting away his pill. She hoped neither of them would have to take it.

Their would had already seen its tasks and challenges, but the war wagering in the Capitol's streets might be their toughest one yet.

"Is everyone ready to move?" Rover asks.

Everyone says yes in reply before falling into single file to follow Rover out of the Rebel Base. It took them an hour to reach an area of the Capitol's city that wasn't decimated by bombings. The Capitol had chosen to evacuate their outer perimeter and bomb the buildings to create a difficult entry for rebels. It had taken awhile to move debris, but eventually the rebels had managed to clear a few different pathways into the selected areas of the city. The fashion district was the area that Squad 589 was going to be moving in through. They'd travel through the fashion district, into the cultural sector and finally, they would infiltrate the inner city circle where Snow's mansion, the Training Centre, the Avenue of the Tributes and the Peacekeeper's main Capitol base were situated.

They'd managed to get on fine so far, Rover had used the holo to avoid most of the pods, but those they could not avoid, they'd activated safely before moving through. It would take them two days before reaching the inner city due to how much the pods slowed them down. Plus, the closer they got to the centre of the city, the more pods they would come across.

Hanson and Carmen scouted a blown apart apartment building, checking for pods and people. They returned shortly and reported it was clear. They would camp there for the night, eat some of their pre-packed food and take shifts when sleeping.

Talia sat down between Finnick and Jamie who were both already opening their backpacks to get some food. It was ration packs that the rebels had stolen from Peacekeeper barracks through the entirety of Panem. A lot of the supplies had been brought down to the Capitol for the soldiers, the rest had been dispersed amongst the Districts for the families that were affected by all this. Talia felt sick thinking about how she's left District 4. It was a wreck. The shops were burnt down, the boats weren't going out to sea, children were left parentless.

"You okay?" Jamie asks her, his voice quiet.

"Yeah, just...Thinking of District 4," She says softly, meeting his eyes.

"I miss it too," He says, looking down at his opened packet of brown sludge. None of them really knew what was even in the packets, but it was better than nothing. Talia tore open her own food pack and used her spoon to eat. Perhaps it would be better warm, she thinks silently to herself.

Jim slumps down against a broken bit of cinderblock and tips the contents of his packet right into his mouth. Alana laughs at him, rolling her eyes. The twins were bickering over something, they'd chosen to eat their bits of bread and cheese instead. Little Bobby was tapping on his portable tablet, most likely sending word to Beetee or to Paylor. Jamie stands up when he's finished and says he'll take first watch. Talia glances to her side at Finnick, smiling softly at him.

"I'll join you," Talia says. She presses a kiss to Finnick's cheek and squeezes his hand gently before replacing her kukri's across her back. Her guns never left their holsters.

She followed Jamie out into the night, the streetlights that had survived the bombs were automated, and so they lit up random patches along the long road of the fashion high street. Talia could see that some of the still standing shops had dressed up mannequins in their windows. She couldn't help but imagine what this place must have looked like before the war, when the Capitol citizens would walk along here, spending their riches in these stores.

"We know," Jamie whispers softly into the night. Talia's eyes flick to meet his and he glances to her stomach and back to her eyes, "Finnick told us yesterday,"

Talia curses Finnick silently in her head, she looks out to the dimly lit street, "And?"

"And we will protect you no matter the cost," Jamie says, he lifts his three fingers to his lips, kisses the tips and then raises it slightly into the air. Talia gulps, offering a thin-lipped smile.

In her mind, all she could see was Plutarch's hologram playing over and over. In fact, it made Talia not want to sleep at night. She looked at Jamie, his dirty-blonde hair and his soft smile. She had trusted him, but Plutarch's words- it could be any of them, even Jamie. But then, it could be Hanson, Rover or Carmen too. It could be the humorous twins or fierce hearted Alana or stubborn Jim...it could even be innocent, sweet Bobby. The only one she could trust was Finnick, and yet he had told them she was pregnant. If she wasn't at risk before, she was even more so at risk now. She regarded Jamie again, who was still looking at her, waiting for some response.

She nods her head once, slowly. He nods in reply and then sits down on a fallen cinderblock. She sits opposite him, hand resting on the grip of her pistol at her thigh.

"So, who is it then?" He asks, glancing over at her again.

"Huh?" She ask, her hands tighten on the gun.

"You're easy to read Talia, I know something is up...You've been acting jumpy since you spoke to Commander Paylor, you've been regarding everyone with sceptical eyes. If I had pledged my protection to you months ago, you would have hugged me and thanked me...Now you stand so far away, and your hands are always flinching, inching towards your guns or your kukri's," He says, shaking his head, "Something is clearly wrong, you think someone is against you,"

"Plutarch sent me a message. He told me not to trust anyone," She says quietly, flexing her hands that were now shaking.

"I see," Jamie says, running his hands through his hair, "Do you have a suspicion?"

"I...I don't want to believe its anyone from the District 4 rebel team, but I have no way of knowing," She says.

"So its either Carmen, Hanson or Rover?"

"It still could be someone from our team," Talia retorts, shrugging her shoulders, "It could be you, and this conversation could be an elaborate game,"

"When I pledge something I mean it," He says firmly. A fire was in his eyes when their gaze connected. She wanted to believe him so badly, but she just couldn't risk that.

"Actions speak louder than words, Jamie. Pledges and treaties and promises mean nothing, the proof of loyalty remains in actions," She says back.

"Have I not done enough?"

"Everyone in there has, everyone but the three new members have risked their entire life for the Pearl of Panem and the person that title belongs to. Its difficult to be in this position. I'm supposed to be a key figure in this rebellion, I'm trying to be a soldier in this war, and now I have to constantly watch my back, not just for those I have pledged to fight, but also for the enemy within,"

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This is a big ol' chapter and not much happened, BUT i wanted this end scene to be fleshed out nicely

who do y'all think the traitor is???

also thank you for 200k reads!!!!
~cupidlies
❤️