CHAPTER sixty-two|SOMEWHERE

Sam Fender~ The sound
❝It's the only thing that keeps me grounded.❞

➳➳

I HAD NEVER been somewhere before.

Wherever I was, no matter what I was doing, I had always known where it was I had ended up in the grand scheme of it- even when all that I knew was names without the reason behind them. I had always had some clue, like a distant memory that I could grasp only when I saw the whole picture, but not the moment before. Truly, I had never experienced the panic of just being somewhere.

I didn't know what was going to be behind one part of the crushed rubble, or what I would do if for some reason I couldn't find a member of the team I had been apart of for only a day or so. If, and it was a very hard to compose if, Finnick hadn't been watching how I reacted to every single stone or sound I might of gotten lost in the many identical mirages of the Capitol streets.

I had only seen them from the comfort of glass screens or from heights that left each light as cloudy and small as the stars in the sky; now that I was forced to walk over each fallen lamppost that would of provided one of those stars it seems crazy that I hadn't focused on the bends in the street before. I never thought I would of needed it.

My brother however, walked these streets like they were his home. It made me wonder if he would look as sure when he tried to find our house's final burial sight in the rubble of our own District, or if it was simply just another somewhere to him. I wondered if he had been away so long that even the basic square would be too hard to find- something that we used to walk through together with our eyes closed as we pretended that we could be somewhere better.

It seemed that even better had been destroyed.

He walked behind our leader regiously with Gale by his side and the girl (that I had learnt was named Mercy) beside him, a glass of something undiscovered being shared every now and then between them all. As if they had time to focus on anything other then where they placed each foot- once again it felt as if I was far behind.

"I've never seen this place so empty." One of the members muttered from behind me as we took another few steps, only to be silenced by Boggs.

"Just keep your eyes open."

As I glanced around the team that all wore the same armed black suits, it seemed as if most of them could grasp what kind of place they were in. They looked content in just walking around with their knowledge, but to me it seemed almost stupid. While they all had their own blanket in familiarity- all but Katniss who watched her surroundings like a wide eyed cat- it felt like I was falling behind a little in the rubble.

Even Boggs looked anxious however with each step, something that resonated within my stomach.

When the device in his hands (that I had forgotten the name of quicker than anything before) began to beep furiously he held up his hand for us to stop, and Finnick subtly grabbed my hand that was once laying limp by my hip.

"We've got a pod." Boggs informed us all. "Let's take cover."

Without an idea of where to go, or what was waiting behind the large patch of stone that had fallen from a particular building, my heart beat began to pump blood to the ends of my fingertips. Without a thought I unsheathed the two long blades that were strapped to my back; nobody said a word as they called for shots to be fired around each building even as they eyed the blades that they had given to me. They gleamed in the almost grey sky because they were both so clean- so unused. With my hands on the handle, the worry plummeted.

"Pollux, right here." Cressida called as I began to lower my blades below the waist.

She gestured almost immediately to where the other cameraman (Castor) would stand for a shot. While I knew that it was the whole reason that we had come, the idea of them filming a possible fight seemed almost ludicrous. Finnick glanced at me as they set up the perfect angle as if to make sure what he was seeing was real; I shook my head at him and then towards the Girl on Fire when she also glanced my way. Her glance was one that seemed more angry, as if she was asking which one of us was going to be thrown into the line of fire.

As if to answer our question, she prompted Katniss to shoot.

I watched the never ending line of buildings instead of Katniss while she made the shot, just so that I was ready when the scene changed into something worse or a sound suddenly rung out. My blades were both raised again, as was Finnick's trident rather inconspicuously right as she released the arrow and fire began to stampede out of both sides of the street. My strong pose faltered when I saw it, and my mind imagined all of the ways it could of killed us.

It went on for years, each second more black smoke was pelted into the grey sky that seemed to make the air around us toxic- not at all physically- while more chaos took over the once lifeless street. It was the explosion that made me duck my head and let one of the blades go to reach for Finnick's hand again, something that he took without a second of hesitation.

The team didn't panic, not even when the fire cascaded into oblivion.

"All clear." Boggs called breathlessly, while one of the cameramen let out a sharp gasp.

"I've never seen so much fire."

Immediately, the whole group seemed to tense up as if a gunshot had left an unwavering sniper. Finnick squeezed my hand and brought me down into a sitting position with his hand steadily on my cheek while the others snapped their necks to the man, who didn't seem to understand what it was he had done. I could see Remy glance my way, while Katniss shot a glare to Castor that would of buried him deep enough to never see light again- all as hushed lips fell on my body that was somehow below my soul. At first, I didn't know why, and then it hit me all at once.

He had said fire.

And yet it hadn't changed a thing.

"Are you a bloody idiot?" Remy hissed as I glanced towards my static legs. My brother looked so angry that steam could flow from his ears that was the same colour as the smoke, but he didn't move at all. I didn't either, I continued to look at Finnick as if I was waiting for something to change.

"It's ok." I mumbled as Remy shouted loudly, but nobody heard it.

"Did you not tell them?" Remy accused Boggs next, who seemed as controlled as ever. "Did you not think that a possible trigger was important to inform your team about?"

"Remy."

"Or was a possible seizure not high enough on your to do list? Huh?"

"Remy, please don-"

"I should go to Coin-"

"Stop." I managed to wheeze out a shout after standing up from the floor. I was sure that I wasn't going to start trembling now, which I took and tried to force into my voice.

"Nothing happened. I'm fine." I insisted towards my brother, who had taken a step back after Gale wrapped his arm around him.

"But you might not have been." Katniss countered as she stood up as well. "Lorna, you could of- this whole mission could of been compromised."

"But it wasn't."

"But it could of been."

"Hey." Finnick finally called- just as he pulled me back towards his chest. "This doesn't matter, not now, we need to get somewhere safe before some of us don't have the ability to argue."

➳➳

The feeling of somewhere never quite left me as we continued to walk, or as we sat in five different groups amougnst a fractured building that afternoon. There was something about how quiet everyone had become, in slight fear that any word would set somebody else off, that left everyone in a fake silence. They whispered, but nobody ever got above a small mutter unless it was a direct command or observation.

In my case, it had been between Finnick and I while we tried to understand why the word hadn't worked. Why I hadn't fallen to the ground so viciously.

In the end we had come up with one suggestion; only one that seemed to be possible in a sea of different possibilities. One that had cut the chord of discussion between the two of us so cleanly that no whispers remained- even after I began to hear the sound of an engine.

"Is that Peacekeepers?"

The idea was too impactful for anyone to answer the man, or for Finnick and I to continue to sit in our half solemn silence anymore. It made me grip onto my twin blades for dear life, impossibly tighter than before, as the whole unit seemed to finally re-awaken from whatever zombie-like daze they had been in before.

"451 base. We've got a truck coming in from the south- over." Jackson spoke solidly into her walkie-talkie, only to announce that she had copied whatever the reply was moment after.

Unlike the rest of us she had found the time to stop- maybe because she was the first to know that it wasn't hostile. "Stand down everyone, it's friendly."

Somehow it didn't stop anyone.

Like before, the entire team continued to creep away from the broken house we had found ourselves in with all of our weapons still drawn. The half silence was gone- replaced with the real version that sounded a lot louder than the wheels of a vehicle that managed to stop right before another probably elaborate fountain. This time our silence wasn't filled with unspoken tension, or an underlying net of fear, but something that left the entire group feel like they were being drawn in like bait.

The truck was black, as was the soldiers that came from the back of it once the wheels finally stopped turning.

And behind them, perhaps the most shocking part of all. As if we had summoned him from our worry; like Finnick's small frown and sorrowful eyes that I had noticed had created a portal that he could come sheepishly walking through, Peeta Mellark emerged from that truck with his hands apparently bound together.

The danger hadn't risen, and the threat of life wasn't in any way more severe, but it felt like daggers were suddenly pouring down from the sky like fine rain. Even as Katniss raised her bow to the boy that still looked like a ghost, or as I stumbled back a few steps at the sheer memory of what happened when I was looking into his glassy blue eyes last; that feeling didn't go away.

It felt like the delivery wasn't so friendly after all- even when the person delivered was once one of my dearest friends.

•••••••••
1923 words.

So, I wanted this chapter to feel a little rushed and to the point because at the moment, poor Lorna is really on edge. She wouldn't have the time to look deeply into things, and in these circumstances I don't think she'd feel comfortable to look closer tbh, which makes it harder to make these kind of chapters good.....

I promise there's a method here.