CHAPTER sixty-four|TRUST

Woodkid~ run boy run
❝Run boy run! The sun will be guiding you, run boy run! They're dying to stop you.❞

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IF BEING UNCOMFORTABLE around Peeta was the problem, then close proximity was the one and only solution.

It was Finnick's idea; in the midst of our walking and propaganda he thought it would be best if I helped the boy along, if not for him then to show me that he wasn't the same shell he had been a few weeks ago. It was supposed to remind me of what he had been like before, just the same Peeta Mellark that had asked for peace and who I tried to save from the water at the start of the Hunger Games.

And there were similarities, some that were so close that for a second as we went through the lines of his next speech, I thought that the old version of him had fought back- that he had once again understood the importance of the person he loved the most. And then, within an instant the glow in his eyes would return, and the delirium settled into his body that made him grip his empty gun tighter in his whitening hands.

That would be when I took a cautious step back, and Finnick would lock eyes with me so intently that I forgot that he was really right there.

But we carried on, all the way until we were stopped in another square that was filled with upright standing buildings and the same grey rumble that once offset the colourful people that lived in it. This time Peeta would give his speech; ironical enough it would be me that offset his part in the video instead of Katniss, just like the buildings around us.

He was the colourful people, each one different from the last with a new agenda and gradient of the rainbow that blended into something beautiful, or something completely strange and new. And I was the buildings that stood around them, that funneled them into a place they were supposed to go and who housed both the best and worst parts of the city's world inside of it. Part of it was still standing, but some was crumbled to the ground in an unremarkable mess.

And yet, as the soldiers of 451 checked the area for hazards around us, it was impossible to see any drop of the people's colour anymore.

"Gotta pod." Boggs called as we tiptoed through the tallest buildings I had seen. "Split, take cover."

I had a choice again, one that was made for me when Finnick ever so gently lead me towards his side of the wall so that I was behind him as he held onto Peeta's shoulder for dear life. It was easy to remember how gentle he could be then, as he cowered into the stone with Finnick's hand on top of him.

I hadn't seen the care Finnick placed into Peeta for a long time- not since Mags was still able to walk freely amongst the living without having to worry about acidic mist or a group of just about adults- but it was always there. Finnick was a fixer, and he cared about the boy from 12 enough to want to help put the pieces back together. If I was selfish I would call it repayment for what the boy had done for me, but I thought that it was more than that.

With each passing second I was reminded that Peeta was loved by all the Victors that saw a slice of normality in him.

Like how he needed one of my husband's arms to keep himself tied down when we heard bullets spray from the dusted walls. Bullets that caused me to jump- more out of instinct then actual worry.

I hated myself then, I hated how reliant on my memories I had become. I had no bad memories to do with guns, so the sound of them barely traced the nerves that caused my fears, and yet I couldn't make myself sit still.

It was just loud as the sharpness of them tour apart the centre of the square while chunks of concrete flew like they were actually alive, or as the top of the building toppled with the loss of its underlying support. When it reached the ground the bang caught me more off guard than the guns; it's low and powerful last wail reminded me of the cannons more than anything else in my life.

"All clear. Gale, Titan, Holmes with me." Boggs called as soon as the bullets stopped raining down apon us.

A few eyes turned to me, but most were smart enough to know that it was Remy that would be plucked from the troop for such a mission. As he stood, he glanced from his position on the other side of the wall to me to ensure that it was alright- and to make sure that he had seen me one last time if things didn't go to plan. He was like that, out of everyone Remy Titan knew the importance of always being ready for the goodbye instead of the see you later.

Then he joined Gale, his arm resting on the other man's shoulder for a lingering moment before they walked away. The third member of their small team- Mercy- was barely given the same look that Remy gave to Gale like a prized gift.

I would of watched him walk away, or maybe I would of got up myself to try and examine the damage such a trigger had really caused, but I couldn't. Not when Finnick was leaning over Peeta so tightly that I feared he was going to make him crumble as he tried his very best to stay under control. With each deep breath, I watch Peeta fight a battle greater then anything we had all fought before- I watched him fight with his own mind.

And then another explosion went of, and I began to panic too.

"Remy." I called as I stood up, Finnick and Katniss both forgotten as I turned the corner to glimpse that the two men that I should of watched instead of the boy from 12.

They had wide eyes that resembled moons when I screamed so loudly, or maybe it was because of our second in command that had fallen into the rubble with an injury that only just seemed harmful enough to stop his breath. He was breathing heavily however, and I noticed as Katniss hauled Bogg's up to the floor that I was too.

"Unfit for command."

Boggs wriggled as he felt the sheer force of destruction crawl up his body. I could see it in his eyes, the same look he would give any of us when the worst was about to occur before anybody had the power to stop it- the look that I wore so much I thought he was wearing a mask. His panic was almost to the level that mine was as I crouched down beside Katniss just to look like I was helping.

But I was doing the worst thing I could do; I was letting myself get weighted down in trauma.

"Transfer primary security clearance - say you name." The man wheezed with one of his last breaths, a breath that I had heard pushed out so many times.

"Katniss Everdeen."

I had heard it from her too, the panic and euphoria that stemmed from a brief second without feeling, or the moment when the darkness around her vision invaded the light that she once loved far too much. Katniss had almost died in front of me, and now, we stood together as we watched somebody else do the exact thing we were trying to avoid.

"What did you just do?"

"Katniss- don't trust them. Kill Peeta if you have to, don't let him ruin Lorna's chances against anyone. Do what you came to do."

"Boggs-"

There it was again, the smell of death and blood on the ground as commanders and soldiers alike fell onto the floor with wounds that looked as ugly as my hands felt as they clutched the dead man's arm for support. I caught the same smell of the Capitol rooms- the chambers they threw me in when I refused to tell them anything that they wanted to hear- and the same horrible stillness that only came over a body in death.

So many had fallen in the explosion, and Finnick was nowhere to be seen as more and more recalled their injuries.

"Remy." I stifled through my next heavy breath, one filled with more horror then the first.

He was by my side in seconds, although when I glanced at the blood seeping from his arm I wished I had just turned away instead. It only choaked me up more, so much that I couldn't bring around the energy I needed to breathe.

"You're-"

"Fine. It's just a cut from a bit of glass." He tried to warn me, right as he placed his hand on my knotted shoulder.

We only just heard the scream from the metal doors closing- I only just felt it when Finnick guided Peeta over so that he could drag me to my feet.

"Breathe. Like in the Games, Lorna you need to breathe now." Finnick whispered- right as a giant wave crashed it's way through the buildings and onto the streets we should of been walking on.

Breathe, I though as the wave caught the first of squad 451.

Breathe.

I did, I tried my best as I ran beside the Victor's in the opposite direction to the element I hated the most- and my husband loved the best. At least I thought it was water, it wasn't until Peeta pulled Katniss to the ground that I realised it wasn't water at all- it was a thick tar the cut the soldier that pulled Peeta away to shreds before anyone could do anything about it.

Another death- one that instantly flew out of the window when Finnick restrained Peeta like the soldier had done before. He would be the next to be thrown off, just as I scrambled to pull an equally distraught Katniss to her feet.

"Finnick- come on please." I begged as I was ushered into one of the neighbouring buildings that could still be left unlocked. And yet, he refused to take a step that Peeta didn't take with him, and he refused to shut the door until he had thrown him down where it was deemed safe. And yet I was pulled up along with Katniss as the tar seeped further and further up the mant flights of stairs, with no idea where the other two had been left.

"Finnick." I shouted, right as Katniss and Remy pulled me up another flight. I didn't want to go, it was all happening so fast that I didn't quite understand how they managed to move their feet before the oil rose another two feet.

I still didn't see Finnick, but I ran anyway.

Right until we couldn't run anymore; until I was stuck staring out of a window that barely showed us any light. Then I spotted Finnick in the corner with the boy from Twelve right beside him; I ran over with enough force to break all of his bones as I threw my arms around his neck.

"It's slowing down. The Gamemakers are still putting on quite a show-"

"-451 to base- over."

"You promised me we would do it together. You promised me." I stressed, right as I pulled away and glanced towards the boy as he twitched uncontrollably.

"Finnick you almost-"

"I know." He cooed as he pulled me back into his shoulder so that my face was hidden from the slowly increasing liquid. Part of me wondered if he did it so I didn't have to see, or if he just wanted to make sure that I was as alive as he was. "We better move; if peacekeepers didn't know where we where before they do now."

"-451 to base, come in."

"This is a bad spot, we need to move now."

"451 to base over."

It kept going, noise kept penetrating every nerve that I had as I kept my head deep within Finnick's armour, only to pull it out when I felt eyes burning into the back of my head. Remy was watching me from besides Gale- Katniss slowly peeled her eyes away to do the same after she looked around as if she was supposed to figure out one large riddle. They all looked at me, suddenly everyone snapped their heads in my direction as the static on each line ran silent, and as conversations became as dead as our second in command.

I didn't realise why until Finnick's grip around my waist tightened, and my body began to shake like it was being put through it's own blender.

Even when I tried to mutter out the name of the person that caused it, or when I spotted Remy tackling him to the ground to stop him from shouting out anything else that could make it worse, I only felt the shake. The unbearable shake that brought me to the floor as my eyes rolled around to the back of my head.

Peeta had done exactly what I was afriad of.

He screamed fire.

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2246 words.

This chapter has the quickest pace I've ever done, and I kind of like the way it turned out tbh. I'm happy that right now you guys are getting a more panicked Lorna, and the reason for the change in writing style because of it will all be revealed soon I promise xx

For now, let's all take a moment for my child.