"You check that house! I'll check this one!" I shout across the flooded streets.
"Fine!" he calls out with a smirk "we have to find survivors Odair! Don't kill them with your beauty!" And so I kick the door open and see the disaster before me.
I walk around the house, gun raised, just in case, looking for any signs of live. It's hard to walk with thousands of dead bosies at my feet, but I manage to pass through the ruins of the house until I find a man with his head against the table.
I hurry towards it and turn it, just to see a dead pale man. He's long dead. I hear breathing, shaky breaths.
"Hey!" I shout and it stops for a second and then continues, but it doesn't answer "Hey!" I shout again and notice the stairs.
I get out of the blood bath and start up them.
I look around and this time I see a body, crammed in the corner, shivering, wearing only a shirt. Her head is buried between her knees and she's rocking herself back and forth. I walk towards her and kneel in front of her with one knee. I hold the gun in one hand and with the other I place my hand in her shoulder. She instantly stops shivering and raises her head a little, just enough to see her big brown eyes. She stares at me and she looks frightened, scared.
"Hey" I say in the most soothing voice and flash a smile "hey" But she doesn't answer, she just stares at me with widened eyes "hey, are you okay?" I say stroking her brown hair "I'm getting you out of here, okay?" she nods.
I prop myself beside her and she shivers. I take off my army jacket, leaving myself in my white shirt, and place it over her shoulders. Then I guide her arm around my shoulders and put my arm below her knees, carrying her. I'm about to go back down when I remember the bodies, probably her family or someone she knew
"hey" I say and she raises her eyes to mine "when we go back I want you to only look at me, okay? Or maybe just close your eyes" she nods and rests her head in my chest, closing her eyes.
I go down the stairs and out of the house, she's easy to carry but her body is shivering, of course, she has no pants on. I carry her to the helicopter that's waiting for us outside and carefully sit her on one of the seats. I guide her arm again to her lap and tighten the jacket around her.
"What's your name?" I say kneeling in front of her, but she seems to be lost "hey" I hold her hands and they are freezing so I put them between mine, which are warm. She has small delicate hands. She raises her eyes to me, but she doesn't speak "my name is Finnick Odair, I'm in the army, who are you?" I look around and see a notebook and a pencil "can you write it?" I put it in her hands and she holds the pen and writes something, her hands trembling. I look down at the notebook; her hand writing is shaky but understandable "Annie?" I say, reading it, and she nods. "Why don't you talk to me?" She shakes her head sadly and starts making signs with her hands. I understand they are a mude vocabulary. I had a friend once that was deaf and I invented my own vocabulary with him. "Okay, okay" I say but she keeps repeating the same movement. I hold her hands steady "hey!" I say and laugh a little "I don't understand" she's trying to tell me something.
"Odair" a voice says behind me and I turn to see the Commander standing in front of me. I stand up and salute "dismiss" i lower my hand "who do we have here?" He says nodding towards Annie.
"Survivor, sir. I found her in house 009, sir"
"What's wrong with her?" He asks laughing and I turn to see she's still making the signs. "She's mad or-"
"She's not insane, sir" I cut him, it bothers me to hear the word mad "she's trying to communicate by signs" I make a sign to her: stop, a basic one. And she understands and stops. "She can't speak"
"Fine" he says turning "we'll take her to the hospital for them to take care of her. Ask her some questions if we can" he reaches for one piece of her hair and she jerks her head away "she's tough, maybe she can help when she's okay again, understood?"
"Yes, sir" I say "I'll watch after her if necessary, sir"
"Okay, soldier" he says one last time "you take her to the hospital then, dismiss"
I sit next to her, she's trembling and her breaths are shaky. She looks tired and scared and sad. I take her hands in mine and tears start falling down her cheeks. I turn her so she's facing me and I cup her cheek, brushing away the tears "it's okay, it's okay" i say trying to calm her down "don't cry, it's over" she sobs as tears keep falling down her face.
I notice a cut on her temple and as I look down at her, I notice she's got bruises everywhere.
Her arms have red marks and I notice how weak she is. Her shirt is pulled at one side, showing her whole shoulder. Her neck has purple marks and her wrists are covered with bruises along red lines and some are even bleeding.
I stare at her with my eyes widened, realizing what she's been through, what she is, what they've done to her. I hold her face in between my hands, raising her gaze to my eyes, sad and tired.
"Who did this to you?" I ask her angry and she can't answer "I promise you they won't hurt you anymore, okay?" She nods slowly and I pat my lap. She slowly leans to rest her head there and stretches out in the unoccupied sits beside her. I play with her hair, disentangling knots and making braids and disentangling them. She sobs and I lean and kiss her head "i promise I'll keep you safe, Annie" and I keep playing with her hair until she falls asleep.
When we arrive at the hospital, without waking her up, I craddle her in my arms and carry her to a room where her wounds can be attended. I lay her carefully in the bed and call for Prim, a women doctor, bacause I know she will be uncomfortable if it is a man.
When she gets to the room, before I get out, I hold her arm and whisper to her.
"Prim, I think she has been..." She nods "could you check her up?" She nods again "thank you. And Prim..."
"Yes?" She asks before she shoves me away
"Prim she... she can't talk" she nods slowly and I get out of the room.
The nexy day I go to see her, she's strapped to the hospital bed by her wrists and ankles, her wounds have been attended, but she's struggling to break free. I frown at the image I see before me, why would she be strapped to the bed? And when I see Prim´s face, I understand. She has a long scratch on her forehead, but she's perfectly calm. She explains she was struggling during one of the tests and that she had no choice but to strap her.
"I told her she wouldn't be hurt anymore" I scowl at her. But I know she had no choice.
"You're free to let her go now, I am no longer needed here" before I set off to her side she holds my arms "One more thing... Finnick it was positive" I let out a sigh.
"Thanks Prim" I say giving a squeeze to her shoulder and she leaves, closing the door behind her.
I walk to the bed and undo the straps, they are no longer necessary. She looks at me, with the same look she had on yesterday, and I give her a nod before pulling a chair beside her bed. "Hey" I say, holding her hand "how are you doing?" She stares at the wall behind me blankly. "Annie?" She turns her attention back to me and smiles a little. I take a notebook from the little table and write on it.
-Can I ask you some questions?-
I hand it to her and surprisingly replies
-yes-
-what's your full name?"
-Annie Cresta-
-what age are you?-
-17-
She's a year younger than me -I'm 18-
She smiles at me for a second and then writes -Can I ask you a question?-
-sure-
She takes a moment to write it down -are they still alive?-
That surprises me -who?-
-the men who made me suffer-
I try to hold back a tear as I write -yes, what did they do to you?-
She takes the notebook in her hands and sighs -they touched me where I didn't wanted to be touched-
I'm so angry about the answer I slam my hands against the little table and she jumps -you're safe with me- i write down.
-i know-
"Can you teach me how to talk signs?" I ask her slowly and she nods.
And so she does.
Every day I would go to her room, which she was moved at, and she would write down words and I would invent the sign. We invented basics first, hello, how are you doing, okay?, Annie, Finn, because she likes calling me that, goodbye... Then, when she was more stable, she would walk to my house and we would make them there. She would look happier every day, but she kept on drifting away by times, staring blankly behind me, but it only took one word from me to bring her back. If I wasn't there, she wouldn't wake up and she would lose her mind and I hated that, because that meant losing her, again and again and again.
The times I left for missions she would stay at my place, because she had nowhere else to be. I would give her a lot of shells and a string so she would stay making bracelets or tying knots. When I came back she was always sitting where I left her: sitting in a chair looking out to the sea.
"Annie" i said as I entered. She stood up and came running to me, she jumped in my arms and I spun her kissing her cheek.
-I missed you- she said in signs.
I kissed her forehead and hugged her again tight "I missed you too"
One day she went running back to her seat and came running to me with an amulet. She placed it over my neck and signed
-i was walking in beach and see nice seashell, made amulet to you to keep one part of I when you go away-
I hold it between my fingers. "It's beautiful, like you, thanks Annie"
I took it with me everywhere and had it on every time. I didn't take it off for anything.
One day I arrived home with one sign in mind, willing to surprise her. But when I arrived at my home she wasn't there in her usual spot. "Annie?" I called out, there was no answer "Annie? Sweetie where are you?" I called but there was still no answer. I ran out to the street and started screaming "Annie! Annie where are you?! Annie!" I ran to the beach and saw her standing in the sea, the water at knee length. I ran to her and she was staring blankly again "Annie?" I stroke her cheek gently and she blinked repeatedly, noticing me. "Annie, you scared me sweetie" I hold her in my arms and she laughs. Wait. She laughs? I hold her arms and push her away gently "you laughed?" I widen my eyes at her and she speaks, she speaks and her voice is so beautiful and melodic.
"Finnick!" She exclaims, a tear running down her cheek "I don't know what happened! It just... Came back! I wanted to surprise you when you arrived but I just..." She frowns "I don't remember what happened-"
I frame her face in my hands and pull my lips to hers, kissing her so badly, the waves bumping against us. I have been wanting to do it since I saw her, I wanted to protect her and kiss her and hug her and cuddle her and just be with her. Her lips move against mine melodically. She tastes to sea breeze and something sweet. When we separate we keep our eyes closed and I rest my forehead with hers, and we just stand there, her hands hooked on my belt and my hands at the sides of her face, both of us smiling.
I laugh and she joins me, both of us opening our eyes again. I lower my hands and grip her waist, kissing her again, and she wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me to her height. As we kiss I pull her with me so only her feet are in the water and I hold her tight. When we separate again I spin her and a wave pushes us against the sand, her on top of me. I turn her around and sit her on my legs, her feet brushing mine. I wrap my arms around her and bury my head in the crook of her neck, whispering "look" and when she raises her gaze she gasps, because it's the most beautiful sunset ever.
She turns her head and finds my lips "thank you" she whispers and we just continue to watch the sunset. After a few minutes of just sitting there, holding her, I lean to her ear and whisper, it's nothing compared to what I feel for her, but it is a start "I love you Annie" and I make a sign only she understands.
I feel her smile "I love you too" she pauses, speaking and mimicking my signs "to the moon and back"
"To the moon and back" I repeat and I hold her tight as we stare into the night.