"How?"
"Johanna-"
"How?" she hissed. "Tell me, Twelve."
"There were these mutts," Katniss told Johanna, looking worn and defeated. "Finnick...He got caught behind. They were tearing him to pieces, so I-I made the Holo blow up and take them all out."
"You blew him up?" Johanna demanded.
"He was already gone," Katniss whispered. "They'd already-"
"Leave," Johanna said through clenched teeth.
"Johanna-"
"LEAVE!"
Without another word, Katniss exited the room..
Johanna stared at the crimson liquid on her hands. It took a few moments before she realized it was hers. She'd clenched her hands into fists so tightly, she'd drawn blood.
She let her fingers, slick with red, drop to her sides. Taking a deep breath, she let her head fall back.
Remembered Katniss telling her what had happened.
And then screamed, a ear-piercing, raw sound that tore from her throat and left it scraped and sore.
She began pounding the wall with her fist, again and again, denting the plaster.
By the time the guards had come in to subdue her, she'd slid down to the floor, weeping into her hands.
She'd endured a lot at the hands of the Capitol. The Games, torture, and now the loss of her friend.
The first time they'd met, he'd struck her as nothing more than a pretty face that could use an oversized fork.
Over the years of mentoring and watching children die, though, they talked more, and she'd found there was more to this pretty-boy than she'd thought originally.
Trust wasn't really something any victor of the Games, or really any citizen of Panem possessed.
But she heard of how he'd been sold for sex, how several family members met unfortunate ends when he refused...
And then there was that look in his eye when he talked about Annie Cresta.
She'd enjoyed poking fun at him for that.
She'd met good friends through him. Mags, Annie; they were excellent companions, even if one didn't talk much and the other was a little mentally unstable.
He'd been a victor, but a decent one nonetheless
And now...he was gone, and there wasn't even a body to bury.
Right after he'd been married to Annie.
Even when he'd done the one thing the Capitol had always kept him from doing, out of their reach, they'd managed to destroy it.
She wanted it torn down. Every fake smile, every costume, every bit of makeup burned to the ground.
They'll pay, Finnick, she vowed as the guards jabbed her with a sedative and her world faded to black.
I swear, I will make them pay for everything.
Johanna Mason hadn't just lost an ally. She'd lost a friend.