Chapter Ten.
Peeta and I are led back to camp in handcuffs. Technically, we are labeled 'deserters' and must face some sort of trial which will decide our fate, but I'm almost positive that Boggs only told us such to keep up appearance. Although Peeta and I are kept separate for the length of the journey, Finnick divides his time between both of us, each time returning with the same dopey grin on his face and another crude joke prepared. I can't help but smile; I had missed his company.
I can't help but notice that Gale is not present for the rescue mission. However, when we return to camp he is the first person to greet us. Only it is not me he decides to welcome back first.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" he roars, shoving Peeta back with both hands. To my surprise, Peeta doesn't retaliate. "I can't believe you fucking ran off with her, Mellark."
"It wasn't his fault, Gale!" I shout, making my way over to them. My hands are still bound in front of me, only these cuffs are heavier and more uncomfortable than the ones Peeta had used. I'm itching to get them off.
Gale rounds on me. "You're telling me that you willingly left this camp with him?"
"Yes," I say without hesitation. I don't look to Peeta, fearful that seeing his face would bring a blush to my skin and Gale would see through my lie. "We left together."
He regards me dubiously. "Unbelievable."
"Hawthorne!" Boggs snaps. "We've heard enough of your whining for the last two weeks. They're back now- go make yourself useful while I deal with them."
"Yes, sir," Gale mumbles. He turns and stalks off. Finnick appears at my side.
"Don't worry about anything," he says to me. "You're too valuable right now. The worst they'll probably do is demote you or something. It's not like they can just exile the Mockingjay just when things are getting interested."
My eyes land on Peeta a few feet away, who looks pale as Boggs talks animatedly to him.
"It's not me that I'm worried about."
It turns out that Finnick was right.
"You aren't going to face a trial," Boggs tells Peeta and I once he cornered us in his tent. "Although President Coin is furious, she and I both agree that you are too valuable to be lost for any longer than you have been."
"I would just like to say," Peeta interjects, "that I take full responsibility for everything that's happened. Katniss had nothing to do with-"
"Katniss already took responsibility for her own actions," Boggs says, eyeing him suspiciously. "It doesn't matter if she was believable or not; she said what she said. I'm not going to spend any more time on this matter."
"Right," Peeta mumbles. "Sorry, sir."
"Moving forward, we will continue this mission as planned. While you two were on your little...retreat, we made significant progress in scouting out the Capitol's traps. The Star Squad will leave in the morning in an attempt to infiltrate the city. I'll dismiss you two now so you can rest up for the trip. I expect you both at full speed by 500 hours."
"Yes, sir," we say in unison, standing up to leaving.
"And one more thing."
Boggs sighs and takes a step closer to us. "Coin has some of her people here. You know it, I know it. She's absolutely livid about the stunt you two pulled, and I wouldn't put it past her to send an order out to keep an eye on you. One step out of line, and it won't be hard to find an excuse for a bullet in both of your heads, Mockingjay or not."
My blood runs cold at his threat, and Peeta's hand seeks out mine. Boggs notices, and for a second his features soften.
"Just remember that," he says, stepping back again. "And be ready to go in the morning."
We receive a few odd stares- and a wink from Cressida- as Peeta and I exit our shared tent the next morning, but they are the least of our concerns. I grab his hand as we join the rest of our group and he gives it a reassuring squeeze.
"Good morning," Gale says to me. He glances at Peeta and, to my surprise, gives him a curt nod, which Peeta returns after a moment of hesitation.
"Ready?" I ask my friend.
Gale's lips twitch and for a second I think he'll smile. "Are you kidding? I've been waiting for this."
He should have waited a bit longer.
We are four and a half blocks deep when we are shocked by the sickening sound of a bullet hitting its target. I don't get to see who is hit- whoever it was was behind me- before two dozen Peacekeepers appear from around the corner and open fire on us.
Peeta tackles me to the ground and shoves me against the side of a building, shielding me with his body. I try to shove him off and reach for my gun, but he makes moving impossible as he fires his own shots. I register three bullets hitting their marks and then a shadow looms in front of us.
"Follow me!" Boggs yells before taking off. He is shielding his body with a piece of metal siding. He dodges two bullets and fires five of his own before slipping into a small alley between buildings. Peeta finally eases off of me and we sprint after him. One bullet hits a spot above my head and bits of brick crumble into my hair.
We make it around the corner and Boggs is furiously unscrewing a metal circle on the ground. I am about to question what it is when it pops open and he gestures wildly to us.
"Get in!" he yells.
There's a cold, wet ladder that I shimmy down. Peeta is right behind me, and as we are getting our bearings, two more people arrive.
The floor is damp beneath my boots and the air is foul with a scent that reminds me of garbage. Peeta finds my hand as our eyes adjust to the darkness.
"Are you okay?" he asks me. More people climb down the ladder, and then I hear something slam.
"I'm fine, were you hit?"
"No," Peeta murmurs just as Boggs yells:
"Who's down here? Give me your names!"
In addition to Peeta and I, the only ones down here are Boggs, Pollux, Castor, Jackson, Gale, Cressida, and Finnick. That's it. The sole survivors of the Star Squad.
We mourn the dead in the sewers and then we try to formulate a new plan. Peeta and I huddle together, my head resting on his shoulder as he plays with my fingers.
"This time yesterday..." he says. I shiver at the thought of him fucking my brains out as I was tied to the bed.
"I wish we could go back," I respond.
"Me, too. But Katniss, we have a mission here. If we succeed with this, that could be our life. Every day."
I smile and press a quick kiss to the side of his neck. "Then we better do our best."
"Okay everyone, here's the new plan," Boggs says. He shines his flashlight over a wrinkled piece of paper and holds it front of him for everyone to see.
"This is a layout of the entire sewer system. Using this a means of travel was our last resort, but circumstances proved it to be necessary. We're going to follow this route-" he moves his finger along a line- "until we reach this intersection of four tunnels. Then we're going to make a left. When we reach the next intersection, we make a right, and we stay in that tunnel until we reach another ground-level entrance like the one we just came down. That will lead into an alleyway behind a shop. The owner of that shop is named Tigris, and she's going to be aiding us in our mission."
I glance around as Boggs relays the plan. Even in the dim light, I can see how pale Pollux looks. He grips Castor's arm like it's his lifeline.
"He used to work down here, after he was turned into an Avox," Castor explains for his brother when he catches me staring. "It took us five years before we could buy his way to ground level. He didn't see the sun once."
Boggs had stopped talking to listen. In fact, the sewer was silent save for Castor's voice and the drip of water somewhere down the way. No one knows what to say.
Except for Peeta.
"Well," he says, nodding at Pollux with a small smile. "It looks like you just became our most valuable asset."
There. Leave it to him to find the right thing to say when no one else could. I grin in sync with Pollux as I realize that more of my Peeta is coming back to me.
When he start up again, Pollux proves Peeta's prediction to be true. We follow Boggs' directions up until a point where one of the sewers is blocked off with garbage and debris.
"It looks like it was caved in," Jackson muses. "Recently, too."
He doesn't say what we are all thinking. They knew where we'd go.
Pollux leads us in another direction. He navigates us through a network that to an unfamiliar eye would seem like an unsolvable maze. We make amazing time, but after almost six hours we're exhausted and have to rest. He leads us to a small compartment humming with machines. It cramped and stuffy, but it offers a bit more protection. We all shove in and Jackson volunteers to take the first watch.
Peeta and I find a corner and huddle together. His arm around my shoulder keeps me close, and I rest my head on his shoulder. After kissing my forehead, his eyes slowly flutter shut. Mine are about to follow suit when I hear a whisper. As I listen closer, I can hear that it's a name. One name, repeated over and over at a growing volume. Most likely from the lips of mutts.
Katniss.
"Katniss." I flinch at the proximity of the sound. Peeta's mouth is barely moving, but my name escapes his lips like a hiss. His eyes are glazed over, but he's beginning to stir slightly. My stomach drops; this is proof of just how deep Snow's torture affected him. He's programmed to join the hunt.
Suddenly, he sits straight up, knocking me out of his arms.
"Katniss!" He yells. "Katniss! Get out of here!"
The rest of the Squad looks towards us anxiously. His voice is alarmed, but not insane. I cup his face in my hands but he doesn't relax.
"Peeta. Peeta. What's making that sound?"
It's growing louder now. Katniss. KATNISS.
"I don't know," says Peeta. "But it has to kill you. We need to run. Now."
I look back to our group, already on their feet. "We should split up," I say. "Whatever it is, it's after me."
"We're not leaving you," Gale says, using a voice that I know means arguing is out of the picture. "Where you go, we go, Katniss."
"I can't endanger you," I protest.
Cressida smirks. "We all have targets on our foreheads, Katniss."
We leave the room free of everything but our scent. Since Gale and I have our bows, we give our guns to Cressida. Outside the hum of the room, the hissing becomes more distinct, but it's also possible to get a better sense of its location. They're behind us, and albeit a decent distance, they're gaining fast. We make it through three more blocks of pipe before the screams begin.
"Avoxes," Peeta says thickly. "That's what it sounded like when they tortured Darius."
"So the mutts must have found them," Cressida muses. "They're not just after Katniss."
"They're after anything that gets in their way of finding her," Boggs corrects her. "Keep moving."
Peeta takes my hand and doesn't let go. We start to run.
We encounter another blockage not five minutes later. The hissing is at its loudest. I grab Pollux by the arm.
"Forget the mission. What's the quickest way aboveground?"
We follow him about ten yards forward and slip through a narrow doorway. Tile turns to concrete, and we've reached the main sewer. There's a platform about three feet wide on each side of the tunnel, and beneath a mountain of waste so deep that I can't even see the bottom. We all know that if you fall in, you're never coming back.
Pollux points down the tunnel. There's a small ladder similar to the one we came down about a quarter mile down the way. Just as we start for it, carefully, one at a time since there's barely room to walk, the mutts reach us.
They're a mix of human and lizard and who knows what else. White, tight reptilian skin smeared with gore, clawed hands and feet, their faces a mess of conflicted features. Shrieking my name as their bodies contort with rage. I cannot help the shrill scream that rips its way from my throat.
Everyone opens fire. Gale wipes out one with his explosive arrows, and the explosion crumbles the doorway onto the second. It causes a halt in their attack, which is just enough for us to sprint away.
But they don't hold off for long.
And they smell of Snow's roses.
The others are shouting at me as we sprint along the tunnel. I turn and fire an arrow as I run backwards and I catch a glimpse of Peeta blasting the leg off of the closest one. I slam into the ladder and turn around quickly, ordering my body to climb. The others are not far behind, and soon we reach a second platform.
"Farther down!" Castor orders, speaking for Pollux. "There's another ladder! That one leads to the surface!"
We all make it up the first ladder and race towards the second. The mutts can climb, and just as I reach the second ladder I turn and see that one has Castor by the throat.
"No!" I screech, turning around.
"Climb, Katniss!" Peeta yells, practically shoving me up the ladder. I swallow thickly and climb. I mount the platform and notice a circular hatch. Our portal to the surface.
Peeta hauls himself onto the platform, quickly followed by Cressida. I grab her gun and shine the light back into the tunnel just as Gale mounts the ladder. I see Finnick, wielding his trident like it's an extension of his arm. But the mutts are unyielding. I see one jump at him from the side, and I know then that it's over.
For a moment it's as if I'm Finnick, watching images of my life flash by. The mast of a boat, a silver parachute, Mags laughing, a pink sky, Beetee's trident, Annie in her wedding dress, waves breaking over the rocks. Then it's over.
Only it isn't.
Boggs appears from nowhere and shoves Finnick to the side, sending him crashing into the ladder. I see him look back, a flash of pain crossing his face. Then he starts to climb.
He makes it to the top, and Gale starts furiously unscrewing the hatch. It opens, and he grabs me and lifts me through the hole. I haul myself onto the concrete and roll to my side, heaving. Peeta is next, then Cressida, then Finnick. Gale is last, and the covers the hatch with a loud clank.
Peeta, Gale, Finnick, Cressida, and me. That's all that's left.
Feelings will come later. "We need to keep going," Gale says.
But Peeta is on his knees, leaning against the side of a building, shaking. I immediately move to him.
"Peeta? Peeta, look at me."
His eyes are like black pools, his pupils so dilated that the blue irises have all but vanished. His jaw is tight and the muscles in his wrists are hard as metal.
"Leave me," he chokes out. "I'm losing it. I can't hang on."
"Yes," I insist. "You can."
I lean in and kiss him full on the mouth. His whole body shakes violently, but his hands come up to grasp my face and pull me closer. Eventually I have to pull back for air, and when I do, the blue has returned to his eyes.
"Stay with me," I murmur.
"Always," he says back.
We keep moving. The sun has set and we stick to the shadows as we move through the streets. Cressida seems to be our bets asset now. She leads us through the streets into what looks like some sort of private residence. We slip through a manicured garden and back into an alleyway. Soon we are before a grimy storefront filled with mannequins in furry underwear. It looks like it's been foreclosed, but Cressida pushes through the front door and nods towards a hunched figure sitting in the back.
Behind the counter sits the strangest person I've ever seen. She is the epitome of surgical enhancement gone wrong. The skin of her face has been pulled back tightly and tattooed with gold stripes, and her nose has been flattened until it barely exists. Cat whiskers almost two feet long poke out from her cheekbones, and the result is a gross, semi-feline mask which squints at us distrustfully.
"Lock the door," she hisses. Even her voice is strangely catlike. When Gale clicks the lock into place and returns to her presence, she lets out a satisfied purr.
Cressida nods to the woman with a pinched grin. "Everyone- this is Tigris."
A lot of plot development in this chapter. We'll see some more of that, as well as more Everlark, in the chapters to come. There are only two left and then the epilogue! Thank you all so much for reading and for sticking with me this whole time, and thanks to wollaston for being a kickass beta. If you have any questions or ever want to chat, I'm on tumblr as 'ohalaskayoung'. You guys are the best. :)
xoxo