By some sort of bought of luck, we do not pass anyone that we know well enough to question why the two of us are together. I follow Finnick through the tunnels, my eyes on the back of his head as we twist, turn, and finally come to an elevator. I step aside as Finnick waits for it to open, hiding in the shadows in case someone is in there.
As the doors part, chatter is heard and I push myself further into the shadows. The voices barely pause as the owners of them step past Finnick and then pass me, one at a time. They are all soldiers of some sort.
Finnick motions to me the moment they are gone but I already stepped from the shadows. As soon as we are inside of the silent elevator, I feel the need to speak. I know our plan inside and out, but the quiet is too much.
"They didn't even think it odd you were out?"
He shrugs. "Sometimes I come up here for a stroll or to help out with patrols."
"But you're not in uniform."
"No one said everyone here was a genius," that forced one side of my mouth up in a half-smile. The doors opened and I kept from gasping at the beauty. Night turns everything outside here into a majestic silver darkness. Hues of only the darkest colors filled my vision, aided by the silver glow of the moon that seems to radiate off of everything. It was stunning.
Taking my hand, Finnick led the way through the rubble on the ground and I snapped out of whatever small trance I had been in. We make it past the open area and he flings me behind a tree just as voices move towards us from the woods, of which we were now on the outskirts.
Holding a hand over my heart I try to slow my breathing and am not able to by the time the guards pass us. So, I hold my breath until they are out of hearing range, which only causes me to breathe harder afterwards.
A tap on my shoulder indicates that Finnick is ready to go. I turn and follow him, we keep to the outside of the line of trees, never going too far in and stopping if we heard voices. But most did not travel out as far as we had unless they were watching for new arrivals into the District.
"Excuse me," a voice to our right makes us both jump and we faced the guard watching us. "What are you doing out so late?"
Before I can do or say anything but be stunned and have hopelessness flood me, a small explosion erupted not far from where we were. The guard jerked around, holding his gun toward the light and sound. I gasp and the hand that was on my mouth is wrenched away as Finnick snatches it and tugs me after him. I hear the guard yelling stuff but I cannot tell what he is saying.
This time we flee into the forest, continuing on for awhile in a diagonal line from where we had been. At some point Finnick drops my hand and I follow him in total silence. When he stops I do too. He motions for me to stay and he walks away until the foliage covers him.
While standing alone in the middle of the forest, I wonder if Peeta is still alive. If all of this is not some sort of wasted effort trying to rescue him. If he has not survived the torture the Capitol has made him endure, it is going to be my fault. We never should have split up in the Arena.
Before I can fully comprehend the next explosion behind me, but closer to District Thirteen than the other had been, Finnick appears.
"Come on," we weave through some trees and bushes before we come to a large clearing. Except, on the outsides of the clearing there are different hovercrafts and other kinds of machinery. Not able to get a look at anything, even with the moonlight guiding us, I rush after Finnick until we get to the one of the three hovercrafts in the middle of the clearing.
It is the medium sized one out of all three and the door on the side (who knew they didn't have to paralyze you on a rope?) is already open. We leap inside and it closes with an agonizingly slow pace behind us.
As soon as it shuts, Finnick moves to lock it. When that is done he turns to me and grins, blowing a stray piece of hair out of his face. "Buckle up," he says and I sit next to him on a bench facing the door. We strap ourselves in.
"Isn't there another seat in with Beetee?" I ask, knowing he is driving.
He glances at me and I notice the hesitation in his eyes before he speaks. "It's taken."
My heart catches in my throat. "WHAT?" I scream as the hovercraft lifts. I also hear other hovercrafts start up. My mind swirls with endless thoughts. "MORE THAN JUST US?"
More than anything, I feel betrayed. Beyond the stun, rage, relief, and embarrassment, betrayal was what I most feel. It is something Haymitch would do, not Finnick.
He must see the hurt expression on my face because he reaches out a hand to touch my cheek. I slap it away and he sighs. "Listen to me, Katniss," he says.
"No, you listen to me," I hiss. "I do not want others risking their lives for me to get Peeta back."
"Good," Finnick leans back and watches me for a moment. "Because they are not doing it for you. Or me. Or the people we are going to save. Or just to defy the Capitol. They are all here today after I gave them the choice to volunteer. They are doing it for the greater good, for the future children yet to be born. They are doing it so no one will ever have to be a part of the Games ever again. This is bigger than the both of us, Katniss. You may be the face and the spark this revolution needed, but they are not doing this to please you. You are just keeping the hope alive."
"I don't want them to die," I slink back in my bench. "Too many people have died already."
"And more will die. This is a war, Katniss. People die in war. But, for our children to have a better future than we could imagine; no Games. Fair lives. If they die, they volunteered for it and knew it was a possibility."
"They shouldn't."
"But they did."
It was not as if I could tell Beetee to turn the hovercraft around and take us back to District Thirteen because I did not want to have this many people with us. It would be forever until we got another chance to leave. Peeta could not wait any longer.
Instead of thinking of the souls who were now risking their lives by helping me, I wonder what kind of ruckus will occur in District Thirteen when they realize we are gone. My mind brings up mental images of them scurrying around on the ground, trying to restore order to the place. If they did not see the hovercrafts when we first took off, and if it takes awhile for anyone to listen to the guard who saw us, it will take them awhile to realize that we were not there.
Author's note;
It's been almost a year since I've updated a story on here. It feels strange.
Anyways, I already had this (and chapter 13) written. So I decided to post them.
And I'm hoping to finish this story, too. [:
However, I am a little afraid my writing style has changed (by that I mean gotten better), so we will see what happens.
Please bare with me.
xoxo,
Tia
