There were a couple moments of silence following the propo, and Camille knew that she wasn't the only one taking the moments of silence to remember the three members they had just lost.
Homes was the first to break the silence. "What do we do now?"
"We proceed as normal," Jackson said, checking the barrel of her gun before clicking it back into place. "Or, as normal as it can be under the circumstances. We must continue to go to the Capitol, to Snow's mansion."
Camille watched Jackson's eyes drift toward Katniss for confirmation, and the Mockingjay just gave her a small nod in affirmation, allowing Jackson to relax only a small bit. Katniss then stepped forward, placing the Holo on a large table and bringing up the holographic map that had proved to only be halfway useful thus far.
"Is there any way you can mark where the bodies are? Just in case we make it through this thing and can come back for them," Homes said quietly, uncharacteristic of the medic with the ego Camille couldn't forget.
Katniss nodded simply in answer, placing three orange dots at each place of where the bodies of Squad 451 members laid. Feeling restless, Camille got up from the couch and walked toward where Katniss, Jackson, and Homes where closely scrutinizing the map, followed closely by Finnick.
Gale came to Camille's other side as they all took in the holographic map, realizing that the building they had run in to for cover was in a more precarious position than the previous one, where they had lost three people. The tension around the table rose and Jackson shook her head. "There's got to be another way. We can't lose anybody else, and I'm fearful of what other surprise pods we may have ahead of us."
"Then use me."
All of them that had surrounded the table turned and looked with surprise at Peeta, who was sitting under Pollux's watchful eye. He stood, looking exhausted and sad but determined as he repeated, "Use me to trigger surprise pods. I deserve to die anyway."
Katniss made a sound like she had been punched in the stomach as she demanded, "What?"
"I killed Mitchell," Peeta said, sending a chill around the room. "I was uncontrollable, and I killed him when he was just trying to protect me and everybody else. I don't deserve to live anymore, to put you all in danger. And we all know that Coin sent me here because she wants you to kill me, doesn't want my blood on her own hands."
"Peeta, that's ridiculous," Katniss said, shaking her head and stepping toward him. "We're not going to kill you."
"You should," Peeta said, firming his jaw. "You should, because I have thought about killing each and every one of you at one point or another. I don't want to, but I have. I'm ill, or messed up, or something, and I can't…"
Camille rushed forward, landing a punch on Peeta's cheek before sending him to the floor and landing on top of him herself. The rest of the rebels quickly sprung into action.
"Cam!" Finnick shouted, pulling her off of Peeta, who looked up blankly at her. She saw some sadness register in his eyes, probably stemming from the friendly time they had shared in creating his Real-Or-Not-Real game. But Camille had finally gotten fed up with mopey Peeta's comments.
Still slightly resisting against Finnick's arms around her waist, she snapped at Peeta, "We're not going to kill you, Peeta. We've gotten here, and a lot of it was because of you. If anything, you're the one who's fought the most. You're the one who's had to fight to remember what you even believe in, and I'm… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Peeta blinked several times, looking blatantly surprised as Finnick turned Camille so she could cry into his chest. The rest of the rebel crew looked on in discomfort, and Katniss looked on in distracted concern. A few tense moments passed before Camille collected herself enough to say, "Please. Don't ask us to kill you, when I've… when we've all done all of this just to protect you. I know you said you're ill, but you're still Peeta, and we can't kill you."
Finnick loosened his grip on his girlfriend, but she leaned against him for support as she blinked her teary eyes at Peeta. He swallowed, hard, then nodded. "I want my own nightlock in case I get out of control again. I can feel it coming, and I can stop it before you all know."
"No," Jackson said firmly, as Pollux quietly offered Camille a handkerchief from one of the nightstands in the room. "If you know ahead of time when you are about to have a mental break, then you tell us, and we subdue you. We are not losing another soldier. Do I make myself clear?"
The words were clearly meant for everyone in the squad, not just Peeta. Camille was unsure if this was a warning from Jackson that everyone were to take care of themselves in whatever step they took next, or if it was a warning to stay away from Peeta and not fulfill her death wish. Either way, Camille was grateful for Jackson's leadership in that moment.
Messalla had stood from his position next to Peeta, and finally eyed the holographic map. His look was thoughtful, calculating, before he finally said, "Do you think the pods reach underground?"
"Underground?" Katniss repeated, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Yeah," Messalla said excitedly, even getting a small smile on his face. "There is an underground subway system that isn't used anymore, because they prefer the open air trains. Easier to construct, fix, more beautiful to travel in, less risk of collapses, and so on. It's still used for military and supply transport, but it probably isn't in much use considering the state of the country right now."
"If a train were to come, is there enough room to step aside?" Jackson asked, more tension relieved from her shoulders.
"More than enough," Messalla said, nodding his head. "There are many stops that open up in various areas of the Capitol, and several alleys that branch off of the main alleyway that servants sometimes use to walk through from one place to another."
Pollux excitedly nodded, and Castor clapped his brother on the back. "Pollux used to be an Avox who worked in the underground. He knows it well. But the fact still remains – are there pods down there?"
"I doubt it," Camille said, speaking up as all eyes turned toward her. "I don't think they expect us to know or use the underground, knowing how dangerous the trains are, and how disgusting the tunnels are. But I could be wrong. If we get down there, I can tell if anything is suspiciously different. Luckily for us, the pods won't have many places to hide in the underground. There's really no outcroppings or buildings, no foliage. They'd be on a flat wall, visible, and misplaced."
Jackson looked toward Katniss, who nodded and said authoritatively, "Let's do it. Gather any last minute supplies, we'll be out of here in five minutes."
They did as she said, reconvening in the living room before they raced toward a subway entrance, led by Messalla. Once they all landed on the ground, Pollux took over the lead of the group, Castor right behind him to verbally relay messages from the front of the group to the back.
Looking around, Camille and Homes, who had a small bit of Engineering in his background, agreed that it seemed free of pods. To keep safe of the trains, they took to the tunnels branching off the main stops, which were only a small step above sewer tunnels.
They traveled in near silence, the occasional whisper echoing throughout the tunnel. Camille allowed her wire to travel down her arm so it rested in the palm of her hand, and Finnick kept one hand behind him at all times, prepared to pull one of his tridents out of its sheath.
They walked for hours, resting once in an alcove for six hours, with two people sitting watch every hour. Finnick and Camille pulled watch together, the last shift of the six. After checking both ends of the alcoves for any assassins lurking around the corners, the two of them took seats on one end, facing the way they had come from.
Finnick gently rested his head on Camille's shoulder, and she smiled, feeling tired but, for the moment, calm. "You better not fall asleep again, Odair."
"Why would I, when my dream is sitting right next to me?" he asked, leaning up again to kiss her head. She smiled a little wider and shoved him away playfully as he smiled, too, then sighed, obviously just as exhausted as she was. "Cam."
"Fin," she responded, playing with the net and wire ring around her finger.
In response, Finnick reached over and placed his hand on top of hers, his ring on top of hers. Leaning down, he kissed her hand, promising, "This will be our future."
"Finnick," she said, turning to him, concern etched through her features. "A million things could go wrong. A billion things, actually. And there's only one way that this goes right. What if we don't succeed? What if we don't get to the Capitol? What if we-"
"What if we do succeed?" Finnick cut in gently, his face serious. "What if we do win this rebellion? What if we do change the ways of the Capitol? What if we do save Panem?"
Breathing heavily, Camille leaned back against the wall. Finnick gently rested his hand on her thigh, turning toward her as he said, "Don't forget why you're here – for those who have lost their lives in the light of these injustices forced upon us, and to save those who are at risk. But also, for this, for me and you, because without this hanging over our heads, we can finally be free, and finally be together."
Camille looked over at him, then leant over and kissed him, slowly and passionately as he wrapped his arms around her body. They stayed in the embrace for several minutes, before Camille pulled away and said, "I love you, Fin."
"I love you, too, Cam," he said, leaning down to kiss her once more before grinning. "Hey, remember when you hated me?"
Camille snorted. "All too well. I thought you were a pretentious tool."
"I thought you were a precocious techie," Finnick said, earning a doubtful look from Camille before he laughed and shook his head. "Okay, no. I saw you as an intriguing, beautiful techie."
"Mhm," Camille said, smiling as she snuggled her face into Finnick's neck. "Right answer."
Suddenly, Finnick went on high alert. Camille, did, too, especially after hearing what her boyfriend had heard first.
"Katniss."
They both stood quickly, Camille unraveling her wire and Finnick unsheathing his trident. The sound woke up Katniss, Gale, and Jackson, and Camille laid her eyes on Peeta and Messalla as the sound was repeated.
"Katniss."
Neither one of their lips moved, and Camille looked over at Finnick, who was waking Cressida and Homes, before he looked up and shook his head at Camille to tell her neither of them had spoken the Mockingjay's name either. Turning, Camille looked at Gale, who was standing in front of Castor and Pollux; he, too, shook his head.
Nudging Peeta and Messalla awake, Camille was going to explain when the sound came again, this time louder and from different sources it sounded like.
"Katniss."
Peeta's eyes went round. "So, I'm assuming that we're probably going to run away from that creepiness right now?"
"You would assume right," Camille said, typing in the code to Peeta's handcuffs that she had specifically designed. She slipped them into her pocket as Peeta's eyes went wider, and she shook her head. "I trust you, Peeta. And I can't really worry about you if this is going to be a full on attack and we all need to fight."
He nodded in understanding as Jackson and Pollux quickly began leading the group out of the alcove, still going to the Capitol, but moving at a much brisker pace than what was originally planned. A confusion of tunnels left Jackson in the back, Pollux still leading and followed closely by Cressida, Katniss, and Peeta. Camille was next in line, carefully watching Peeta as well as her surroundings, but knowing Gale and Finnick were close behind if she needed them. Castor, Homes, and Messalla all refilled their guns as they walked, packing in extra, easy-to-grab ammo on their armor vests, making the only sound beside the creepy calls of Katniss' name, and their own footsteps and breaths.
They came to an open junction, and suddenly heard hisses and squeals like no monster Camille had ever heard before. Above all the noise, Jackson shouted, "South tunnel and southeast tunnels!"
Out of the eight tunnels, the whole group turned toward two. One group was led by Jackson, the other Gale, as they began firing anything and everything they had at the monstrosities that ran toward them.
To Camille, they looked like giant lizards that had gone through a horrible accident, and whose jaws rivaled the dexterity of a Venus flytrap's. Still, that did not deter her as she and Finnick stepped around Gale to pick off the lizards in hand-to-hand combat that escaped from the general massacre of bullets Gale and Messalla were firing down upon the tunnel.
No matter how many mutts they downed, creating piles at the mouths of the tunnels, more seemed to be coming. Suddenly, more mutts' squeals could be heard coming from the southwest corridor, and it took Camille a while to realize that the gunfire was fading around her until someone yanked her back.
"We can't fight them, there's too many!" Finnick screamed, shoving Camille in front of him. "Run!"
She did as his voice commanded, her legs pumping as they all took down the tunnel, following the panicked gestures of silent Pollux. Camille was only able to regain and maintain her calm by convincing herself that it was another trial run in the Capitol, prepping for her games. The irony almost made her laugh, but she pushed the chuckle back down.
They finally came to a ladder as Gale and Peeta pushed Katniss, Camille, and Cressida ahead of them. As Camille swung her legs and hands up in synchronization, she didn't dare look back, sure that the sight of the mutts or the heights that had always made her stomach turn would make her and the people after her all fall.
When she reached the top, Cressida and Katniss reached in and yanked her out of the tunnel, getting her to land on her feet before they reached in and helped Pollux up. The snarls and growls of the lizard mutts behind them echoed throughout the tunnel, tossing Camille's stomach over and over as she focused on getting the rest of them out of there.
Peeta and Gale were the last two out, and they slammed shut the mouth to the tunnel behind them, the latter yelling, "Katniss, your Holo!"
As Camille turned to Katniss to see if she responded, she noticed their group seemed even smaller than it had before. She felt her heart drop to her feet as she realized who one of the missing soldiers was.
"Finnick?" Camille said, whirling around as she took an inventory of the group. When she saw he was, indeed, missing, she rushed toward the tunnel, screaming, "Finnick!"
Someone grabbed her around the waist as they heard the monsters on the opposite side of the tunnel thrashing against the exit, trying to get through. Camille sobbed against what she realized was Peeta's chest, pulling against him as all of her sight blurred. She could vaguely hear Katniss desperately screaming "Nightlock!" as she threw the Holo into the tunnel behind them.
"No!" Camille screamed so loudly that Gale covered her mouth with his hand. She bit it and he hissed as he pulled away, drawing blood as she screamed desperately, "Finnick!"
Gale growled, "Pollux, the medicine."
"No, Gale," Katniss said, stepping forward. However, Gale kept her back as Pollux pulled out a syringe and pressed it into Camille's skin, despite her trying her best to pull out of Peeta's strong arms and knock it out of his hands.
Finally, her whole world went mercifully black.