Chapter 26. Unexpected Difficulty
The Avox girl opened her eyes as soon as her rescuer knelt in front of her. As she felt the tightness from the fabric on her former fingers, she winced slightly, but she focused on Gale after a few moments. Once his face registered in her pain clouded mind, her eyes widened slightly in recognition. Obviously, she didn't speak, but she gave the hunter a quick, desperate nod as she struggled slightly against the still-hot chair. Gale unfastened the belts from her body before quickly picking her up, trying to move her as little as possible, certain that every touch to her burnt flesh was painful. He almost jumped, however, when he heard the blond behind him yelling.
"Stop it! Get your hands away from us! She didn't do anything wrong, please!"
Delly pulled her hands from Peeta almost immediately, her eyebrows instantly furrowing in concern, pulling the strap from his forehead. "Peeta, we're here to help..."
Katniss didn't remove her hands from Peeta or glance up at his screaming. Her hands began to shake though, as she unfastened his hands from the chair. Peeta's shouts didn't stop until the final strap was off. Almost immediately, he grasped Katniss by her shoulders and pushed her as hard as he could, away from him. Katniss immediately fell backwards onto the hard ground, her wounded shoulder hitting the floor with an exceeding amount of force. She let out a loud, short shriek, grasping onto it as she felt the bullet force deeper into her muscle. "Peeta! What the hell is wrong with you?"
But the blond was already on his feet and attempting to run for the door. His steps were shaky and weak, like he hadn't walked in years as he managed to take six steps from the two girls before crashing onto all fours on the ground. Violently, he shook his head. "G-get away from me. I w-won't let you hurt... I w-won't let you near me again!" he shouted, his voice laced with fear as he tried to crawl towards the door.
Katniss's angry eyes almost instantly softened into curiosity. She struggled to her feet, grasping her arm that was now hanging uselessly at her side and started toward him, but Delly beat her there. She instantly knelt next to Peeta, but didn't touch him. She knew better than that.
When she spoke, her voice was soft and soothing, despite the anxiety coursing through her. She was trying desperately to be the soft girl that Peeta remembered from their childhood, hoping she could still channel that person even if she was long gone. "Peeta, we're not going to hurt you. We're here to help you."
Peeta's desperate crawl slowed down but he still continued to shake his head wildly, tears beginning to run down his cheeks. "N-no. You're not real. T-this is all another lie, a-another muttation... I'm n-not going to fall for it again."
Delly crawled a little closer and she hesitantly reached out, brushing some of the tears on his cheeks away, her hand shaking. 'Oh, Peeta, what have they done to you?'
"It's me, Peeta. Delly Cartwright. Don't you remember? We used to play your favorite game, Tag, behind the shops in District 12 and I would tell everyone at school you were my brother. We were best friends. A muttation wouldn't know that, would it?"
Slowly, the painter lifted his head finally to look directly at her, his breath and body trembling. He reached over suddenly, desperately, grasping onto her forearms as he knelt up slightly. He stared down into her eyes for a long moment before shaking his head again. "P-please let this really be you, Delly... I-if it's another t-trick, I can't..."
Delly let out a soft sob at his desperation but she shook her head quickly, closing her eyes against the tears that she couldn't let fall, not when Peeta was so damaged. She swallowed and opened her misty eyes after a moment, looking at him again, forcing her voice to be steady. "It's me, Peeta. Will you come with me? Please. You need to get out of here."
"B-but you're with them..."
"Them?" She blinked, as if she had forgotten anyone else but Peeta and herself were in the room. She glanced back at Katniss, who had tears running down her cheeks unchecked, and Gale with the Avox girl, before looking back at Peeta. "Katniss and Gale?"
"I-it's not them, Delly... T-they killed them... A-all my stylists and t-they were going to kill Lavinia. We can't go with them, Delly, please."
"P-Peeta," Katniss choked out, but Delly ignored her. She smoothed her hand over Peeta's hair comfortingly.
"Peeta, I've been with them the whole time. I promise they're real. I know it's a lot to take in right now but just trust me."
"N-no, please Delly," Peeta begged, the tears starting to stream down his cheeks again as he desperately shook her arms. "T-they'll kill you, they're Mutts."
"We don't have time for this anymore," Gale spoke up as he looked towards the doorway where the rest of the soldiers were. "We're going to be attacked if we just sit around and wait."
Delly turned her eyes toward Gale, narrowing them dangerously, even as she brought Peeta's head close to her chest, curling her arms around him protectively. "Stop being so heartless, Gale. He's confused. I know it will absolutely kill you to wait two damn seconds," she snapped at him before looking down at Peeta. "Peeta, they're not Mutts. I know you don't believe me, so, if they try to attack you, I promise I'll protect you. I'll always protect you, okay?"
"It very well might kill us," Gale muttered, glaring towards Delly but saying nothing more.
Peeta didn't hear any of Gale's words, however. His eyes were focused on Delly as his head shook slightly. "D-don't... I d-don't want anybody e-else to die, please..."
She stroked a hand down Peeta's back slowly, trying to calm him down, ignoring Gale as well. "No one's going to die, Peeta. We're all here to help you."
He couldn't argue anymore even if he wanted. The possibility that the Delly before him might be able to finally help him escape was a chance he had to take, even if it meant following muttations. He decided to himself to just stick by what he thought was most likely real and keep a wary eye on the mutts. "O-okay..."
"Okay..." She softly curled an arm around his back, helping him to his feet. "I know you're having trouble walking. Will you let Katniss help me carry you or should I get someone else?"
Fear suddenly spiked back in Peeta's eyes at her suggestion, but Gale offered their solution. "Finnick!" he called out towards the door.
Katniss pressed her lips together tightly against a sob at Peeta's refusal and just tightened her hand around her bicep, the pain it caused distracting her from the anxiety rising in her chest and the pain in her heart.
Finnick turned his head toward the doorway. Wanting to give them their privacy, he had been pretending to watch guard, but at Gale's call, he walked into the room. He saw Peeta and forced a winning smile at the boy before curling an arm around his back. He pulled the blond boy's arm up around his shoulders, so Peeta was awkwardly suspended between the tall District 4 Victor and his much smaller best friend. "We good?"
Peeta, however, just stared at Finnick with wide eyes and shock. He looked like he was staring at a ghost. "I s-saw you die."
Finnick eyed Peeta. If he was shocked, he didn't show it. "Did you? It seems as if I'm here and obviously very solid, so I can't be a ghost, right?"
"B-but... I saw the explosion... she did it," the blond began to mumble, his voice growing quieter and quieter until his words recessed back to thoughts.
"Well, I promise you I'm not dead, Peeta," Finnick stated, forcing his tone to be cheerful. "We're all alive and everything's peachy, so stop being a downer!"
Peeta said nothing but managed a small nod, still lost in his thoughts and memories.
Deciding the group had wasted too much time, Gale rushed from the room first. He eyed everybody outside as he held the Avox girl, Lavinia, closely to his chest. Automatically, he faced Willow. "Sorry I stole control back there for awhile. Mind leading us out of this mess?"
Delly and Finnick led Peeta to the doorway after Gale with Katniss pulling up the rear, alone. Willow eyed Lavinia and then Peeta silently before looking back at Gale. She nodded once before looking back at the rebels as a whole. "Surround the rescued hostages and the Mockingjay. We can't allow them to be harmed any further, got it?"
This time, she waited for the nods and watched the remaining soldiers surround the small group before leading them back the way they had come, back to the hovercrafts.
As the group ran, Peeta seemed to look more and more confused by the situation. His eyes bounced from Chaff to Finnick and everywhere between the two men as he moved his legs as best he could to keep up with the rebels helping him. Finally, he looked towards Delly as they ran. "Chaff's alive too..."
Delly kept her eyes ahead of her, not glancing at Peeta. She secured his arm a little tighter around her shoulders. "No one's been killed since you were taken, Peeta. Except Amur and his wife."
"A-Amur...?" Peeta questioned, blinking a few times, confused.
"Amur," Delly paused, glancing at him questioningly. "Do you remember Amur?"
Peeta looked away from her, thinking very hard before shaking his head.
Delly furrowed her eyebrows before tightening her arm around his waist, soothingly. She didn't know what they had done to Peeta, but she couldn't dwell on it and she couldn't show how upset she was. "It's okay. We'll talk when we're safely back in the hovercrafts or in Bonum, okay? I'll help you sort everything out."
"A-alright. Thanks Delly..."
She only nodded once before looking away from him. The Peeta in her mind was always so strong and so brave, not like the one in front of her who was broken and confused. She was hoping she had it in her to bring him back but she wasn't sure how far gone he was or if she was even strong enough to help him. She forced these thoughts back, though, as they were led back by Willow out of the Justice Building and into the raging battle outside.