Chapter Twenty Nine
Finnick had leaped out of his chair when the massive crack had appeared in the wall of the dam. He'd watched with horror, along with the rest of the mentors, when the thing had practically split in two and the water had spilled out into the rest of the arena. That was not meant to happen!
"Well, they won't be happy with that…" Haymitch had said, his voice low. Finnick nearly turned on him. Who cared if the Gamemakers would be happy with it? There was nowhere for the water to go!
He spun back to Annie's screen. She had been sitting among some tree roots, her eyes closed as she tried to get a bit of rest. The tremor had woken her and she was now looking around. He watched as her eyes widened and a brief flicker of panic flashed through them before the wave hit her.
"Annie!" He dropped to his knees before the screen, his eyes intent upon it. He tried to keep sight of her as she was washed along quickly. He could almost feel as she hit each tree or rock and he was sure she would hit any one of them and be killed.
"No!" his hands went to his hair when Annie was smashed against a rock and went limp. "No! No No Noo…" He touched the screen. "No, Annie come on… Breathe! Breathe Breathe Breathe…" Finnick held his own breath as he watched. Annie was washed along for a few moments before she began to move again. Watching, wide eyed, he let out a relieved breath when she pushed herself for the surface and took a deep breath of her own.
Rocking back and forth on his heels, he watched as she grabbed onto a log that was quickly smashed. She scrambled to grab onto a rock, but was washed away from it. "Calm down, Annie…" he whispered, "Just breathe…"
As the water began to settle slightly Annie seemed to relax a little. She knew how to swim and it appeared that she was able to keep her head above the water easily enough. Finnick felt himself relaxing a bit as he watched her. That was, until she grabbed Lumina's body. He watched as the panic, dread, and horror returned to her face almost instantly. The sound she made made him ache.
"Annie…"
She pushed herself away from Lumina and headed in the opposite direction just as the cannon sounded. Glancing around at the other screen, Finnick saw that Inciness had drowned. She hadn't known how to swim and had not been able to hold onto a branch she had been clinging to.
"One left, Annie…" he whispered, looking at her. "There's only one left…"
Annie looked at the sky. She had been treading water for a while now, but nothing new had happened. Every so often something moved past her, and she jolted to attention, fearing attack but it had turned out to be a branch or a log or something else that wasn't a threat. Wondering yet again who the last tribute was, she moved to float on her back. Whoever it was, surely they would not be able to swim for as long as she could. The tributes from the other Districts were never as good in the water as those from District Four. She just had to outlast whoever it was. She could do that.
A splash nearby caused Annie to raise her head. Looking around, she sank a bit, drowning out her scream when she saw Jarek coming toward her.
"What's up, Annie?" he called.
She turned and started swimming as quickly as she could away from him.
"Where are you going?" he called, following her. "You know I'll find you!"
Annie turned into the current and swam harder. Her progress slowed, but it was better than Jarek's. He was making absolutely no progress against the flow. She gave a grim smile, pleased with herself. She was better at this than he was. He didn't give up, however. After a few minutes, Annie began to tire and she closed her eyes as she kept moving. She could not keep this up forever. Sooner or later, the water was going to deliver her straight to him.
Glancing over her shoulder, Annie saw that Jarek's teeth were bared and he was obviously struggling too. "Just… come here…" he panted, nearly sinking beneath the water before he pulled himself up again, "I promise… I'll make it quick…"
Turning away from him, Annie kept going. She would not allow him to get at her. She had pulled herself through countless rips back home. She had been able to get herself out of bad currents since she was twelve. Of course, every child over the age of six knew you never swam against a rip, but that didn't mean that she couldn't do it. Blocking him from her thoughts, Annie kept her mind focused on getting her body to move. Just like dancing. She kept repeating that to herself. Forcing herself to focus on that, she let her body take over and let the movements come as easily as breathing.
She didn't know how much time had passed before she heard the cannon.
The sound echoed through the flooded arena, seemingly carried further and louder by the water. Annie let go and stopped moving. The water instantly took hold and pushed her backward and under. Annie pushed herself to the surface again and turned onto her back once more, allowing herself to be pushed around as she kept her eyes on the sky.
She barely registered as a loud voice echoed around her. She heard her name and she guessed they must have announced her as the victor. She just closed her eyes and tried to block it all out.
Finnick gave a cry when Jarek finally slipped beneath the water and a cannon sounded. Almost instantly Annie stopped fighting and allowed the current to wash her back. She surfaced a few seconds later and floated along on her back. Her eyes held that vacant expression again and he could tell that she was not paying attention to anything. She was announced as the Victor and they sent a ship in to get her.
"I don't believe it." Brutus said from behind him. "I just… don't believe it… Jarek was stronger…"
"But clearly lacking in stamina." Finnick replied, turning to face the bigger man.
"You reckon? He could have taken you in a fight."
Finnick gave a shrug. "And yet Annie is the victor."
"She shouldn't be." Brutus muttered, looking down at him. "You think people are going to be happy about that? They're not going to like it. They're going to hate her. She's just going to be a reminder about the disappointment that the Games turned out to be. She'll be a reminder in the Districts that their tributes died for nothing."
"They die for nothing every year!" Finnick snapped, "She will be hope! Hope that anyone could survive! Hope that just because they have not secretly trained their entire life for it that just maybe they could come out the other side, too!"
"Only if there is a freak accident…"
"No." He said flatly, "Annie did well. She survived. Nobody else did. That's all there is to it."
Turning away as Annie's screen went black, Finnick straightened his jacket. They would bring her back here. The craft that took her from the arena would land on the roof within the hour with her. He had to be up there when she arrived. He needed to be.
Annie allowed the Capitol people who took her out of the arena to mill around her, leading her about by the elbow. Someone wrapped her in a blanket and they allowed her to sit as their craft took them back to the city. She stared at her feet, images of the arena still swimming before her eyes. She couldn't get Lumina's cold, still, face out of her mind.
Steeling herself, Annie tried to keep calm. She may be out of the arena but she still wasn't safe. Letting out a slow breath, she traced her finger along Finnick's rope bracelet that was still around her left wrist. It made her feel safer, she realised. "Finnick…" She breathed, wondering if that was the reason he had sent it to her. Had he known what effect it would have on her? He must have as there was no other reason to send her a tiny piece of rope. She couldn't have used it for anything.
Closing her eyes, Annie pressed her hands over her ears to shut out the sound of everything around her. It was not all that long before someone had pulled her to her feet and was pushing her toward the large door that had opened at the back of the craft. Stumbling down the steps, she realised that they had landed on the roof of the training centre. She had a brief glimpse of several cameras nearby and then she had reached the roof. She froze, struck by the fact that they were all focused on her. She had known that she was being watched the entire time she had been in the arena, she knew that she had been on thousands of screens across Panem. This was different, though. Now that she could see the cameras it felt so much worse. She knew that she would have to get used to it, however. There were going to be many more cameras before she was able to go home.
"Finnick!" She had let out the cry the instant she saw him standing nearby. Without waiting for her escorts to tell her where to go, Annie hurried toward Finnick. He met her halfway and wrapped his arms around her quickly. She leaned into him, closing her eyes.
"Annie…" she heard him breathe gently, "I knew you'd do it…"
She nodded as he rubbed a hand up and down her back. He was warm and strong and she felt her resolve beginning to crumble. She was out of the arena, she no longer had to fight.
"Finnick…" She murmured, "I want to go home."
"You will." He replied softly. Annie nodded again as her vision began to blur.
"Finn…" her head spun and her vision went black as her knees gave way beneath her.
Finnick sat by Annie's bed in the Hospital Ward with his head in his hands. He had nearly panicked when she had collapsed on the roof. She had been thin when she went into the arena, but he had not remembered her being that thin. The doctors had said that she was malnourished and in shock. He believed that. He only had to look at her to see she was suffering from shock.
Glancing at her in her bed, he eyed the tubes they had connected to her. Other than the tubes, Annie looked perfectly normal. After the work the Capitol doctors had done to her, she could have simply been sleeping. She had no more bruises, cuts, scrapes and her skin looked healthy and perfect. She was beautiful, but then, he had always thought she had been.
Looking at her now, he could still barely believe that she was right in front of him. He had hoped and wished that she would be the one to make it out of the arena, but he had believed it had been a fool's hope. To have her so close now seemed surreal. He reached a hand out and gently touched her arm.
"I'll take you home, Annie…" he murmured, "It won't be long now." He nearly jumped when her eyes flew open. "Annie…"
She sat upright in the bed and he froze. Her eyes held that unfocused quality he had seen in the arena. She wasn't aware of him.
"No!" He jumped when she started ripping the tubes out of her arm and then she had leaped out of the bed and bolted for the door. Finnick followed her, grabbing her around the waist.
She screamed and thrashed. He lifted her off the ground by her waist.
"Annie!" he breathed, "It's me… It's me, calm down…"
She screamed again and he felt like he had been stabbed in the chest.
"It's Finnick…" he told her, trying to keep his voice gentle. "You're safe with me… I won't let anyone hurt you…"
He felt her pause and then she stopped struggling against him. "Finnick…" she breathed.
"Yeah, it's me…" he set her feet back on the floor and she turned to look up at him.
"Finnick…"her voice was uncertain and he frowned when she began to shake visibly. She suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"Yeah… I've got you, Annie…" He lifted her to himself and carried her back to the bed where he sat her gently. She didn't let go of him, however, so he sat on the bed beside her. She clung to him as she continued to shake.
Finnick held her, resting his chin atop her head. She was smaller than he remembered.
"Where's the bracelet…?" She asked quietly. He lifted his head and looked down at her.
"What?" he stroked her hair back from her face.
"Your bracelet…"
"Oh." He smiled, "Do you want it back?" He smiled wider when her green eyes looked up to meet his, "Do you?" he asked. She nodded slowly and he took it from his pocket. He'd snuck it away when the doctors had begun to work on Annie and had removed it from her. "Here…" he whispered as he carefully slipped it over her hand and secured it around her wrist. She touched it with her other hand.
"Thank you." She murmured.
"Do you like it?" he asked, wondering why she wanted it back. It was just a bit of rope he'd woven together; it was nothing special.
"Yeah." She replied, looking up at him once more. "It made me feel safer."
Finnick wrapped his arms around her once more, holding her tightly. "Good." He told her, "That's good."
Author's Note:
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