Daniel sat on his cot waiting for the guards to return with Annie. Her beatings had become more severe after the reported failed bombing on district 13. Obviously the peacekeepers felt the need to take it out on someone much weaker than themselves. Which he knew meant longer periods of screaming.
Daniel had large dark bruises on his shoulder from where he had pressed so hard against the bars in his attempts to reach her from her spot on the floor. Usually if he could manage to touch her cheek or even her hand she would meet his eyes and quiet some as she scurried over to latch onto his arm.
Peeta had become a jittery mess and always seemed to be muttering to himself under his breath. Sometimes he would hide in the corner and quietly cry but more often then not he would just begin yelling for no apparent reason.
Daniel always cringed at those outbursts because that would usually trigger another screaming fit from Annie that never ended until the guards had beaten them both senseless.
Daniel was almost more worried about Johanna than the other two, as they would at least resist the guards but she had simply given up fighting at all. Most of the time the once snarky victor just curled up into a ball on the floor of her cell. She didn't even make a sound when the guards would holler rude comments to her.
Daniel would sneak in after the guards left and sit next to her. Her now mostly bare scalp was covered with scabs along with a few patches of stubble. When Daniel tried to give her crusts of bread he had managed to save from the peacekeepers' scraps she would just shake her head and roll over ignoring him.
One day he sat next to her. After a moment longer he moved to get up. "Are you leaving?" Johanna rasped out turning to look up at him. Daniel looked down and shrugged his shoulders. He had figured she didn't care if he were there or not. "I've never told you, but I like when you stay," she said and closed her eyes again.
Daniel sighed as he managed to sit back down with only a minimal amount of pain from when he had been beaten earlier. The guards had caught him giving a sip of water to an older man.
Johanna rolled over to face him while placing a hand on his knee. She leaned forward so her forehead just barely touched his knee. "Sometimes I wish I could just die," she muttered as she closed her dull brown eyes. Daniel placed his hand on top of hers and stared down at the victor. In the silence he recalled cringing as he watched her rant about the capitol and wondered where that fire had gone.
Momma, Finnick's on TV!" shrieked Stella." Celeste poked her head out the kitchen door.
Oceana was running down the hall from the living room. "Come on," called the girl as she grabbed onto Celeste's hand.
As the woman was pulled into the room by her daughter her eyes focused on the screen. Sure enough Finnick was there. His sea green eyes were focused on the camera as he spoke. Celeste hurried to turn up the volume then sat on the couch next to Frost. She pulled Stella up onto her lap.
"What is he talking about?" Frost asked as he spoke.
"Shhh," Celeste said as she leaned forward and listened. Finnick was speaking of Snow and why he always wore the white roses.
When a woman spoke from off screen she asked about him always being in the capitol. "Yes, I had the unfortunate fate as several other victors before me. My work in the capitol didn't just include mentoring."
Finnick then spoke of the events that happened shortly after his victory ball. He told of Snow selling him off to the highest bidder. As Celeste realized what Finnick was leading up to she quickly muted the TV. "Why did you do that, momma?" Oceana questioned from where she stood by the couch. Celeste shook her head while meeting her daughter's eyes. "I want to hear Finnick."
"He's talking about what Snow did to him, honey. It's not something little girls need to hear."
"But I love Finnick," Stella said from her mother's lap.
Celeste smiled down at her daughter and stroked some curls from her face. "I know you do, but Finnick wouldn't want to you to hear about the mean things they did to him."
"Why?" Stella questioned as she looked back at the screen.
Oceana looked from her mom back at the screen also as Celeste spoke, "Because Finnick wouldn't want to make you sad."
"But I am sad, cause we never see him anymore."
Celeste wrapped her arms around her daughter and hugged her gently, "I'm sure we will see Finnick again. We just have to be patient and wait."
"I hope so," spoke Oceana softly as she watched the victor mouthing unknown words.
Celeste reached over for the remote and switched on the captions. She turned to see Frost staring as her eyes took in all the words. She reached over and took hold of the girl's hand. When Frost looked over at her she said softly, "Are you sure you want to know this kind of stuff?"
Frost nodded, "I was told so many lies by Dr. Samil. Now I want to know the truth."
Celeste nodded but then added, "Sometimes the truth can be hard to handle."
Several times during his interview Finnick would disappeared and Caesar Flickerman appeared or a recording of President Snow would show. Soon Finnick would return.
Finally the girls began to play on the floor as Celeste read the subtitles. Even Frost had lost interest after a while and had curled up on the couch with her head on Celeste's lap.
The woman silently wondered why now they had chosen to air out all of Finnick's dirty laundry. She was at least glad that he seemed strong and vibrant as he spoke. She had wondered how he was holding up, as word around was that Annie was still in the capitol's clutches along with a few other victors. She recalled the declining state of Peeta Mellark during his last interview.
Daniel and Annie both jumped when they heard the peacekeepers suddenly file out of their lounge room. They were all cursing under their breaths and cocking their guns as they hurried down the hall. They all disappeared out the large metal door that led to a hallway. When followed that hall would lead to the hovercraft hanger.
Even as the door closed they heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire. Annie looked at Daniel, who shrugged his shoulders. They both glanced over their shoulders when they heard Johanna mumble, "What's going on?" It was the first time she had spoken in a few days.
Before Annie could answer Johanna, the door the peacekeepers had left through began to slide open. A strange greenish smoke wafted in. Daniel struggled to his feet even now feeling a little light headed. Several unidentified soldiers in gray uniforms and gas masks stepped inside with their guns ready. Daniel stumbled back a few steps before falling into an empty cell that had just been cleared.
As he struggled to stay conscious he watched as one soldier moved to the door of Annie's cell. He used some sort of device to jam the lock and the door slid open. By now Annie had already retreated to the far corner, but when the soldier stepped toward her she began to scream. Daniel heard him say through the mask, "It's okay, Miss Cresta. We're here to get you out." It didn't take long for the gas to overtake Annie, so the soldier was able to easily lift her into his arms.
Before Daniel's eyes closed he saw another soldier wrapping a blanket around Annie and heading out the door. "Take her to the hovercraft, while we get the others."
When the soldiers opened Johanna's door the victor stared up at them. "Are you here to rescue us?" she groaned out from where she lay on the floor.
"Yes, ma'am," answered the large soldier as he removed his gas mask and leaned down to pick her up. Normally she would have protested not wanting to appear weak but she didn't think she could manage.
"It's about time," she managed to mutter as the man carried her toward the door. She closed her eyes and let her head lean against his shoulder. She opened her eyes when she heard yelling behind her.
"No, no I don't want another treatment!" wailed Peeta as two soldiers carried him by the arms.
"You're going to be okay, Peeta," one of them said, "It's me Gale. Katniss's friend."
Peeta quit struggling and they lifted him to his feet. "Katniss…are we going to see Katniss?"
"Yes, she's in district 13," Gale answered as he and the other soldier guided Peeta along with them.
"Katniss, Katniss is in 13," Peeta muttered quietly under his breath.
Johanna thought about warning them about Peeta but she figured they would figure it out on their own, plus as they passed through the still slightly smoky doorway she could feel the gas overtaking her. If she was honest she liked the feeling of weightlessness that unconsciousness brought on.
As the soldiers were partway down the hall, the door they had left through opened and two peacekeepers began to fire at them. The soldier bringing up the rear turned and fired back as the others carrying the wounded hurried on. Before he could hit either they both collapsed.
Behind the fallen peacekeepers stood Daniel with a pipe in his hand. "Come on!" hollered the soldier to Daniel, "The hovercraft can't wait for long."
Daniel crawled over the peacekeepers and began to follow until he heard a bang and felt a sharp pain in his leg as he stumbled to the floor. He glanced up and saw the soldier had already disappeared around the corner. Daniel struggled to get up and hobbled down the hall using the wall to keep his balance. He heard more shots and felt another even sharper pain in his shoulder. He looked over to see blood blossoming on his shirt. He grit his teeth as he struggled on.
Daniel was almost to the corner when the soldier appeared again firing past him at the peacekeepers now climbing over their fallen comrades. The soldier froze with his gun ready. His gun slowly slipped from his hand as a circle of red began to grow from a spot on his chest. He soon collapsed to the ground. Daniel dropped down next to him to try to help but knew just by looking he was already dead.
When he heard shooting and more gunfire he knew he didn't stand a chance, so rather then struggle on he let his body drop down onto the fallen soldier. He closed his eyes and listened as the peacekeepers ran past him. Daniel heard more gunfire and the sounds of hovercraft engines. He knew there was no way he could make it to the hovercraft even if he was able to get past the guards.
Instead Daniel turned and slowly crawled around the corner in the hall. Just on the other side he found what he was looking for: an air vent. He managed to use what little strength he had to pry the cover off. He had to pull his injured leg in close so he could scoot into the hole.
Just as he was about to pull the cover back on he saw the pipe he had used to clobber the peacekeepers. He decided it might be helpful to have some sort of weapon so he reached out and was just able to grab the pipe with his fingertips and pull it into the vent with him. He then pulled the cover back over the vent.
Daniel closed his eyes waiting for his heart to stop racing. He knew he just had to wait to let everything calm back down before he could sneak out. He knew Dr. Samil would be too busy dealing with the peacekeepers that had let the prisoners escape that he would most likely not notice one missing avox.
Even in the cramped space Daniel had almost succumbed to sleep until he moved to try to get more comfortable. He had to force himself to not cry out at the sharp pain that pulsed through his shoulder. When he instinctively covered his shoulder with his hand, he instantly felt a wet stickiness. Daniel closed his eyes and managed to fight through the unbearable pain hoping that he would not lose too much blood.
I know, I know, poor Daniel is really having bad luck but I promise it will get better for him, just be patient. I hope the victors' actions and reactions were realistic, especially Johanna. I think she put on a tough mask but was maybe not as strong as she seemed. Let me know what you think.