Saved From the Capitol

Chapter 36 - Annie

Days have melted into each other like the rolls of vapor during a mid-summer heat wave. I used to get lost staring off into the distant sky, the sun so bright – I could never look straight into it. My hand always came to shield the unbearable light. No matter how many times my hand came up over me in a desperate – and foolish – attempt at safety, the unbearable never stopped. No matter how many times I screamed and kicked and cried, their strength always overpowered mine. Afterwards, I stared into empty space, waiting for light, for the sun. It never comes.

But…did something just move?

Through haze and blood my breath halts. My dreams are coming true or my mind is just trying to further torment me. I see figures dipping amongst the shadows and the sounds of men and women screaming bloody murder and woes of death. I hear my name, sounding so urgent and terrified in the voicebox of the beholder but I can't call back. It hurts too much. The blood is still putrid and strong in my nostrils and I can't think of anything else but the torture of just a few minutes ago. The metal bars of my prison rattle as if it were going to break, dissipate onto the floor like dust. He's calling me, it's Finnick but I can't stand. I don't have the strength or the will. Everything hurts too much. He disappears and the panic never settles. I'm numb, still. He's gone – I think – but it doesn't hurt me. Nothing hurts me as much as the lashes and beatings I've endured. Nothing feels as strong or as real.

Time passes and then there's two standing before me. Somehow, I don't know how, they get the door unhinged and it falls with a loud clang. The one with hair that shines bronze despite the darkness hurls himself onto the floor beside me and takes my broken body into his arms, shoving me into his chest. I have the vague recognition of Finnick and how he used to smell and the sound of his voice. It's him, I know it is. But I don't have the energy to touch him or hold him or speak to him. I'm blankly staring into his face, now recognizing every curve and indentation of his cheekbones, forehead, eyes, nose…it's him. It's Finnick. He's come to save me.

But then I hear more screams and loaded threats and Finnick's voice cracks as he says. "Annie, we're leaving. I'm getting you out of here. Iloveyousomuch. Can you walk at all?" his words are all jumbled together as if he didn't have the time or desire to make sense of everything he wanted to say. Again, nothing comes out when I move my lips and he hoists me off the ground, holding me close up against him and I lean my head against his chest, deciding I felt safer that way. As he runs, my eyes flicker open enough to see that Johanna and Peeta's cells have been broken into, too. Relief swells through me. We might all be safe. But then something makes Finnick lose his footing and we're both hurtling towards the floor. Unable to brace myself in time, I land on my side, feeling a sharp pain coursing through my arm from where the cemented ground hit my elbow.

The sudden spasm of agony shoots through the rest of my body and wakes me up out of my haze. I scream and suddenly, I'm alert and I twist my head around to see Finnick and another man wrestling each other. I call out to him and he spares a moment to find me as his eyes light up. "Keep running!"

My head's shaking vigorously. I didn't want to be separated from him again. It was selfish and stupid and I should know better but the injured half of me was more than willing to argue with reason. I back away with little steps, feeling a jolt of pain with each one and still watching him, hoping that he would just kill him and get this over with. Poisonous thoughts I'd never ever before experienced. Something solid stops me in my tracks and I spin around in one jerky motion. A pale lamplight illuminates the face of an unknown stranger and my pulse begins to race in fear.

"Hey, hey it's okay. I'm here to help."

"Who are you?" I demand shakily, moving backwards once again towards the direction where Finnick was.

The stranger's eyes slide over my shoulder to the beyond and he nods. An arm comes around my waist from behind and my head jerks sideways to see Finnick beside me, leading me along. We don't speak, but I feel the gentle reassurance of his grip on my side, holding me tight.

The horror of the day when they kidnapped me from my own house comes rushing back, the pounding of my heart in my ears and the cold, loneliness of being dropped in a cage for no apparent reason. The unusual mixture of chills and sweat as they interrogated me for hours until they resorted to other methods. Finnick's hand moves to my elbow and he yanks me around corner after corner, footsteps sprinting along behind us and the too-slow thud of my feet hitting the ground. I'm not quick enough, I realize and then within the dark depths of the corridor neither of us see the wall in front of us. Dead end. Finnick's grasp goes tighter around my elbow, surely enough to leave some marks but seeing his fear makes me scared, too. He drags me to a stop and steps in front of me like he was more than ready to die for me and the idea of him ever leaving me again makes me feel all sorts of vulnerabilities that I should really be pushing aside.

"Just us!" says a voice. "Hurry, they're right behind us."

And by the fates or some other unearthly coincidence, it isn't Capitol guards and we're running again. This time faster and with newfound hope that we all might make it out of here. Steadfast we run, our little group. Some of us limping and some of us strong, but we're all affected in one way or another, each one of us broken inside by the Capitol. That's why they've come: for revenge.

Me?

I want revenge just as bad as they do.

But for right now, there's something shining in the distance and warmth creeps through my skin, into my bones. It's beautiful. We reach it and one by one we're crawling out of a hole broken in the wall and into the stark daylight.

I stop and smile because I need a break. Everything hurts me and I'm so tired and I just want to enjoy my freedom. I feel a tug on my arm and weightlessness as Finnick lifts me up and spins around, laughing and saying, "You're okay. You're alive."

I'm crying as I smile down at him. Happy tears. "You're okay. You're alive."

He sets me down and our foreheads touch. We stay like that for a few seconds. It's all we have. Time is precious, especially when we've vandalized, betrayed, broken into, and escaped from the Capitol. All in under 15 minutes.

A/N: As always, thank you so much for all your reviews (: They're as awesome as possums. okay, maybe a little more awesome than that. Moving on! I really liked this chapter! Mostly because i'm happy i found some time to sit down and write it! So it's sort of sad, but you know what happens after this? I'll give you a little hint: there's going to be cake! :)