Authors Note: Thank you so much for all the support to the story so far! It's also kinda turned into a see how many references to canon or the Walking Dead as possible, so have fun spotting the many, many many maaaany references! Thanks for the reviews and views overall, this chapter took a little longer to write but I'll try to be more punctual next time!
The next chapter will be a little more light hearted too, and we're slowly getting there with Joniss! (woop woop!)
(Mini spoiler - the song mentioned is Blackbird by The Beatles!)
Impressively, their hysterics had managed to last a good half hour, and by now they were well on their way to the National Park that Johanna and Finnick dubbed District 7. It had been a tiring day. What seemed like your average weekend had quickly spiraled into a living nightmare, Katniss having had just about had enough of running and being scared to death (though thankfully not literally to death) so resigned to leaning against the rumbling glass once again as she closed her eyes and let sleep wash over her, the sound of small talk from the front accompanying her into a comforting nap.
4 hours later, Katniss startled awake after feeling something solid repeatedly tap the side of her head. She opened her eyes just as she was catapulted towards the window again, this time her forehead smashing into the glass with a loud thunk she was sure the whole car heard. "Owwww, dammit." Katniss hissed, hoping to be quiet, but by the amused expression on Peeta's face she knew she'd failed. He started laughing and foolishly attempted to talk halfway through so his speech came out as stuttered nonsense between giggles. "K-kat… Katnis-sss! Are…" He hiccupped to a stop, seeming to recompose himself. "Are you al-" he spluttered into laughter again. By now the rest of them had joined in, Annie and Madge guiltily placing their hands over their mouths to try and avoid Katniss's burning gaze while the others openly laughed at her.
She sulked in the corner, raising her hand to feel for a bump caused by her less-than-deliberate head bang to music no one could hear. Unluckily for her, it looks like she was going to be the token unicorn of the group as a large lump had already formed smack bang in the middle of her forehead. Great. She looked over the seat to see Johanna keeled over in laughter, clutching her sides. She wasn't laughing earlier. Her sense of humor must only come out when someone gets hurt. Sadistic much. Katniss sulked. Peeta looked over to her and his smile softened. "Are you alright?" He asked sincerely.
She sighed. Peeta was always so kind, though often times his hyper-consideration made him act like a lost puppy, reluctant to stop following whoever walked by; especially when it came to Katniss. Her classmates always said she should give him a try. He's had a crush on her forever and she was painfully aware (and sometimes freaked out) by how he watched her walk home from school every day. Every. Day.
At first she felt guilty that she didn't return his feelings. She thought something was wrong with her because she couldn't think about him that way, but then resolved that Peeta just wasn't… her type. Thinking about it, Katniss had never really been attracted to anyone that much. After being forced to care for herself, her sister and mother from a young age, she hadn't thought about it. She thought that the crushes her friends had were silly and a waste of time. After all, she was busy running a household, not talking about whether James has nicer eyes than Paul or that Dylan is sooo dreamy.
It was only recently that she'd even thought that she herself could have crushes. And by recently, she meant a few hours ago, during a zombie apocalypse after almost being eaten. She quickly changed her train of thought, not liking the direction her mind was taking her. Shaking her head, she uttered "I'm fine Peeta." and sighed again. He still looked concerned, but didn't press any further as Finnick yelled from the front "We're here!" shortly followed by a chorus of whoops and cheers.
They came to a stop in the main car park facing the main building and few parked cars that remained there. Finnick put it in park and got out of the car, Johanna readying her axe and Katniss, after awkwardly scrambling out of the backseats, readied her bow. After the last car door slammed shut, a deadly silence settled. It was strange, shouldn't the birds be singing? Shouldn't there be the occasional bark of a domestic dog?
Shouldn't there be something?
"I don't like the look of that." Katniss murmured, gesturing to the large modern administration center in front of them. The doors were slightly ajar, a flicker of light occasionally flashing through the glass doors, the metal of its framing reflecting distorted images of the scene inside.
There were 5 or 6 cars parked neatly into the white lined spaces, so neatly that if you were looking at them on any day where the dead weren't rising from the grave and trying to maul the living, it would've looked normal. "Let's go check it out. It might have some stuff in it." Johanna shrugged, already waltzing up to the shoulder height window on the wall perpendicular to the main entrance and peering inside. "Sure, Mason, only if I don't have to come to your rescue." Finnick smirked, pulling a crowbar from the back of the car. "I'm gonna search these cars, you going Katnip?" Gale asked, looking pointedly at Katniss. She looked to him, then Finnick, then Johanna and decided that she might as well give it a try. "Might as well." She breathed out slowly, deciding to hand her bow to Gale and pick out a hunting knife and torch out of her backpack before putting the bag in the car.
"We'll be back in a tic!" Johanna waved, sarcastically chipper as she skipped over to the door and yanked it open. It gave way with a loud creak, finally coming loose from its hinges as its left side slumped to the floor. Finnick, Peeta, Johanna and Katniss all made their way into the reception, brandishing kitchen knives and crowbars alike and slowing their footing in an attempt to remain silent. They all were besides Peeta who, no matter how hard he tried, seemed to shake the whole building with each step, his footsteps reverberating around the barren walls. The place looked pretty shredded, loose files and pieces of paper strewn over the floor, the vending machine out of order and the couch cushions of the blue chairs were torn slightly, though there didn't seem to be anyone or anything else in the immediate area.
"Should we split up?" Finnick asked, slightly wary of going it alone as the darkened hallways seemed to grow at the prospect. "The place doesn't look too big" Katniss added "It should only take a few minutes to sweep as a group."
"Afraid to leave me, Kitty Kat?" Johanna smirked, brushing past Katniss as she sauntered in front, making quick work of surveying the area before twirling her axe steadily and turning towards Katniss again, her head tilted to the side with a devilish lopsided smirk plastered onto her features. Katniss scowled and held back a scoff, though was thankful that the flickering lights hid her slight blush as Johanna's pristine teeth clung to her bottom lip. She went to answer, but Peeta got there first.
"Can't we just search this place and be done with it?" He questioned, already a little wary as his eyes skittered around the room, alternating between the 2 doorways that led into the corridors and the room that protruded from behind the counter. Johanna shrugged and stood up, Finnick trailing slightly behind her as she paced into the darkened room.
They were out of sight and it was silent. A few minutes passed until Katniss and Peeta slowly inched their way round the doorframe, each creak of their footsteps filling the otherwise dead air. Just as they feared the worst, Finnick and Johanna jumped around the corner, hands flailing and mouths open screeching "BOO!" at the tops of their lungs. Katniss and Peeta both jumped backwards and let out terrified screams of their own as they backed up, their backs hitting the counter.
After it all went silent again, Johanna burst out with laughter and Finnick looked like a dying mime as his shoulders jerked up and down, his mouth suspended open as he silently laughed his head off. Peeta and Katniss, however, were the complete opposite. Their faces turned beet red as Katniss loosened her grip on the hunting knife and Peeta scratched the back of his neck, obviously agitated.
Their laughter was cut short by the sound of groans echoing around the doorway to the corridor, and by the sounds of it, there were quite a lot of them. This snapped the chuckling two out of their revelry, and Johanna's head snapped up, her gaze fixed on the blue double doors. She rushed over to it, placing her flashlight on the floor, pushing the doors shut with her whole body as she propped her axe flat against the surface. Finnick and Peeta rushed over to join her, Finnick pushing desperately on the left, Johanna on the right and Peeta in the middle forcing both doors together.
The sound of the moans intensified and fingernails scraped against the doorframe, the sound of bodies slamming against hard wood reverberated around the small reception. "Shit shit shit" Johanna chanted, her face contorting with effort and cheeks pinking as she shoved the door back. Katniss watched on in shock until Johanna's eyes settled on her. "Shit, we're going to have to-"she stopped to slam herself back into the door again as a hand had managed to sneak through the gap between the doors and clawed at her skinny jeans, until the hand severed and flopped to the floor with the force of her shove, what sounded like an anguished grumble emanating from whomever the hand belonged to.
"Katniss, we're going to let them out one at a time and you and Pee-shit! You and Peeta've got to kill 'em!" Katniss nodded dumbly and turned her attention towards the door, clutching her hunting knife. Peeta pushed away from the doors to join her, readying his kitchen knife as Finnick whipped his head around to look between the pair and Johanna. "Ready? On 3," Finnick muttered. "1...2…3!" They turned away from the doorframe, dragging the door open and keeping their backs pressed into it to restrict the tide of undead on the other side.
A particularly scraggly looking woman, most likely in her late-twenties, stumbled out, her once green one piece dress drenched in blood and gore, dyed a deathly black. She lunged at Finnick until he slammed his back into the doors once more to seal them shut and kicked her in the stomach, launching her into the middle of the room. He nodded, Katniss taking the initiative to reach forward and slam the blade of her knife through the top of the woman's skull. It gave way with a nauseous crack, blood coating Katniss's hand and spraying onto her clothing before she yanked her knife out again, the woman's body crumpling to the floor.
Peeta dragged the finally dead corpse away a few feet before they nodded again, releasing other infected as they took it in turns putting them down. "Shit-" She muttered "That looks like fun. Feel like trading?" Johanna smirked, though the strain of holding back dozens of undead had finally taken its toll as her muscles quivered with effort and beads of sweat rolled down her face. Johanna and Finnick rolled off the door and Katniss and Peeta took their place, slowly clearing the undead out as the pile of bodies at the side grew.
They continued on like this for what seemed like hours, but must've been minutes, taking them down one by one until the last straggler; a small schoolgirl whose fingers, even in death, still clung to her leather satchel finally bumbled out of the now blood red hallway. Her gait slowed as she looked between the 4 of them, seemingly confused about who to attack first. Her dirtied blonde hair swept into her eyes and her twin braids whipped around her face, flinging clotted blood free from the now rough plaits. Finnick slung his arm over his face to hide behind his forearm as Katniss and Peeta looked to the floor, Johanna staring blankly at the girls lifeless eyes.
"Fuck no. Not kids. Come on, not fucking kids." Finnick trailed off, his eyes slowly roaming up the body, taking in its full attire. Polished black school shoes led up to the knee-high hem of a blue checkered dress, finally coming to rest on the school logo emblazoned on the left of her stained white cardigan, a sticky nametag that read "Grace" half hung off of her right. Her arms raised and hands clawed at the air as its speed picked up, ambling towards Finnick until Johanna's axe came to rest in the side of its skull. Peeta stared dumbfounded at the body now on the floor for a moment until speaking, his eyes bleary and voice monotone.
"I don't think I'm up for a supply run anymore." He turned and made his way back to the parking lot, Finnick following shortly behind, leaving Katniss and Johanna alone in the now ruined reception. Johanna was pacing up and down in a small line, wiping her hands off on her jeans before running them through her hair, blowing out a large breath through her lips set in a firm line. Katniss was too distracted by the body to notice the tears pooling in her own eyes until she felt a rogue droplet roll down her cheek.
The girl looked like Prim.
She frantically wiped at her cheek, making sure she didn't look a mess before turning to follow the boys out. Finnick, Annie and Peeta were stood by the range rover talking quietly among themselves as Madge and Gale went through the open cars looking for any loot. Katniss awkwardly made her way around the building before leaning back against the cold brick wall and staring up at the sky.
"Are you alright?" Johanna asked, cleaning her already clean axe as if it would erase the memory; wash away what it had just done. Wash away what was happening. Katniss didn't answer, only shrugged and returned her gaze to the trees in the distance, lost in thought. Johanna leant beside her on the wall, continuing to clean her axe until she became impatient and threw it to her side with a huff before crossing her arms over her chest.
Katniss tried to ignore the way her heartbeat sped up, or how her hands became clammy at their close proximity. For some reason Johanna could make her forget all about what she'd just witnessed and focus on the way her forearms flexed as she tucked her hands securely underneath her arms, or how her hip jutted out slightly as she swung one leg over the other and indignantly looked towards the others. She let her gaze wander to Johanna's face, taking in every detail from her soft arched eyebrows to her perfectly pointed chin.
Lost in thought gazing at Johanna's clear complexion, she was snapped back to reality when she heard a soft chuckle come from beside her. "You gonna stand there and ogle me all day, brainless?" Laughing, Johanna pushed off the wall and started walking over towards the car until she stopped and turned towards Katniss. "We'd better get back, Kitty Kat." She crooned, offering her hand for Katniss to take. Katniss looked back up at her blankly, her cheeks colouring a faint pink until she snapped back to reality and pushed past Johanna's outstretched arm. Johanna let out a low chuckle before following behind Katniss, making casual note of the way her hips swung with each carefully placed step, but judging by the way Gale was looking at her, she hadn't exactly been casual. She shrugged off his disapproving glare before turning her attention to Madge.
"You guys think we should set up camp? It'll get dark soon." She reasoned, looking to Finnick for approval - he was essentially the charismatic leader of the group. "So long as it's far away from here, then we'll be good." Gale looked at him questioningly, before Johanna added "A major road is only a twenty minute drive away, and I don't intend on welcoming anyone, dead or alive, into the group while we're sleeping." She looked around at Finnick, trying to see whether she'd done right by not mentioning what had happened. It seemed to have worked as Finnick regained his usual showy charm, though she could still see the pain behind his eyes. "Let's have a camp out!" He cheered, ushering everyone into their seats before pulling down a worn dirt path further into the woods.
They drove for a good 10 minutes or so before finding a small clearing with a worn fire pit and overhanging ancient tree that they determined would be the best place to set up camp. Finnick parked the car and they all climbed out once again, Katniss and Gale setting to work lighting a fire and Madge and Peeta preparing to cook dinner on the new flame. Annie and Finnick talked quietly while setting up for the night while Johanna set to chopping up some loose lumber she found by the side of the dirt track with her axe.
They worked in a subdued atmosphere; only the sound of occasional quiet conversation and the steady thud of Johanna's axe broke the pastoral dusk air, the sun engorged in muted orange and descending low over the horizon. The last rays of sunlight bounced through the remaining autumn foliage and the gentle whisper of the twilight breeze whistled through the otherwise bare tendrils. Before long they had several cans of beans heating up on the open flame, a squirrel that Katniss found skewering on Gale's makeshift spit. As the sun finally slipped below the skyline, they gathered around the fire and sat on the worn limb of a great oak tree that protruded from their open camp/
It was dark now, their faces shimmering in the firelight as the moon was yet to rise and few stars had made their appearance. They shared the 3 cans of beans between them, each taking turns to have a mouthful before passing it along to the next person, ready to receive the next can. As Katniss moved to check that the squirrel was cooked, Johanna made her way over to Finnick's car and pulled a large black case off of the top. She pulled down the zip and brought her newfound implement to the fireplace, sitting opposite the rest of them on a large tree stump.
It was a guitar. An old and worn acoustic, though it looked well loved. Its body was newly varnished; the soft beige front reflecting the flickering flames in its pristine work. The neck was sleek and led up to a russet headstock, its frame resting on Johanna's leg as she tweaked the strings, strumming occasionally to check for its tune, her fingers splaying over the well-used strings. Once satisfied, she let her hands glide over the instrument briefly before she began to play a soft melody.
She tapped her foot to the beat, the palm of her hand gently tapping on the face along with the beat as she began to play the familiar tune of 'Blackbird' by The Beatles. The rich melody flitted through the air, its velvety textures dancing along with the breeze as the steady tap of her hand and foot continued through the mellow tune.
Katniss looked up with intrigue to see Johanna gazing directly into the fire, her green orbs capturing each candescent ray turning them a soft hazel-green hue. She looked younger, more innocent with the fire flickering against her hard jawline. She looked as if minutes ago her hatchet hadn't been buried in the skull of a dead schoolgirl. Her eyes were glazed over with what looked to be tears, but before anyone could tell, she opened her mouth and started to sing.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life,
you were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Everyone's eyes were on her, having stopped eating to tap their feet along with the tune or close their eyes to the music. The harrowing melody continued through the forest, the woody strings picking up a stronger tune as Johanna closed her eye. Her voice was angelic. It was smooth and gentle, clear and pure and yet somehow still tinged with the pain she was trying to banish with song. Her voice was surely an angels, dipping between the highs and lows with expert precision, gentle tones light and airy in the cold autumn night.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see.
All your life,
you were only waiting for this moment to be free.
Blackbird fly
Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Katniss was in awe, her mouth slightly agape as she too was absorbed into the song. She was so in tune with the song that she didn't realise her own voice was joining in the next verse.
As she began to sing along, Johanna opened her eyes and gazed directly into Katniss's own. Their voices matched perfectly, Katniss's taking on a slightly higher pitch as the girls harmonized the lyrics, both reluctant to look away from each other as they reached the last verse.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Their voices faded away to nothing as the song ended with the last flourish from Johanna's guitar, though neither girl looked away. It was like their eyes were fixed on each other's, drawn by an invisible magnetism holding both their gazes together, neither wanting or willing to break free. In that moment, when the light flickered through Johanna's eyes and a loose tear swelled to the edge of her eye, Katniss's world slowed as Johanna's mouth rose into the first genuine smile she had ever seen from her, her eyes crinkling at the edges and a light not caused by the fire flashed behind her green orbs.
She understood now.