A/N- Yes, this is the last chapter :(
I've hoped to make it a dramatic end for you! I wrote this while sitting outside in the strangely hot English weather on a wall. I've decided I like this wall, so I may write there more often... If the weather lasts...
Anyways, here is the final chapter of part 2! Enjoy x
I hated saying goodbye to Finnick. Hated seeing the sadness in his ocean eyes.. Hated releasing my grips on his hands. Everything about saying goodbye was horrible. It just seemed so final, although we both knew it was only for a short while.
I don't know why people say goodbye. Aren't goodbyes supposed to be sad? You're leaving someone, so why is that good? What makes it good?
Once we'd finally let go, after about a billion little kisses, I was dropped back off in Twelve. I'm here to explain to my parents, and Katniss' mother and Prim I guess, about the plan. Boggs said it would be easier if I went, alone. That way they'd listen and we'd have a better chance of persuading them to come to Thirteen. I know it will be hard for them to leave their home behind, I've only just gotten over it. But it's for their own safety. If the Capitol want revenge on us, then they'll go for our families first. We can't let them suffer because of us, so they'll have to agree. They have to come.
I stand in front of our house, not the old one above the bakery, but the new one in Victors' Village. I look up to my bedroom window. It's still open. Why is it open?
Slightly confused, I walk up to the front door and pull on the handle. It pulls down easily and the door swings open. Stepping into the house, a strange feeling greets me. The house doesn't seem feel like the house I left a few days ago. It seems quiet. Too quiet. Almost desolate and abandoned.
"Mother? Father?" I call unsurely. "Flynn? Freddie?"
There's no reply. Just the sound of silence answers my call.
"Um, hello? Is anyone here?" I ask out loud walking into the lounge.
The lounge seems quite normal; all the furniture the same. I'm about to check the kitchen when out of the corner of my eye I spot something. My mother's sewing basket is out. All the threads are lined up inside the basket, but an apron lies on the sofa, pins poking out in every direction. I stare at it for a while, thinking. Mother never leaves unfinished sewing out, especially ones covered in pins. It's unheard of. She's always been such a neat and tidy person, often complaining if things are left out. And her number one rule: Never leave the sewing kit out; pins and tiny little buttons could get lost or trodden on. So why am I staring at it now?
It must be a mistake. An accident I try to shake it off and go or some air in the back garden. But as I step outside, I spot yet another odd thing. My father's shovel is sticking up from the earth. He too would never leave it out, especially not stuck in the soil. He says that leaving metal in there is bad for the plants. Something about the minerals in the soil or whatever.
I take a step back. What is going on? Is this some sick trick?
"Guys, I'm a little creeped out. Could you stop this and cut to the chase already?" I say loudly. "You've won, I'm scared"
No-one comes.
I can feel my palms getting sweaty and my heart rate increasing. There's something wrong here and I need to find out why.
I take off in the direction of the main town, leaving the door hanging open. I don't care if anyone can walk in, there doesn't seem to be anyone here anyway.
I sense panic when I enter the centre of the town. There's something in the vibes within the air that sends a chill down my spine. Something has happened.
Then I smell it. Smoke. And it's not far away, coming from the East. I quicken my pace and follow the smell, searching for it's source. I find it soon enough.
The Hob is on fire, thick clouds of deathly smoke pouring from windows, doors and gaps in the patched roof. Well, what's left of the roof. I run to the scene, but my path is blocked by two women. Their faces look pale and their bodies are shaking with fear.
"Stay back here" One of them tells me. "It's too dangerous in there"
I glance over her shoulder to the burning market place, half of it already lying in a collapsed heap. "What happened?"
"Bombs, from the Capitol. It happened about half and hour ago" The other replies.
"Bombs?" I repeat.
"Yes. One minute everything was normal, and the next thing, bang and the Hob was on fire" She explains.
"Is anyone hurt?" I ask.
"Plenty, yes. Many people were around when it happened. Some even in there when it exploded"
My voice goes to a whisper. "Did some of them... die?"
"They must have. But some of the men are trying to free others before the rest collapses"
"Have there been any others?" I ask. "Bombs, I mean"
They both look solemnly.
"Whereabouts?" I ask, not really wanting to know the answer.
"Near the school, I think" One answers.
My body stiffens. The bakery is near the school. You can see the yard from my old bedroom window.
"What is it, dear?" She asks, concerned with my reaction.
"The school... you said. My...erm... family's bakery is... near the...school" I stutter.
"I'm sure-" I don't get to hear the end of the sentence, as I've sped off running towards the bakery.
My heart is pounding through my chest, threatening to burst through my rib cage. I'm praying that a bomb hasn't hit the bakery. Please, please, please. Don't let anyone be hurt...
I skid to a sharp halt, standing before the bakery. It hasn't collapsed, so it mustn't have been directly hit, but smoke is drifting out an open window and I can hear small fires crackling behind the crumbling walls.
Without pausing to think, I rush to the door and push it. It opens with ease and I step through the wall of black smoke.
Once inside, the air is somewhat clearer, though I still cough badly from the wafts of smoke entering my lungs.
Cupping my hands around my mouth, I call. "Mother, Father? Is anyone in here?"
No-one replies, but I hear a small crash from the next room.
Ducking lower where there's less smoke, I move towards the door, dodging little flames.
"Hello? Is someone in there?" I shout.
I hear a cough and someone's croaky voice answers. "Yeah, I'm stuck in here!"
I can't make out who the voice belongs to, but I step back and kick the door. It doesn't open. I kick it again. It doesn't open.
"It's useless, the door is jammed" The person says.
"I won't leave you" I call, looking around the half burnt room.
I spot a large piece of wood that hasn't caught fire yet. Quickly, I bend down and pick it up. It's fairly heavy, but it'll work. Gripping it firmly with both hands, I thrust it into the door. After a few hits, the hinges break and the door falls down, a huge wave of smoke engulfing my body. I cower my head as it slowly thins out, leaving me standing facing the person. It's still smoky, but I can make out their face. Ethan.
"Zinny? What are you doing here?" He gasps.
"I could ask you the same question, but for now it'll have to wait. The place is gonna collapse and the smoke's not helping either" I say.
"Good plan" He says, while coughing. "Lets get the hell outta here"
He comes forward and I turn to head out the building through the way I came in. Then, without warning, Ethan yells something and I feel his hands slamming into my back, sending my flying forwards.
A loud crash comes straight after my fall, but it's not from me. A little shaken, I stumble to my feet and look behind me.
A large, heavy looking beam has fallen from the doorway, exactly where I'd just been standing. But instead, Ethan lies in my place, the beam lying across his back.
"Ethan!" I scream in fear, rushing beside him.
His face is black with soot and his arms are badly cut and bruised. He's breathing, but just barely.
"Ethan!" I call out to him, trying to push the beam off his limp body.
It's heavy and refuses to budge, but I keep trying.
"Zinny" He coughs. "It's too heavy, you can't push it"
"No, I have to try" I insist, using all my limited strength against the beam.
Ethan's weak hand takes my wrist. "Stop"
I sniff, but let go.
"You have to get out of here, Zinny. It's not safe; the whole building will collapse on you" He orders.
I sit down, refusing to move. "No way am I going to leave you"
"But you'll get hurt" He says.
"I don't care if I burn alive. I'm not leaving you"
He sighs weakly," Fine, I know I can't win an argument with you"
I give him a smile. "That's right"
Ethan coughs again, the weight from the beam crushing down on his fragile back. I start to cry a little, watching him suffer, knowing that I can't do anything to help him.
"Ethan" I begin, quietly. "You pushed me out of the way"
He gives a brief nod.
"Why would you do that? I thought you hated me now" I ask him.
"I could never hate you, Zinny. I was just jealous. But I would never let you get hurt"
"So you'd sacrifice yourself... for me?"
"Of course. Besides, you more valuable than me"
He suddenly coughs violently, black stuff leaving his mouth.
"Ethan?" I say worriedly, shaking his arm lightly.
His eyes flicker open, his face still twisted with pain.
"I'm not gone yet"
"Oh, Ethan" I say, kissing his forehead. "I am so sorry"
"Nah, I should be the one apologising, not you" He insists.
There's a short silence between us, then Ethan breaks it by whispering.
"I love you"
A tear trickles down my face, dropping onto his dusty cheek. But before I can say something back to him, someone comes crashing into the room and starts throwing buckets of water onto the miniature fires dotted around.
He spots me. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"It's my friend, he's stuck" I tell him. "He needs help"
The man puts down his bucket and comes to us. He immediately bends down and tries to shift the beam. It's clearly too heavy for him too and he looks to me.
"It don't think we'll be able to move it without more help" He says.
I'm about to respond when I hear something crack , and a piece of ceiling falls down a few metres away I stare at it, beginning to panic.
"I think this place is gonna go any minute now" The man says, standing up.
Saying this, another chunk of ceiling falls. I look up and see a large crack forming quickly. The ceiling could go at any second.
"But-" I begin, just as a crumbling sound echoes from above me.
I can see the walls quivering slightly. It must be vibrations from another bomb somewhere else in the District. This will make the ceiling even more unstable.
"Right, we've got to go- NOW!" The man says, grabbing my arm.
I struggle as he pulls me away from Ethan, but I'm too weak from all the smoke I've breathed in and can only manage a scream in protest.
"Let me go! I need to stay with Ethan!"
"It'll collapse on you; he's gone anyway"
"No! He's not gone yet! I can still save him!"
"No you can't"
"Then let me stay with him at least!"
The man ignores me and hauls me out of the crumbling building, just in time as the walls cave in and everything falls to the ground. The last things I see are Ethan's eyes, watching me, making sure I was safe. Then everything comes down on him and he's gone. He's gone before I even had the chance to tell him I loved him too.
A/N- So that was the end. Was it dramatic enough for you? I'm sorry to those people who liked Ethan, I needed something dramatic to happen and I didn't see any sort of future for him in this story. Sorry x
Right, so I'm taking a break before part 3 to write my SYOT, Fear Lies Within. I'm almost there with tributes, only about 7 or so more! If you want to submit one so I can get started, therfore finishing it quicker, leading to part 3 being written sooner, then please do! I need your tribute! Also, during my break, feel free to read my SYOT, I would love it if you read some of my other stuff too x
So, Zinny will see you guys in a while, but until then, thank you everyone and I look forward to writing my SYOT!
Thanks, FireflyLlama xxx xxx (extra kisses cuz it's the end and I love you)