8.

It was bad.

Effie didn't need anyone to tell her that.

The motel room was too small for the group of people and the tension was rising a notch every two minutes. Johanna and Haymitch had used the talkie to warn the others and they had all regrouped in their room. Peeta, Gale and Finnick were sitting on the bed she and Haymitch almost had sex on and she couldn't help but blush every time she glanced that way. And that was nothing compared to the way her heart raced each time her eyes wandered to the bathroom door.

"We wait for daylight." Gale argued. "It's stupid to try taking mutts down by night. They may not have seen us."

"They've seen us alright." Haymitch snorted, from his place by the window. "They're circling the cars. They're cutting our retreats."

The two mutts Johanna had glimpsed had turned into six. They were easily recognizable, they shuffled a lot less than other zombies and there was a sort of spark in their eyes. They didn't look as dead and they moved much quicker too.

"Does that mean they hunt in packs?" Katniss wondered out loud. "Would they actually work together?"

"Not a pleasing thought." Annie replied, coming to sit next to Finnick. "I need pleasing thoughts." He put an arm around her shoulder and held her close, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

"It doesn't matter." Finnick said. "There are six of them and nine of us."

"Yeah, you're counting the kid?" Haymitch snorted, nodding to Prim who was sleeping soundlessly next to Katniss on the second bed.

"We don't have enough guns." Johanna added, from where she was leaning on the wall, not far from Effie. "Most of them are still in the cars and I don't fancy an up-close fight with those ones."

They weren't lacking on weapons but had exactly five guns between them all. Haymitch's rifle, her handgun, Annie, Gale and Peeta all had a gun. Johanna had her axe and the cutlass Haymitch had borrowed earlier, Finnick had his harpoon and a set of knives.

"Katniss, Haymitch and me are the best shots." Gale said. "Two each. It's doable."

"Yeah and what do we do when all the zombies from zombiewoods come knocking on the door?" Haymitch retorted, obviously fed up by the discussion. "That's why it was a stupid idea to stop here."

His hands were shaking, Effie noticed. He had finished his bottle of whiskey, the others were in the car.

"Your 'I told you so' is duly noted but not very useful, Haymitch." Peeta sighed. "Do you have a better plan?"

Haymitch rubbed his face and let the curtain fall down. "No." he admitted. "We wait for daylight. Johanna, you will take Prim, we will need Katniss focused on her Robin Hood act."

"Stop with the references, already." Katniss snapped.

"Let's settle down for the night." Finnick suggested. "We will take turns on watch duty."

"I will go first." Effie offered. It was her first contribution to the discussion and Haymitch threw her a worried glance. She forced herself to smile.

"Count me in." Johanna sighed. "We will wake Katniss and Peeta in two hours."

"I can do it." Haymitch and Finnick said at the same time but Johanna glared at them.

"You've both been driving all day, you're sleeping now or I'm knocking you out." she threatened. "You're no good to us if you can't focus."

It took several minutes before everyone found a place to sleep; Gale took the floor between the two beds, Haymitch sat with his back to the wall and Peeta laid down between the bed Prim and Katniss were sharing and the wall. Johanna perched herself on the dresser boarding the door, leaving to Effie the task of looking out the window.

She could barely see the shapes circling the cars like sharks in the darkness but they were all there and accounted for.

"So, was it good?" Johanna asked once the snoring and the deep breathing were the only sounds in the room.

"I beg your pardon?" Effie blinked, taking her eyes away from the mutts to glance at Johanna. The younger woman looked smug.

"The sex." Johanna clarified with obvious amusement. "Was it worth being eaten by mutts?"

"I… We…" she stammered. "This is very inappropriate."

"Inappropriate sex?" Johanna laughed. "Kinky. Do tell."

"You're mocking me." Effie realized, glaring at her. "Why do you always insist on being so aggravating?"

"Nothing better to do." she shrugged. "And you looked like you've just been shagged out of your mind which makes me jealous by the way. Finnick and Annie are obviously having vanilla sex but Haymitch, now… I'm sure he is…"

"Could you not?" Effie hissed. She looked around but everyone seemed to be asleep or, at least, had the delicacy to pretend.

"Are we jealous, Trinket?" Johanna chuckled. "Maybe I should try my luck with Haymitch…"

Effie had a hard time deciding if Johanna was serious or not. She was most probably taunting, she teased Annie about stealing Finnick away all day long and did the same with Gale, Peeta and Katniss but… Effie didn't like it. What right did she have to protest however? Haymitch had never hinted that he wanted anything more than sex. She had no right to claim him as her own…

"Maybe you should focus on keeping watch, Jo." Finnick said firmly.

Effie startled but Johanna didn't even flinch. "Didn't I say I would knock you out?"

"You can try." Finnick grumbled before starting to mutter "I will give you vanilla…"

Effie went back to watching the parking lot. She frowned, adjusting her grip on the handgun. "There are two missing."

"What?" Johanna hopped down from the dresser and took her place by the window. "Shit. She's right."

Finnick got up to come and see for himself. There were still four mutts roaming around but Effie didn't like the way they were looking in the direction of their room. Almost like they were waiting for something.

"Do we wake the others?" she asked uncertainly.

"Do we have a choice?" Johanna barked back.

Haymitch couldn't have been sleeping very soundlessly because he was on his feet quicker than Gale who had jumped awake at Johanna's screeching. They didn't have to warn the others.

The window shattering and Finnick's yell as he was grabbed from behind was enough warning.

Johanna gripped Finnick's arm but the mutt was trying to drag him through the window. Effie was standing right there but she stayed frozen in her spot. Gale pushed her out of the way and shot in the mutt's head.

They managed to get Finnick back inside.

"Back! Back!" Haymitch ordered, clasping Effie's arm and pushing her behind him, near the bathroom. The front door was bulging : the mutts were throwing themselves at it like rabid dogs. Johanna and Finnick – who looked worse for the wear – put their weight against it but Effie could tell it wouldn't hold.

Prim was screaming. Katniss shouted at Annie to take her sister as she notched an arrow, standing on the bed, bow at the ready.

Effie's palms were clammy, she couldn't hold the gun correctly. Peeta seemed to have the same problem but he still aimed his gun at the door, like Gale and Haymitch were doing. The broken window remained clear as if the mutts had understood they would be shot on sight.

They were all so focused on the banging on the door they barely heard the crash in the bathroom.

"Oh, fuck!" Gale said, swinging his gun around at the same time as Haymitch. "Was there a window in there?"

"There's a vent on the roof." Katniss said with a curse. "There was one in our room too."

"A little help here." Johanna panted, digging her feet in the ground to keep the door closed.

"If we die because you wanted a bed, I'm going to be pissed." Haymitch growled, signaling them to regroup in the middle of the room.

In that second, the priority of each one of them became very clear. Katniss stayed on the bed, a foot on the night table to steady her aim, standing protectively over her sister who was huddled between the two beds with Annie. Annie was staring at Finnick and only at Finnick, Finnick obviously wanted nothing else but to reach for her and keep her safe himself but he was still trying to stop the mutts from entering. Gale and Peeta both came to flank Katniss, shielding Prim, the two boys exchanged a look and Effie knew they would both go down before anything could come close enough to even touch either of the two sisters. Johanna looked calm and focused, her eyes darted all around the room searching for a solution. As for Haymitch…

Haymitch had taken Gale's place next to the window but he kept on glancing at Effie in worry.

It was a coordinated attack in the end and that answered Katniss question : they could and did work together.

The bathroom door crashed down just when another mutt tried the window. It grabbed the end of Haymitch's rifle with dead rotting fingers and pushed it aside just when one of the bathroom mutts lunged itself at Effie.

She pulled the trigger twice, the thing went down only to be replaced by another one. She wasn't quick enough for that and she stumbled back, falling hard on her backside, she scrambled back and soon enough found herself back to back with Haymitch who was still struggling to get the rifle out of the thing's dead fingers. The mutt kept advancing on her, there wasn't enough room, there wasn't enough space…

"I can't shoot!" Gale yelled "Effie's too close."

"Katniss!" Finnick barked.

Effie raised her gun but Gale was right, she couldn't shoot. If she missed, any of them would take the bullet. It was too risky.

"I have no range!" Katniss screamed in defeat "Haymitch, duck!"

Haymitch let go of the rifle, turned around and ducked, bringing Effie down with him. He covered her with his body so she didn't see what happened next but she heard the hissing of an arrow flying past and counted at least five gunshots. And then strong hands pulled her up again.

"Are you okay?" Haymitch asked with obvious concern, running his hands down her arms, waist, legs, looking for a wound that wasn't there. At least she didn't think it was.

"How many left?" Katniss asked, ready to shoot another time.

There were two dead bodies on the ground next to them. Effie would have retched if her stomach hadn't been empty. They looked human still. Well… Decaying and dead – dead dead, there wasn't much left in terms of heads– but they still looked… human. More human than the zombies they had seen until now.

"Two." Peeta said. "We got four, that leaves two."

"We let them in and we shoot." Johanna suggested.

"Bad plan." Finnick argued. "Stupid, stupid plan."

"You have a better idea?" she barked back.

"Annie, take Prim, against the wall." Haymitch ordered before turning her eyes to Effie. "Peeta, cover them."

The rifle was nowhere to be seen, Effie naturally handed him her gun.

"You keep it." Haymitch said. "You're shooting."

"You're the best shot." she argued but he showed her his hands. The tremor was making them shake badly, adrenaline or not.

He didn't join Annie, Prim and Peeta by the wall, he stayed right behind her. The small part of her mind that was still calm and not completely lost to panic wondered if that was a way to make sure nothing would jump on her back again. He put his hands on her waist for a second and then, after making sure both Katniss and Gale were ready to fire, he nodded to Johanna and Finnick. They both dived at the same time away from the line of fire. Finnick went directly for Annie and Johanna rushed for the axe.

"Deep breaths, sweetheart." Haymitch whispered to Effie, as the door was slowly pushed opened.

"Deep breaths." she replied, forcing her breathing to slow down to a more normal rate but her heart kept racing no matter what, blood kept rushing in her ears…

"Window!" Katniss warned. She shot an arrow but the thing was quick and turned its head in the nick of time, the arrow flew past it.

Effie took the shot. She missed.

Gale pulled the trigger but instead of a gunshot there was an empty clicking and a curse. "I'm out of ammos!"

By the time Peeta gave him his own gun, the mutt was inside. Johanna moved as if to swing her axe but Finnick's cry held her back. There wasn't any room for that kind of fighting, she would just be in the middle of the fray.

Effie breathed in and out, adjusted her stance like her instructor had showed her so long ago and then fired the gun. Clean shot. Right through the head. The mutt fell down.

And the door finally opened enough for the last one to slip through. It didn't go far. It wasn't even totally in when Johanna crushed his head with her axe.

They all stood there panting for several excruciating seconds and then Johanna started laughing in relief and almost everybody joined in. Some were hugging, other crying… Effie leaned against Haymitch, eyes closed, but he didn't hold her, he didn't try to comfort her or just enjoy the fact that they were still alive, he went to the broken window and let out a string of curses.

"Okay, to the cars." he said. "Now."

There were zombies everywhere outside, stumbling and crawling out of the woods, probably alerted by all the noise. They hadn't reached the parking lot yet but once they did… Haymitch grabbed the rifle that had fallen through the window on his way and propelled Effie forward, they ran for the truck. She thought they wouldn't succeed. She thought a zombie would grab one of them and that would be it.

Annie reached her truck first, quickly pushing Prim inside and starting the car. Katniss screamed for her sister but Gale dragged her to Johanna's car because it was nearer. Peeta hurried after them.

Effie didn't know how she, Haymitch and Johanna managed to get trapped between the motel and the zombies but the second Finnick climbed into Annie's truck, there were suddenly undead people everywhere. She tried to avoid the zombies' grabby hands and she eventually lost sight of her friends. She fired the gun because that was all she had but she did it automatically, already convinced she was going to die. She continued pulling the trigger long after the gun was empty, as useless as it was. Someone gripped her wrist and pulled. She struggled until she realized it was Johanna. The young woman pressed the cutlass into her hand and ordered her to keep it together - whatever that meant. Effie wasn't sure she was still able to comprehend such simple things.

If they managed to get to Haymitch's truck it was equal part due to sheer luck and to Johanna's ability to clear a path with an axe.

"Haymitch." Effie said, once Johanna had pushed her on the back seat and slid behind the wheel. There were zombies everywhere, pressing their ugly faces against the windows. "We can't leave without…"

Two zombies were flung aside, the door next to her opened and closed quickly after he had climbed in. "Go!" he barked at Johanna and she did. Speeding up, hitting as many zombies as she could as if it was a game of bowling.

They were at the rear again, Effie noticed distractively, the others had already left the zombie crammed parking lot behind. Not that she cared. She could only stare at Haymitch in horror, he was covered in blood from head to toes. It was fear, a deep uncontrollable fear, that pushed her to rip the shirt open, to roam her hands over sweaty but otherwise whole skin.

"Hey, kept it PG back there." Johanna warned over her shoulder. "I've seen enough horrors for today."

Effie didn't listen, she just touched and touched until she was sure he wasn't hurt. Chest, arms, cheeks, back… She couldn't find a wound but there must have been one because…

"Effie, it's not my blood." he told her calmly, clasping her hands in his to stop her frantic search. "I'm okay."

She let out a shaky breath she didn't know she had been holding. He cupped her cheek, his thumb wiping something off her skin. She didn't want to know what it was exactly, she only had to look down to realize she was covered in blood and gore too. Her pink top wasn't pink anymore.

"Are you hurt?" he asked gently, brushing her hair out of her face. She shook her head no although she couldn't feel anything at all anywhere. They never had such a close call before. Never. It had always been a few zombies here and there, nothing they couldn't handle but there, for an actual second, Effie had been so sure they were all going to die. They had grown too confident. "Johanna?"

"I'm fine." Johanna replied.

"Thank you." Effie said, reaching out to touch Johanna's shoulder hesitantly. "You saved me. Thank you."

The young woman shrugged it off as nothing. "We lost the bags. We will need to stop for more supplies."

"We need a camp." Haymitch sighed, slumping back. "The kid in a fight? It's a mistake. She will get herself killed and every one of us with her. Annie isn't of much use either in a thick fight and Peeta is better at drawing trees than shooting guns. We need to get organized."

"Moving works well enough." Johanna argued. "We stand still one night and we get attacked. Now you want to settle down?"

"That motel was a stupid idea from the start." he grumbled. "We need a secure location but, yeah, I want to settle down. We're past the first stage now."

"What do you mean the first stage?" Effie asked quietly.

Grey eyes stared at her. "I mean the stage where everyone tries to survive the confusion. It's been long enough. Most people have probably gathered in small groups and are busy getting their hands on all the food, water, medicine and whatever you need and stocking it up somewhere safe. Surviving the zombies was the easy part, now we need to stay alive."

"What you really mean is we need to hoard on everything we can find." Johanna deduced. "Take more than we actually need just in case."

"Yeah." Haymitch confirmed, buttoning his shirt back on. It made Effie want to tear it away all over again. She hated the sight of blood on him. "It won't be summer forever too. We can't live in the cars. We need to plan."