Off Finnick, Gale, Peeta and I went to down the halls, with no real destination in mind. We knew time was of the essence, so we sprinted down the corridors, looking for a clue of Haymitchs' whereabouts. Our loud footsteps echoed off the walls and down the empty hallway.
Please be okay Haymitch. For me.
"What about Johanna?" Peeta asked between heavy breaths.
"She'll catch up to us," replied Gale, barely breaking a sweat. Gale was leading the charge and we had just rounded a corner when we run into a group of men decked out in military uniforms. The same uniforms that Plutarch's escorts had the other day. There were 3 of them, each one bigger than the last, and each with a rifle in their grip. They wore thick black combat boots, with black, white and grey camo pants. Their shirt was fitted slim and collared with the same pattern. Who they would be trying to hide from and where was beyond me with that get-up.
"Excuse me," Gale says to the biggest soldier in the front of the pack. "We're in a hurry."
"Is that so?" The leader says, stepping within inches of Gale. "Now where would you guys be going in such a rush?" I immediately recognize his voice as one of the guards that escorted me to Plutarch's just the other day. The one that ogled over me when he ripped my shirt and exposed my bra.
"What's it to you?" Finnick chirps up, making his presence known.
"We're here for the girl," the leader says, pointing a gloved finger to me. "Come with us. Don't make me ask again."
"Why?" Peeta asks.
"None of your god-damn business lover-boy. Now move out the way or be moved." The leaders rubber gloves squeak as his grip tightens on his weapon. His eyes stay fixated at Gale in anticipation of any movement. Gale clenches his fist in response to the soldier's stare down. "Don't be stupid boys," he says, moving back from Gale and into the safe presence of his two companions. "This can go ugly very quickly. Let's not make this harder than it has to be."
The tension in the air was thick enough to cut. All the hair on the back of my neck was standing as the corridor filled with quiet. Enough that I could almost hear the heavy heartbeats of everyone around.
"She's not going anywhere," Peeta says.
I feel a hand on my shoulder and look back to see Peeta. His face is serious. More serious than I've seen in a long time. He nods his head to me, and I immediately understand what he's conveying. I take a step behind him, and he stands alongside Finnick and Gale, making a wall in front of me. Before I had time to oppose, Gale steps forward and lands a heavy haymaker into the face of the leader, sending him sprawling to the floor and his gun clattering down the hallway. Before the other two soldiers could raise their guns, Finnick and Peeta pounce on them with a barrage of punches. I could only stand there and witness the chaos unfold.
Peeta is trying to wrestle the gun from the biggest of the group. The soldier's nose is bloody and misshapen from Peeta's initial punches. It was definitely broken. Peeta manages to whip the butt of the gun into the temple of the soldier and the gun falls onto the floor. The solider yells out in pain turns his back away from Peeta. He takes this opportunity to wrap his arms around the soldier's waist and lifts him into the air, German-suplexing him onto his head and knocking him out.
Finnick has the smallest of the group in a side headlock, landing blow after blow into the face of the solider. The solider tries unsuccessfully to unlock his head from the grip and grab at his gun that has fallen to the ground below. He eventually resorts to pulling at Finnick's hair, grabbing and ripping it out in one seemless motion. He yelps in pain as Finnick's golden locks come loose and fall to the floor. Finnick watches in dismay as the hair floats gingerly down.
"My hair!" Finnick yells out in frustration. He lets go of the soldier's head and hip-throws him to the floor. The soldier lands on the tiles below with a sickening crack. The solider must have broken a rib as he cries out in agony and clutches at his side. Finnick gets to his feet and grabs the soldier's gun from the floor. Before the soldier could get up, Finnick pistol whips him in the face, dazing him.
"Where is he!?" Finnick shouts out to the soldier. The soldier raises his hand in surrender and says something to Finnick I cannot quite hear. The soldier's eyes eventually loll to the back of his head, and he flops to the floor, unconscious.
Gale was on top of the leader, a knee on his stomach and sending devastating punches into his face. With each loud thwack came a spray of blood across the floor. Left, then right. Each blow seemed to be heavier than the one before. While I knew Gale was a brute, I must have forgotten just how strong he actually was.
"Why did you need Katniss?!" Gale asks the solider, lifting him by the collar. "Where is Haymitch?!"
"Fuck you," the soldier says, and spits a bloody wad of saliva onto Gale's face. He lets out an evil snigger and slaps Gale across the face.
"Is that so?" Gale says as his eyes fill with anger and he lets go of the soldier's shirt. He straddles the soldier's chest and locks his arms to his sides with his legs. He then begins his onslaught of blows once again. The blows eventually turn into sickening crunches of broken bone, but Gale doesn't stop. His face is contorted to an evil grin as he continuously lands blow after blow to the leader. Teeth scatter across the floor and the soldiers face is no longer recognizable. Now it's only crimson mess of matter and cartilage.
I couldn't bear to see anymore. "That's enough!" I yell out to Gale.
This must have snapped him out of his rage as he looks around in a disconcerted state. He glances down at his hands, which are covered in blood and tissue and then to the solider who's labored breathing was the only indication he was alive still. Finnick and Peeta arrive at my side and share concerned looks as they glance at the soldier, who lay in a pool of his own blood and teeth, then to Gale, who eventually gets to his feet and wipes his bloody knuckles on the side of his pants.
"Let's go," he says without so much as looking in our direction. "Grab the guns."
Finnick and Peeta oblige, and we begin running again.
"Wait! We don't even know where we're running to!" Peeta says.
"I was able to get some information out of the little one before he lost consciousness," Finnick responds.
"And?" Gale says through gritted teeth. "Did he tell you where Haymitch is?"
"Yeah," Finnick responds back. "But I feel like he was lying."
We all stop running and look at Finnick, who bears a look of doubt.
"Why do you think that?" Peeta asks.
Finnick rubs the back of his head in uncertainty. "Because where the hell is Hangar 7?"
Authors Notes:
Another chapter down! I'm bad at writing action sequences, but I tried my very best. Hopefully you all enjoy how the story is unfolding. If so, feel free to leave a review and creative criticism. It is always greatly appreciated! Thank you for all the continued support!