Survivor | The Hunger Games

ch.14

When Lana passed out after murdering Darian, Finnick dressed himself in his best suit and went out into the capital to win over at least one sponsor. He was able to sway an older gentleman who was in his late 30's and had taken a special liking towards the young girl. As disgusted as Finnick was with some of the inappropriate comments the man made about Lana's physique, Finnick still took his money and used it to send Lana the biggest bottle of water he could, along with two protein bars. He also took the opportunity of sending her a message to apologize for not saying goodbye and telling her one of the things he would've said if he did go with her to the jet. The two nights that passed were still as excruciating for him to get through as watching her fight against Darian and Iris. He could feel his heartbeat bang at a level he didn't think was possible, it was almost as if he's actual heart was pushing up against the walls of his chest.

A few hours ago, Mags successfully persuaded Finnick into going to sleep considering how prior he refused to do so since Lana had yet to wake up. But now that she's awake and well Mags has enough reason to wake him up and calm his worries. Once she made it to his bedroom, she shook him awake with a smile on her face. "Mags? What's wrong?" Finnick said, trying to catch his breath as if he was having a nightmare. Mags turned on the TV in his room and happily pointed to a conscious Lana standing outside the cave with Emery.

Finnick's face lit up at the sight of her. He got out of bed and walked closer to the screen.

"Here, this is yours." Emery took out the water bottle Finnick sent her and handed it to Lana. "I hope you don't mind, when we saw that, and a few other supplies come down from the sky we couldn't resist to drink some."

"Sky?" Lana questioned after drinking almost all the water.

"Yeah, from a sponsor." Emery answered then gave Lana the note he sent her. Finnick watched as tears flooded Lana's eyes while reading his note. Finnick wanted to hurt himself for making her cry. The last thing he wanted to do by not saying goodbye was to hurt her. He thought by not doing so he'd be doing them both a favor and saving themselves from even more hurt, especially after everything she's endured since the reaping. "Finnick Odair, right?" Emery asked. Lana nodded, wiping her upper lip with her arm.

"He sounds like he really cares about you." Emery said. "Why didn't he say goodbye?"

Lana sniffled back her tears and looked at Emery. "Honestly... I don't know." Mags gave Finnick a sorrowful look, knowing how much he regretted his decision. "I didn't know Finnick before the games. I mean, I knew who he was, I knew he was the youngest in history to ever win the games. I knew he was a womanizer at home and in the capital. I knew how much the boys at school either admired him or despised him. I knew him as Finnick Odair, winner of the 65th hunger games. But it wasn't until the day I got reaped that I got to know him and not just that, but he got to know me. We talked as if we had known each other forever. Whenever I looked at him, I was reminded of home, he made me feel... safe." Lana explained.

"Does it make you mad that he didn't show up." Emery asked.

"At first, yes and a little disappointed." Lana answered. "But now? Now, I just feel tired. Tired and depressed. I don't think I'll be able to take much of this anymore." Finnick felt the knots in his stomach multiply at the sound of her wanting to give up. He knew about people in the arena who would take a life of another and couldn't live with it afterwards, so they'd find a way to take their own. He didn't want Lana to be one of those people. She was too good of a person to end up like that.

"C'mon, we should go back inside before someone spots us." Emery said and as the girls made their way back inside the cave, the scene changed to the cornucopia where the career pack was. The night before, while Iris was holding on for dear life, one of the mentors from 1 managed to get her enough sponsors to send her healing cream. Iris applied it that same day and just like that, overnight the wound on her shoulder had almost healed.

"I still don't get how the hell you guys survived." Peter said.

"It was just one girl." Iris responded feeling embarrassed. "All I had to do once I got to Penelope was wake her up so that she could help me stop the bleeding on my shoulder and get back here."

"So, with Darian dead and Lana being AWOL, it's us four against 10 other tributes." Peter informed. "Our odds don't seem too bad."

"As long as we keep picking them off one by one than we should be fine until it's down to the four of us." Iris said then turned to Tyler. "How about you? You've been really quiet ever since Penelope and I came back. Are you a traitor like Francis too?"

"No, definitely not." Tyler exclaimed. "I've killed for you guys, and I'll keep killing for you guys until its just us four."

"Do you believe him?' Penelope asked Iris.

"I don't know." Iris shrugged as she held up her crossbow to Tyler's skull. "What do you think, Peter?"

"What I think is that four is better than three." Peter sarcastically responded. "So, put the damn bow down."

Finnick turned to Mags, worried. "Should we do something about that?"

"What is there to do?" Mags signed. "From day one he wanted to be a part of the career pack and I don't think simply being threatened by their unofficial leader is going to scare him away from it."

"Right..." Finnick muttered to himself. "Have you tried getting him sponsors?"

"Every day since he got in there." Mags signed. "But nobody's really interested in him. I feel bad."

"Do you want me to try and---" Mags quickly cut him off.

"No, you go get something to eat. Now that you know Lana is okay, I expect you to have a real meal." Mags signed. She then kissed him on the forehead and went off to bed. Finnick turned off the TV in his room and made his way to the dining room. He asked the only Avox on shift to bring him whatever it is they had for dinner. Once the Avox left, Pixie emerged from the hallway.

"God, if I knew you were going to be here, I would've just gone back to bed." Pixie rolled her eyes at the sight of Finnick.

"Screw you, too." The 19-year-old boy said before taking a seat at the dining table.

Pixie smiled at the thought of getting a reaction out of him. The spooky 28-year-old sat across from him and rung the Avox bell that she carried almost everywhere. Pixie grew impatient when she kept ringing it and no one approached her. "I swear, if someone doesn't tend to me now, I'll be forced to file a formal complaint with the building manager."

Finnick, completely disgusted by her behavior towards the Avox's, spoke up. "Calm down, there's only one Avox on shift during this time and the one on shift tonight is making me something to eat."

"You're eating again? How wonderful." Pixie said. "I thought they were going to have to force feed you again. Remember that time after your 17th birthday when you refused to eat just about anything and everything? Oh, how quickly president Snow took care of that problem. I swear that man is just so admirable. He always knows just how to get the job done."

Finnick gritted his teeth as he bit his tongue, careful not to say something that could get him in trouble. Once the Avox brought out his food, Pixie groaned impatiently. "Finally, Avox, you're here. Go serve me a glass of the red wine. The one that Merlin brought over for me last night."

Once the Avox left, Finnick got out of his seat, grabbed his plate and began walking towards his bedroom. Finnick and Pixie shared a twisted relationship. He met her soon after winning his games. They had a good relationship at first. She acted as an older sister to him growing up and he would frequently go to her for advice but soon after his 18th birthday, things changed. She began making inappropriate comments about his body which those comments eventually turned into inappropriate touching and before he even realized it, he had fallen into a sick and mentally draining relationship with the women he once considered family.

Right as he was about to exit the dining area to eat in his bedroom, Pixie stopped him. "Leave like you always do, Finnick. See how well that works out for you in the future." Finnick ignored her threat and continued to his bedroom.