Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

Twenty-One

Marissa does not even try to fight her attacker, too weak to attack him. She knows from the strength and aggression of the man that it is Brutus. Peeta is strong but, he is not aggressive and, Finnick would never attack her. Even with the throbbing in her head and disoriented state, she knows this. Her eyelids grow heavy, her head injury and lack of oxygen taking their toll on her.

The world is just fading around her when warm blood splatters onto her face and, Brutus falls limp over her. His hands around her throat loosen and, she wheezes for air. The body is lifted off of her and, thrown to the side and large hands grip onto her forearms.

"Marissa!" Peeta Mellark's voice reaches her ears. He rubs his hands along her back as she splutters and struggles for air. "Marissa, are you okay?"

Marissa cannot speak, stabbing pains shooting through her throat with every breath she takes so, she nods clumsily. She slowly lifts her arms, grasping onto his shoulders as he helps her up, supporting her when she struggles to stay balanced. She leans into him, letting him help her as the world around them spins.

"Katniss!" Peeta calls out. The volume worsens the banging pain in the back of Marissa's head and, she winces against it. "Katniss!"

Marissa finally manages to focus her eyes upon Brutus, who lies dead on the floor with Peeta's long knife in his neck.

"Peeta! Peeta! I'm here, Peeta!" Katniss screams from the lightning tree. "I'm here! I'm here! Peeta!"

"Marissa!" Finnick's voice rings through the jungle. Marissa's heart drops and, she tries to shout back at him but, the pain in her throat is too great.

"Katniss!"

Katniss does not reply this time. Peeta panics, rushing forward and all but drags Marissa along with him.

They are growing close to the lightning tree when the dome surrounding the arena flashes a dazzling blue before it erupts into a devastating explosion. Any living tributes are thrown violently to the floor, the blast of it knocking Peeta out cold and, it is a miracle that Marissa is still conscious. The earth explodes into showers of dirt and plant matter. Trees burst into flames. Marissa figures that, as it was his job, Beetee has blown up the forcefield and soon, they will be liberated but first, she has to cut out Peeta's tracker.

The boy lies still next to her, and, with all of her remaining strength, she pushes herself onto her hands and knees and hovers over him. She cannot focus on the burning jungle around her, her vision blurred and, she falls down multiple times as her shaking arms fail to hold her weight but, she can just about make out his left forearm and, she clumsily slices one of her knives through it.

She has to stop for a moment, turning away from Peeta and vomiting the food in her stomach onto the jungle floor. She is struggling to remain conscious now and, despite her hardest efforts, she's unable to locate the tracker and slowly slips away atop Peeta's limp body.

Finnick lies helplessly on the floor, unable to move his limbs but, just about clinging onto Marissa's broken bracelet which he had found in his search for her. All Finnick wants to do is spring to his feet and find Marissa but, he cannot.

He does not regain any sort of use of his body until he is lifted into the air by a hovercraft that has materialised above them. He's greeted by Plutarch Heavensbee and Haymitch Abernathy, both of whom look particularly morbid. Katniss and Beetee are already aboard the aircraft, both of them unconscious.

Plutarch cleans out the deep gash on Finnick's forearm where his tracker had been and, despite the stinging, Finnick does not flinch. His fist is clenched around Marissa's bracelet, panic settling in because she is not here. They tend to the rest of his wounds in silence and, he frowns when they pass him an oversized grey shirt to put on with a pair of loose trousers. Plutarch and Haymitch leave Finnick to dress, instructing him to join them in the next room when he is done. Finnick shakily pulls on the clothes, the collar of the shirt falling off of his shoulder but, he does not adjust it, leaving it to hang loosely on his frame.