Darker And Colder

1.13: Cold Of The Night

Chapter 13
Katniss's POV

We are running, pursued by Brutus and Enobaria from District 2. I can tell Peeta is struggling with his prosthetic leg over the undergrowth, and Finnick is having to carrying Mags.

I get my bow and load an arrow from my quiver that Peeta got for me from the cornucopia. I stop for a second to let the arrow fly, but someone- who I assume is Cashmere- grabs me from behind and drags me across the ground. I scream and thrash and try to escape her grip, but she has a tight hold on me and I am weaker from the baby. She wraps her arm around my throat and I feel like I am about to pass out.

I am about to give up when her arm is wrenched off me and I can breathe again. I fall to the floor and look up to see Finnick shoving her away from me. He gets his trident and I look away. I hear her fall to the ground and a cannon goes off, signifying her death.

I can feel Finnick, lifting me up- not as carefully as Peeta, but at this point I'm not exactly bothered because he just saved my life.

He runs until we get to the beach, where I see Peeta, but no Mags. As soon as Peeta sees me, he comes to remove me from Finnick's arms.

"Peeta, are you ok?" I say. I can see blood smeared across his face.

He puts me down. "Yeah I'm fine. Are you ok?" I can see him staring at my neck, and I know there must be a bruise there.

"Yeah." I realise my voice sounds croaky and unconvincing, so I say it again, trying to make it clearer. "Yeah. Cashmere got to me."

He makes a face halfway between a smile and a frown. 

"Where's Mags?"

Finnick comes up to me from surveying the jungle. "Well... Brutus, Enobaria and Gloss got to us. Peeta got Brutus, but Enobaria came up to me from behind. I didn't see, so Mags walked right in front of the knife."

"I'm sorry."

"I guess she wasn't going to make it too long anyway, so at least she didn't die in vain. After that Peeta heard you scream, and I told him I'd get you and meet him at the beach. I think Gloss retreated afterwards, and Enobaria was pretty badly injured. Anyway, it looks pretty safe down here. You two sleep, I'll keep watch."

Neither me or Peeta objects. He probably needs to mourn for Mags and me and Peeta are both exhausted. After a while of lying on the sand in Peeta's arms, sleep finds me and takes me away into oblivion.

♤♤♤

I walk through the forest, and see Peeta. I run up to him and he hugs me tight.

"I hate you," he says and begins to strangle me. His face morphs into president snow and her keeps strangling me. Eventually I can't breathe but I can still see him. Another version of Peeta stands over me. 

"I'm glad you're dead. I don't need to protect you now. Your family is better now they don't have you. Gale is better without you. You just weigh everyone down." Then he starts kicking me.

Theres more people, people from district 12. They are all hitting me and kicking me. I can't move and I just feel more and more pain until-

♤♤♤

I wake screaming from the nightmare and Peeta wraps me in his arms.

"It's ok. It's not real. Katniss, it's ok." I relax in his arms, but I know I won't be able to sleep.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Finnick about seven meters away, looking at us. He looks like he is trying to calculate something, answer a question. He shakes his head like it's nothing and stares back out to the water.