Against the Current (Finnick and Annie)

Finnick~Chapter 26 (version 2)

"What's this?" He asks.

"I need you to give this to Annie," I tell Peeta. "If you know, I, um..."

"Don't make it?" He says gently.

I sigh and swallow down the lump in my throat. "Yeah."

Peeta looks at me with an almost sad and regretful expression. He nods once and slides the letter into his pocket.

"I may not make it either," Peeta points out. That's true but he has a better chance than me.

I look at Peeta and try to sound confident. "You're going to make it."

A conflicted expression comes over Peeta's face. His eyes dilate a bit before going back to normal. He unclenches his fists so hard that they begin to shake. I tense but suddenly Peeta relaxes again. He leans back tiredly and releases a heavy breath.

"In the arena, you were protecting me and Katniss. Real or not real?" He asks.

"Real," I reply carefully.

"For the rebellion?" Peeta asks. I can't read his expression. I can't tell if he's still angry about that or if he ever came to understand what happened and why.

"Real," I say after a while. "But also because I wanted to."

Peeta needs to know that I wasn't pretending. I might've had an ulterior purpose, but everything I did was genuine.

"You're protecting me now. Real or not real?" Peeta asks.

"Real," I reply this time without hesitation.

Peeta looks agitated and shakes his head. "Why?"

I glance quickly at Katniss who's lying in the corner. I look back at Peeta and see him regarding me carefully.

"Because you deserve a chance to get out of this," I tell Peeta. I don't look away so that he knows that I'm telling the truth.

Eventually Peeta just sighs and closes his eyes as he pretends to sleep. None of us say anything more to each other. Occasionally Peeta will mumble to himself, but his words are too quiet that I can't make out what he's saying. Katniss wakes up an hour later to take her shift. She nods sleepily at me as she goes to sit next to Pollux. I lie down in her spot, close my eyes, and finally fall asleep.

It feels like I closed my eyes for one minute when Katniss is already shaking me awake. Everyone is up now but no one is talking. We all have scowls on our faces from the lack of sleep and the fact that we're still trapped here. We eat a quick breakfast and soon I'm getting antsy. In the games I never stayed in the same spot for this long. I feel like we need to keep moving or else.

I can see the same anxiousness in Katniss' expression. We were both in the games and this isn't safe. She begins hurrying everyone to keep moving, and we gather our stuff. Suddenly I get this crawling feeling at the back of my neck. I look around nervously but I can't find what set me off.

"Guys quiet," Katniss says urgently. There's a slight panic in her eyes and the way her jaw is clenched tightly.

Everyone stops moving and that's when I hear what sent adrenaline pumping through my system. It's a quiet hissing but it grows louder by the second. As it loudens I realize with dread that it's not hissing. It's a quiet, creeping call of a name. Katniss' name. Snow knows we survived and he sent an army of who knows what after us.

"Katniss."

I flinch at the whispered name. I turn around and see Peeta whispering in time with the mutts. He finally fell asleep a couple of hours ago but he must've sensed the mutts coming, might even want to join them in killing Katniss.