BLOOD ON MY HANDS || Finnick Odair

twenty seven; the 20th.

AUTHORS NOTE:
I found more shit about him being in District 9 again and I'm honestly ready to cry god dammittttt
what I'm saying is if you keep getting notifs for me repeatedly updating the first 20 chapters it's nothing vital to the plot, it's just me metaphorically smacking myself with a pool noodle for my Dory memory.

For five weeks, his routine remained the same. Wake up. Get dressed. Breakfast. Go for a walk with Cissy. Drop her off at Gloria's, since she had offered to watch her during the day while he adjusted. Spend the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon working a barn with someone who needed an extra hand. Go home. Shower. Eat dinner. Give Cissy a bath. Pyjamas for them both. Put her to bed. Tea with Eve and Gramps. Go to sleep. Repeat.

Every day was the same.

For if the pattern was helpful, Eden found. It created a purpose for him, a reason to get out of bed rather than wasting away under the covers. It made sure he ate and bathed regularly.

As much as he hated to admit it, Eve was one of his greatest helps. It had never been his intention for her to take on the role of a caregiver.

In the life he'd planned out, it was going to be him and Flora with the baby taking care of Gramps until he passed. His sister, if she survived the reapings, would be free to become whatever she wanted. She could be an incredible aunt as her and his daughter grew up; would he someone Cissy could go to when she wanted away from her parents.

Nothing ever went to plan.

Instead, Eve would come in and gently wake him up while getting Cissy to change her. They'd tried setting up an alarm, but the one and only time it had gone off Eden spent most of the day shaking. In the mess of his mind where dream and reality were one of the same, it had been the cannon shots. So Eve had become the alarm clock.

When they were both fed and dressed she would send them on their walk and with the help of Gramps, pack a diaper bag to Gloria to use. It made mornings a lot easier, but nothing could brighten this one.

Before the sun was fully up, Eden had gently taken Cissy out of bed and gotten her ready. It was second nature now, so it wasn't overly difficult to do. She was too sleepy to move around much anyway. Gramps always said it was odd that she slept so nicely through the night, but Eden wasn't going to complain.

He could only handle one problematic sleeper out of the two of them, and it would have to be him.

Eden laced his work boots and pulled on a winter jacket. It was nearing spring now, and though February was coming to a end it was still chilly. He bundled Cissy up as well. It took him a moment to figure out all the straps on the baby carrier he would wear, but he managed.

When he left his house and walked a short path through the town, the citizens of District 10 were just beginning to stir. Few fireplaces were lit, some had window open and lights on, and the faint smell of a morning meal came with the wind. Farmers would tend to their organically raised animals, the rest would all go down to the mass slaughter houses.

But not him.

Eden was through the town before the earliest worker was leaving their house. As he walked further and further from the town the road eventually changed from paved to dirt. A few minutes later he was passing the first of the organic farms.

The crow of a rooster tore through the morning silence and Cissy squirming and whining as her sleep was disrupted. To calm her, he only had to hold his tiny hand in his and slowly move his thumb across the back of it. She settled quickly into her coat and the blanket he'd wrapped around her.

For nearly an hour Eden continued to follow the dirt road, passing cows and pigs, goats and sheep, chickens and turkeys. Most expressed their hunger through sounds as they waited for their care-givers to feed them. But finally, the road curved to the right and the noise faded.