"Dahlia Blossom. Don't let the name fool you. She's better known as the Black Dahlia. And she didn't earn that nickname by smiling and looking pretty."
"She sure knows how to perform for the camera."
"Because she knows how to play the game. She alwa...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
With tensions still high among the divided squad, Gale warily moved away from Katniss' side only to be swiftly replaced by Dahlia and Finnick. The pair glared at Jackson for the bold move she had pulled by threatening Katniss, but they were waved off by the Mockingjay herself.
"Dahls, it's fine." She mumbled quietly, stepping forward slightly to check up on the injured Leeg sister and missing the surprised smile on the woman's face. The last person who referred to Dahlia by that nickname was her sister.
After experimentally placing his foot on the dried black substance coating the stairs, Gale turned to the squad and announced, "I don't think we're gonna leave any footprints. We should move now. And those cameras outside should be covered up by the oil."
"She can't move forward like this." Castor spoke up as he knelt next to the wounded Leeg. "Her leg is too bad. We have to evacuate her." Then he turned to the woman's sister with a sympathetic gaze and murmured, "I'm sorry."
But the first Leeg was determined not to leave her sister behind and declared to Jackson, "I'll stay with her."
"As soon as we make contact, we will send somebody back. I promise you." Jackson pledged in an uncharacteristically soft voice before slipping back to her usual commanding tone. "All right, everybody, move out. Let's go!"
"Let's get him up." Gale ordered, nodding dismissively to Peeta who was still drowsy from the sedative.
Reassured that Katniss was safe with Gale, Dahlia and Finnick were the ones to haul the sluggish boy to his feet. "Can you walk?" Finnick asked him in concern as Peeta stumbled on unsteady legs, but the boy gave no answer. The pair flanked each side just to be sure.
The strange liquid that had pursued them up the stairs had dried like paint on every surface it touched, leaving a hardened black sheen on the exterior of each building. Gale's predictions for the surveillance cameras thankfully turned out to be true, crystallised droplets of tar hanging from the equipment like the stalactites from her first Games. Squad 451 were ghosts for now.
But the most horrifying sight of all was Mitchell's cemented form suspended above them on wires in a gruesome public display. As Dahlia and Finnick led Peeta underneath the casualty that he had inadvertently caused, she saw his head tilt up in an attempt to catch a glimpse of what he had done.
"Don't look, Peeta." She mumbled gently, redirecting his head to focus on the stained ground beneath their feet. "You don't need to see it."
Dahlia knew from experience that the scene above him would haunt his mind for the rest of his life. It wasn't worth looking, because it would only bring him more guilt. She knew he didn't need that. She just knew.
"Come on, this way." Gale instructed, beckoning the column of soldiers across the ruined courtyard.
Noticing the solemn expression on Dahlia's face, Finnick leaned across and muttered sarcastically into her ear, "Who put him in charge?"
