DEAD GIRL WALKING ━━ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔

𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. running for your life

Before getting the chance to ask what was wrong—what had happened to change her emotions so fast—Esther stood up from the water. "We have to go back," Esther suddenly stated, which Atlas immediately shook his head to, and before he could retort against Esther's idea, she beat him to it. "Finnick, Katniss and Peeta were all there—we left them there, Atlas. We have to go back and see if the fog ..." Esther trailed off, her heart sinking at the mere thought of them possibly being caught up in the fog, seeing their unmoving bodies with the painful blisters once covering her skin.

"There was no cannon, Esther," said Atlas, cutting the girl from her vivid thoughts and standing up to her level.

"We don't know that!" She exasperated, her breathing becoming frantic. "We were laying almost dead for who knows how long. Maybe it didn't go off—maybe you're right and I'm wrong. Or maybe we didn't hear it." Esther shook her head. "We can't know for sure, and I can't take the risk that my brother and our friends are gone because we stupidly decided to take a damn walk!"

Atlas didn't know where the sudden anger came from within the blonde, yet he knew she had a right to be worried. Sighing, he nodded his head hesitantly, and Esther instantly led the way with Atlas stubbornly following along. Unlike Esther, Atlas carefully watched their surroundings if anything were to pop out just as the fog did, yet he was distracted when Esther broke into a run, calling her brother's name loudly.

"Finnick!" Her yells echoed through the forest, the last thing she cared about was attracting unwanted attention. Her breathes became more frantic, and her calls became more desperate from the lack of answers. As time went by, slowly and agonising, Esther shook her head with waterworks blurring her vision. She knew she was at the right spot where they had camped, but nobody was there. Finnick wasn't there.

Atlas heard the sudden hitch in her breath, making him turn and act quickly when he watched her stumble where she stood. Before Esther could collapse to the floor from the shakiness of her knees, Atlas caught her, holding her against his chest. She cried from the worst possible scenarios building in her head, barely audibly whispering. "We're too late. H—he's gone. He's gone!"

Atlas pulled the blonde away from him, turning her around hastily so she faced him. Her tearful expression met with his stern eyes. "Hey, Esther." Noticing he wasn't catching her attention, he lightly shook her by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Hey! He's not gone—none of them are, okay? Their weapons aren't here, and we were closer to the fog. If they were gone, we would have found them." Esther didn't know whether she truly believed the boy, yet she nodded her head, hope rekindling in her chest. "They probably found a source of water, maybe even went back to the beach. That's the only way they could have got out of here if they had been hit by the fog."

Esther sniffled. "I remember the way to the beach. I know where it is—" A growl cut her off, making the two teenagers tense. Esther and Atlas pointed their gaze at the sound originating from the line of trees, their eyes widening at the sight of mutts formed like monkeys glaring down at them. Esther gulped at the sight of them baring their teeth, hungrily staring at them like prey. Atlas clenched his jaw, unravelling the knives in his holster, tightly gripping the blade until his knuckles turned white.

Esther didn't dare break eye contact with one of the mutts staring her down, whispering towards Atlas. "My trident isn't here. Finnick must have taken it when he realised we were missing." From the information, Atlas wasted no time in slowly passing one of his knives over to Esther, the girl becoming fearful with the unfamiliar feeling of the metal in her hand. It felt too light—too small—as she was used to the trident she used in combat.