Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 27

He hadn't, he was safe, but Peeta was out of control.

A soldier named Mitchell had tried to subdue Peeta by grabbing him around the waist and ripping him away from Katniss.

But Peeta was in fight or flight mode. And he chose to fight. Mitchell's attack had only served to anger Peeta more.

"Finnick! Restrain him!" Jackson called out. Finnick was sprinting towards Peeta, desperate to get there before anything horrific happened.

But it was too late. Peeta had flung his elbow back into Mitchell's face.

"Peeta!" Finnick yelled out in a desperate plea.

Peeta wasn't listening. And Finnick wasn't fast enough. Peeta had shoved Mitchell backwards into the tar, incidentally activating the netting trap they'd earlier discussed.

Only this wasn't your typical netting. This netting was made of barbed wire. Mitchell let out a loud scream of agony before quickly falling silent.

Taiya could all but hear the cannon echo in her mind. That was another tribute dead.

"Finn!" Taiya went to run towards him. He was struggling to get Peeta under control, the boy was still trying to lunge at Katniss. She'd only made it one step when she felt an arm slam around her waist.

"Get inside," Gale tried to push her into the doorway Homes had just shot through.

"Finnick!" she pushed back against Gale, but the boy wasn't letting her run towards the fast-approaching black oil. He wasn't letting her run towards Finnick. "Let me go!" she yelled at Gale. She couldn't stand by watching while her husband wrestled Peeta, if he couldn't get him under control now, they'd both be doomed. "Katniss!" Taiya yelled at the Mockingjay. "Hurry!"

Peeta wanted Katniss. If Katniss ran towards the building, Finnick would have more luck wrestling the boy in that direction.

One yell was all it took for Katniss to look away from Mitchell's suspended body and sprint towards the building.

"Come on, come on! We gotta move!" Gale yelled at the remaining members of the squad who were racing towards the building.

"Get inside!" Jackson desperately tried to urge them on.

"Upstairs! Go!" Homes waved them all through. "Hurry up!"

"Come on, Taiya!" Gale tried to tug her inside, but she was holding firm. She wasn't moving until Finnick was there.

"Taiya, go!" Finnick grunted as he hauled Peeta in her direction.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Taiya began to panic. She didn't want to leave until she was certain he was out of danger, and currently, he was way too close to the tar to be considered safe.

Gale wasn't waiting for permission now. This was not a good time for a panic attack. They didn't need two traumatised victors having a meltdown at the same time. He jerked Taiya off her feet and ran into the building, immediately sprinting towards the stairs.

Taiya thrashed against his hold, but she didn't take her eyes off Finnick. He and Peeta had both made it inside at last.

Katniss and Pollux were leading the squad, but they'd stopped running once they'd made it to the first-floor landing.

"Keep moving! Keep moving to the top!" Jackson ordered.

But there was nowhere to go. The staircase had been destroyed. They were stuck on this level.

Gale released Taiya as soon as they reached Katniss and she immediately turned to look at Finnick.

Finnick was behind them, dragging a frantically struggling Peeta up the stairs. Peeta was not in his right mind. He was too far gone to call back. Taiya hadn't seen him like this in a long time and she didn't know what to do. She was able to calm him down if he was on the edge, but when he was in this state, there was no calming him down. Finnick had to hold Peeta into a corner with all his body weight to keep him from attempting another attack on Katniss.