Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 31

"We got to go! We got to get out of here now!" Peeta frantically exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down!" Gale spat angrily.

"The mutts! They released the mutts!" he explained fearfully as he scrambled to his feet, not paying Gale any heed.

With the realisation they were getting out of there, Taiya settled slightly, only slightly.

Finnick frowned, not sure how he'd be able to get her to move when she was shaking so violently. Then the realisation hit him. She'd heard the hissing before anyone else, she'd been sent straight into panic mode, and Peeta seemed to know exactly what was coming for them. He knew because Taiya had told him. These were the mutts she'd been subjected to.

"Oh my god," Finnick realised. "Move, move, we need to move!" he ordered the squad. He jumped up to his feet, pulling Taiya with him, as soon as they were on their feet, she was clinging to him frantically. He had to hold up some of her weight. Her entire body was quivering, she couldn't stand without help. "Tay, keep ahold of me, please."

"Pollux, what's the fastest way out?" Katniss asked the Avox as her eyes flickered around the tunnel. It was so dark, they wouldn't be able to see anything coming.

"Come on! Go! Go!" Jackson hurried the squad back into the tunnel.

Finnick wrapped his arm around Taiya's waist and pulled her into his side. "Go Peeta," he encouraged the boy to head into the tunnel in front of them. "I've got you, I've got you," Finnick whispered to Taiya as he walked them both into the tunnel.

"No, no, no," Taiya sobbed, slapping her hands over her ears.

Finnick wanted nothing more than to sit her down and comfort her, to work through whatever distress was on her mind, but if these mutts were the ones she was so terrified of, they didn't have time for that.

Gale shot a blast of fire down the end of the tunnel, using the fire as a light to guide their way through the dark, gloomy tunnel.

They were creeping slowly through the tunnel, Gale covering the front, Jackson covering the rear.

"Please, please," Taiya sobbed. "We need to move faster. We have to go," she cried in Finnick's ear.

"I know," Finnick bit his lip, trying to stop his own tears from falling. He hated seeing her like this. "Just hold onto me ok?"

They reached a new intersection, and Gale slowly used the flashlight on his gun to peer around the corner to inspect whether it was clear. Taiya let out a whimper of fear as Gale fired another blast of fire. The coast was clear.

Taiya let out a ragged breath of relief before they continued on. They'd covered about three blocks before everyone froze.

They could hear the screams.

The thick guttural screams that bounced off the tunnel walls around them.

Finnick's hand was immediately over Taiya's mouth, his voice whispering in her ear. But she didn't even have it within her to scream anymore. She just collapsed against him, her body violently quivering as tears rolled down her cheeks like a waterfall. They wouldn't be able to take on these mutts. They'd be outnumbered. Snow knew what he was doing.

Snow had won.

"Avoxes," Peeta said immediately. "That's what Darius sounded like when they tortured him," he cast a quick look at Taiya. He didn't have to filter his words, she couldn't get any worse than she was now.

"The mutts must have found them," Cressida realised.

"So they're not just after Katniss," Homes sighed.