Broken (Peeta Mellark Fanfiction)

Chapter 10 - Break

We have to move on.
Katniss stands and helps me up. Once she moves away I can feel the loss of control dawning upon me once again, but this time I have a strong hold on my sanity. Katniss made me remember a strong memory I once cherished, and now it's something I can hold onto when the bad things take over my mind. It takes intense concentration to keep it all away. They find another ladder that is the way aboveground, I go up last, trying not to think of the people we've left behind that are already starting to haunt me.

We end up in someone's utility room, the door opens and a Capitol lady stands in the doorway, her eyes widen in alarm as she turns to call for someone. Almost immediately, an arrow pierces her chest and she falls to the ground. Blood leaks into her silky exotic bird robe, I look away as we pass by her, trying not to dig the cuffs into my shuddering wrists. They're already bursting with so much pain, I didn't notice how bloody they've gotten, maybe I should focus on that.

"How long do you think we have before they figure out some of us could've survived?" Katniss asks.

"I think they could be here anytime," Gale answers. "They knew we were heading for the streets. Probably the explosion will throw them for a few minutes, then they'll start looking for our exit point."

While they start discussing our next plan of action, I move over to the velvet sofa set only a few feet away, and sit down. The madness keeps swarming through my brain, but this time I fight back.

My heart is thumping so hard in my chest. I just stare down at the sparkly white carpet, all of the events that just occurred are already coming back, flashing over over my eyes like it keeps happening right in front of me again and again. My hands find a flat velvet pillow that matches the couch, and my teeth clamp down onto the soft fabric, clenching away at all of the human feelings that I pushed away while escaping the tunnel. After everything we just went through to get here, I know these certain feelings are real. They feel too real, and with the fake ones being there as well, it's almost too easy to spot the difference.

"Let's check the closets." Katniss says.

They decide that the best thing to do is to find somewhere to rest for a little bit, but first we have to disguise ourselves, so that we can walk through the busy streets without being recognizable. We aren't going straight to Snow's mansion, mainly because our team isn't in the best shape right now. I'm on the verge of madness, Pollux is brutally weeping in the corner, Gale has a major wound on his neck, and Cressida looks sickly pale as she speaks to Katniss, who has a motivated grimace full of pure hatred.

We're a little shaken up. There's only five of us left, we've lost over half of our team, and we're all in mortifying shock from the mutation attack, we just need a break, but we can't stay here. They'll search the tunnels and eventually find out that some of us escaped, they'll figure out where we went, and that would lead them here. It worked out for them last time.

The Capitol streets are swarming with evacuating people, we've all had our faces flashed across TV screen and plastered on posters that hang just about everywhere. Not even just that, but Katniss and I are known by pretty much every citizen in the country.

After looking through the many closets in this apartment, we gather up lots of long coats and cloaks that might be able to conceal our weapons and hopefully our identities.

When my bloodied wrists are revealed, Katniss immediately jams her hand into the pocket she stored the key to my handcuffs in.

"No. Don't. They help hold me together." I say, backing away.

"You might need your hands," Gale says.