Always

Never Leaving

"Whose idea was it to go underground? I can't see a thing." Rye says and I roll my eyes because he has a flashlight which allows him to see perfectly fine.

"You love to over exaggerate, don't you?" I ask and he smirks.

"It's one of my specialties." He says, but Boggs cuts him off.

"Shhh." He holds his hand up and motions for all of us to stop walking through the ankle deep water.

"Katniss, Katniss, Katniss."

Something hisses my name through the tunnels and it echoes as if we were in a cave. "What was that?" I ask.

"Run!" Boggs commands us and then the mutts attack. Horrible, screeching cries ring through the tunnel, echoing loudly off the stone walls. Finnick and I run out to provide more cover fire, while Peeta and Rye begin running down the tunnel.

That's when I get my first look at the monsters chasing us. Eerily glowing green scales reflect dully off the faint light. Razor sharp, black talons scrape loudly against the stone floor as they run after us. The muttattions look like a giant ugly lizard procreated with an equally hideous bird. Their large, serpentine heads tower six feet over ours when standing on their muscular, bird-like legs. Heavy wings flap haphazardly, creating giant blasts of wind that threaten to blow all of us off our feet. Their blood red eyes are full of malice. They were created for one purpose only: to kill me.

I utilize my exploding arrows, trying to shoot them where more than one lizardbird will be hit, but they're simply too big and built too tough. The small, compact explosions of my arrows will blow one of their feet but after shaking it's snake-like head it'll be on its feet chasing us once more. I change tactics and aim for their large, glowing red eyes.

Suddenly, a pained cry echoes through the air, and I see Finnick fall. Before the creature can finish him off, I fire my arrow straight into its eye. The ensuing explosion causes bloody brain matter to spray us all, but nonetheless, Finnick manages to scramble to his feet .

"How much farther?!" Finnick yells, stumbling slightly. Blood pours from a long, deep cut on his face, stretching from his temple down to the curve of his jaw. He can hardly see three feet in front of him due to the red that's literally obscuring his vision.

"Just another minute!" Boggs hollers back. "We'll make it!"

The lizard comes out of no where and tackles Boggs. "No!" I scream running back to help him, but he's already gone.

"Katniss, come on!" Peeta's voice echoes through the tunnels and I start running.

All of us manage to find a second wind, bursting forward faster than we've ever done before. But it's not enough. I hear the heavy beating of the creature's wings as they try to fly in the enclosed space. The scrape of their talons against the stone. Their angry, bloodthirsty screeches. They're gaining on us.

I turn around and fire another arrow, hitting one in the knee, causing it to tumble forward and trip up a few of its cohorts. I bought us time, but only a little. No more than thirty seconds. We have to reach the end of the tunnel.

"There!" Peeta suddenly shouts and we all see a rusted, metal ladder in the distance, leading up to the ceiling where another manhole will lead us into the dungeons.

Peeta reaches the ladder first, leaping onto the rungs. All of us stop about twenty yards away to provide cover fire. Finnick and Rye shower the creatures with bullets. Some of them fall, but six more still remain.

Suddenly, Rye's gun stops shooting. "I'm out!" he cries.

"Go!" Finnick yells. "I'm right behind you!"

I know it kills him to do it, but Rye turns and quickly begins to climb the ladder. Finnick and I continue firing upon the creatures, but they're jumping around the confined spaces of the tunnel, making it hard to fire a sure shot. They're getting smarter. Finnick focuses on a group of lizardbirds to his right, protecting the ladder.

"Katniss, get out of here!" He yells to me.

"No, I can't leave you!"

"I'm right behind you, now go!" He shoots another mutt and motions for me to climb the ladder.

The steel is cold against my hand, but Peeta grabs me and pulls me up. Finnick is halfway when the lizard grabs his neck pulling him down.

"No, Finnick!" Hot tears run down my face as our friend disappears.

"We have to keep going." Peeta whispers to me and pulls me to keep running.

Silently, Peeta begins to lead us through the Capitol dungeons. Unable to help myself, I take in everything around me. Everything that was Peeta's life for nearly two months. The dungeons are not like those in District 13, with white walls and floors and bright red doors leading into the cells. These floors are made of black stone. Stained, grey brick makes up the walls. Some of the stains are brighter than others. The walls are stained with blood.

We pass steel doors on either side, each of them bearing a single black number. The only light available is provided by single bulbs dangling every few feet from the ceiling. For the first minute or so, it's completely silent. Deathly silent.

Then someone screams. I grip Peeta tightly afraid that he will have a flashback, but he looks me in the eyes and shakes his head before running faster.

When we get to a door that requires a code, Peeta racks his brain before quickly putting in a number that allows them to open.

"How did you know the password?" I ask quietly.

"Guards talk too much." He says and shrugs his shoulders.

"Rye, I need you to stand outside the door." Peeta points to the solid steel door that has a blue mat in front of it.

"You ready?" Peeta looks at me and I nod my head.

"Together?" I ask and give him my hand just like I have the past two years.

"Together." He replies and kicks in the door.

President Snow sits at his desk and doesn't even blink an eye when we run in. "I've been expecting you."

His voice sends a chill up my spine and Peeta waits for me to load my arrow.

"This is your war, not mine." I tell him. Snow kidnapped Peeta, not me. My war is with Coin.

He racks his gun and points it to the great President Snow. "Anything you'd like to say?" He asks and Snow looks him dead in the eye.

"You loose." Snow says.

Before the sound of a bomb going off fills our ears and the walls around us crumble, killing Snow.

Smoke surrounds us and Peeta pulls me off of the ground. "We have to get out of here." He yells and we run down the halls with Rye in tow.

Peacekeepers chase us through the streets and just when we think we're safe, Rye gets pulled into a crowd and we are cornered in an alley with a peacekeeper holding a gun.

A.N. Ahhh next chapter is the last one!!