TOGETHER⇉F.ODAIR✔️

thirty three

"It must be for water," Talia says, "What else would it be?"

"The trees?" Peeta asks, "Try it,"

Katniss takes the object and hits it into the tree, pausing for a moment. It doesn't appear to be working until suddenly, water begins to flow. She gasps, catching the water in her mouth and drinking. The four of them take it in turns to gulp back the liquid, and then they fill up their canisters. The group settle back to their positions, Talia finally feeling better, her head no longer throbbing under the overwhelming humidity. She's about to settle back down to sleep when suddenly a strange noise echoes around the arena. Not cannons, gongs. 12 sound out.

"Midnight?" Finnick asks.

"And the number of districts," Katniss interjects. Suddenly, through the clearing, she sees lightning strike against a huge tree, a storm brewing above it.

"Well, if you're not going to sleep, I am," Finnick says, getting up and heading over to Talia. He settles down beside her, usually, he'd pull her into his arms but they were too hot for such close contact. It didn't stop him placing a soft kiss on her forehead before settling into sleep.

"RUN!"

Katniss grabs her bow, her hand burning as she stands up.

"THE FOG IS POISONOUS! RUN!"

Finnick jolts awake, seeing the perfectly lined up fog spreading out towards them. He shakes Talia awake and grabs his trident. Talia sits up, grabbing her spear and pack, swinging it over her shoulders before getting up and rushing after Finnick, Katniss and Peeta.

The group run as fast as they can, their feet pounding against the soft ground, slipping and having to scrape their hands against bark to pull themselves up again. Peeta starts falling behind, the fog burning his skin, causing huge white lumps to form along his skin. He screams when it contacts him and it only makes Talia run faster. They're barely outrunning the fog, but her and Finnick keep moving, losing sight of Katniss and Peeta as they race away from the poison.

"Peeta! Peeta please!" Talia hears Katniss yell, and she directs Finnick in her direction. The three of them force Peeta to stand up, Katniss and Finnick dragging him along as Talia moves ahead. Her leg becomes ensnared in a tree root and she falls over, her head hitting a rock face hard, she yelps in pain as blood falls down the side of her face and over her hands, her spear rolling away down the hill.

"Talia!" Finnick calls, his arms still holding up Peeta.

"Go! I'm okay, just go!" Talia calls back, turning over and kicking at the roots with her other foot. The fog was nearing her, and as she glanced back towards the others, they were gone, racing away from the fog.

It was so, so close, and as she tugged at the roots with her hands, finally, her foot came loose. She scrambled up, gripping the tree for help, blood still pouring from her head as her boots slammed against the soft mud. The fog was right on her as she rushes forwards. Little did she know she was heading away from Finnick. Her feet hit sand before she realises and she collapses to her knees, dragging herself towards the water. She didn't want to be out of the treeline, but the fog was right there, filling that part of the forest, but not moving further towards her. She slides into the water, the salt hurting her wound, but soon, she found comfort in it, it was helping her slightly. She had no idea where the others were, but if they hadn't reached the beach then she could only assume they'd crossed into another area of the rainforest.

She pulls herself out the water, looking at her leg, her calf had been torn open by the tree root when she'd dragged her foot out, and she knew her head was badly injured too. She looks through her pack, finding nothing but her water canister and some crackers. She's shoving her things back in when she hears the crackle behind her. Before she can react there's a knife to her throat. Talia closes her eyes, leaning back slightly.

"Go on then. Kill me like a coward, don't even look me in the eyes,"

"I couldn't look you in the eyes even if I wanted to,"

The knife lowers and the person moves back slightly. Talia turns and breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of Gwen.

"I'm so glad to see you," Talia says and Gwen shakes her head.

"I'd say the same, but...I guess I'm glad to hear you, to know you're alive, after all, we can't let you die," Gwen says.

"Where have you been?"

"Following you," Gwen says, "You're smart, as is Finnick, but you completely forgot to look up,"

"You've been in the trees this whole time?"

"I'm blind, yes, but I'm not stupid," She says, "Muscle memory,"

"Do you know where they are?" Talia asks, "I need to find Finnick, I need to keep him alive,"

_______________

Its been a really long time since
i wrote for this story, but hopefully
we're back!

thank you for reading & i hope you enjoyed!

~bobbybasic❤️