Protecting a Family (Hunger Games Fanfic)

Chapter 11

Katniss' POV

I watch as Haymitch barely gets his fingers close to the gas, then hearing a sizzle from it. It's toxic. Once he tells us to run I'm already running back the way we came. Haymitch meets up with me and starts going ahead of me as Finnick carries Mags on his back.

As we're running through the woods for what seems like forever, it doesn't take long before I start losing my breath. I look behind me as the fog is fast approaching. Haymitch had taken over carrying Mags. I'm the last one in the pack. Finnick turns back towards me as my breathing gets heavier. I shriek out as the gassy fog touches my skin. Finnick wraps my arm around him, and lets out a grunt as the gas gets him too. He starts supporting me and running away, and I try to keep my strength to help him, although I'm crying out and my lungs feel squashed. Haymitch turns around to see us, and Mags requests to be put down. Haymitch relentlessly does. The fog continues to sting and it starts to get worse as Finnick continues to pull me away. "Katniss isn't strong enough," Finnick reports to Haymitch. Weak. I am weak.
Mags walks towards us and gives Finnick a kiss on the cheek, what's she doing?
She steps towards the gas. I hold back tears. It's because of me.
"Mags! Mags!" Finnick cries out.

Finnick watches Mags for a second, before the cannon sounds and Haymitch said, "Finnick! We gotta get out of here!"
With that, Finnick scoops me off of my feet and we run towards the beach. Mags is gone.

Once we get to the beach, I am set down on the sand, where I lay there, catching my breath and still holding in my tears. Finnick notices the gas doesn't reach the beach. Haymitch sits by my side.
"Are you alright?" He asks.
I nod my head yes, despite every part of my body aching. I am looking up at the sky— a man made sky. I notice a glimmer in the sky, an unusual one. I stand up and get out my bow. I shoot up at the ceiling. It's a force feild. We find that the shore water relieves the poison from the gas, and decide to bathe in there for a bit.
"Johanna!" Finnick calls out when he notices her. Beetee and Wiress are with him. They're drenched in something red...

We go over to see them. Johanna starts rattling on about how they were literally gagging on blood. Blood fell from the sky. But I focus on Wiress, who keeps mumbling something—

"Tick tock"

Tick tock? What's that supposed to mean? The sun is finally starting to set. I see a flash of lightning strike a big tree. It comes down 7 times. Tick tock.

"It's a clock..." I mumble. The group looks over at me.
"It's a clock! Wiress you're a genius!" I exclaim, taking her hands. We sit in the water together so that I can clean her off. Finnick, Haymitch and Beetee go up to the cornucopia to draw a map and get whatever supplies are left. Meanwhile, Johanna, Wiress and I stay on the shore. All of a sudden, the cornucopia starts spinning.

"What the—" I whisper, before calling out "Haymitch!" Johanna and I get on the rock paths leading to the cornucopia that aren't spinning. The boys are holding on for dear life, and the spinning takes out Haymitch.
"Haymitch!" I call out again, starting to panic. There's nothing I can do. Johanna gets closer, and the spinning stops. Haymitch comes out of the water and gasps for air. He comes out next to me, and we hear a scream. I turn around. Wiress. The careers take her out. I draw my bow, and follow the career who killed Wiress. I end up shooting him in the chest. The careers are all targeting me, which leads to me running off of the rocks onto the shore, while Haymitch, Johanna and Finnick fight them off. They end up getting away. I'm panting as I look over at what Beetee had retrieved from the cornucopia. The group watches the careers run off and then come to my side. Haymitch checks to see if I'm hurt. I sit back down. I'm not scarred. Just drained.

"Is she okay?" Haymitch asked, as I feel Johanna's hand on my back.
All of a sudden, I hear Prim's voice. I instantly get up, not responding to Haymitch. I hear Prim calling out and screaming for me.

"Prim!" I scream, running into the woods. Finnick and Haymitch follow behind me. I look up at the jabberjay screaming like Prim. I take an arrow out, and shoot it. The screaming stops. It's not real. Finnick runs in to see if I'm okay. I nod my head yes. I see Johanna and Beetee running in as well. The birds are screaming again. This time, it's a mix of Prim and...

"Annie!" Finnick calls out.
"Finnick! They aren't real!" I yell, but he doesn't listen. The screams continue, and we run back to where the rest of our group is, but we are trapped. Finnick and I scream out, covering our ears. We are trapped until the hour ends, with the others screaming at us that it isn't real, despite us not being able to hear them.

When the hour ends, I rush into Haymitch's arms.
"Hey hey... shhh..." he comforts me. "It's okay sweetheart." We make our way back to the beach, and Finnick sits in the water for a bit. I sit with the rest of the team, wrapping my arms around my stomach for what feels like the first time. I look down, before looking over at Haymitch.

"She's kicking..." I say quietly, but excitedly. I see a big smile come to Haymitch's face.
"That's definitely your child. She's putting up a fight too," he said quietly to me. We laugh a bit, a few moments of happiness and a rush of relief over me. Beetee then grabs our attention.

"I have a plan. We take the coil and leave an end at the beach after the waves at 10. Then, we go over to the lightning tree and hook it up before midnight. The careers may come back to the beach if we leave, and this coil could electrocute them."

I ponder this idea over. If the careers die, what happens next? It'll just be the rest of us. Who will strike first? It will certainly not be me. But if I have to fight, I will.