✦ Chapter 10: Fog ✦
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THE GROUP CONTINUES walking. Katniss had climbed a tree to investigate the seemingly small arena, and confirmed that the arena is a dome, leaving them encased in a small bowl. She also confirmed that other than the salt water in the middle, there didn't appear to be any visible bodies of water. They decided to set up camp about ten yards from the forcefield, using it as a form of protection.
While Isla and Finnick create a type of shelter out of leaves from the trees, Katniss speaks up. "Finnick, you should take watch. I'm going to go try and hunt." Finnick gives her a nod, and she stalks off into the thick brush.
Isla looks at Peeta, who has begun to bounce nuts from the trees off of the forcefield to roast them. As she finishes making a mat for a bed, canons begin to sound, representing the end of the initial bloodbath. Everyone seems to count eight, meaning there's still sixteen left.
"I don't understand what you're doing." Isla speaks to Finnick in a low voice, not wanting Peeta to hear. "And what about Johanna?"
"Do you trust me?" He looks at her, sweat beading on his glistening tanned skin. He seems to beg her with his eyes to say yes.
"You know I do, but seriously?" She hisses softly, motioning at the blonde boy eating the nuts. "You knew they were my last choice."
"It's better we keep them close." Finnick explains, "And I'm sure Johanna's fine. She's probably just with Blight." Isla examines him for a moment, but before she can continue pressing him, their conversation is cut short.
Katniss appears from the lush green plant-life, holding some sort of odd, giant rat-like rodent. It dangles from her grasp by it's tail. "Any water?" Peeta asks hopefully. They're all unbelievably thirsty, but Isla can only imagine that dying has made him even thirstier than the rest.
"No, but this guy knew where it was." She holds the rodent up, "He had been drinking recently before I found him, but I looked everywhere. I searched a thirty yard radius around where he was and couldn't find his source."
"Can we eat him?" Finnick asks, inspecting the animal.
"I'm not sure, but it doesn't look much different from a squirrel. We ought to cook him first, though."
Not wanting to risk a fire, after Katniss skins the kill, Peeta begins placing pieces of the meat onto small sticks. He reaches out, poking the forcefield with the chunks of meat until they're fried. The outside is crisp, and the inside is well cooked but still tender. Isla enjoys a few pieces, but she can't help but think that a nice glass of water would be great to wash it all down.
Everyone gathers near the small shelter as the sun begins to sink on the horizon. The nuts become a nice snack as they all discuss the rodent. Finnick calls it a 'tree rat', but no one can seem to figure out how it had been drinking water.
The anthem begins to play, and they all stare at the small exposed bit of sky through the trees. Faces begin to appear, all too familiar for Finnick and Isla. Katniss and Peeta hold hands, comforting one another. Isla almost scoffs at them. They didn't know any of the victors, really. Finnick out of all of them had been closest to most.
The man from District Five pops up, the first kill of the games, and Finnick's. This also tells the group that all tributes from Districts One to Three are still alive. The male morphling shows next, followed by Cecelia and Woof from District Eight. Both from Nine, the woman from Ten, and finally, Cedar from District Eleven glows in the sky.
The music stops, and all goes black. The only source of light comes from the moon. Peeta and Katnisss seem to slink into their own world, holding each other on a makeshift mat. Isla looks at Finnick, who seems to be upset at the death toll. As far as Isla knew, he hadn't been particularly close to any of the deceased, but she imagined he had had several conversations with a few of them. Cecelia was a mother, and extremely sweet to all young victors upon their arrival. She likely spent a lot of time with Finnick when he was fourteen or fifteen and had just won his games.
A silver parachute catches all of their attention as it glides down in the night air, landing in a tree not far from where they sit. Isla exchanges a look with Finnick, and then they look at the two from Twelve. No one moves. "Whose is it do you think?" Katniss asks.
"No clue. Why don't we let Peeta have it, since he already died today." Finnick's voice has a hint of humour in it. A good sign, considering his solemn expression just moments ago.
They all watch as Peeta gets the metal container. He opens it, and holds up a small metal object that reflects the moonlight off of its cylindrical shape. It has a spout of sorts, and a sharp tip on the opposite end. It's clear none of them are sure what the object is or what it's to be used for.
"What is it?" No one responds to Katniss. They hand it around to one another, inspecting it. It's hollow, so Peeta blows through it to see if it makes a noise. Nothing. Finnick sticks his pinky finger inside, but it comes back out untouched. The gift was likely a collaboration between Haymitch and Mags, as the District Four and Twelve were a solid alliance. It had to be Haymitch's doing, though, as Mags would've sent clearer instructions. She may not be able to speak, but she is able to write a note.
Katniss drives the sharp end into the ground, and Isla decides that that's what you're supposed to do. Maybe not stick it in the ground, but somewhere. "It goes into something, why else would it be pointed?" She says into the silence, and Katniss looks up at her. Isla can almost see the gears moving inside the girl's brain as her words seem to unlock something within her.
"It's a spile." Katniss lights up as she figures it out.
"A what?" Finnick asks, furrowing his brows.
"We use them back home, you stick them into trees to get syrup." Katniss explains, getting up and going to the nearest tree.
"Would these trees give syrup?" Isla questions. They didn't have syrup trees in District Four, but something about jungle trees giving syrup didn't make sense.
"I don't know." Katniss admits, "We'll have to start a hole." She says, "I'm going to find something to hammer it in."
As Katniss looks around, Isla takes her dagger and begins carving a hole into the trunk of the tree. She compares it to the spile, ensuring it's just big enough for the metal to fit. If something were to come out of the trunk, she didn't want it to leak from the sides.
Katniss returns, and begins hammering the metal farther into the tree with a rock. Once it's a good ways in, they both sit and stare at the object. The boys are standing back, waiting expectantly to see if the two girls had done something genius or not. As Isla begins to give up hope, a clear droplet of liquid drips from the spout.
"Hammer it in more." She instructs Katniss, who gives it a few more whacks. After about thirty seconds, a small stream of water begins to run out of the end. Isla dips her head under, getting a mouthful and allowing the cool water to splash her face. She backs up, allowing the others a turn.
Peeta goes next, the weakest of the group after his run in with the arena's edge. Then, Katniss does the same as Isla, followed by Finnick. They don't have any type of container to fill with water, as there hadn't been anything but weapons at the cornucopia, so they all grab a large leaf to fill with water so they can all sit and drink.
Katniss ties the spile to her waist with the parachute, securing it safely. Isla makes a mental note to grab it from her body when she dies, or they won't have a way to get water. The girl and boy decide to rest, as Finnick offers to take watch. Isla pretends to also settle down on a mat to sleep.
Once she's sure the two from Twelve are sleeping, she raises to a sitting position. Finnick is leaned against a tree, his trident laying in his lap. He looks at Isla, a straight expression on his face. She gets up quietly and joins him, sitting beside him, leaning against the same tree. They stare out into the night, the only sound the insects buzzing in the jungle.
"How long are you planning to keep them around?" Isla finally asks, whispering as to not wake the others.
Finnick takes a moment to respond, "Until I'm sure we're safe." There's something about his words that makes Isla wonder if there's a double meaning. He seems to only speak in cryptic sentences now that they're in the arena. It unsettles Isla, as it makes her feel like she's not being told the entirety of his plan.
"Like, the careers are dead?" She asks for clarification, and peeks over to look at Finnick. He nods, looking back at her.
"Just trust me, okay? After everything you've done for me, I wouldn't do anything against you. You know that." His words are soft, and he places a hand on Isla's thigh. She sighs, nodding her head.
"I'll wait for the go ahead, but she's mine when it's time." She looks at him sternly, and he bobs his head in agreement.
They lean on each other now, the tension from earlier gone. Isla accepts that Finnick must just be keeping them close until the time is right. He's not wrong to do so, considering they're fan favourites, and there's a pack of four careers on the loose. Finnick's hand moves from her thigh, enclosing her own within it.
Isla's eyes had just fallen closed when a loud sound jars them all awake. Finnick grips Isla's hand tightly, now alert. They all look at each other, waiting for the gong-like noises to stop. Once they do, they all pause, waiting for a voice to make an announcement or anything to happen. But nothing does.
"I counted twelve." Katniss says, referring to the number of rings.
"For the districts?" Finnick asks, but the others just shrug.
As they're about to settle down, a dazzling light flashes in the distance. It's lightning, hitting the jungle repeatedly. Maybe it's a sign of a storm coming, hopefully with it, rain. That may be the other tribute's only source of water if they haven't received a sponsor yet.
"You should rest, I'll watch." Katniss says to Finnick, now wide awake. The man nods, helping Isla up as the two move back over to the mats. He gently rests his arm over her torso as they curl up to sleep, wanting to be close, but unable to be too close due to the heat. His other hand holds onto his trident, which rests above their heads. Isla struggles to sleep, not liking that Katniss is in charge of making sure she doesn't die. But, eventually, she's overcome by her exhaustion.
It feels as though she's only slept for a couple hours before Katniss is screaming for them all to run. Isla jumps, making to grab a knife from her belt, but sees that Katniss isn't faced by a person. Rather, a large wall of fog is creeping closer to them, and Katniss is holding her hand in pain.
Poisonous fog nips at their heels as they take off into the trees. It isn't until Finnick and Isla are yards in front of the others when Finnick stops, turning to look at them. Peeta is struggling to keep pace, his fake leg being snagged by the roots on the ground. He looks extremely fatigued, likely not recovered still from his heart stopping earlier in the day.
They try to catch up, but they're being touched by the fog, and it's causing their limbs to spasm. Even from this far away, Isla can see Peeta's face is sagging on one side. The fog appears to be attacking the nervous system, making the two unable to keep each other up. Isla looks at Finnick, silently telling him that now is the time to accept the alliance to be over. But, he breaks their gaze, running towards the two.
Isla wants to scream at him, but instead, she follows him. She'll tug him away if she has to. However, to her surprise, he scoops up Peeta. "Help her." Finnick demands, looking at Isla with an authority she's never seen before. The closest she's seen him like this is when he was her mentor, and had been not the most pleasant to be around.
Isla looks at Katniss, whose face has begun to sag as well. She spasms, her legs hardly wanting to work as they're supposed to. Isla wants to stomp, to throw a tantrum. If she doesn't help Katniss, it'll cause a scene. If Peeta's even conscious, he'll start giving Finnick a hard time, making them both succumb to the fog. And Katniss will likely drag Isla down with her, too.
With a deadly stare at Finnick, Isla bends down, allowing Katniss to slump over her shoulder. The girl isn't easy to carry, especially with her spastic movements, but Isla's thankful she spent the time to gain muscle as soon as she had heard of the Quarter Quell. They bound through the trees, avoiding roots and bush.
There's a sudden drop, and they all tumble down the small drop off. Isla had slightly launched Katniss off of her, wanting to avoid landing on the girl. They end up laying next to each other. Isla's exhausted, and looks over to see her gasping for air. Her body is covered in blisters. Isla had been lucky, able to avoid the fog.
She looks over that the boys, both have blisters, but Finnick is covered in much less. However, it's clear Peeta is immobolized with pain, and Finnick is even more drained than Isla. She can see the fog approaching, and she knows none of them are able to escape it. Was this it? Had Finnick really condemned them all to death by fog, just to save Peeta and Katniss? Why was he continuing to put himself, and her, at risk for them?
In a last attempt to protect Finnick, Isla uses her remaining strength to pull herself over to him, and climbs on top of him. She knows her body hardly covers him, but she's sure to smother his face in her arms, and lays the bulk of her body over his vital organs. Maybe if it can only touch his limbs, he won't die from it. However, he'll be stuck with her dead and wrapped tightly around his body until the mist passes.
Isla braces herself for the impact of the fog, and Finnick mumbles into her. He tries to wrap his arms around her, shifting in an attempt to flip them over, but Isla plants her knees securely on the ground to stop him. "Isla..." He croaks, or rather groans, clearly not in agreement with what she's doing.
"It- it's stopped." Katniss voice is weak, but loud enough for Isla to hear. She turns her head and sees what the girl is talking about. The fog seems to hit an invisible wall, becoming a mountain of grey just a few feet away from where they had fallen. It appears to be sucked up by the sky, thinning as more mist rolls in and slams against the wall.
Relieved, Isla loosens her grip on Finnick's head. She flops down, letting her head rest next to his. She's too tired to remove herself from his body. They lay there for a few moments, regaining their strength. Isla can hear shuffling as Katniss army crawls across the jungle floor.
There's an almost sizzling sound, followed by Katniss's yelps of pain. Isla perks up, looking to see the girl has located a small pond. Her hand is in the water, and she's rubbing at the back of her palm. The water begins to turn a foggy grey, resembling that of the mist. "The water, it helps." She says.
Isla ignores the girl, who slides her entire body into the water. Instead, Isla focuses on Finnick. Who, although less affected than the other two, is far too exhausted to bring himself to the water source. She drags him, using all the strength she can muster, until his entire body is in the water. He yells in protest, but Isla just plugs his nose and dunks in blistered face into the water.
After a bit, he seems in a lot less pain, and his skin appears to be going back to normal. Isla rests him against a rock, keeping him in the pond, as the cool water is soothing in the warm night air. Isla sees Katniss struggling with Peeta, and lends a hand, not wanting to seem hateful. They wash the boy off, and as Isla gently wipes water over his face, it lifts as it returns back to normal.
They take their time regrouping, getting water and resting their tired muscles. They can see the beach in the distance, an opening in the trees leads to the cornucopia. They managed to get much closer to the middle while evading the fog, as it drove them to run at a diagonal.
As the two sit, drinking water from leaves, Finnick looks at something over Isla's shoulder with confusion. She turns, following his gaze. A monkey, something she'd seen in previous games sits on a branch and stares at them. As she looks around, she can see that multiple of the creatures surround their resting spot, some baring their teeth.
"Peeta, back up. Slowly." Katniss seems to have noticed them, too. The blond boy is crouched at a tree, collecting more water. He looks up, and slides the spile out of the trunk. As he backs up, a monkey roars in his face, clearly angry. They begin to jump from limb to limb, progressively getting more aggressive.
Then, all hell breaks loose.