Taiya's arm was basically ripped out of its socket.
She felt the violent tug before she heard the yell.
Katniss's yell of pain.
"Time to go, time to go, time to go," Finnick panicked as he yanked her down the hill.
And that was all it took for the cloud of sleep to leave her brain and she was wide awake and sprinting away from some unknown danger.
She quickly threw her head over her shoulder to see who was chasing them, only to see a cover of fog trailing after them, there was no one chasing them. So the danger must be in the fog.
Peeta and Katniss were behind her and Finnick, but not by much.
"Shit!" Taiya gasped as she clasped onto Finnick's hand and ran even harder. She didn't care what happened to the pair from 12 if it meant endangering her and Finnick.
They needed to get themselves safe first, and then think about Katniss and Peeta.
Finnick had other ideas though. He thought of Katniss and Peeta as their only salvation. Whereas Taiya had options. That was if she chose to trust President Snow.
But Finnick was determined to follow through on Haymitch's plan, and when he noticed how far behind Katniss and Peeta were, he released his hold on her hand.
"What are you doing!" she yelled at him and she lunged to grab his hand.
"Keep going, keep going," he encouraged her, giving her a light shove.
"Finnick!"
But he was focused on Katniss and Peeta. "Come on guys, run. You can do it Peeta!" Finnick encouraged as he tried to move them faster along.
"That's not helping! Who cares about them? Come on!" Taiya tugged his arm.
"Please keep going," Finnick urged her quickly as he turned to face her. "Trust me. I'll catch up."
"No! Please, Finnick, please!" Taiya cried in desperation before they heard a thump.
"Peeta!" Katniss cried out. The boy had collapsed to the ground and Katniss was unable to lift him.
"Please run," Finnick's voice shook before he sprinted towards them.
"FINNICK!" Taiya screamed out after him as she watched her heart run towards the poisonous gas.
He may have been behaving wildly, but he wasn't taking his time. He as good as ripped Peeta off the ground, hauling him along as the boy was unable to use his own legs.
"It attacks your nerves Taiya, start running!" Finnick called out to her, but she was frozen, she didn't want to turn and run. Not without him by her side. She was not prepared to lose him, it wasn't even a reality she'd ever considered properly. So she didn't move until he was close enough that she could hear his thundering footsteps. When he was close enough for comfort, that's when she resumed running.
Despite basically carrying Peeta, he was setting a rapid pace and Katniss could barely keep up.
"Cornucopia?" Taiya yelled behind her, wanting to confirm how they were intending on outrunning the gas.
"Towards the water. We can dive under," Finnick confirmed. They both had the same idea. It went against instincts as, instead of running away from the wall of gas, they were running diagonally.
There was a crash behind them and Taiya immediately looked behind to see Finnick still standing.
"Come on Katniss!" Finnick encouraged.
The girl tried to haul herself up again, only to tumble to the ground in a heap again. The nerve agents of the gas were affecting her. Taiya could see the girl's left arm violently shaking even from a small distance.
Watching the other half of District 12 fall, Taiya half expected Finnick to drop Peeta and race back to her. But his heart was too kind and his mind too focused on the plan and it didn't even cross his mind to abandon them.
Taiya's own heart nearly gave out when she watched him turn around with Peeta and run back towards the fog. Towards Katniss.
"Finnick please!" Taiya sobbed, but he paid her no mind. "Shit," she growled to herself before running back towards the three. "Finnick come on!" she yelled as she stopped next to him.
"Please, just get Peeta out of here. I'll catch up," Katniss begged. She had no chance of catching up though, her legs had been too affected by the gas.
Taiya was still unaffected by the nerve agents in the fog, she'd been well ahead and able to keep enough distance.
"Finn!" Taiya yelled again, hoping for him to finally see reason and abandon the pair. Hopefully, Snow would consider this her killing Katniss and crown both her and Finnick joint winners.
"I can't carry them both," Finnick finally addressed her. He turned to look her in the eye, his beautiful sea-green eyes glistening in the reflection of the moonlight. They were filled with tears. "My arms aren't working."
He was telling the truth. He'd started running with three tridents and now only held one. He'd been far enough behind her she hadn't even noticed his struggles.
But she was a sucker. All it took was his eyes and she was yanking Katniss up off the ground.
"First I'm killing you, then I'm killing Haymitch," Taiya threatened Finnick.
"Thank you!" Finnick gasped in relief. They only took one more moment to recollect themselves and they were off again. Sprinting through the forest, desperate to avoid the fog.
This was also the first time Taiya had been close enough to be affected by it. She sucked in a deep breath as she ran and felt a hot burn run all through her chest.
"Move faster!" Taiya yelled at Katniss as she dragged the teenager along. She would help her for Finnick, but at the first sign of further complication, Taiya was willing to drop the girl's arm and leave her for dead.
"AHHH!" Taiya heard Finnick roar in pain.
"FINNICK!" she screamed, releasing her hold on Katniss's arm, allowing her to crash to the ground, and sprinted back to where her fiancé was. "Finn!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he assured as he continued running. But Taiya could see the painful welts running down the side of his face. They were running too close to the fog.
Twigs cracked behind them as Katniss arrived, intending to help Peeta in any way she could.
"It's too close," Katniss panted.
That's when Taiya looked behind. The fog was as good as on top of them.
She'd barely had time to build up the scream in her throat when the four of them were hit with the fog. They all stumbled forward in pure agony and the ground fell out from underneath them.
They all flew in different directions as they haphazardly tumbled down the hill.
Twigs and rocks cut into Taiya's skin as her body rolled down like a useless log. She was powerless to stop her momentum.
Finally, her body skidded to a stop next to Finnick's.
She didn't even think to look back at the fog. Her eyes were immediately on him. On his body.
He hadn't moved.
Shakily, she reached out a hand to grab his. However, his immediate moan of pain had her quickly releasing her grip. His entire hand was covered in angry, painful welts caused by the fog.
That worked as a reminder for her and she quickly gasped before looking to the side to see the fog rapidly cascading towards them. Tumbling down the hill with the intention of ending their lives.
She let her head collapse against the ground as she watched it. She should've killed Katniss the first chance she had. Just like Snow wanted. Then it could have been Finnick and her against the others.
Instead, they had taken on the role of glorified babysitters.
Before the wave of poisoned fog could envelop them, it hit a wall, quickly cascading up it and not racing forward to kill them as she'd expected.
A gasp rasped through her dry throat in surprise.
"Finn," Taiya reached forward to touch his forearm, hoping the layer of wetsuit had provided some protection for him. "It's stopped," she lightly shook his arm.
He was only half-conscious, but he was able to open his eyes enough to observe what she could see. He nodded dumbly in acknowledgement before his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out.
"Finnick! Finnick!" Taiya cried as she shook his arm, hoping to get some reaction from him. She didn't know how much the gas had affected his system, for all she knew he could be dying right in front of her.
She pulled herself further forward and let out a loud gasp as pain seared through her body. She hadn't even realised she'd accumulated a collection of fog-caused welts herself. They were nothing compared to the amount she could see on Finnick's skin, but they were still extremely painful.
But it didn't slow her down as she pulled herself to her knees to crouch above Finnick. When she took in his form a sob wracked her chest. The amount of pus-filled welts outnumbered the amount of clear skin she could see. He would have been in pure agony.
"Finn," she breathed as she held her hands above him, afraid to touch him and cause him more pain.
She heard Katniss' loud cry of pain ring out, but she didn't care. She was too focused.
"The water..." Katniss croaked. "The water helps."
Peeta's cry then echoed around her and she looked over at the pair. They were immersing themselves in a small pool, screaming as they did so.
"Get in the pool Taiya," Peeta groaned as he saw her watching them.
She couldn't reply straight away. She just shook her head as her body shook with silent sobs. She couldn't focus on herself until she knew Finnick was going to be ok. And Peeta seemed to understand that.
"Katniss," he called his partner's attention. "We have to help him."
Katniss looked over at Taiya and Finnick before she focussed on the immobile Finnick and nodded. Swimming back to the edge, she and Peeta got out and walked towards them.
They were both free from welts. The water must pull the poison out of your body. It's what Finnick needed but he would be unable to do so himself. And she was in no state to drag his body along the ground and cause him more pain.
So Peeta and Katniss took over, carefully grabbing one arm each of Finnick's and slowly dragging him along the ground.
As soon as his body came in contact with the water he regained consciousness and let out a scream of pain. He tried to fight against Katniss and Peeta's hold but they were stronger. They rolled his body around and gently pushed his face underwater as they purged his skin of poison. Finnick seemed to become aware enough of what was happening as he relaxed and let his body float in the water, firmly gripping onto Katniss's arm as a way to relieve some of the pain.
Peeta left the water and walked towards Taiya, who was stuck watching the pair in the pool.
"Hey," he whispered as he bent down to her level and grabbed ahold of her hands, stopping them from shaking violently. "Come on," he coaxed her to stand as he led her to the water and helped her lower herself in so the few marks she had could wash away.
She couldn't help the cry of pain that came out of her as the water came in contact with her. And as soon as she cried out, Finnick sat up in the water and looked over at her. He swam towards her as Peeta helped her roll around, making sure all poison left on her was gone.
"Tay?" Finnick asked hesitantly.
"You're ok?" she asked as she sat up, allowing Peeta to take a step back. Finnick nodded as his eyes glistened with tears. That'd been too close a call.
With confirmation they were both alright, the two lunged through the water for each other, clinging onto each other for dear life. They knew a serious conversation about what had just happened was needed, but it wasn't the right moment.
"I'm going to tap a tree," Katniss awkwardly announced to the group. Thank god the girl had thought to grab the spile. They would have been absolutely screwed without it.
"Let me make the hole first," Peeta says as he walks off. "You stay with them and make sure he's ok. You're the healer."
"Are you all healed?" Taiya asked as she grabbed Finnick's face and started looking him over.
"Ah," he twitched with pain when she touched a sensitive spot. "Not fully."
"I almost lost you," Taiya sighed as she dropped her forehead against his. They both sat there for a moment, breathing the same air until Taiya slowly pulled away. She could feel eyes on her. Katniss's eyes. The girl was trying to gauge the situation. As a new victor, she didn't know anything about their situation. "Get under," Taiya encouraged him. "Heal."
After being able to hold each other, both Finnick and Taiya immediately perked up a bit. Finnick went from an unconscious mess to something resembling a corkscrew as he spun through the water. Taiya went from a blubbering mess to a dolphin as she streamlined through the water.
Katniss could only look in awe as the two aquatic creatures before her came to life in their natural habitat.
After a while, Finnick captured Taiya's eyes and he winked before diving back underwater. Taiya could only giggle as she realised what he was doing. He'd do this trick all the time at home and no one was ever impressed. Everyone in 4 could hold their breaths for a long time, but perhaps Katniss would be impressed with his water games.
Finnick's little prank seemed to be working because after about a minute and a half, Katniss began to look around without a face resembling that of panic when she realised he'd never resurfaced. When he felt her frantic movements, he decided to surface right beside her, making the girl jump in the air.
"Don't do that!" she scolded.
"What?" he smirked. "Come up or stay under?" he joked as Taiya swam over to sit next to him.
"Either. Neither," Katniss smiled slightly. "Whatever. Just soak in the water and behave. Or if you both feel this good, let's go help Peeta."
Taiya giggled as she watched Finnick's smug face. "Come on, let's go help," she relented as she stood up, pulling Finnick with her as they began to trudge through the water and over to the boy.
As they reached the water's edge, Taiya felt Katniss's hand wrap around her arm and pull her to a stop.
"What?" Taiya asks, immediately knowing the girl has noticed some danger that she was currently oblivious to.
Finnick had noticed Taiya stop and moved back to the girl's side as they waited for Katniss to respond.
"Carefully," Katniss warned as she flickered her eyes up.
Taiya and Finnick slowly glanced above them to see the canopies of the trees were now covered in monkeys. Monkeys that seemed to be watching their every move. They'd arrived so silently and suddenly, none of them had even been aware of their presence.
"Don't make eye contact," Katniss whispered as she pulled her bow off of her back and loaded an arrow into it.
Finnick readjusted his hold on his trident, holding it up ready to attack.
"Stay behind me," he whispered to Taiya. "You've only got knives. If they get too close you've got nothing to fend them off with."
"Finnick..." Taiya protested.
"If one gets too close I can swipe at them to keep it back. If one gets close enough to you that you have to swipe then you might be too late. I trust you ok, just let me cover you."
"Ok," Taiya agreed. It made sense. They'd cover each other's backs if the monkeys attacked. Limit each other's blind spots.
"Peeta," Katniss called out unnaturally calmly. "I need your help with something."
"Ok, just a minute. I think I've just about got it. Yes, there. Have you got the spile?" he asked as he finished making a hole in a tree.
"I do," Katniss nervously replied as she scanned the area around them. "But we've found something you should take a look at. Just move towards us quietly so you don't startle it."
Peeta immediately turned to face them. He knew something was wrong. Something was amiss. He was alert. "Okay," he replied equally as calmly as Katniss, but his eyes held a tone of panic.
He was by nature a noisy human, that's why it was so painful for the three of them to watch him attempt to be quiet. Despite his best efforts, he could not succeed. When he was only 5 feet away from them he stops. He'd sensed them. He turned his head to the side and made eye contact with one who instantly roared in his face. He immediately stumbled backwards and Taiya reached out to grab his wetsuit and pulled him towards the group.
"Get to the beach."
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I have returned! Not my fave chapter because I feel like it lagged in dialogue and development, but I am very excited for the next chapter! Peeta + Taiya time