008. running for your life
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ATLAS GROGGILY CAME TO HIS SENSES WHEN HE FELT ARMS WRAP AROUND HIS LIMP BODY. The boy didn't know who it was—it could have been one of the careers for all he knew, yet he didn't have the energy needed to fight back. His body was dragged through the grass, his mind remaining empty and his eyes fighting to open. Atlas's hearing slightly began to clear, hearing the groans of the person pulling him through the forest, the sound distant enough to be unrecognisable.
Splashes of water were heard, guessing the culprit stepped into the water, aiding them in guiding his body. As his skin met with the water, a scream ripped through his vocal cords uncontrollably as pain, worse than what it was originally, flowed through his being. He tried to fight the hands keeping him down in the body of water, washing him off as he squirmed, but now that his senses were heightened, he stopped his fights against the hands as he realised it was Esther.
Esther sat in the shallow water, keeping Atlas laid on her lap comfortably as she used her hands to keep the boy under, washing away the blisters tainting his skin. The blonde didn't know how long she lay and crawled around whilst fighting to take a breath before she found the water, wanting something familiar of home to be her final resting place, until she quickly realised it was helping the blisters—the pain dissipating slowly. "It's okay, Atlas," cooed Esther, bringing her hands to his face when he stopped flinching at her hold. "The water helps. I promise."
The blonde continued to check on the boy's body constantly, tilting him slightly more to the left where he had been affected the most. By the time Esther couldn't find any more blisters, Atlas stopped hissing in pain, relishing the silence of the forest around them. Suddenly, Atlas could open his eyes again. He met with the soft glint of Esther, a reassuring smile plastering on her face as they made eye contact. Atlas attempted to sit up from her lap, yet she pushed him down gently, shaking her head slowly. Esther told the boy to take a minute and rest, knowing his strength wasn't stable. "Hi," he said, his tone playful.
Esther chuckled softly, her head fully dipped down. "Hey," she replied, matching the sense of humour in Atlas's voice. "Do you want to sit up now?" The boy nodded his head at the question, and with the help of Esther, he managed to find himself sitting in the water, his hands creating waves as he swayed. She saw the way he examined his skin, his brows furrowing at the rawness of his clear skin, the blisters being gone as though they were never there. "The water washes them away," she said. "The redness will go away soon. You just have to wait it out."
Atlas nodded his head, diverting his eyes away from his skin, yet not meeting her stare. "Thank you." Despite seeing Atlas's attention pointed away from her, Esther nodded her head. "I knew you'd be a good ally," he said, which didn't mean to have any negative effect on Esther, yet the girl couldn't help but feel the way her heart slightly caved in. Thoughts rummaged through her head: did he only see her as an ally? A means to an end, whereas she saw him as a newfound friend? Atlas then turned to Esther, noticing the heavy weighted expression laced on her face, a frown plastering onto his own at the sight.
Before getting the chance to ask what was wrong—what had happened to change her emotions so fast—Esther stood up from the water. "We have to go back," Esther suddenly stated, which Atlas immediately shook his head to, and before he could retort against Esther's idea, she beat him to it. "Finnick, Katniss and Peeta were all there—we left them there, Atlas. We have to go back and see if the fog ..." Esther trailed off, her heart sinking at the mere thought of them possibly being caught up in the fog, seeing their unmoving bodies with the painful blisters once covering her skin.
"There was no cannon, Esther," said Atlas, cutting the girl from her vivid thoughts and standing up to her level.
"We don't know that!" She exasperated, her breathing becoming frantic. "We were laying almost dead for who knows how long. Maybe it didn't go off—maybe you're right and I'm wrong. Or maybe we didn't hear it." Esther shook her head. "We can't know for sure, and I can't take the risk that my brother and our friends are gone because we stupidly decided to take a damn walk!"
Atlas didn't know where the sudden anger came from within the blonde, yet he knew she had a right to be worried. Sighing, he nodded his head hesitantly, and Esther instantly led the way with Atlas stubbornly following along. Unlike Esther, Atlas carefully watched their surroundings if anything were to pop out just as the fog did, yet he was distracted when Esther broke into a run, calling her brother's name loudly.
"Finnick!" Her yells echoed through the forest, the last thing she cared about was attracting unwanted attention. Her breathes became more frantic, and her calls became more desperate from the lack of answers. As time went by, slowly and agonising, Esther shook her head with waterworks blurring her vision. She knew she was at the right spot where they had camped, but nobody was there. Finnick wasn't there.
Atlas heard the sudden hitch in her breath, making him turn and act quickly when he watched her stumble where she stood. Before Esther could collapse to the floor from the shakiness of her knees, Atlas caught her, holding her against his chest. She cried from the worst possible scenarios building in her head, barely audibly whispering. "We're too late. H—he's gone. He's gone!"
Atlas pulled the blonde away from him, turning her around hastily so she faced him. Her tearful expression met with his stern eyes. "Hey, Esther." Noticing he wasn't catching her attention, he lightly shook her by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Hey! He's not gone—none of them are, okay? Their weapons aren't here, and we were closer to the fog. If they were gone, we would have found them." Esther didn't know whether she truly believed the boy, yet she nodded her head, hope rekindling in her chest. "They probably found a source of water, maybe even went back to the beach. That's the only way they could have got out of here if they had been hit by the fog."
Esther sniffled. "I remember the way to the beach. I know where it is—" A growl cut her off, making the two teenagers tense. Esther and Atlas pointed their gaze at the sound originating from the line of trees, their eyes widening at the sight of mutts formed like monkeys glaring down at them. Esther gulped at the sight of them baring their teeth, hungrily staring at them like prey. Atlas clenched his jaw, unravelling the knives in his holster, tightly gripping the blade until his knuckles turned white.
Esther didn't dare break eye contact with one of the mutts staring her down, whispering towards Atlas. "My trident isn't here. Finnick must have taken it when he realised we were missing." From the information, Atlas wasted no time in slowly passing one of his knives over to Esther, the girl becoming fearful with the unfamiliar feeling of the metal in her hand. It felt too light—too small—as she was used to the trident she used in combat.
"When I say run," Atlas spoke lightly, "head for the beach, okay?" Esther shook her head, the nerves racking her body completely taking control. Atlas saw the girl become frigid, gripping her hand lightly, squeezing it as a manner of comfort. Something sparked inside of Esther from the hold, and she nodded her head as the bitter tears slowly faded from her eyes. As much as she wanted to gaze at Atlas, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the mutt, but once Atlas yelled out, she had no choice but to turn in the opposite direction. "Run!"
The hurried footsteps and shrieks behind the girl gave her the adrenaline needed to keep running, too afraid to glance back. Atlas was at her side, yet he was the one to occasionally check behind them, noticing how close they were coming towards them. Atlas stopped, quickly facing his body towards the many mutts hunting them down, gripping his knife tightly as he threw one of them—the blade plunging into the head of the closest. Esther also stopped when she noticed Atlas, calling his name hysterically. They were so close to the beach from what Esther remembered, but seeing the amount of mutts heading towards Atlas made her stall.
She hadn't noticed the mutt creeping up from the side until it was too late, being knocked to the floor with the mutt's teeth trying to bite at her. She grunted against its hold, turning her head around away from the snarling beast, peering at Atlas, who was surrounded. She squirmed her hand holding the blade Atlas passed down to her, raising it high and quickly launching it down. To her relief, the mutt's body went limp in her hold, making it easy for the girl to throw it off of her.
She noticed another mutt stood in front of her, keeping its body low when ready to pounce. For a split second, Esther looked away from the creature, glancing to where Atlas was when she heard his groans. She saw one of the mutts hovering above him, seeing that the only defence the boy had was a piece of a trunk from one of the many trees surrounding them, holding it up against the beast as it attempted to bite the boy's face off.
She caught a glint in the corner of her eye, noticing one of Atlas's knives abandoned on the floor. Esther, acting without a thought in her head, threw the blade Atlas gave her, watching the tip of the blade enter into the chest of the monkey mutt circling her, and rushingly, Esther didn't celebrate her accomplishment, heading to the object she found as she crouched and collected Atlas's weapon.
She yelled as she lurched forward. Atlas saw one of his blades emerging through the mutt, its body becoming lifeless under his hold. Esther grunted as the knife was pulled out, blood spewing and slightly painting her face. As the monkey dropped, allowing the girl to make eye contact with Atlas's widened eyes, she smirked. "That's now twice I've saved your life. Call it even?" The boy wasted no time in nodding his head, giving in to the exhaustion ridiculing his body. Yet, the sound of ruffling in the leaves of the tree lines made the two wary—knowing there was more ready to attack. Esther held a hand out to Atlas, passing him his blade, leaving her weaponless. "We got to go! The beach isn't far from here."
Atlas nodded, sticking behind as Esther led the way to where she remembered the beach to be, moving as fast as they could when they heard the incoming shrieks heading their way. Making it deeper into the forest, Esther called out to Atlas, a smile littering her face at the sight and sound of running water.
"It's here!" Esther couldn't turn around when a sudden drop was heard, guessing one of the mutts had fallen from the trees, wanting to launch at the two and, inevitably, rip their throats out. However, as soon as Esther and Atlas pounced out of the trees, making it to the sand of the beach, the mutts came to an abrupt halt. Atlas pointed the two knives he held at the trees where the mutts seemed to be trapped.
Atlas inched his weapons closer and closer until the monkeys grew irritated, heading back into the line of trees. Esther's breaths were heavy as she watched the scene in front of her, her body content with feeling the comforting sand beneath her, twirling its grains within her fingertips.
authors note.
not the best chapter, but esther and atlas make it better !! there is now going to some form of conflict on esther's side about their relationship, but it will be cleared up soon as i personally do not like the miscommunication trope, so they will talk about it very soon.
get ready for angry finnick next chapter ! he's going to be mad when he finds esther and tells her off for running off, almost the same as he did when she volunteered. he just wants to protect her :(
although, if there are any mistakes you find in this chapter, please let me know. i couldn't tell you how i proofread this just to make it better, but that's all—thank you for reading !!