TWO EVILS.
08. OTTO: THE BLOODY ALLIES
❝It's incredible isn't it? All those colors. Don't worry about anything else. We're here with you.❞
The stinging her hand was unlike any pain she had ever felt before, and she had been stabbed during her last Games. It was like the flesh was burning off of her hand, and the sizzle of the poison on her hand permeated the air. The insistent pain made her hand throb, especially when Katniss grabbed it tightly, trying to drag the older girl away.
"Run! Run. The fog is poisoned." She screamed, the pain evident in her voice as she followed Katniss down the steep slope of the hill. The others around them had woken up from her scream, the sleep still affecting in their movements. How ever tired Grier had been before the fog, she certainly didn't feel it now. The pain was invigorating like drinking twelve energy drinks. But pain was still pain and she knew it wouldn't go away any time soon.
As they ran down the hill, Grier took on look at her hand before immediately looking back up. It was sick looking, with little boils of poison surrounding her hand. It was a milky grey, so unnatural to the tan skin tone she usually held. A look of disgust made its way onto her face as they struggled to get away from the fog.
The four of them were running, screams of pain becoming a constant thing every time a person got hit. The lush green forest seemed like a trap, waiting to catch unsuspecting tributes. The beauty it once held had faded away leaving the rough insides that was the Games. Nothing good can last, especially in the Games. That thought was coursing through Grier's mind as she ran, blood pumping in her ears, and breath heavy.
The fog licked at their legs, wanting to taste the exposed flesh that hadn't already been burned by the looming mist. As she ran, Grier lagged behind just in case, accidentally brushing her entire shoulder against the milky grey. Pain erupted throughout her entire arm and a gasp left her lips as she ran.
Eventually, no one was silent, each running with their own wounds and boils. They all seemed to be managing just fine, which made Grier relieved. She wouldn't have to die for anyone just yet, and that was always a good thing. But she spoke too soon. The fog was going to get one of them enough to incapacitate them so they'd be unable to move.
What a fate Grier wouldn't wish on anyone - except the Careers. Unfortunately, it seemed as thought they weren't running fast enough because the next thing she knew, Peeta had stumbled, the acid fog burning his skin.
The cry of pain that erupted from his mouth was pitiful, but Grier stopped and turned back to help Katniss pick him up. The fog was even closer, just a foot away, coming closer and closer no matter how far they ran. She struggled to lift his limp body off of the ground, the pain from her own wounds too agonizing to lift him on his own.
"Peeta. I can't carry him." Katniss yelled frantically, trying to grab onto Peeta to pull him up. She was too weak, to wounded to do anything and Grier let herself give Finnick a small glance. He met her eyes and nodded. He would be the one who had to help.
Grier sucked in a deep breath, watching with fearful eyes as the fog that just might cause their terrible demise was almost upon them, ready to inflict pain to anyone who dared touch it. "I can't carry him either. My whole arm feels like it's burning off."
"Peeta please. We have to go." Katniss struggled to lift him, a pitiful sound leaving her throat.
"Go to Peeta. I'll be fine." Grier nodded, wincing as she held her shoulder. The burns licked her entire arm setting it aflame. She didn't even want to look down in fear of what she would see instead.
"You sure you'll be okay?" He asked, eyes brows creased in worry, eyes flicking between her eyes and her crippled arm.
Grier nodded, straightening herself to her full height. "I'm fine. Bodyguard, remember? Save them, not us."
Finnick gave her another look. If they didn't move fast the fog would get them. There was a good five seconds between their lives and death. Not all of them should have to die, so they had to move. The fog was so close, Grier surely thought that maybe they'd have to leave Peeta behind. Before Grier could say anything, Katniss struggled again, screaming for their help, snapping them both out of their stare down. "Finnick we have to go. We have to get out of here. We have to go."
Finnick looked at Peeta, running over toward him to help Katniss. He swiftly picked Peeta up on the other side, balancing the heavy boy between the two and they were off again with Grier trailing right behind."Alright come on. Come on."
They kept running past trees and bushes, hoping that they might evade the fog. Her heartbeat thrummed in her ears and with each pounding step, Grier could feel the energy draining out of her. She didn't know how far they had run, but they had to be closer to the center of the arena. The fog was pushing them to the one place they didn't want to go but there was nothing they could do.
In front of her, she watched as the three suddenly tripped rolling down the hill without a way to stop it. Before she could even stop herself, she was tumbling down that exact hill, too. Bushes scraped her face as she tumbled, hitting each and every bone in her body. That was it. They were all going to die from the acid fog because they tripped and stumbled down a freaking hill.
A small groan emitted from her mouth as she landed at the bottom, her head pounding from hitting it against the dirt of the forest. Stars danced across her vision as she stared into the mist that threatened to kill them. The grey fog tumbled right before the hill dropped off and stopped its path, going up like a glass wall had been put there to protect them.
She dropped her head against the ground, exhausted and flat out tired. She hadn't slept in hours and that run has drained all the energy out of her. Her arm thrummed in pain, pulsing to each erratic beat of her heart, sending a spike of pain each time it did. She let her eyes slip shut for a minute, reveling in the darkness.
They were safer now. They weren't safe, but safer and she'd take any chance she'd get to relax. In the darkness, Grier hadn't realized she'd zoned out from the world, he'll, possibly even slept until she was being dunked in water, the burns on her arms hurting more so than usual.
A scream escaped her lips as someone held her shoulder under the water, waiting until she stopped trashing. Her eyes cracked open and she saw Finnick standing above her, hand rubbing her arm up and down.
The water around her, which she could only assume had been clear, was now a murky grey and red like the color of the fog and blood. Whose blood? She didn't know but it probably was coming off of her. The pain in her shoulder and arms had decided to a dull ache, feeling incredibly painless compared to what she was feeling before. The water must've helped their wounds.
Finnick gave hers other rub, watching as more murky grey swam into the water. A small smile made its way onto his face. "You okay, Grier?"
She nodded. "Yeah, better. Thanks for that."
He pulled her up out of the water, her hair dripping wet down her back. His hand gently brushed past her face, wiping off some of the leftover grey fog that had stuck to her face. She gave him a small smile, taking his hand away from her face. They stayed like that, staring at each other, trying to figure out what would've happened if their counter part tribute had died for the other until Katniss called Grier over.
With one last look, Grier joined Katniss back in the water where she was cleaning off the dirt that had accumulated on her suit. She didn't say anything to Grier who sat in the water, dipping her machete in the foggy grey water. When she did look at Katniss, the younger girl would give her a questioning look, eyes flitting between both Grier and Finnick. The unanswered question loomed in the air, and Grier scoffed at Katniss' questioning. But maybe there was something there. She didn't know. Feelings were something that Grier normally forgot about during the games, like a flip inside of her had been flipped.
Grier sighed, mulling over Katniss' silent question as she cleaned off her blade stroke by stroke, watching the water turn pink from the dried blood. None of them chose to talk, a common thing between the four tributes since the Games had started. It left them with their own screwed up minds as they sat cleaning weapons to kill other human beings with.
Maybe mulling around in her head is what causes her to lose her humanity. Maybe she didn't have to kill, only maim. But then again, she didn't have a choice. Katniss didn't have a choice, Finnick didn't, but Peeta probably did. She was pretty sure that he hadn't killed anyone in the last Games.
"Peeta?" Katniss asked, nervousness laced in her voice. Grier snapped out of her thoughts, looking up from cleaning her machete in the small pool of water, staring at Katniss who seemed to be fixated on a single thing. Grier followed her gaze only to find a dark mass staring right back at her. Grier heard a small crunch from her backside and she turned, looking up to find more of the black masses.
Peeta looked up from the tap, turning toward Katniss oblivious to the black mass that loomed right next to his head. "Yeah?"
"Walk over here slowly." She said, keeping her voice calm. Peeta turned back to the tap, ready to grab it from the tree when one of the mutts yelled in his face loud and brash. Grier took a small step back, looking over her shoulder to find Finnick ready with his trident in hand. There was a chance that maybe, just maybe they wouldn't have to fight off the mutts, but it was a very small chance. it was the Games and that was what the Capitol lived for.
They were surrounded, the large monkey mutts watching their every calculated move. The machete felt heavy in her hand as she kept it ready by her side, waiting for the chance to strike. Grier looked over toward the beach, ready to go anywhere but the woods but the mutts already had them surrounded. Clearly, Katniss had her same thought as she muttered Grier's thoughts. "Get to the beach."
The moment she uttered those words, the mutts came closer, circling them, waiting for any open chance to attack. Grier lifted her machete, ready to kill any mutt that tried to kill her first. Their howls had gotten louder, screeching in her ears. They sat idly, grunting and screeching until on moved, making its frist attack at Katniss.
Before anyone could move, Peeta struck it down, leaving everyone in shock. Grier sucked in a deep breath, steeling herself to see the mutt dead in the water. Ready to attack, another one flung itself at Katniss who quickly shot an arrow at it, hitting the bullseye on the mutt. It dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
The next one came and then the next one, each monkey attacking all at once. Beside her, Finnick stabbed each mutt, bringing it into the water, poking it with the blade of his trident. Monkey's came from left and right and she slashed, sending the head's rolling or the stomach to come spilling out of the Capitol creature. She slashed, ducked, stabbed at each and every mutt that came her way.
It seemed endless. The fight would go on forever and the Capitol would keep spawning the mutts. When she'd finish one mutt, another would come in biting and screeching. The force of one of the mutts jumping at her pushed Grier to the ground, arm at an awkward angle as the monkey scratched her with its teeth. Quickly, she grasped the machete with her weaker hand, hoping that she'd hit the heart. The blade barely shook in her hand as she stabbed upward, watching as the mutt went limp, the light leaving its eyes.
Suddenly, the limp mutt was off of her and Finnick was pulling her off of the ground before he turned to ward off another mutt. There seemed to be less, but not enough that they were still safe. Her eyes searched the area again, noticing how most of the monkeys were gone and Katniss and Peeta were running toward safety. Stabbing another mutt, she watched them out of the corner of her eye, hoping that maybe they'd be safe if they hit the beach.
"Come on, Grier." Finnick grabbed Grier's arm, pulling her away from the mutts. The ground underneath them crunched loudly, breaths coming out panicked as they ran toward the beach. The mutts were still after them, not a mere ten feet away, ready to attack. In front of them both Katniss and Peeta were on the ground, a mutt gnashing its teeth, hoping to get its bite of Katniss.
Finnick quickly stabbed the mutt, throwing it off to the side. She hadn't noticed before but a girl was lying on the ground, crimson leaking out of her neck at a pace that meant she was surely about to die. One of the mutts must've gotten to her.
"Who is it?" Katniss asked. The girl with her dirt streaked face chocked loudly as she struggled to breathe.
"A morphling. Help me get her." Peeta said, frantically grabbing onto the girl's arms. Katniss was right behind him, dragging the girl away to the beach.
Grier turned toward the fight, watching as Finnick took out another mutt, coming closer and closer to the beach. A mutt came toward her, jumping out of the tree lines, screeching as she stabbed it through the chest. Slowly but surely, they both backed up to the sand, weapons ready as the mutts came closer and closer. They didn't dare step onto the sand. They didn't dare fall onto the blades of their weapons.
They stared at the tree line, watching the mutts as the faux sun began to rise in the arena. It was morning. They had survived the night. The dark sky began to melt into hues of pink and orange as the mutts receded, the canons boomed and the morphling took her last wheezing breath.
The Capitol transport came and went just like the night sky, carrying the weight of all their deaths along with it. Grier tried not to think about it too much as they searched for food in the water, wading up to her hips for something decent. She tried not to get so lost in her own head again.
That didn't work out very well.
When the sun began to rise in the sky, Finnick had managed to catch at least a few fish. Of course, it would be too dangerous to set any sort of fire, and no one wanted to get caught for that rookie mistake.
She winced at the taste of raw fish in her mouth, but it seemed just like back home. It reminded her of her long since forgotten family and friends, of the factories and boats. All the memories wrapped up into one little raw fish so she wasn't going to dwell on it. Taking another bite, Grier chew absentmindedly as until a piercing scream was heard in the distance followed by a thunderous boom.
"That's new." Peeta muttered as he stood to stand up. They all followed him to the edge of the beach where water met sand as the trees on the other side of the arena began to crack. Water splashed over the tree line, making its way impossibly fast down the hill.
"Someone's here." Katniss muttered, stepping behind the tree line. Grier pushed Finnick back, glancing between the leaves of the tree at the tributes who had stepped onto the sand. They were covered head to toe in a dark crimson that seemed to be blood, but it was too much blood to be their own. It was too much blood to be another person's even if they bled them dry.
She watched as the smaller girl beckoned another tribute out of the trees, axe laying limp in her hand. The posture, the matted, bloody hair, the axe. Suddenly, it clicked; it was Joanna.
"Joanna?" The name slipped from her mouth as she stared at the bloody girl. Without a second thought, Grier rushed from the trees, with Finnick right behind her. "Joanna!"
The bloody girl turned a small smile lighting up her blood soaked face. "Finnick! Grier!"
Her feet pounded against the sand, ignoring the hesitance from both Katniss and Peeta. She collided with the girl, wrapping her arms tight around her torso. She had never been so happy to see another tribute alive in the arena. It meant that so far they were all okay. Blood smeared onto her suit, staining her hands with the blood had covered Joanna but she didn't care. Blood was the least of her problems.
"How'd you manage to stay alive?" Grier asked as she pulled away and Finnick stepped closer to the two. He smiled at Joanna for a quick second before it dropped again, waiting for Joanna to speak.
Joanna shook her head, taking a deep breath before she spoke. "I was barely able to. I got them out. It's when the rain started. I though it was water... It turned out to be blood. Hot thick blood that's coming down. It was choking us. We were stumbling around gagging on it blind." She paused, and that's when Grier noticed that there was only three of them. She knew Joanna would never leave Blight no matter what which meant the worst.
"Blight?" Grier asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
"That's when Blight hit the force field. He wasn't much but he was from home." Joanna's voice was barely tinged with sadness but it was there. She was sad that he was gone, that he was dead.
"Tick tock." Nuts muttered, orbiting around Joanna like she was the moon to Joanna's earth. Something was clearly off with the woman; that's why she was called Nuts.
Katniss watched the older woman carefully, furrowing her brows. "What's wrong with her?"
"She's in shock." Volts supplied, emerging from the water with a lot less blood on him than before.
"Tick tock."
"Dehydration isn't helping. Do you have fresh water?" He asked Katniss who still seemed to be struggling with the idea of more allies.
Katniss nodded. "We can get some water."
"Tick tock."
Grier watched as Nut kept orbiting Joanna before she latched onto the younger girl, muttering the same two words over and over. It seemed like Joanna had enough of the woman. She was pushing her away as best she could and wouldn't stop until Nuts had fallen onto the ground. "Stop it."
"Hey, lay off her." Katniss shoved Joanna, pushing the taller girl away from Nuts who seemed to be muttering incoherent sentences on the ground. Grier furrowed her brows, quickly grabbing onto Joanna as the girl
"Hey, what are you doing? I got them out for you!" Joanna struggled against her grip even as Finnick stepped in to help calm the girl down. They both kept muttering that it was okay, that she was fine. Nothing helped. The girl still thrashed in her arms, struggling, clawing at Finnick's chest to be let go. "Let me go."
"For me? What does that mean?" Katniss muttered, looking between Peeta
"You did want them as allies." Peeta said from beside Katniss, watching the struggling girl as Grier tightened her grip around Joanna, keeping the volatile girl at bay as best as she could. Katniss looked at the two girls with fearful eyes, watching carefully for any slip up that Grier could make and let Joanna go. But they were allies and Grier would keep Katniss alive. Well, at least keep her away from Joanna who was all too happy to end the alliance at a moment's notice.
The girl struggled in her grip for a few more minutes, anger coursing through her veins until finally she stopped, breath heavy. Grier let go of her gently, arms uncoiling themselves from around her fighting figure. The bloody girl pushed herself away from Grier, grabbing her own axe that had fallen onto the ground.
The allies were all there. Joanna had joined the party which meant that Plutarch would somehow get involved. It meant that sometime soon, the revolution would begin and Katniss would become a figure of justice.
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Helpless from Hamilton is just my favorite omg. But then I listen to Satisfied and idk what to do anymore.
Also, congrats to me for being shit at writing fight scenes! :)