CHAPTER sixty-eight|SIXTH SENSE
Owl city~ fireflies
❝Cause they fill the open air, and leave teardrops everywhere❞
➳➳
THE SMELL WAS the first thing that changed, even if nobody was able to really take note of it.
In the chaos it seemed so mild- there was a kaleidoscope of scenes that seemed to work simultaneously around the corners that each Victor fought against- and yet it was the only thing that really mattered. With each sense having to work against the others for dominance it was hard to pick exactly why smell was the only thing that needed attention, depending on the body that was fighting for their life the priorities changed like the colour of the sky during a sunset, but there was no denying the importance of it. Because unlike everything else, the smell wasnt changing with each body that piled up or with each stain in the soldier's hair.
When the smell changed, so did the outcome of the war- the rebellion. If only the Victor's knew that.
If only they could look past a fire so hot it felt like it had been made from the anger that built the rebellion itself, or the water cold enough to leave their feet numb after planting them for balance. If they were aware how little it mattered when their hand's felt the flares that warded away sharp claws they might not of focused all their energy on the orange inferno that died down from a whole fire to the smallest flame, and they might of ignored how little they could feel their legs.
The Victors might've even been able to spot the rotten meat each mutt's breath produced if they had looked past the sound of gunfire and the water chilled from the purest of melted frost.
Within the feelings that ricochet off of the surroundings alone, an entire new sense could have been created.
The kind of sense that could capture the screams of the camera crew as they ran from the tunnel they had been in for no more than 12 hours. The kind of sense that flinched every time the thud of death was hauled out from between the flesh and bones that had been ripped apart in combat; a sense so astute it would make Lorna Titan cry before her heart had even been prepared to be cut from her blanched white chest.
Or maybe a sense that would've told the girl that something had changed; a sense that was smart enough to pick up how the mud enfused rotting had been turned putrid, and fresh copper had been added to the aroma of their battle. Maybe then something would of been different when Katniss Everdeen's gut began to understand what her five senses could not- but her contaminated grey eyes were trained on the arrows she sent flying through the pandemonium.
Peeta didn't see Katniss take her last shot before she had to run towards the epicenter of the tsunami, or Finnick as he stabbed one of the rabid green dogs with heads that seemed to be taken from the shape of the Peacekeeper's oval helmets. Remy barely even heard her feet wade through the knee high water as he snapped off one of the mutt's heads with nothing but his torn up hands, or Lorna when she caught a glimpse of Mercy as she was pulled under the water.
None of them even spared the Girl on Fire a second look- the soldiers that had been fighting beside her were far too busy running towards one of their own as she gargled murky fear.
That caught Remy off guard. He peeled his eyes away from his sister's next timidly strong swing for what felt like hours just to pull Mercy up and drag her wounded leg away from the next scratch; when the two District 12 tributes collided to avoid a sudden attack they made enough noise to make the fountain of crimson seem like a paper cut.
And just like that, the smell changed again. Only this time it was despiration that clung to the scent each soldier ignored instead of something real- a despiration that settled into each Victor when they saw a battle that they knew they couldn't win. As more mutts climbed from the tunnel, it seemed to dawn on most of them just how outnumbered they were.
Katniss' scream to run was more expected than the hand that tugged apon Lorna's unshielded waist.
Still, both hit the platinum blonde as heavily as the falling debris that the mutts dropped while they tried to scale the walls around the water. The splashes only reminded Lorna how hot Finnick's arm was as it brushed against her free skin, and how deeply her delicatly rebuilt nerves felt it when Katniss screamed once more for Peeta to leave the fight.
When the raven looked towards the married pair that pulled each other towards the metal ladder they were trying to reach, no one around her smelt the unspoken realisation that made Katniss sweat a little bit heavier. Even when they were almost caught, they didn't leave each other's side to avoid a slash or bruise on their already aching backs.
When Remy glanced back to watch the pair he became hypnotised by the many more mutts that piled through the tunnel they had lost a leader in. The same tunnel he had sprinted through so quickly that he could barely remind himself how long it took to reach the opening- all he saw was the teeth that could of wripped out any of their necks.
Finnick and Lorna were the last to draw their weapons below the metal ladder that lead above the war torn battleground- as Remy carried Mercy up the metal poles that seemed like their only real escape the dread inside of Katniss grew stronger and stronger.
She could see an ending that would break them all apart. It seemed she was the only one that could think that far ahead even when it had been finnick that was so petrified by the outcome.
The Girl on Fire's sixth sense would of caught how quickly the tunnel opening became sombre as Lorna wriggled out from under Finnick's arm and squeezed the handles of her blades. It would of caught the fearful shiver that ran through the man from 4 when she did, and some part of it would be strong enough to let Katniss know exactly how many different thoughts would have made it past his lips if he hadn't screamed for his wife to stop instead. He had so many alternatives that the scene could of been done 108 times with a different outcome, but in this one, his loud cry did nothing but remind Lorna of the last time they had fought in pure darkness side by side.
She was reminded of the fire as the ceiling fell all that time ago, and it made her heart skip a beat in her chest as her hand froze colder than the water.
Peeta also screamed out from his own fight, but his bubbled from the same strange feeling that ran through his very soul each time he lost control.
He felt it again; as a mutt dragged him to his feet and away from everyone for only the shortest of breaths words bubbled up that felt like fresh vomit. His hands turned white, and his eyes filled with dread that once only grew from Katniss' worried expression as he bit down on his tongue so hard it sent warm blood down his throat. He knew what he wanted to say- it jumped at every opportunity as Katniss placed an arrow in the mutt's head- which was why he didn't speak to his former fiancé when he tried to stand.
He didn't utter a single grunt when she pushed the baker towards the ladder Mercy and Remy had just reached the top of.
The Titan brother's scream was as useless as Finnick's as he watched Lorna barely escape the next mutt's lunge. Even without eyes they seemed to know exactly where she wanted to go as her hands trembled. But there were no ghosts around her; she sliced at each body with a mind clear of any of the tormentors she had seen in her past. Even as she ran her sword through their necks in the exact same way her dagger broke Atlas', his ghost didn't watch her do it.
So she sliced again, and took one small step back towards her escape.
Only now her escape had been climbed by everyone except her and her husband. Katniss used one hand on the rusted but still damp ladder as she used the other to hold out one last arrow she had to throw at the mutts that got too close to the pair. Her hair was barely kept behind her, but she could see everything that Lorna did with a hawk-like precision if she looked hard enough. They all could, Peeta could peak his head through the gap to watch the Titan girl as she dove out of another possible death.
He watched as they took another step towards the ladder, and as Finnick called Katniss desperately for help.
She called his name back, right as she reached the next level of the sewers and Lorna pushed her husband towards the opening. In any other situation Finnick would of stopped and waited for his wife, but when he looked at her- when he saw how smoothly she turned to slice another mutt before reaching for the ladder rung closest to her, he knew it would only slow them down.
She would come up behind him- so all he had to do was climb fast.
Peeta felt the same terror bubble up in his throat as he glanced from the girl with braids running through her silk-like hair that used to remind him of the cocoa powder used for the very best cakes in 12. Now it reminded him of a sign that hasn't been lit yet, or a light that had been turned off to save energy for the rest of the house in the winter months- now as Lorna watched Finnick reach the middle of the ladder it flew behind her almost exactly like one of her dresses would of.
But she reached out for some kind of end anyway, because she was the only one left. Finnick knew that too.
Katniss screamed for her friend to run, right as she felt her waist for the explosive she needed to finish the mutt's off. As she did Katniss failed to hear her District partner's heavy breathing or see the panic in his eyes as he squeezed his entire face as much as possible. He was trying to think of something- anything- other than the words that he wanted to scream so violently, but the whispers of Mercy as Remy tried to bandage her leg was enough to keep his mind in focus.
Even as she finally sheathed her blades and called after her husband, Peeta could see nothing real in Lorna's body. He only saw the ghost of somebody he knew- the person that told him all she wanted was for everything to be over with. He knew what came next, Katniss had no idea as she pulled Finnick the rest of the way.
The man from Four had barely thrown his trident at the mutt that tried to drag Lorna from the ladder when he heard a shout from behind him. A shout that didn't belong to Katniss, or Gale or even Mercy. Not a shout that came from a worried brother, or the man that loved her more than plants loved the sun's heat in the spring, but a shout that stopped every heartbeat that was still hanging on.
Lorna barely registered what it was as she climbed one step closer to safety.
Fire.
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1977 words.
I'm sorry this has taken so long, and I'm so sorry that I'm leaving you like this on the penultimate chapter of this book- but I'm so happy to be back! I needed some time away from wattpad to really understand why I was writing my stories and to remember that I write each chapter to the best of my ability for you guys, and I shouldn't be rushing them just to get something out. I wanted this to be good- I wanted it to be the same level as my chapters I've been editing all this time.
That being said, I won't take two months to give you the last installment of my favourite series. That would be cruel, so expect an update and the grand reveal of what I decided to do with Finnick and Lorna's lives before the New Year.
Thank you, and I really hope I can do this story justice in the end.