Catching Fire (Katniss loves Peeta)

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Suzanne Collins owns the characters and the plot. I, however, have made some changes to the original story making this FANFICTION, not the real story. Nor is this story affiliated with Suzanne Collins.

Chapter 21

Finnick snaps awake instantly, seeing the wall of fog, he tosses a still-sleeping Mags onto his back and takes off. Peeta is on his feet but not as alert. I grab his arm and begin to propel him through the jungle after Finnick.

"What is it? Katniss what is it?" he says in bewilderment.

"Some fog. Poisonous gas. Hurry, Peeta!" I urge. I can tell that however much he denied it the aftereffects of hitting the force field have been significant. He's slow, much slower than usual. And the tangle of vines and undergrowth, which unbalance me occasionally, trip him at every step. The fog keeps rolling towards us, but I refuse to leave Peeta. "Follow my feet. Watch where I step." I tell him, and it seems to help.

Peeta's artificial leg catches, and he falls, quickly I try to help him up. I become aware of something, the left side of his face has sagged as if every muscle in it has died. The lid droops, almost concealing his eye. "Peeta-" I begin. And that's when I feel the spasms run up my arm. I swear to god, if I lose the baby I'm going to kill the game makers.

Suddenly I realize the chemicals target out nerves and I yank Peeta forward. By the time he's up, he's spasming all over. I feel him lurch forward and realize Finnick has come back for us and is hauling Peeta along. I try to keep up with Finnick's rapid pace, but find it near impossible. "It's no good. I'll have to carry him. Can you take Mags?" he asks me.

"Yes," I say stoutly, although my heart sinks. Mags can't weigh much, but I don't either, even with pregnancy weight included. I lift Mags over my shoulders and follow Finnick through the vines. Eventually, I start falling, at first I can right myself quickly, but then it takes a while to get up. 

"Can you carry them both?" I ask Finnick.

He says, "No I can't my arms aren't working. I'm sorry Mags." Mags hauls herself up, plants a kiss on Finnick's lips, and then hobbles straight into the fog. Immediately, her body is seized by wild contortions, and she falls to the ground in a horrible dance. Then I finally hear a cannon, signaling Mag's death. We keep running as well as possible, then Peeta and Finnick tumble down a hill landing in a heap, I'm not far behind adding to the pile. Maybe it's my eyes playing tricks, but the fog seems to be transforming. Yes, it's becoming thicker, as if it has pressed up against a glass window and is being forced to condense.

"It stopped." I try to croak out. Peeta and Finnick both look over towards the fog. "Mon-he's."I look up and spot a pair of what I guess are monkeys. I've never seen monkeys before in person, we learned about them at school and in previous Hunger Games.

We all crawl, since walking now seems as remarkable a feat as flying; we crawl until the vines turn to a narrow strip of sandy beach and the warm water that surrounds the Cornucopia laps our faces. I jerk back as if I've touched an open flame. And through the blue layer of water, I see a milky substance leaching out of the wounds on my skin. As the whiteness diminishes, so does the pain. I put one limb in at a time until I am fully submerged. Peeta seems to be doing the same, but Finnick has backed away from the water. When I'm feeling better, I scoop fistfuls of water and dump them on Finnick. Peeta recovers soon enough, and he helps me. Finnick lies there, eyes shut, giving an occasional moan.

I look around with growing awareness of how dangerous a position we're in. It's night, yes, but this moon gives off too much light for concealment. We're lucky no one's attacked us yet. We could see them coming from the Cornucopia, but if all four Careers attacked, they'd overpower us. If they didn't spot us at first, Finnick's moans would give us away soon.