Wild Card || Levi x Reader

fifteen - when I've cried all my tears

There's some heavy stuff in this chapter. It's the Hunger Games, so there's no shortage of heavy topics, but there's some talk about some rough stuff. Absolutely nothing graphic but it's implied, and I want it clearly stated up here.

Chapter warning for talking about child abuse and implied sexual abuse. Finnick Odair's backstory is what I'm alluding to here. His background deserved so much more attention than it got.

.

The explosion is thunderous, starting a ringing in your ears, and you nearly drop your bow when you bring your hands up to cover them. The ground shakes beneath your feet. Immediately, people start to scramble. There's yelling, temporary chaos, and then one voice rings loud above it all: "hold!!"

Mike's call makes everyone pause. Levi's right beside you, hand on your back to steady you. You're still staring at the spot where Gunther just was, now bloodied and ruined. He was just- he was just there, and just like that, he's-

"Landmines," Levi says, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Hold still. Settle down."

That was Gunther. That was Gunther, one of your friends. He was- he was there. He was...

"Looks like the Capitol left us a treat," Mike says dryly. You're trying to pay attention, but you're still staring at the last spot where you saw Gunther. "Alright. Hold still, everyone, we're going to work out a way back."

"Work out a way back?" Oluo asks, his voice panicked. "But how- how do we know? They could be anywhere-"

"We made it here without issue," Eld interrupts. He's so calm, so under control- how? His best friend just got blown up. "So they can't be everywhere."

"I'm just a camera guy," you hear Marco whisper, shaking his head. "I'm just a guy with a camera."

Jean grabs his shoulder to calm him down. "Be a videographer, they said," he grumbles, and you notice his grip tighten. "It'll be fun, they said."

"Twelve?"

You turn to look at Levi, trying to snap yourself back to reality. "Yeah."

"You with me?" he asks, his voice calm.

You force yourself to nod. You can process later. It just came so out of the blue that it still hasn't completely sunken in yet, and you're able to nod again, this time with a little bit more conviction. "Yeah, I'm good," you murmur, looking away so that he hopefully can't tell that you're lying.

Mike's already in the process of pulling out his communication device. "HQ, we need a scan for any potential underground activity."

"We can go back the way we came," Eld says calmly- how, how is he so damn calm- and he points to the back of the group. "We know that's safe."

"Works for me," Klaus agrees.

"Hold," Mike insists. "We don't know for sure."

"We just walked that way," Jean protests, voice rising.

"I'm not taking any chances," the general says. Your grip tightens on your bow. "We're mapping out a safe route. One going off could arm others that were quiet before."

Your mouth feels dry. "How the fuck does that even work?" you manage.

Mike's radio crackles to life and you nearly flinch from the sudden burst of static. "I heard an explosion, are you guys okay?" the pilot asks.

Your chest feels tight, because no, you're not, Gunther was right there-

"We need a safe route back to the ship," Mike says into the device. "Landmine just went off."