Love at Sea (Finnick Odair)

Chapter 12

Taiya's arm was basically ripped out of its socket.

She felt the violent tug before she heard the yell.

Katniss's yell of pain.

"Time to go, time to go, time to go," Finnick panicked as he yanked her down the hill.

And that was all it took for the cloud of sleep to leave her brain and she was wide awake and sprinting away from some unknown danger.

She quickly threw her head over her shoulder to see who was chasing them, only to see a cover of fog trailing after them, there was no one chasing them. So the danger must be in the fog.

Peeta and Katniss were behind her and Finnick, but not by much.

"Shit!" Taiya gasped as she clasped onto Finnick's hand and ran even harder. She didn't care what happened to the pair from 12 if it meant endangering her and Finnick.

They needed to get themselves safe first, and then think about Katniss and Peeta.

Finnick had other ideas though. He thought of Katniss and Peeta as their only salvation. Whereas Taiya had options. That was if she chose to trust President Snow.

But Finnick was determined to follow through on Haymitch's plan, and when he noticed how far behind Katniss and Peeta were, he released his hold on her hand.

"What are you doing!" she yelled at him and she lunged to grab his hand.

"Keep going, keep going," he encouraged her, giving her a light shove.

"Finnick!"

But he was focused on Katniss and Peeta. "Come on guys, run. You can do it Peeta!" Finnick encouraged as he tried to move them faster along.

"That's not helping! Who cares about them? Come on!" Taiya tugged his arm.

"Please keep going," Finnick urged her quickly as he turned to face her. "Trust me. I'll catch up."

"No! Please, Finnick, please!" Taiya cried in desperation before they heard a thump.

"Peeta!" Katniss cried out. The boy had collapsed to the ground and Katniss was unable to lift him.

"Please run," Finnick's voice shook before he sprinted towards them.

"FINNICK!" Taiya screamed out after him as she watched her heart run towards the poisonous gas.

He may have been behaving wildly, but he wasn't taking his time. He as good as ripped Peeta off the ground, hauling him along as the boy was unable to use his own legs.

"It attacks your nerves Taiya, start running!" Finnick called out to her, but she was frozen, she didn't want to turn and run. Not without him by her side. She was not prepared to lose him, it wasn't even a reality she'd ever considered properly. So she didn't move until he was close enough that she could hear his thundering footsteps. When he was close enough for comfort, that's when she resumed running.

Despite basically carrying Peeta, he was setting a rapid pace and Katniss could barely keep up.

"Cornucopia?" Taiya yelled behind her, wanting to confirm how they were intending on outrunning the gas.

"Towards the water. We can dive under," Finnick confirmed. They both had the same idea. It went against instincts as, instead of running away from the wall of gas, they were running diagonally.

There was a crash behind them and Taiya immediately looked behind to see Finnick still standing.

"Come on Katniss!" Finnick encouraged.