Finding Finnick

A World Without Finnick

I can't stand it anymore. I stand up and burst through the doorway. Haymitch stops talking in the middle of a sentence, his mouth open. President Coin stands up from her chair, looking angry.

"What's happening?" I ask in a strangled voice.

"This is no place for you to be," President Coin says in an impatient voice. She turns to Haymitch and says, as if I'm not standing right there, "Will you please get her out of here?"

Haymitch looks at Coin then back at me again. I look at him pleadingly. He nods at me. Turning to Coin, he says, "Annie deserves to know."

"We can't explain this to her! She doesn't understand!" Coin exclaims. "She's not in her right mind, remember?"

I flinch at this insult but remain silent. I trust Haymitch to handle this for me.

"I think you'll find that Annie understands a lot more than you think," Haymitch says. He walks over to me and leads me into one of the chairs at the table. Coin looks on helplessly, but at least she allows it.

Haymitch settles down across from me. He leans forward in his chair and says, "As you know, we should have recieved the first propo with Peeta by now. We aren't sure if this is a reason to be worried or not," he says gently, "because there is always the possibility that they're running behind schedule, or maybe they're having some technical difficulties."

However," he continues, "We can't be sure if it's that or if something else went wrong."

"Peeta," I say.

Haymitch nods. That doesn't need any further explanation. "Or the Capitol. They may have been spotted and...targeted." He winces.

"Nothing is for certain," Plutarch adds, pacing back and forth. "We can try making contact with the squad but that comes with the risk of enemy interception if it turns out they're alright after all. We could be putting them in danger to while trying to find out if they are in danger."

"Whatever's happened, I'm sure they're fine. The squad is strong and they can make it through anything," Haymitch reassures me.

I nod, accepting their explanations. They are all too strong to die, right?

Suddenly, a quiet click sounds from the television hanging from the wall. All heads turn as the screen brightens with static.

"Is Beetee broadcasting something?" Haymitch asks Coin.

"Not that I know of," she replies.

We watch the television screen flicker for a few more moments before a clear image shows up.

"From the Capitol," Plutarch breathes, indicating the Capitol symbol appearing on screen.

An image of a Capitol steet appears, and everyone in the room gasps as we see Katniss, Peeta, Finnick, Gale, and the rest of the team huddled around a bloody mass that looks like Boggs. A voice over explains the situation, but I don't hear anything it says. I can only watch as Finnick and the others scramble around frantically as a huge mass of black looking gel hurtles over the buildings, straight towards them. My breath catches in my throat as I see them running, Gale in the middle of the street trying to free one of the other squad members from a net. Then the gel reaches them, covering the cameras. Then we are looking at a live report, the reporter listing Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Boggs, Cressida, and Finnick as dead. Finnick is dead. Dead.

"Annie," Haymitch reaches out to me but I recoil as a sob makes its way up my throat.

"No," is all I can say, tears streaming down my face. I choke on the sobs as they grow bigger and louder in my throat. Finnick. Please, no, no, no, he can't be gone. My Finnick can't be dead. But he is.

"Finnick!" I scream, and throw myself into Haymitch's arms just as another memory comes to take me back to the games again. This time I welcome it. Better the games than here, a world without Finnick.