☆°.˙ ▍𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐘𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐘

⎰𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱⎱

          𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋 was heard which caused Katniss to walk up to Finnick and sat down next to him.

          "I counted twelve." Finnick stated.

          "What does it mean?" Katniss questioned

          "Midnight?" Finnick guessed.

          "Or the number of districts." Katniss replied as the two saw a weirdly shaped tree getting struck by lightning.

          "How long have you both known each other?" Katniss asked as she glanced at a still sleeping Fleur and Finnick who had his hand around his trident, ready to use it if needed.

          "Almost eight years. We met one of those fancy parties." Finnick replied softly, careful not to wake up Fleur.

          "Go to sleep, Finnick. It's my turn to watch, anyway." Katniss stated.

          Finnick hesitated before nodding and leaning his head back against the tree as he kept a tight grip on his trident.

          Not one of them knew what loss they would suffer in the next couple hours.

.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

          Fleur shot awake when she heard Katniss' screams.

          "Run!" Katniss yelled. "Run! The fog's poison!"

          Finnick shot awake instantly and pulled Fleur up. He tossed a sleeping Mags onto his back before taking off with Fleur hot on his tail.

          The two ran as fast as they could with Katniss and Peeta following them at a slower pace. Suddenly, Fleur tripped on a tree root and fell to the ground. She looked behind her and her eyes widened when she realized that Katniss and Peeta didn't have as much distance between them and the fog as they should've.

          Fleur quickly got up and started to run again when the fog came towards her and the acidic droplets bore into her back, causing her to let out a strangled cry. She heard Peeta yell in agony as well as Katniss tried to guide him quickly away from the fog.

          Finnick stopped when he realized that Katniss and Peeta were struggling as well. He shouted words of encouragement, trying to get them to move along as quickly as possible.

          Fleur sped up, ignoring the intense pain in her back and the stiffening of her limbs. Fleur turned around and her eyes widened in horror once she saw that the fog was less than a yard away from the two tributes from Twelve and that Peeta wasn't able to walk. She realized that the fog targeted the nerves, which is why her limbs were stiffening.

          Both she and Finnick ran back to their allies and attempted to help Katniss haul Peeta along. Suddenly, Finnick stopped as Fleur attempted to regain her breath as she panted.

          "It's no good. I'll have to carry him. Can you take Mags?" Finnick asked Katniss.

          "Yes." Katniss replied as Mags climbed onto Katniss in the same position she rode Finnick.

          Finnick slung Peeta across his back and they moved forward with Finnick leading and with Fleur and Katniss following in the trail he broke through the vines.

           The fog followed them, silent, steady, and flat. Finnick led them at a diagonal down the hill. He tried to keep a distance from the gas while he steered them toward the water that surrounded the Cornucopia.

           Fleur kept running until she realized that Katniss had fallen. Then both she and Finnick one went back to her side, while Peeta hung over him.

          "It's no use." Katniss stated. "Can you take them both? Go on ahead, I'll catch up." Katniss said with a small amount of surety but Fleur knew that she knew there was a little chance of her getting out alive.

          "No." Finnick replied in a broken voice. "I can't carry them both. My arms aren't working." Fleur knew it was true seeing as his arms jerked uncontrollably at his sides while his hands were empty and his trident was being held by Peeta. "I'm sorry, Mags. I can't do it."

          "I can carry her. I carry Ben all the time." Fleur offered but she and Finnick knew that she wouldn't be able to do it. Not with the fog stiffening her limbs.

          Mags hauled herself up, planted a kiss on Finnick's lips. Finnick attempted to stop the older woman from what she was about to do, but she brushed him off and hobbled towards the fog. Immediately, the fog consumed her body and a canon was heard.

          "Mags! No!" Finnick cried out as he attempted follow the older woman only to be held back by Fleur's grip. 

          "No, Finnick, she's gone. She's gone, we have to go." Fleur stated as she pulled him up. 

          Fleur pulled Finnick as much as she could before Finnick snapped out of his thoughts, adjusted his grip on Peeta, and sped up, with Katniss and Fleur not to far behind.

          Somehow, the fog caught up with them and burned the four causing them to stumble and land near the water. Fleur's eyelids fluttered as she watched the fog come near them but stop before it could touch them, as if something was blocking it.

          "It's stopped." Katniss croaked out as Peeta rolled off Finnick, who turned over onto his back.

          Fleur felt something drip into her eye. She wiped the substance away from her eye and realized that it was blood. She felt too weak to move. She knew she had blacked out because when she woke up, she felt herself being turned over and let out a scream of pain as she felt herself being put slowly into the water, the pain of the salt water rubbing against her blisters was much more painful than that of the fog.

          "It's okay, it makes it better. I promise, Fleur." Finnick stated softly as he held Fleur's hand as she soaked in the water.

          After a while, Fleur realized that Finnick was right. The water had caused pain at first but helped the blisters on her back considerably. Fleur stayed in the water, slowly gaining her strength back. She smiled softly as Finnick began swimming.

          He glanced at Fleur before giving her a weak smirk and went under the water. He stayed there for a while before he came back up, much to the annoyance of Katniss.

          "Don't do that." Katniss ordered.

          "What? Come up or stay under?" Finnick asked.

          "Either. Neither. Whatever. Just soak in the water and behave." Katniss stated "Or if you feel this good, let's go help Peeta."

          The three began walking into the jungle towards Peeta where he was making a hole in a tree to put the spile in.

          Fleur shivered when she felt the gaze of a mass swarm of bodies on the three tributes. She glanced at Katniss and Finnick, both of whom had realized that they were being watched by monkeys.

          Katniss armed her bow with two arrows and Finnick adjusted the trident in his hand while Fleur slowly took out a knife and held it at her side.

           "Peeta." Katniss called out as calmly as she could. "I need your help with something."

          "Okay, just a minute. I think I've just about got it." Peeta replied as he kept his gaze on the tree. "Yes, there. Have you got the spile?"

          "I do. But we've found something you'd better take a look at." Katniss continued in a measured voice. "Only move toward us quietly, so you don't startle it."

          Fleur's breath shook as she felt the yellow eyes watching her every move.

          "Okay." Peeta stated casually as he panted slightly. He began to move through the jungle. His feet crushed the leaves creating a crinkling sound, but the monkeys didn't react.

          Suddenly, he felt the gaze the monkeys had on him and his eyes darted up for only a second. However, it was as if he'd triggered a bomb. The monkeys exploded into a shrieking mess of orange fur and converged on him.