A Sea of Mutts- Finnick's Death

Messalla melts like candle wax in front of us, I don't hear the screams, they must be so high pitches that we can't even hear. "Katniss!" I pull her away, she whips around and lines up her arrow but notices that Gale's have already been shot and proved useless. Messalla is as still as a statue, his skin is melting slowly, I can almost feel the pain. Tears prick my eyes, I wipe them away. Crying won't do any good, he's dead. Peeta starts shoving all of us forward hurriedly, "Can't help him!" He cries. I move along, coming back to my senses. I hear heavy gunfire that chills me to the bone. My eyes dart over to the intersection where Peacekeepers sprint towards us furiously, blood staining their stark white uniforms, wait. They aren't Peacekeepers, they're mutts. They pour through the tunnel as easily as water, filling up the entire space in a mass of white bodies. Barreling over the Peacekeepers, they race towards us. The mutts rip through the Peacekeepers bodies, discarding them like trash. They are trash in a way, maybe they deserve this gruesome death. Blood splatters over the floor and the mass of inhuman beasts rises. The mitts fall onto their stomachs and slither towards us like snakes with legs. "This way!" Katniss shouts breathlessly. We all turn right sharply. The Meat Grinder activates, it chews through the tile like it's a meal. Mechanical teeth burst out and attack the street. Hopefully the mutts won't be able to follow us through this, but who really knows. The mutts I've encountered in the Games were powerful creatures that could take down the Capitol itself. The creatures hiss and make my ears bleed, I let myself think of Annie for a moment, just to stop the hissing. Pollux starts to lead the way, I follow like a sheep. We crawl through a tight pipe that stinks, filling my nose with an awful stench. I crawl onto a ledge along with others. We are in a gigantic sewer full of human waste and what looks like chemicals runs along. Parts of it are illuminated by a burning fire, for a moment, I flash back to my Games and the smell of burning flesh, my hand connects with my head. I must focus. Clouds of vapour also hang over the swamp of sewage, the look ready to kill at any moment. The ledge is slippery, like almost everything down here. We follow along to a narrow bridge, crossing it quickly. Pollux slaps a ladder with his hand, motioning towards our only exit. "Wait! Where are Jackson and Leeg One?" Katniss shouts. "They stayed at the Grinder to hold the Mutts back," Homes says cautiously. "What?" Katniss says, lunging back towards the bridge, ready to fight for Jackson and Leeg One. Homes talks again, but I don't hear what he says. I prepare my weapon as the mutts slither onto the ledge. "Stand back!" Gale yells, shooting an explosive arrow to the bridge. It collapses into the frothy waste below.

The mutts are hideous, foul lizard-like creatures the size of us humans. Bigger even. Their slimy skin almost makes me gag. Their heads jut forward from their neck and they have brutally arched backs. They also have a hideous smell, like rotten fish mixed with something I don't recognise. Their bodies are smeared with gore, blood and human flesh alike. Bile runs through my mouth. It reminds me of Gloria, the District 9 Girl from my Games. They scream Katniss' name cruelly. They take chunks of one another trying to get across, they have been driven into a frenzy. They lash out in rage. Suddenly, the mutts start to throw themselves into the river, an attempt to get over the broken bridge. I open fire, as does everyone else. They still come forward even with bullets lodged in their skin. We kill them slowly, one by one. They do not have any care for their own safety, the mutts simply throw themselves into the clouds of vapour and the toxic sewage. More and more keep coming, flooding the sewer with hideous bodies. These mutts are made to torture, and so they do. Annie's screams pierce my mind, all the worst memories I hold, even some good ones that have turned bad, pierce my mind at a frightening speed, the smell of Capitol perfume invades my senses, I've always hated that smell. I come out of my haze and focus on the mutts before me, I pound them with bullets, reloading only a few times. I shout at Katniss to run, they just keep coming forward, rushing at the bullets, I kill a few but the number is overwhelming. 3 latch themselves onto me, ripping through my flesh. Screams pierce the air just as fast as bullets, it's not long before I realise the screams are mine.

I do not think of the unborn baby and lover I've left in District 13, I do not think of how I need to keep The Mockingjay alive. I think of my survival, just like the Hunger Games. I hear strangled screams echo through the hallway. Hisses fill my ears as my limbs are torn from my body. A light illuminates the area and I squint beneath the beasts, I continue to fight them, my human instincts kicking in, at least these beasts aren't human, they only care about killing, not how they kill. Finally, I accept the fact that I'm almost dead, my screams soften into moans, my life flashes before my eyes as the mutt readies it's death bite. I think of growing up with my father and mother, the cool ocean breeze, my childhood, how my mother would sing to me and my father taught me how to catch fish. The mast of my trusty old boat flashes through my mind. Then the Games happen, I go through it all, the pain of losing person after person, the watery smile I shared with the audience when I heard another cannon, it was horrible but relieving at the same time. Johanna comes next, the time that I met her, we laugh heartily, she's my best friend. Mags flashes before me, her laughing face her kind and gentle eyes. There's a pink sky, it's a sunset, that was when I met Annie. Annie's Games are another bad memory but it comes all the same. Beetee's trident comes through in it's full glory, I smile at it, accepting death, knowing the peace it will bring. Annie in her wedding dress startles me she looks that beautiful, I take in her features, soft lips, jet black hair, sea green eyes that match mine. I go through our happy wedding, it was so beautiful in the time of chaos. I think of the small lump attached to her, my baby. He will never know me but I will always know him, no matter what death brings I'll remember. Always. Finally, waves break over the rocks, for me, it's a symbol of the end, the final straw, the final breath of life. I suck it in, relishing in it's freshness. I'm lying on the ground, I'm still alive for this moment. The pain kicks in for a second before an explosion rocks the whole room, taking my mangled body with it.

Darkness engulfs me as the light fades, I see Katniss one more time, she's the only one who can end this Rebellion, save my Annie even though I couldn't. The darkness isn't overwhelming, simply peaceful. I float for a while until light showers me once more. Mags, my mum, my dad, everyone I've ever loved sits there, waiting, they too watch the living, as will I.