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▎ RUINS ▎
»»————-　act three. from the ashes
FORTY FIVE ━━ day of the new dawn

I know I was born, and I know I'll die.
the in-between is mine

— pearl jam

THE WAR HAD NOT BEEN KIND SO FAR FOR THE SO CALLED STAR SQUAD AS THEY ENTERED THE ABANDONED BATTLEFIELD, the crumbled buildings left the once bright and flourishing Capitol in mere shambles. It represented nothing more than a ghost town now, but it did not mean they were safe at all. The first hidden pod they encountered was simply put, a whirlwind of fire and explosions triggered by one single arrow shot by Katniss. They caught it on camera— good propaganda Cressida had said, like they were actually engaging in some kind of battle as she tried to get the perfect shot of Katniss' face.

The katana strapped on Erin's back felt heavy, not in weight but it's presence was holding her down. She itched for something to happen, not a fake shoot to get the troops moving through their pain. No she itched to be usefull again, not some sort of prop like she is now. Her eyes flicker back to the blonde man a couple steps ahead of her. His posture is tense, she can see the way his shoulders are pulled back and the clenched fist at his side. She doesn't need to see his eyes to knows they are narrowed and focused on his surroundings. They both might have been out of the games for a while before thrown back into the Quarter Quell, but they never have been able to shake their habits. And if she's honest, they will never lose them at all.

Her gaze flickers back to her surroundings, a nervous feeling settling in her gut and Erin silently adjusted the strap holding her katana. She speeds up a bit, the feeling of being watched making a shiver crawl up her spine. But she doesn't know for sure, her imagination runs wild at this point by just looking around the deserted streets of the Capitol.

"We're setting camp up here." Erin looks up to see Boggs motioning to the side where a building stands more secure than the others around it. It still looks like its best days are behind it, but like the other building, the bricks are still intact, the only thing really giving away the fact that it's standing in a warzone is the shattered glass on the ground, only some shards still where they belong.

Soft mumbles of agreement follow and everyone silently follows the man as he steps inside. When he deems the perimeter save everyone settles down in the dust riddled room. Sitting down on the ground, Erin leans her head against the cool surface of the wall and lets a huff of air escape her lips and closes her hazel eyes for a moment. Seconds later she feels another familiar presence next to her and a warm hand finds her cold one and rubs comforting circles on the rough skin. "How are you holding up?" Finnick asked softly and Erin's eyes flutter open to look at her man.

"I don't know." she answers honestly, head turning to look through one of the many broken windows where the sun is slowly settling behind the other buildings. "You?"

"Ask me again tomorrow."

This had never been an ideal honeymoon, but the impending doom lingering in the air clearly isn't making it any better and Erin is afraid to admit she's scared. She has fought so mant demons, spiritual and in real life and she can't, no won't show weakness. Because she knows, that maybe she will never see the ocean again, or talk to Johanna, or her brother, but she will never give Snow the satisfaction of seeing her afraid.

She feels Finnick shift beside her, and he carefully rests his head on her shoulder, already exhausted from the long day aimlessly walking around the remains of the Capitol. "If we're still alive tomorrow." He adds in a whisper so only she can hear him.

And though Erin knows nothing is certain, there is a burning desire to believe her next words. "We will, and we will for many more tomorrows."

There is a loud rumbling noise that fills the air, leaving everyone immediately on edge. Both Erin and Finnick push themselves up from the ground and join the others by one of the larger windows.

"Is that peacekeepers?"

"451 to base. We've got a truck coming in from the south. Over." Lieutenant Jackson stated, speaking into the walkie talkie." It takes only a couple seconds before someone replied from the other side. "Okay, copy that. Over." She nods unsubconsiously before turning to the group. "Stand down. It's friendly."

Everyone is already walking outside and Erin is one of the last the get outside but as the group came to a stop a little bit away from the pulled up truck. A man came outside, not even acknowledging them as he went to the back of the truck to retrieve something.

or better said, someone.

Erin's hand immediately went to the handle of her katana, knowing the last time he interacted with Katniss he almost killed the girl. Katniss had the same mindset as she pulled the string of her bow, ready to send an arrow flying.

her stance falter slightly as Peeta, accomponied by two other man approached them in silence before the two of them stopped and Peeta walked on without them, gaze fixated on te ground as he mumbled to himself. "My name is Peeta Mellark, I am from district twelve."

Gale cocked his gun. "Stop." He demanded forcefully, eyes narrowed on the baker's boy.

"Hold up, everyone relax." To her surprise, Finnick stepped between the two sides, holding his hands out to both of them.

"What's going on?"

"Jackson." Boggs turned to his second in command, "cuff him." He ordered before completely turning around and going back inside the building.

Erin watched on in confusion and from the corner of her eye she finally saw Katniss lower her bow.

"Soldier this is just a precaution until we can get everything straightened out alright." Jackson explained as she cuffed the boy and lead him towards the building, closely followed by the others, where Boggs was already talking through the comlink with the base as everyone waited for the man to finish his conversation.

"They want us to add him to the propo. Show that he's on our side now." The man began to explain, "We'll move forward a few blocks tomorrow and shoot the new footage."

"He's not in control of himself." Gale spoke up after a beat of silence.

And every fiber in her very being wanted to deny it, but Erin knew she couldn't argue with Gale like she did back in thirteen.

Peeta was unpredictacle, and unpredictacle was dangerous.

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