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▎ RUINS ▎
»»————-　act two. fan the flames
THIRTY ONE ━━ flickering flames

hope is the only thing stronger than fear

— coriolanus snow

    ALL AIR HAD LEFT ERIN'S LUNGS WHEN THE SICK and wounded people realised they were here. Their tired eyes focused on Katniss as she slowly stepped further in the room. Like animal carefully approaching people, unsure but curious too.

    The sight of wounded people holding their friends and family close to them, like a mother cradling their newborn for the first time, afraid to let go in fear of them disappearing in thin air was emotional.

     Erin held her brother's hand tightly as she looked around the room, the people left to suffer the consequences of the war raging on around them.

     Their limbs wrapped up in bandages, tears stains on their cheeks mixed with ashes, dirtied hair and disheveled clothes.

     Ahead Katniss stance was timid, her eyes focused on those one the floor, whispering that everything would be okay, that they didn't need to worry. To assure them, to let them hold on.

    When the raven haired woman stood more in the center of the room, Erin stared wide eyed as people stood up, looking at Katniss. The previous whispers and chatter died down and only her light footsteps echoed around the hall.

     Erin eyes glazed over, the raw emotion of all these people hitting her. The feeling of not being enough the help them settling in her gut. She wondered if they could win this war, could win from the Capitol.

     Win from Snow.

     She hoped and prayed that they would, that the suffering would stop. With The Girl On Fire they should win. Hope was stronger than any fear, and the flame hadn't burned this bright in a long time. With Katniss would come the end of this war and Erin promised herself that she would do anything to keep Katniss alive for that reason alone.

     "Katniss Everdeen?" The voice startled Erin for a moment as it echoed across the room softly.

    Her friend stopped walking and turned around timidly afraid she could not help these people, that she could not give them what they needed. For a moment her eyes met with Katniss and the district four woman gave her a gentle and encouraging smile.

     A young dark skinned woman sat on a cot, her face coverd in dirt and her hair knotted, her eyes however still glinstered a bit. "What are you doing here?"

    The question was a soft whisper, one that Erin barely heared but it broke her heart a little as she watched Katniss struggle with finding the right words. "I-I came to see you."

     "What about the baby?" The question came from an ill looking woman, her voice hoarse from the bad circumstances.

    Even though Erin knew about the lie, it tugged at her heartstrings because these people truly believed it, they even feared for its life.

    "I lost it." Katniss voice cracked lightly her eyes focused on the woman sitting on the floor.

     "Are you fighting Katniss? Are you here to fight with us?"

     It was an unanswered question in many ways. Could she do it and could she win this war? Was she willing to risk everything all these lives, all the people she cared about. Was this a war worth fighting for?

     "I am." An answer.

     "I will." A promise.

     And just like that the boy kissed his fingertips and held his hand up with the three finger salute, the wounded around him followed. They made a silent promise too. They would fight with her.

     The depris outside the make shift hospital felt rough underneath Erin's feet as she walked alongside Katniss, her mind lingering at the thought of Finnick still in district 13. It was written all over his face when she left. The worry and stress. The uncertainty of Annie's life, a dear friend to the both of them. It was all weighting down on him and finally he couldn't bare the weight anymore. He collapsed in a way that didn't send him crumbling to the ground, he had changed in a way too, they all had since the Quarter Quell.

     Erin was determined upon returning that she would made sure to piece him back together even if she needed to offer up pieces of her own mind to do so. They would never be complete again, but together their pieces could fill up the hollow places the Capitol had left. They could bare the weight together, they had too.

     "Your mom's gonna be proud of you when she she sees the footage." Gale spoke up from the other side of Katniss.

     "Will this play in the districts?" Alex wondered out loud from behind his sister, his raven haired curls sticking to his forehead.

     "It'll be tattoed on their eyes." Cressida stated with a smirk.

     Beeping echoed behind them and an uneasy feeling settled in Erin's gut as she glanced at her brother worried.

     "There's a problem." Boggs clarified, the atmosphere changing abruptly and the previous smiles turned to solemn frowns.

     "What kind of problem?" Gale asked quickly as the group came to a halt so they could look at Boggs.

     "Incoming bombers from the North." He stated. "We need to find cover now."

     "There's a bunker in there." Paylor pointed out, taking the lead.

      Erin quickly followed behind the others, casting a worried look up at the sky before rushing inside one of the damaged buildings through a broken window while alarms blasted throughout District 8 to warn the people.

      Paylor urged everyone to follow behind her as she led them through the dark building as fast as she could. "Straight ahead and downstairs." She told them, stepping aside to let the other pass her when the first sound of bullets echoud through the air.

     Both Katniss and Erin looked at each other for a second before the two took off in a different direction, Gale and Alex trailing behind them while Boggs shouted for the Girl On Fire.

     Light came through one of the broken brick walls up ahead and both girls leaped forward to see some of the less injured people of district 8 defend their home.

     "Everdeen! Everdeen!"

     No one listened to the man as the rushed forward towards the wall. "Gale, Alex, Erin! Get away from that wall."

     Erin and Katniss both crouched down at opposite sides of the wall, looking outside, the sound of the aircraft approaching filled Erin's ears before the first bomb dropped, shaking the earth.

      Debris flew across the already destroyed terrain, smoke and dust rising from the air as both girls were pushed back by the force of the impact and landed roughly on the ground.

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