[the hunger games series: catching fire]
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Cameron was woken up by Katniss a few hours later. "Run," Katniss yelled, trying to wake the others up. "Run!" The girl shoots up instantly, looking around for the danger that Katniss was trying to signal. She spun on her heel to see a wall of fog floating towards them.

        "Shit!" she sounded running forward to a still sleeping Mitch. She prodded him with her foot, causing the boy to shoot awake. "We have to go," she heaved.

        Mitch didn't ask any questions, he just followed Cameron as they began to charge through the woods, trying to ignore the sharp pains on her arms from the droplets of mist. She could see the shadow of Finnick and Mags in front of her and she tried to follow it as close as she could, not wanting to lose the other half of the group.

        Finnick stopped instantly, causing Cameron to almost run into him. "What did you do that for?" she hissed.

        "Yeah, Odair, we have to keep going or we are gonna get burned alive by that poisonous fog," Mitchell added.

        "Have you two forgotten the whole reason we have this alliance?" he asked in a low whisper. He flicked his head backward toward Katniss and Peeta, who were struggling against the threat of impending doom. Cameron narrowed her eyes as she watched Katniss try to walk with Peeta. There was no way that they could fight the fog so they kept on yelling at the pair, encouraging them to move quicker, or as quickly as they could.

        Cameron watched nervously as Katniss struggled to move forward with Peeta strung over her shoulder. "She can't carry him and make it in time," she whispered to Mitchell.

        "What are we supposed to do about it?" Mitchell responded quietly. "If we go back into the mist, we die Cam. Like die, die."

        "We can't just leave her there to struggle," Finnick interjected.

        Cameron pursed her lips, "Newsflash, no one was talking to you."

        "You two, stay here, I'm gonna go back for them," Finnick decided, running up to Katniss and Peeta, Mags still swung over his back.

        Cameron and Mitchell changed quick glances. "You're not thinking-" Mitchell started.

        "We have to help," Cameron said, even though she felt as if her whole situation was out of her control.

        "I'm not dying for them," Mitchell insisted, wincing as a few dots of mist began to settle on his skin. He blinked, wiping the sweat from his face.

        "And you won't," Cameron replied instantly. "Promise."

        Mitchell frowned, "Fine," he said before taking off quickly, up the hill to where they saw Finnick and the others last. Cameron smiled before taking off after him. Cameron didn't like how fast the fog had gained on the group as it was about ten feet away from the others.

        "I thought you would've abandoned us," Finnick grunted.

        "Shut up," Cameron replied swiftly. "Can you guys go any faster? That fog is too close for my liking," she said, as the droplets on her skin began to increase.

        Finnick stopped quickly, looking back at Katniss. "It's not good," he told her. "I'll have to carry him. Can you take Mags?"

        "Yes," Katniss said quickly. Finnick placed Peeta's arm over his shoulder so that it would be easier for him to lug the boy along. Katniss squatted down so that Mags was able to hop on her back; Cameron watched as Katniss buckled under her weight.

        "I can take her if you want," Cameron offered quickly.

        "No, no, it's fine," Katniss insisted. Cameron nodded as they took off into another sprint, Finnick leading the way.

        Cameron began to see boils form on her skin as they kept running away from the fog. She was certain that it was from the fog. The suit was no help, as the acid instantly went through it, eating away at chunks of her skin. Cameron could feel pressure building up in her leg, she wasn't sure if it was from the fog or if it was from walking all day. She thought she was in good shape, but her struggles proved otherwise. She tried to keep running but eventually, her leg gave out and she came tumbling to the ground.

        Her hand instantly flew to her face, feeling a hot liquid trailing down the side of it. Cameron cursed under her breath, trying to push herself back onto her feet, but nothing was working. She kept struggling against the dirt, a mixture of mug and acid coating her skin.

        "Cam!" Mitchell shouted instantly. He bent down and instantly dragged the girl onto his back. "Can you walk?" he asked her.

        Cameron shook her head, "I don't- I don't know," she stumbled, her blonde hair flying in different directions.

        "It's fine, I can carry you," Mitchell said instantly.

        "Thank you, Mitch," she mumbled, mentally kicking herself for not being able to walk and having to rely on someone else. At least Mitch was there to help her.

        Cameron wasn't the only one that was struggling. She could see the outline of Katniss in front of her, the girl kept stumbling to the ground. She was able to get up the first two times, but the third time she had a similar reaction to Cameron. Mags rolled off of Katniss's back and the girl on fire tried to reach for some vines on the ground, trying to do anything to pull herself upright. 

        Both Finnick and Mitchell looked back, watching Katniss struggle. She looked at both of them. "It's no use," she said quietly. "Can either of you take her? Go ahead, I'll catch up."

        Mitchell sighed, "I can barely handle Cam, I don't think I can take her too," he admitted.

        Katniss looked to Finnick, who was silent for a second. "No," he said, in a voice that Cameron had never heard him use before. "I can't carry them both. My arms aren't working." Cameron tried to look over Mitchell's shoulder to look at Finnick. but she could barely see out of her own eyes. "I'm sorry Mags, I can't do it."

        Before anyone could do anything to stop it, Mags hauls herself up off of the ground, placing the smallest kiss on Finnick's cheeks, and hobbled into the fog behind them. Cameron watched in horror as the woman began to shake, her body seizing uncontrollably. Cameron let out a small cry as Mags' body fell to the ground.

        The noise she had made was covered up by the boom of the cannon. Before Cameron could say anything to Finnick he had continued his retreat from the fog, unwilling to talk to anyone. Cameron felt her body lurch forward as Mitchell began to move at a fast pace. Cameron wasn't sure how he was able to maintain this pace and not feel the effects of the fog. Maybe he was stronger than her? Cameron couldn't be sure as she could barely feel herself think anymore.

        As soon as Mitchell began to run, he stopped keeling over. Cameron slid off of his back and onto the ground, inches away from both Peeta and Finnick. No one was in shape to run anymore, it seemed like the fog had gotten the best of them. Cameron was gonna die in this arena surrounded by her fellow tributes. Everything that they had worked to do would be for nothing. They didn't protect Katniss. They didn't get out. They didn't accomplish anything. They were gonna die. Cameron was gonna die in this arena and there was nothing she could do about it.

        But the fog never came. Cameron lifted her head off of the ground to see the fog collecting about five feet away from them. Cameron narrowed her eyes, she wasn't entirely sure what she was seeing. The fog looked like it was pressed against a window of sort some. Cameron instinctively tried to move forward, but Mitchell's hand closed around her ankle. "What are you doing, do you have a death wish?" he hissed.

        "Look," she croaked, pointing a shaky finger forward the fog. Mitchell followed her finger and peered at the fog.

        "Holy shit-" he sounded.

        Katniss seemed to notice as well, mouthing towards the fog, but Cameron couldn't tell what she was saying. "It stopped," she repeated, in a clearer voice this time. Finnick and Peeta turned towards the fog which had begun to rise, the fog looked as if it was being sucked into a vacuum. 'I guess the Game makers want us to live?' Cameron thought to herself, although that didn't seem like it was the case.

        Peeta rolled off of Finnick's and onto his back. He stared up at the sky for a few minutes, allowing the rest of the group to get a break and catch their breath. "Mon-hees," he sounded, pointing up in a tree.

        Cameron frowned and looked to wear Peeta was pointing. Cameron wasn't exactly sure what she was looking at, she assumed that Peeta was right about what the creature was. She had never seen a monkey before, District 9 didn't have a lot of tropical forests. It was mainly wheat fields and the occasional patch of trees, where Cameron, Mitchell, and Wilbur lived.

        This animal had a long patch of orange fur down its torso while the rest of the creature's coat was a dark gray color. It looked like it was about half of the size of a full-grown human, Cameron had no idea if this was normal for a monkey, or if it was a sort of genetic mutation created by the game makers. The good thing is if these monkeys were able to thrive, it meant the air was breathable.

        Cameron followed the group as they began to crawl forward, they were all too tired to walk at this point. The blisters on their skin got coated in mud as they moved further along the path. They stopped once they reached the edge of the water. Cameron recognized the scenery, it was the edge of the beach next to the cornucopia. Her instant reaction was to stick her hand in the water, trying to do anything to ease the pain. She stuck her finger into the salt water before her.

        "Shit!" Cameron exclaimed, feeling a searing pain where her skin met the liquid. She shook her hand out quickly before trying again. This time she kept her hand under the water for longer, ignoring the pain that was pulsing throughout her veins. "Fuc- Fuck," she continued as she began to submerge more of her body in the water. As painful as this process was, it seemed to be working. The poison from the fog was leaking out of her skin and leaving a murky white substance in the water.

        Cameron sighed as she followed Katniss' lead, removing her jumpsuit so that the water could seep through her skin. She noticed Mitchell and Peeta doing the same. Once Cameron felt like she was able to move her legs enough, she submerged her face fully under the water. The pain was worse than she had ever imagined. It felt like a thousand little knives were being stabbed into her skin repeatedly, but she didn't dare move. She knew the pain would be over soon enough.

        She began to blink while her face was underwater, getting all of the poison out of her system. After a minute or so, Cameron's head floated to the surface. Her skin felt raw against the cool air. She splashed a small amount of water on her face, so she was able to withstand being out of the water. Cameron waded over to Katniss, who was pouring water onto Finnick's wounds. He seemed to be the most injured out of all of them.

        "Can we pull him in?" Mitchell asked, floating over to the two girls.

        "No, no," Katniss said dismissively. "The pain could possibly kill him."

        Finnick groaned as Katniss continued to pour water over his arms. His eyes never open, he just sits there and takes the pain. Cameron couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous for him, she had no idea why. She chalked it up to not wanting to lose another ally, as they had already lost Mags. Losing one person was enough, they couldn't afford to lose someone else.

        "Cam, why don't you cut away his jumpsuit while Mitchell, Peeta, and I continued to soak him?" Katniss asked.

        Cameron nodded as she carefully picked up a jagged stone from the bottom of the river. She began to tear away at the thin fabric, trying not to pierce Finnick's skin with her tools as that was hardly sanitary. It would just infect the already infected burns. She stood back once the fabric was fully off his body, letting Mitchell, Katniss, and Peeta work to get the poison out of his skin.

        "We've got to get more of him in the water," Katniss said carefully. "But not too much at a time, we have to ease him into it." The three of them nodded as they each grabbed a hold of one of Finnick's legs. Cameron and Mitchell on the left one, Katniss and Peeta on the right. They would carefully guide his body into the water, waiting for a few minutes before pulling exposing more of his skin into the water.

        Finnick's eyes fluttered open when he was neck-deep in the water. The group let him lay there until he was showing signs of recovery.

        "There's just your head left, Finnick," Peeta said as Finnick's arms lifted above the salt water. "That's the worst part, but you'll feel much better after if you can bear it." Finnick gripped onto Katniss' and Cameron's shoulders before submerging himself under the water. He still wasn't able to speak to any of them, only make inaudible noises.

        "I'm gonna go tap up a tree," Katniss decided after a little while, reaching for the spile that Haymitch sent them.

        Peeta shook his head, "Let me make the hole first," he insisted. "You stay with him. You're the healer."

        Katniss furrowed her brow as Peeta waded away. "I'll follow him," Mitchell said slowly. "You two, just make sure Odair doesn't die."

        Cameron and Katniss exchanged small glances. "Great, we got stuck with the shitty job," Cameron complained. Cameron could've sworn she heard Finnick scoff, but she couldn't be too sure. The blonde made her way back to the shore as Finnick continued to soak his wounds. She took this opportunity to tie her hair back up just so it would be out of her face.

        She then watched both Finnick and Katniss, who were both still swimming in the water. Cameron narrowed her eyes as the two began to converse.

        "Don't do that," Katniss said sternly after Finnick emerged from the water.

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

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

        Cameron followed the two of them, against her better judgment, as they trudged through the small patch of the jungle next to the beach. Katniss stopped suddenly, pointing to the trees above them. Cameron followed her finger to the tops of the trees. It was the monkeys from before, except they weren't welcoming. The creatures looked, almost menacing.

        Her hand instantly flew to the crossbow that was still attached to her belt. The group of three moved forward as slowly as they could. Trying to make sure the monkeys didn't attack them.

        "Peeta, Mitchell," Katniss said in a small voice. "We need your help with something."

        "Okay, just a minute," Peeta said, still staring at the tree. "I think I've just about got it. Have you got the spile on you?"

        "We do. But we've found something you two had better take a look at," Katniss said calmly. "Only move toward us quietly, so you don't startle it."

        Mitchell turned his head ever so slightly, catching a glimpse of orange fur out of the corner of his eye. His eyes widened as he turned to Cameron. 'They don't look friendly,' he mouthed as they quietly made their way back to the shore.

        'They're not,' Cameron mouthed back.

        Mitchell seemed to get the memo, don't look in their direction and they won't do anything. Cameron's glad that Peeta hadn't noticed them yet, she wouldn't know how they would react. Mitchell never made direct eye contact with the animals. But if Peeta did, they were sure to rain down on the five of them.

        They were about five feet from the shore of the beach when it happened. Like clockwork, the monkeys slid down the jungle trees, latching onto the backs of the tributes. Cameron immediately fell down due to the sheer force of the attack.

        Her finger flew to her belt as she loaded her crossbow as she pushed herself off of the sand, shaking the monkey off of her back. She pulled her finger off of the trigger and immediately shot an arrow into the monkey's chest. Cameron had no idea how many monkeys there were. There could be ten, fifty, hundreds, there was no way that she could count them all.

        "Cam, duck!" Mitchell yelled to the first of her.

        Cameron followed his instruction and watched as a monkey flew over her head. "Thanks!" she breathed out, flashing the man a smile.

        Mitchell shrugged, "It's no problem," he said, stabbing the nearest creature with his serrated knife.

        Cameron turned away from him as about five more monkeys came barreling toward her. She grabbed a few arrows out of her sheath and stuck them into her crossbow. Firing at them as quickly as she could. But as one monkey died, a few more came running toward her. It was a vicious cycle.

        Through her struggle with the creatures, Cameron saw a flash of blonde hair. She blinked and it was gone, she knew it wasn't Finnick as he was fighting off a pair of his own monkeys. She just chalked it up to her imagination, she must be making something out of nothing. Cameron shook her head before plunging an arrow into the monkey on top of her. As soon as she killed one of them, more kept coming from the sky above. One. Two. Three. Four. Cameron could barely see the night sky above her. All she could make out were the yellow fangs of the creatures and the patterns of their fur.

        SWISH. THUD.

        Cameron could've sworn she heard the sound of metal hitting flesh, although she could barely see over the patches of orange fur that clouded her vision. She kept on trying to fight the monkey, but something felt off. Different. She turned her head to the left, where Mitchell was but he had seemed to disappear. "Mitch," Cameron called out, but there was no reply. "MITCH!" she tried again, even louder this time. Still nothing.

        The sound of a cannon blast shattered her eardrums as she let out a bloodcurdling scream. She began to piece it all together. Mitch not being at her side could only mean one thing, the cannon blast. It could only mean one thing.

        Mitchell Carnett was dead.

Say you'll remember me,
standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset,
babe ☁︎

Grace talks ig: IM SORRY! YOU GUYS I'M ACTUALLY SOOOOOOO SORRY. I wasn't planning on liking Mitch as much as I did, and my plan from the beginning was to kill him off. But as I kept writing him, I literally fell in love, so that's why killing him off HURTS SO MUCH. And it's gonna be even worse in the next chapter, so fair warning because we haven't got Cam's FULL reaction and I'm written it out already, and OUCH. BUTTTTT I'm actually gonna miss him and Mags so much, like </3 my heart is breaking. Poor Cam and Finnick. Anyways, I hope this chapter was interesting enough for y'all and was fun(ish) to read. And I will catch you in the next one. BYEEE <3