Chapter Text
The sun is doing that annoying thing, falling right into my eyes and making the world seem bright, and my eyes watery. The light color of my eyes doesn't help. I adjust my helmet, squinting at the instructions. I know I don't need them, I've done this enough times now that I could be called an expert.
But the terrain is new and my Dad didn't bring up an idiot who's too proud to read manuals and instructions. An uninformed idiot dies, He used to say.
God, I miss him. This Mountaineering endeavor is my way of paying homage to his 15 year anniversary.
"You know Brainless, seeing the way you reading the map, instruction manual and a bunch of other papers so intently, I'm losing my confidence." Johanna quips from behind me.
I snort, "You'd rather accompany someone who doesn't know what they're doing and are too proud of educating themselves?"
"Oh come on, you know I've done this many times. All you have to do is follow me up and then down. I'll deliver you back to our boyfriend in one piece."
"You mean, your boyfriend?" I reply dryly. Johanna likes to joke about that but all she wants is to hear me say that he's her boyfriend. Gale wanting to get in a relationship with me before he realized he's never really loved me that way when he fell hard and fast for her, seems to have struck her quiet the bit, and while she knows she doesn't have to worry, she still throws it at me or him. Her toxic ex made her quite insecure. All it took was one glare from her, Gale said, and I knew she's it for me. He disgusts me, with the corniness. I'd never get into a relationship with anyone corny. I still scoff at them sometimes and wait for Johanna to curse me out.
At least Johanna is someone I can be around, most days. We both thought we'd combust if we're anywhere near other, me with my fire, her with her spicy attitude. But surprisingly we have a lot of hobbies in common and that soon led to a begrudging respect.
We start walking, on Mt. Chaff. It's of the hardest routes for mountaineering, but the thrill felt worth it to me. And Johanna's been here before and was easy to convince.
"Semantics, you know I'm not one to be possesive, I sure can share." She sure can't. At the initial part of their relationship, I almost became minced meat under her axe throwing skills, when she realized Gale might have held a small tiny torch for me. I had to show off my archery skills to get her to back off. That and Gale clearing things up, or in their version of whatever adult content happened over there.
"Uh huh," I ignore the bait, getting into my special zone. I set my equipment and get ready to start the climb.
Her phone rings. I shoot her an annoyed look. She raises her hands, "Sorry, forgot to switch it off." She's still smiling while picking up the call, "Hello?"
Whatever was said on the other side, has her smile being wiped off.
"What? How's he now?" The worry in her voice twists my stomach. I worry that something happened to Gale.
"Ok ok, I'm nearby. I should be there in a few hours."
"What is it, Jo?" I ask her as soon as she cuts the call.
"It's Finnick, he's been attacked by a few radicals. Pretty badly hurt. Annie is out of her mind with worry." Finnick is Johanna's best friend. He's such a peacock that it's no surprise that I don't get along with him.
"Oh no, is he alright? And Annie?" I worry about her though, she's a sweetheart. How they are together is beyond me. I rarely see them because Johanna shifted from District 7 to District 12. Her friends are rarely around me that I tolerate them whenever they do visit. Johanna was begging me to come meet up with them after this mountaineering endeavor, which I reluctantly agreed to.
"He's stable now. But you know Annie." She says, biting her lip.
I know what she's thinking, and I stop her before she has to think too much. Really, the choice is obvious and I'm not even remotely hurt. She should be with her friend who's actively hurting right now, not one who's still stuck with a wound so old, it's just an old scar at this point. In Dr. Aurelius' words.
"You should go." I tell her.
She nods, looking relieved. "I'm sorry, Kat. You could come with me, maybe we could try this some other day?"
I smirk at her, "No can do. This mountain had been calling my name for months and I'm not sure if that Official will clear me again, he seemed pretty salty with me for no reason. Go, take care of Annie. And wish Finnick well, yeah?"
She nods, squeezing my shoulder, "Ok Mockingjay, shoot straight." She makes her way down the mud road and I watch her go, keeping an eye on her till I see her find some Officer and wildly gesture, for transport I believe. Once she finds one, she twists around, waving at me when she realizes I'm still standing, looking at her. I wave back.
I make my way up the mountain, climbing atop the jagged edges of the mountain. They're solid and smooth for the most part, though a little crumbly. This side of the mountain is kept for Mountaineers, only those with enough certificates and paper work done. The other side is for people who want to enjoy the scenary. Maybe when I'm too old, I'll try that way.
I climb for a good half an hour. The air cold and crisp. My body coming alive in a way, I know it only does when I'm doing something this adventurous. The sun is half way atop me, but the forested land around, hitches my breath. Prim would love this. I shake my head and continue climbing up. I have to take a small detour, because the edges looked a bit too suspicious to me.
I love the adrenaline rush. It makes me believe that I'm alive. Really alive, and not just a shell that's living because she wouldn't give fate the satisfaction of cutting too deep. It definitely helps that Prim is almost fully recovered and back to school now, to become a doctor one day, she says. My baby sister who's been in coma for a couple months, after an accident that nearly took her life. It's been 7 years since that horrible day, of the crash.
I had to sell nearly all the gear my family accumulated to pay the medicine bills then, but just barely. Until Effie Trinket, my mother's rich friend came in to help us, after a month into Prim's coma. Apparently it took almost losing Prim to get my mother out of the her shell. Effie was rightfully furious with my mother. Once they were done crying into each other's shoulders. Effie apologizing for thinking that my mother just didn't want her Capitol friend anymore. Some drama with that I just didn't care to know.
But she helped foot the bills and helped my mother out of her depression, helped enough that I could finish college, though I hated it to the boot then, thinking it charity. But once my college degree in Finance worked, I paid Effie back, everything with interest. She smirked knowingly at me, like she knew I'd pay it back. I knew while I could pay away the money, I would forever be indebted to her, for helping my family and giving me a chance to make something of myself and help my family.
I decide to take a small rest. I use my equipment to push me around the side of the mountain, to the place I know is for normal tourists. It's been awhile since I've gone on a quest challenging. I pull a small burner camera, beside the satellite phone attached to my hip gear, to take the picture of the view. Prim would kill me if she knew I didn't bring her a souvenir back to hang on her wall. Apparently something about photos and being doctor is her divine calling, she says. Now
She's a bit weird but she's mine, I snort thinking fondly.
There are a few people and from the looks of it, with the same idea to take photos of the view. It's beautiful. But not as beautiful as it'll be when I reach the top, I just know it. Everything is beautiful from the top.
I see some people have camera stands set up, waiting for sunset I guess.
I continue my climb up, wanting to finish this soon so I can catch the view from the top and get back on call with Jo to check on her and her friends.
The birds feels it before I do. It's not unheard of, but the Mountain officials give a warning before we're struck. The boulder I'm atop of, shakes quite a bit that I have to hang onto the safety rope, just in case it crumbles.
It stops soon enough, the earthquake lasting maybe a few seconds to a minute. I'm not stupid enough to continue this endeavor anymore. I decide to quickly make my way down, diagonally, so that I can make my way down from the tourist side if I can.
A few rock crumble under my fingers, but I use the rope to hang on. I just make it back to the touristy photographers side when I feel it again.
Damn it. Today is not my day. First Jo, and now this. I need to get to the bottom soon.
I can see that most people were smart enough to leave. Only a few confused idiots lingering, trying to quickly pack up their photography gear.
"You all need to get down! Go! Go!" I don't worry about them pushing each other down the path. There's very few people. They heed my advice and abandon their things, rushing down.
It's when I see a blond mop of hair, still here.
Oh no, not him, I think.
"Peeta, we need to get down! Abandon it!"
His eyes widen upon seeing me but shakes his head slightly and gets back to pulling the Camera off the stand, these ones are attached to the mountain floor. It seems to be stuck Or something.
Ugh!
"We really need to get down, Peeta, there could be aftershocks or God forbid, a landslide."
"You go!"
I leave him to do whatever he wants to. What do I care if he dies.
I make a little way down when I feel another slight tremor.
Damn it. If he weren't Effie's adoptive son, I wouldn't be hesitating now.
I make my way up, like the idiot I am. I hear a small scream. "Peeta!" I yell out.
I reach the top just as he seems to have pushed off a small boulder off the bottom of his left leg. He's still clutching that camera to his chest.
We won't make it down. Not with his leg. Not now that a boulder fell. More will start falling soon.
I rush towards him, pulling him up, and pulling his arm over my shoulder. He's heavy, solid and thickly muscled and even though I work out regular enough, I barely catch half his weight.
"Katniss" His voice deeper than I remember, "What are you doing here? You should go down!"
"No time, you idiot! There'll be a landslide now."
I walk him a little down the path and take a detour to the side of the mountain. The path is a little narrow but what the hell, it's the only way.
"Leave me, and go down!" He insists. His face twisted in pain. "Just take this camera with you, please?"
"Shut up! Keep walking, we're almost there. We just need to hurry."
Surprisingly he quiets down and tries to pick his speed. I hope to God that I remember the directions correctly. I only saw it for a few seconds on the map.
I hear the sound the mountain makes. Shit. We're so dead. I can feel it in the air. There's no time now.
"Katniss, I've alway-"
"Here!" The cave is on the side of the turn and I push us both through it. We fall hard onto the floor and Peeta let's out a pained moan. I barely have a second to see where he fell, before the world turns black.
A few rocks make it inside the cave and I crawl towards him but he's already pulling himself away from the entrance.
The sound of pebbles, rocks and boulders rolling down the side of the mountain and to the bottom of it, crushing everything in their path is maddening. It seems to go on forever and then it stops. Just as suddenly.
I think I heard a scream, of someone being crushed in the middle of the landslide.
Even after a few minutes of quiet, the cave doesn't brighten at all.
"Katniss?" He pants.
"I'm ok. You?"
"I'll live. Why's it still dark?"
I don't answer. Don't want to either.
"Katniss?" A whisper this time.
I swallow, "Caved in." I whisper back. Afraid any louder, the cave will collapse on us too.
Peeta's camera has a small LED on it, which he turns on after nearly half an hour of waiting for something to happen.
At least the stupid thing is worth something.
I open my mouth to rip into him again but stop short.
His face is paler and sweaty.
"Is the medicine world not paying you enough? Or are you just that stupid?" I bite. He'll go into panic if he's not distracted. Heck, I'll panic. The LED gives enough light that I can make out the dimensions of the cave. It's not big enough, but not too small that we'll run out of oxygen immediately.
He blinks at me.
"Peeta!" I whisper shout.
"Here to finish me off, Sweetheart?" He quips weakly. Reminding me of the threat I threw at him years ago.
I can't help the crack of a smile. I narrow my eyes at him.
"What you did was the single most stupidest thing I've seen in my entire life."
He drags himself to the wall of the cave and leans against it. Breathing heavily. His leg.
I crawl closer to him and start pulling the bottom of his pants up. He makes a choked painful sound.
He's taking deep breaths through the pain. "How's it?" He whispers looking at the top of the cave.
"Could be worse." I whisper. It really isn't all that bad. The side of his leg looks bloody but other than that it's ok. But it could be fractured for all I know.
He finally looks down and starts prodding at his leg with his fingertips.
"Nothing's broken." He says, relief quite evident in his voice. "Can you bring the light closer?"
I crawl back to the camera, half a mind to smash it, if it weren't for the light and bring it to him.
"Ok. The bleeding's surface level and the tendon-"
"I might just have to finish the job I started years ago if you don't talk in social terms." I remind him.
He chuckles, "I'm ok. Nothing is bad and all I need is a little rest and I should be able to walk normal after a few weeks of bed rest."
I roll my eyes. He could've just said that.
Now that my surroundings are calm enough, I pull the satellite phone out of its holster on my hip belt.
The network is very week but I try to connect to the ground station. It doesn't work. I bring it close to what was the entrance and rest it a little away, where it has the most signal signs.
"I didn't know you were in town." Peeta says from behind me.
"Just for the weekend."
"Mountaineering?"
"Yeah."
"Oh."
The satellite phone makes a small static sound. I wait for it to make more sound.
"Ever... N... You... Re..." I move closer and press a botton.
"Officer Abernathy? Can you hear me? Hello?" I raise the phone a little up and hold it closer to the entrance still.
"There?" I hear the last word clearly.
"Haymitch! Can you hear me?"
"Oh, thank god, Sweetheart. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm ok. Me and an acquaintance of mine made it through a cave just in time before the landslide hit."
"Good... Job..." I'm either loosing the signal or it's coming through slow.
"Get us out!" I decide to stick to my way of cutting filler words in the conversation.
"We're on it. If you're in the cave... It's safe... It might take a day Or two before we reach you... And then another day or so, to get you out."
"3 days?" I all but screech.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, it's huge landslide. There are a few people who got stuck in the caves at the top. We have to slowly make our way down or we'll loose people." The signal is getting clearer.
"What about oxygen and food?" Peeta says from behind me. I nod at him and repeat the question.
"Ration your kit," Haymitch says. I grit my teeth to stop myself from snapping at him. It's not enough to feed one person, never mind two. And the water bottle, while slightly big, is only three quarters full. "There's... Vent... You should have no problem with oxygen."
"Alright, but can you guys try to reach us as soon as possible?" I request him.
"On it, Sweetheart. Just check in every few hours here, ok? I'll do all I can to get you both out, now that I know I can protect two people." I agree and put it back in the holster.
I turn around to Peeta. "3 days." I move to lean against the wall opposite his.
"3 days" He says, swallowing.
To his credit, he lasts a few hours, without speaking. After bandaging his leg the best he would the little supplies we had left.
"Thank you, Katniss. For coming back for me." He says, looking at his palms, resting on his lap.
I grunt. Not in mood to waste any energy. But a few seconds in and my anger hits me back.
"Why didn't you just run down Peeta?" I glare at him. "Is a stupid camera worth your life?" I stop myself before I hit him with a Wait till Effie hears about this.
He pulls the camera closer to him, as if worried I'll throw it at him, and says, "It's my dad's last gift."
"Oh" Well, now I feel like a bitch. No wonder he wouldn't budge without it.
"He saved every penny he could, to get me this gift. And I couldn't leave without it."
"That makes sense. I'm sorry for snapping at you." I whisper, feeling plenty guilty.
He gives a small smile and shakes his head, "Don't be, I deserved it. I don't think he'd want me to put myself at risk for a camera either. And thank you, again, for coming back for me. Why'd you do it anyway? With your speed you'd have reached the bottom before all this hit."
I hesitate for a bit but whisper, "For Effie."
"Well, now you're the idiot."
I bristle, but he raises a hand.
"You know you don't owe her anymore yeah?" He quickly fills in, rightly thinking I'm offended.
I don't reply for a while.
"She did for your mother. But she'd have done it just for Prim too, you know?"
I crack a smile. "Yeah, who can resist Prim." Only her sister can charm someone while asleep.
"Do you mind if I turn the light off? I don't want to overuse the battery. Not if we're stuck for 3 days here."
I nod my head and he turns it off. It's pretty dark, even if a tiny little bit of light seems to be making it's way through the minuscule gaps between the rocks. It'll be dark soon enough. And with it the chill.
I fish for ideas this time, to talk and stop myself from overthinking.
"How's Prim now?" He asks, a little nervous.
"She's good. She's applying for colleges now, this spring. She wants to be a doctor." I smile in the dark.
"Of course she does. She'd make an amazing doctor." He seems to be smiling too.
"What about Effie? How's she?" I didn't get back in touch with for close to an year now. Stuck with too much work and Effie's a little too much for my anti-social self. Prim and Mom talk to her plenty that I feel like I'll always be up to date about her.
"She's good too. She's organizing some fundraiser for Cancer patients. Along with her colleagues Cinna and Portia."
"That sounds like her." I say fondly.
"Yeah," He laughs.
We're quiet for a while and then he starts.
"How are you, Katniss? What have you been upto?"
We fill the quiet dark space with words, catching up. We take turns. Asking questions.
I almost forgot how easy it is to talk to Peeta.
"Wait, you really used to talk to Prim while she was in coma?" I ask him.
I think I hear a movement. He's rubbing his hand against his neck. A nervous gesture I think.
"Yeah, I mean, the shifts used to be pretty monotonous a few days, so I used to sit beside her and just read out my medicine books or talk about my hobbies."
He said a while back that he's into drawing, painting and photography.
Could Prim have heard him while she was sleeping?
"Prim is into collecting photos now. And she usually says that that and being a doctor is her divine calling." I tell him puzzled myself.
I feel complicated to know that they have that sort of connection. He's too old for her, I think, irritated. He's nearly 3 years older than me and Prim's 4 years younger than me. I mean, 3 years age gap is where I'd draw the line. 7 seems a bit much.
He gives out a startled laugh, "Oh, yeah, I read that in a book before. I'm glad to know I kept her some company."
"Me too. But not like she'd have had many options to get herself out of it even if she wanted to."
He quiets down. And I curse myself. I didn't mean to sound so bitter.
"Thank you." I say when the silence stretches. "For keeping her company. I've wanted to do that but..." I let the sentence hang. Remembering the extra shifts I used to take. To try and take as little help from Effie as possible.
"I know Katniss." He says quietly. Seemingly with a smile on his face.
We make half a day, bit the chill gets too much. I'm shivering a lot.
"Do you want to come closer?" Peeta whispers asks for the third time. "Your teeth are chattering."
I didn't realize I was doing that. I hesitantly get closer to him. He's like a furnace in this chill. I can feel that he's opened his arm for me. I melt in gratefully.
"You're so warm" I say sound both grateful and almost accusing at the same time.
He huffs a laugh, "Yeah, try that in summers in a Bakery, working with oven"
"How was your life back then? Before Effie. How'd that happen anyway?" I realize I don't know much about him. Even though he's been in the periphery of my life for years, thanks to our parents' connection, but I rarely took an initiative to talk to him and he never did either.
He stalls a little. "My mother was abusive," He admits quietly, "it took my dad awhile to realize but it got so bad one day. My older brother took the burnt of it, by taking the blame for me. He was hospitalized. My dad realized it then and called the police on her. He almost lost custody of us, but Effie helped, she's his cousin, thrice removed. Apparently they were closer despite seeing each other rarely. Then one day, I don't how it happened but my mother got out. My brother and father were both at the bakery when it happened, and I was doing a sleep over with a friend. By the time I went back, it was... All burnt out. She died in it too." He takes a deep breath before continuing. I didn't realize I was squeezing his waist tightly. He squeezes my arm a little and continues. "Effie fought for custody but I was still put in foster care. She somehow found a way to adopt me from there."
I take in everything he said. "I'm so sorry, Peeta. What happened to you was horrible."
He pulls me closer by the shoulder.
"I'm glad you had Effie."
"Me too."
We both later eat a little of my rations.
Despite everything, I can't say I'm sad to be caved in with Peeta Mellark