The Life of A Victor || Finnick Odair

CHAPTER 57

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After a few days in the S.S.C, short for Simulated Street Combat, Katniss, and the rest watched as Peeta joined the morning workouts. He was no longer handcuffed, but it was clear they had given Dove a stun gun in case it was needed since she spent most of her time with him in the practice.

After dinner, while shooting a few targets, Finnick made his presence known by shooting the same target she was pointing at. "Hello, there. Did you come all the way over here just to shoot at my target, or do you need to talk?"

"York, our trainer, just recommended me to take the exam to enter the first troops that will move out in a couple of days. Not only me. Melo, Ron, Johanna, and Katniss too. We're all taking the exam. Immediately," he explained, taking a hold of her hand.

"Well . . . we knew this would happen, didn't we? I started too late. I should have gone to train right away . . ." Dove muttered, looking directly into his eyes. "Just promise you'll be careful. Don't do anything stupid."

"I promise nothing," he answered, bending down to kiss her before glancing back at York, who was waiting for him to follow her to the place the exam would take place. "I'll see you before lights out, I promise. Take care."

Dove watched as the group left S.S.C. to go somewhere else with York. While trying to keep her worries to a minimum, she turned back to face the target. However, soon she realised that wouldn't keep the voices quiet. At the moment, there was only one person she could think of that could understand her in the slightest.

"Hey Peeta, need any help?" She asked, approaching Peeta, who was assembling a gun. He looked up from the floor, where he was sitting, and patted the space next to him. Dove complied and sat next to him, fidgeting with her sleeves as she stared at the floor. "I'm not sure if I want them to fail or not."

"You just want what's best for them, don't you? I guess the real question is, what would that be?" Peeta answered, surprisingly lucid enough to give advice.

"They don't want to be protected here in Thirteen. Everyone wants to go out and fight, which I understand. I also want to help. But, if I lose them. If I lose any of them, I'll go batshit crazy." Dove stated, running her fingers through her hair to keep the strands of hair out of her face. Only the thought of losing her loved ones was already driving her close to a panic attack.

"Then, I guess we can do nothing but watch and pray," Peeta commented, getting up from the floor after taking the gun with his right hand. He looked down and offered his left hand to her, which she accepted and got up as well. "Shooting targets won't make it any better. Let's go somewhere else to calm down."

"The Hummingbird room," Dove muttered, guiding Peeta until Special Defence, where the room was located. As they passed in front of Command, they heard chatter about a squad with the number 451, in which all of Dove's loved ones were, except Ron, who was nowhere to be seen in the room.

They peeked through the door, only to see a hologram portray a Capitol area, which was filled with different coloured dots. "Each light is called a pod. It represents a different obstacle, the nature of which could be anything from a bomb to a band of mutts. Make no mistake, whatever it contains is designed to either trap or kill you," Boggs explained to the squad.

Dove felt the air leaving her lungs. The hologram didn't represent a normal Capitol area. It wasn't a normal street. It's the arena. She thought, noticing as a hand rested on her shoulder for stability. Peeta, at her left, wasn't in a much better condition than she was. If she was on the verge of a panic attack, he was on the verge of losing his sanity.