Tiny, searing stabs.
Wherever the droplets of mist touched her skin.
"Run!" She screamed at the others, "Run!"
Finnick snapped awake instantly, rising to counter an enemy.
But when he saw the wall of fog, and one look from a panicked Leilani, and he was off.
Peeta was on his feet but not as alert.
Livia grabbed his arm and began to propel him through the jungle after Finnick and Leilani.
"What is it? What is it?" He questioned in bewilderment.
"Some kind of fog. Poisonous gas. Hurry, Peeta!" Livia urged.
She could tell that however much he denied it during the day, the aftereffects of hitting the force field had been significant.
He was slow, much slower than usual. And the tangle of vines and undergrowth, which unbalanced her occasionally, tripled him at every step.
Livia looked back at the wall of fog extending in a straight line as far as she could see in either direction.
Livia thought of the eyes glued to the television screens in the districts, seeing if she would run, as the Capitol wished, or hold her ground.
She locked her fingers tightly into his and said, "Watch my feet. Just try to step where I step."
It helped.
They seemed to move a little faster, but never enough to afford a rest, and the mist continued to lap at their heels.
Droplets sprang free of the body of vapor.
They burned, but not like fire.
Less a sense of heat and more of intense pain as the chemicals found flesh, clung to it, and burrowed down through the layers of skin.
Their jumpsuits were no help at all.
They may as well be dressed in tissue paper, for all the protection they gave.
Finnick, who bounded off initially, stopped when he realized they were having problems.
But it was not a thing you could fight, only evade.
He shouted encouragement, trying to move them along, and the sound of his voice acted as a guide, though little more.
Peeta's artificial leg caught in a knot of creepers and he sprawled forward before Livia could catch him.
As she helped him up, she became aware of something scarier than the blisters, more debilitating than the burns.
The left side of his face had sagged, as if every muscle in it had died.
The lid drooped, almost concealing his eye.
His mouth twisted in an odd angle toward the ground.
"Peeta-" Livia began.
And that's when she felt the spasms run up her arm.
Whatever chemical laced the fog did more than burn- it targeted their nerves.
A whole new kind of fear shot through her as she yanked Peeta forward, which only caused him to stumble again.
By the time she got him to his feet, both of her arms were twitching uncontrollably.
The fog had moved in on them, the body of it less than a yard away.
Something was wrong with Peeta's legs; he was trying to walk but they moved in a spastic, puppetlike fashion.
