LEGENDS ▹ the hunger games au

xxxi

THE SEWERS

"MUTTS," Willow's eyes were wild, "They're mutts, they're me!"

Peeta appeared out of the corner of Willow's eye, roughly pushing away Gale's weapon and ordering everyone out, "We gotta go, come on! Pollux, what's the fastest way out?"

Immediately, everyone began to sprint.

The squad ran through the tunnels as best they could, but it wasn't easy when darkness and water grew harder and harder to navigate through. Soon, the whispers of her mother's name died down. The voices had been haunting them, but now they were nearly silent. Who knew if that was better or not? Willow's heart began to beat wildly in her chest until she was certain that whatever was out there could certainly hear it.

The only sound was their own unsteady breathing and the slowing splash of their boots while they moved through the shin—high water.

Beams of light circled around, flashlights trying to spot their mysterious ghost in every dark corner. They didn't. They only stopped when Pollux motioned to wait before he carefully eased through a narrow slot to reach the other side of the tunnel. In a matter of seconds, the Avox and his flashlight disappeared.

The wait was unbearable. One minute. Two minutes.

A terrible thought occurred to Willow: If he were killed, he wouldn't be able to scream.

How would they know to save him?

How would they know to run?

A sweat broke out and nausea threatened to overcome her. She was beginning to feel like she really might throw up by the time the light reappeared and Pollux's comforting face appeared behind it. Everyone seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief. One by one, the Star Squad began to crawl through the small space.

Both Katniss and Peeta stepped aside to let her go ahead. Willow simply frowned at them, and then carefully eased through the crevice before landing in the water on the other side with a small splash. She glanced back to see Cal struggling through after her. Once he was out, together they walked to the opposite wall and leaned their backs against it.

"I thought you hated tight spaces."

"I realized I hated dying more," Cal stopped and then smiled a little.

"What?" Willow's hardened expression didn't change.

But his smile remained, "You're remembering."

Willow didn't respond to that, simply stared dazedly at the opposite wall — eyes cloudy with memory and pain. Slowly, Cal reached a hand out in offering, and though it was difficult with her cuffs, she intertwined their fingers. It wasn't until he took her hand that she realized that it was trembling. Holding his hand tighter, Willow closed her eyes and leant the back of her head against the wall.