Ocean Eyes - Finnick Odair

Sixteen

"Well, I did it. I got them out! We were all the way deep in the jungle where I thought it was going to be safe. We thought it was rain, you know, because of the lightning, and we were all so thirsty. But when it started coming down, it turned out to be blood. Thick, hot blood. You couldn't see, you couldn't speak without getting a mouthful. We just staggered around, trying to get out of it," Johanna explains the crimson substance covering the trio and Beetee and Wiress' strange behaviour. "That's when Blight hit the forcefield."

"I'm sorry, Johanna," Finnick says.

"Yeah, well, he wasn't much but he was from home," Johanna says. "And he left me alone with these two." She nudges Beetee, who is barely conscious with her shoe. "He got a knife in the back at the Cornucopia. And her-"

Everyone looks over at Wiress, who is circling around, coated in dry blood, and murmuring, "Tick tock, tick tock."

"Yeah, we know. Tick tock. Nuts is in shock," Johanna tells them. Wiress turns her attention to Johanna now and, the girl from Seven pushes her to the beach again. "Just stay down, will you?"

"Lay off her!" Katniss snaps harshly.

This results in Johanna narrowing her eyes at the girl on fire, fury blazing in them.

"Lay off her?" Johanna steps forward and slaps Katniss before anybody can intervene. "Who do you think got them out of that bleeding jungle for you? You-"

Finnick hauls Johanna over his shoulder and carries her out to the water, Marissa following after them with a frown on her face. Johanna is screaming as Finnick dunks her repeatedly into the water. The words she hurls at Katniss are really quite hurtful, but Marissa eventually quietens her down.

"You look dreadful," Johanna remarks bitterly, washing the blood from her hair. She is clearly still angry but has got the worse of her temper under control.

"No worse than you," Marissa replies, unfazed by her insult. "Blood rain, huh?"

"What happened to you guys?"

"Poisonous fog," Finnick points to the scabs on his face before touching the healing scratches on his face. "Monkeys."

Katniss and Peeta have tended to Beetee's knife wounds and cleaned off both his and Wiress' jumpsuits by the time the three of them reunite with the group. Johanna gulps down water and stuffs herself with shellfish as Katniss tries to coax something into Wiress. Eventually, they turn in for the night. Everybody offers to guard while the others rest but Marissa, Johanna and Katniss end up staying awake. Marissa is sitting beside Finnick as he sleeps, tracing small patterns onto his arm with her fingers.

"Is that your blood?" Johanna points to the blood that refuses to wash from the shoulder of Marissa's jumpsuit.

"Yeah," Marissa nods. "I got bitten by one of the mutts. It wasn't that bad."

"And your nose?"

"Peeta hit the forcefield and, I got knocked to the floor and broke my nose. Finnick resuscitated Peeta," Marissa informs her friend.

"What's Finnick been like?"

"He's been okay," Marissa shrugs. "He's more worried about me getting sunburnt than anything else."

"Typical," Johanna rolls her eyes, turning back to the water.

"So, what were you doing with Nuts and Volts?" Katniss asks Johanna.

"I told you - I got them for you. Haymitch said if we were to be allies, I had to bring them to you," Johanna says. Marissa knows she is lying. Marissa knows that Johanna was with them because they are part of the rebel plan, but Katniss is unaware of this. "That's what you told him, right?"