A Million Pieces - Hunger Games (Catching Fire & Mockingjay)

Chapter 23

I wake up to the smell of fresh bread. Like the day before, it's twenty-four rolls from District 3. The twist in my stomach feels more urgent now. I eat my rolls slowly and watch Katniss teach Peeta how to swim. My headache is back, which makes it harder to think, but I sense there is another reason she has taken him to the side.

I speak to the others without looking away from Katniss and Peeta, and my allies don't turn around to show they're watching. "District 12 is getting antsy," I say in a low voice. "They'll be breaking off soon."

I sense that the other three have understood my meaning, and I have to hope that it looked like usual Games strategy talk to the spectators and the Capitol. It seems like Johanna is going to speak, when Katniss turns and waves at us.

"Hey, Finnick, come on in! We figured out how to make you pretty again!" she calls.

"When was he pretty the first time?" I yell back.

"You too, Sapph!" Peeta calls as Katniss snorts.

Sapph. The abbreviation startles me. I am not particularly protective over it, but it's still a barrier of intimacy we've crossed. It fills me with a pleasant feeling of friendship, and I ignore all the reasons that isn't a good idea.

Finnick and I copy Katniss as she rubs sand on her scabs from the poisonous fog. It leaves us all pale pink, but feeling a lot more comfortable. For extra protection, we add a thin coat of medicine. Then, Beetee calls us over and explains he has just come up with a plan. Katniss and I sit together on a log, and I have to be sure to hide the anticipation, almost excitement, I feel as I wait for Beetee to finally reveal how we will break out of the arena.

"I think our best bet will be setting our own trap," he begins.

"Wait, let me get Johanna up," says Finnick. "She'll be rabid if she thinks she missed something this important."

"Or not," I hear Katniss mutter and I snort. She smiles back, and I realise how much less guarded it is now than when I first met her.

Johanna joins us and Beetee draws a circle in the sand, dividing it in twelve. "If you were Brutus and Enobaria, knowing about the jungle, where would you feel safest?" he asks, as if he is testing us.

"Where we are now. On the beach," Peeta says.

"So why aren't they on the beach?" Beetee asks.

"Because we're here," Johanna answers impatiently.

"It wouldn't be smart," I add.

"Exactly. We're here, claiming the beach. Now where would you go?"

"I'd hide just at the edge of the jungle. So I could escape if an attack came. And so I could spy on us," Katniss says.

"Also to eat," Finnick adds. "The jungle's full of strange creatures and plants. But by watching us, I'd know the seafood's safe."

Beetee smiles proudly. "Yes, good. You do see. Now here's what I propose: a twelve o'clock strike. What happens exactly at midnight?"

"The lightning bolt hits the tree," Katniss says.

"Yes. So I'm suggesting that after the bolt hits noon, but before midnight, we run my wire from that tree down into the saltwater, which is highly conductive. When the bolt strikes, the electricity will travel down the wire and not only into the water but also the beach which will still be damp from the ten o'clock wave. Anyone in contact with those surfaces at that moment will be electrocuted," Beetee explains as simply as possible.

The breath catches in my throat. I now understand why I wasn't given details about the plan. There would've been less time to ponder on the barbarity of it. "That's so cruel," I say.