The anthem began, but there were no faces in the sky.
The audience would be restless, thirsting for blood.
Beetee's trap held enough promise, though, that the Gamemakers hadn't sent in other attacks.
Perhaps they were simply curious to see if it would work.
At what Finnick and Livia judged to be about nine, they left their shell-strewn camp, crossed to the twelve o'clock beach, and began to quietly hike up to the lightning tree in the light of the moon.
Their full stomachs made them more uncomfortable and breathless than they were on the morning's climb.
Livia began to regret those last dozen oysters.
And so did the child growing inside her.
But she swallowed down her nausea.
Beetee asked Finnick to assist him, and the rest of them stood guard.
Before he even attached any wire to the tree, Beetee unrolled yards and yards of the stuff.
He had Finnick secure it tightly around a broken branch and laid it on the ground.
Then they stood on either side of the tree, passing the spool back and forth as they wrapped the wire around and around the trunk.
At first it seemed arbitrary, then Livia saw a pattern, like an intricate maze, appearing in the moonlight on Beetee's side.
She wondered if it made any difference how the wire was placed, or if it was merely to add to the speculation of the audience.
She bet most of them knew as much about electricity as she did.
The work on the trunk was completed just as they heard the wave begin.
She'd never really worked out at what point in the ten o'clock hour it erupted.
There must be some buildup, then the wave itself, then the aftermath of the flooding.
But the sky told her ten-thirty.
This was when Beetee revealed the rest of the plan.
Since they moved most swiftly through the trees, he wanted Johanna and Livia to take the coil down through the jungle, unwinding the wire as they went.
They were to lay it across the twelve o'clock beach and drop the metal spool, with whatever was left, deep into the water, making sure it sunk, then run for the jungle.
If they went now, right now, they would make it to safety.
"I want to go with them as a guard." Peeta said immediately.
After the moment with the pearl, Livia knew he was less willing than ever to let her out of his sight.
"You're too slow. Besides, I'll need you on this end. Leilani will guard", Beetee explained, "There's no time to debate this. I'm sorry. If the girls are to get out of there alive, they need to move now."
Finnick clearly didn't like the idea of Leilani leaving, but she placed a hand on his arm and that shushed him.
Beetee handed the coil to Johanna.
Livia didn't like the plan any more than Peeta did.
How could she protect him at a distance?
But Beetee was right.
With his leg, Peeta was too slow to make it down the slope in time.
The girls were the fastest and most sure-footed on the jungle floor.
