I feel someone shaking me awake. I sit up groggily and look around. It takes me a moment but then I see that I'm still on the roof where I fell asleep talking to Annie. I sigh. The phone is long dead by now and I won't be able to hear her voice again.
"Is it time to go?" I ask the Avox who woke me up. He nods.
"Okay," I sigh.
I go back to our floor and see Mags waiting with our stylists, Parsha and Saxon.
"You're late," Parsha scolds but without her usual vigor. I can tell she's upset. She's known me and Mags for a while. Even someone as dense as her will be upset by the situation.
I don't even bother with a snarky comment. "Sorry," I apologize as we enter the elevator.
We ride silently in the hovercraft together and sit as they inject the trackers into us. Seeing it being injected into my arm reminds me of the plan to get Katniss out.
I was heading to training the first day when Madi stopped me and led me to a room. Inside were most of the other tributes, Haymitch, and Plutarch Heavensbee.
"What's going on?" I asked Madi as I sat down next to Mags.
"Remember that rebellion I told you about?" Plutarch asked. He grinned wickedly. "Well there's been a change of plans."
Then he addressed the crowd as a whole. "Thank you everyone for coming. You were called here because the rebellion and I trust you. I'm sure you are all aware of the rising tensions and the revolts occurring around Panem."
Plutarch looked around before continuing.
"They look to Katniss to lead them and that can't happen if she's dead. So the plan is to break her out and we need all of your help."
I shook my head and saw Johanna scoff incredulously. This plan was worse than the last one he introduced to me back in Four.
"Before you say no, listen to the plan and I think you'll be convinced," Plutarch said.
Then Beetee stood up. He looked around the room nervously before speaking. He clicked a button and a hologram of the arena appeared. I leaned in closer. It didn't look big, but as far as arenas go this is the best one for me and Mags. It looked like a circular rainforest with a beach in the middle.
"The arena is surrounded by a force field that will prevent anyone from the outside getting in," Beetee said. Then he went on explaining how we needed to keep Katniss alive until he broke it involving something with electricity. I don't know. It was confusing.
"Katniss doesn't want allies, not surprisingly, but I'll make sure she takes them in the arena," Haymitch said gruffly. "As you all know Katniss isn't a people person. Frankly she doesn't trust any of you. She only trusts herself and Peeta. Without Peeta she will be even more unpredictable."
They couldn't have chosen a harder person to protect. It might be easier to win the games than follow that girl's mind.
"So what are you trying to say?" Johanna asked.
Haymitch smiled humorlessly. "If this rebellion is going to survive, you need to protect both Katniss and Peeta."
A heavy silence filled the room. It'll be nearly impossible to protect the two of them from the other tributes and the Capitol. We're not stupid. We knew Snow planned these games to get rid of Katniss. There's no way he's going to let her live through this.
"I know it's daunting but I'm convinced we can do it," Plutarch said.
I rolled my eyes. Easy for him to say when he was safe in the control room. Beetee said he was in followed by Wiress. Chaff and Cecelia agreed too, followed by Johanna. I looked at her with a confused expression but she just shrugged her shoulder.
Some turned the offer down saying they wouldn't risk their lives for this but assured everyone they would keep the secret safe.
I thought about it. The only reason I didn't join before was because of Annie. Now I had nothing to lose. And if this worked I could return to her. The decision then was simple.
"I'm in," Mags responded.
"Me too," I said.
"Great!" Plutarch exclaimed happily. "Be careful out there. Don't speak of this outside this room. Good luck."
I rub my arm absentmindedly to get rid of the sharp sting of the tracker. I look out the window at the clouds but it soon grows dark as the windows are blacked out. I twirl the black flame bracelet Haymitch gave me the night before.
I was chosen to protect Katniss and I needed to wear this so she would know to trust me. This was what Haymitch meant when he said he'll make sure Katniss has allies. I'm just hoping she'll see it before deciding to kill me.
Mags places her hands on mine to stop me from continuously spinning the bracelet on my wrist. It's already beginning to leave a mark.
"Don't worry. As soon as we're in you'll get Annie's bracelet back," Mags assures me.
I nod. I had to give it to her in order to wear this one Haymitch gave me. Without it on my wrist I already feel lost, like I can't feel Annie's presence anymore.
The hovercraft lands and we get off. Before we go in our individual sections, I stop and hug Mags. "Stay safe before I come for you," I tell her. "I'll see you soon."
"See you," Mags says as she leaves a kiss on my cheek.
Parsha and I enter the Launch Room where she tries to make small conversation as she dresses me in a fitted blue jump suit. It must act like a wetsuit based on the rubbery material and my knowledge of the arena.
I hear sniffling and I look up to see Parsha crying. We've never been close and frankly she annoyed me most of the time, but I can't blame her for being the way she is. She's lived her entire life in the Capitol. Wordlessly I wrap my arms around Parsha in a hug which only causes her to cry harder.
"Thanks for everything, Parsha," I say.
"You were always my favorite to dress," Parsha says. I give her a small smile before I step into the tube that'll take me into the arena. I instantly feel claustrophobic when the glass closes but I manage to give Parsha a small wave.
The platform begins lifting me up and I close my eyes as I try to control my breathing. I'll be trapped in that horrid place until I die or we escape. The sunlight blinds me when I finally break through. I place my hand over my eyes and look around. The familiar salty smell of the ocean and the cool liquid washing over my feet help calm me down. I can see the panic in most of the other people's eyes. Maybe this is why I was chosen to protect Katniss. This is my territory. My refuge.
I search for her and find her four places to my left. Katniss looks flustered. She shakes her head slightly and readies herself to jump off the platform. My eyebrows furrow in confusion. Can the girl on fire swim? I can't see Mags but I have to trust she'll be okay while I go to the cornucopia.
Ten. Nine.
I bend down and get ready to dive.
Eight. Seven.
Protect Katniss. Protect Peeta.
Six. Five.
Get Mags. Survive.
Four. Three.
Deep breath. I can do this.
Two. One.
Let the games begin.
I push myself off the platform and relish in the feeling of my arms and legs slicing through the water. I make it easily to a strip of land and sprint the rest of the way to the cornucopia. I look to my side and find Katniss on a strip of land next to me. So the girl on fire can swim.
I begin searching through everything around the cornucopia. I don't have much time before the rest of the tributes come. I immediately grab a net and two tridents. I see Katniss going through the weapons and it's no surprise when she takes a sheath of arrows and a bow.
I take a step towards Katniss and she immediately whips around with an arrow aimed at my chest. I lift my trident, ready to throw it if she attacks. I haven't held one of these much since my last games. I couldn't stand holding the weapon that caused so much death. Plus there was no need to use it to fish.
"You can swim too. Where did you learn to do that in District Twelve?" I ask, my body still tense.
"We have a big bathtub," she answers. I scoff. Haha very funny.
"You must," I say as I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "You like the arena?"
"Not particularly. But you should. They must've made it especially for you," Katniss says.
I smirk at Katniss. "Good thing we're allies right?"
Katniss' expression hardens and she stretches her arm back to let the arrow fly. I lift my arm up and the sunlight catches on the gold bracelet Haymitch gave me. I see the realization dawn on Katniss' face along with annoyance.
I hear footsteps coming and I see the man from District Five coming up with a sword.
"Duck!" I yell at Katniss forcefully.
She immediately follows my direction and I instinctively throw my trident. It lands perfectly in its target. After all these years I still don't miss. Our brief conversation is over and Katniss and I immediately spring into action. We circle around the cornucopia taking what we want and attacking anyone who gets too close.
Katniss launches an arrow at Brutus who saw it coming and is able to dodge it. With him gone we're safe for now. We meet at the far side of the cornucopia where we see Peeta still on his metal platform. We run down and Katniss begins leaving her weapons as she gets ready to get Peeta.
I place my hand on her shoulder. "I'll get him. Don't want to strain yourself too much." Katniss looks confused. I don't know how this girl even survived this long. I nod down at her stomach. "You know cause of the baby."
"Right," Katniss agrees reluctantly.
I hand her my trident and dive into the water. I easily swim through the water and arrive by Peeta in no time. I tread water and nod my head in greeting.
"Captain Odair at your service," I say. Peeta smiles at me but looks cautiously at the water. "Just get in. I've got you."
Either Peeta saw me with Katniss or he's just really trusting because he gets right in. He struggles for a bit before I grab on to his arm and take him back to shore. When Peeta and I arrive I see that Mags is making her way over to us through the water.
I help her up, give her a quick hug, and place her easily on my back. I turn to Katniss and Peeta. "Come on. Let's go."
The four of us run from the cornucopia and the fight still ensuing. We leave the openness of the beach and disappear into the depths of the jungle. The underbrush is thick and I have to be careful to watch where I'm going. Everything is a blur of shades of green with flashes of colored flowers here and there.
If I wasn't concerned about dying at every step I would be pretty relaxed. The forest reminds me of the ones in District Four that Annie and I would hike in. Mags grabs a flower from one of the trees and places it behind my ear. I laugh a bit and smile up at her as we make our way up through the deep undergrowth.
Peeta is in the lead hacking away branches with his knife while Katniss follows behind. I don't quite trust her behind me but I doubt she'll try anything with Mags on my back. She's not that cruel and she actually seems to like Mags.
After a couple miles of trekking I request for a break since I can feel Mags' grasp around me weakening. Katniss and Peeta oblige and she quickly disappears up a tree. I guess she can't take the human interaction for long.
I know what Katniss is looking for when she climbs that tree and I know what she'll see. I've lived through the lies and deception for so long I doubt anything can surprise me. Sure people agreed to protect Katniss but that doesn't mean that they're going to protect each other. I also know that Katniss doesn't trust me one bit and that scene will only reinforce her thoughts.
When I see her coming down I raise my trident nonchalantly but I'm still ready to throw it if she decides to try something. I can feel Mags and Peeta watching me, but I don't care.
"So what did you see? The victors holding hands again in an act of nonviolence?" I ask sarcastically.
Katniss scowls. "No." Her hand is still held tightly to her bow. It's aiming at the ground but it won't take long to change targets.
"Of course not," I tell her. "Because we're all victors here, and no one here was a victor by chance. Except maybe Peeta."
Katniss watches me carefully, and Peeta takes her hesitation as a chance for him to intervene. He casually steps in between us knowing we wouldn't hurt him. I can see the annoyance in Katniss' expression.
"How many are dead?" Peeta asks as if that was his reason for stepping between us.
Katniss holds my gaze over Peeta's shoulder before looking away. "I don't know. Six or seven. It's hard to tell from here. They're still fighting."
Peeta nods. "Then let's go. We need water."
"And we need to find shelter before it gets dark," I agree.
Peeta grabs his knife off of the ground and begins leading the way again. Katniss looks at me once more but I can tell for now she's going to hold back on her urge to kill me. Lucky me.
I'm beginning to get sluggish in this humidity. It gets humid in District Four during the summers but never like this. I can pretty much feel it weighing me down. Everything is starting to blur together but I'm suddenly jarred by Katniss' yell.
"Peeta no!" Katniss shouts suddenly, making me jump.
Peeta looks back but keeps swinging with his knife. A bright light fills the air followed by the sound of an electric shock. Peeta flies back and I don't have time to react. He crashes into me and Mags. Hard. We fall down and I help Mags back into a sitting position. When I look to check on Peeta I find Katniss listening to his chest, trying to find a heartbeat.
"No. Peeta! Come on! Peeta!" She screams, tears running down her face.
I guess his heart stopped. "Let me try," I tell Katniss.
I feel for a pulse and find nothing. I pinch his nose and Katniss immediately yells at me. She leaps forward to tear me off of Peeta. I want to shout at her and tell her I'm trying to save him. Every second I spend trying to get her off me is another second Peeta slips away from life. I hit Katniss back, harder than I meant to but I don't care.
She hits the ground, dazed, and I immediately lean over Peeta as I try to bring him back to life. I push on his chest methodically and lean over to breathe life into him. I keep trying but still no response. I'm beginning to lose hope but I refuse to stop. Every time I pump Peeta's heart it reminds me of the time I revived Annie and almost lost her.
But after each push I grow more discouraged. This is taking too long. He should be back by now if I could've saved him.
Dammit Peeta. Come on! This will be the worst jailbreak ever if you die.
Finally Peeta coughs and I sigh in relief. Two hours into the games and our whole mission was almost thrown to dust.
Katniss goes past me still in a slight daze. She gently pushes Peeta's hair back and calls his name.
"Careful. There's a force field up there," Peeta says hoarsely. "I'm okay though."
That's when Katniss loses it. "Peeta you were dead! Your heart stopped and you were dead!"
"Well it's working now. It's okay Katniss," Peeta assures her. She nods but she breaks down into another round of hysterics.
"It must be the hormones from the baby," I say for her sake. People are looking for her to be strong but here she is breaking down.
I go back towards Mags and look at Katniss, puzzled. I knew she cared about Peeta. It was impossible not to after what they've been through together. However I didn't think she'd break down in hysterics at the thought of losing him. I knew it wasn't the pregnancy hormones because that was all a hoax.
I watch as Katniss fusses over Peeta and struggles to calm down. That kind of reaction is hard to fake and I know she doesn't have the acting abilities to do so. So maybe Annie was right. Maybe Katniss does love Peeta.
I catch Mags looking at me with a one sided smile and her eyebrows raised. I know she's also thinking back to that conversation me and Annie had about their love. I roll my eyes.
"She's always right," I tell Mags who chuckles.
After a little arguing we decide we need to keep moving but we keep the pace slow for Peeta's sake. I can tell he's worn out from dying and all but he knows we can't stop now. Katniss takes the lead since she claims she can hear the force field. She's obviously lying but I don't push the issue. I don't even know how she knows about the force field. It kind of worries me but I decide that's the least of my worries right now.
Katniss looks back and her eyes widen when she sees Mags with a mouthful of nuts. "Mags! Spit those out! They could be poisonous."
Mags waves away her worries and mumbles how she's seen these nuts before. However Katniss doesn't understand her and looks to me as if I could tell Mags what to do.
I shrug my shoulders and laugh. "We'll see if they are."
Katniss gives me a quizzical look and finally continues on. I turn to Mags and open my mouth wide. Mags laughs and feeds me one of the toasted nuts. They're actually quite good.
However the brief enjoyment is quickly masked by our thirst. We haven't had anything to drink the entire day and the heat is stifling. Katniss climbs high to try searching for water but all she sees is the beach and endless rainforest.
Finally when Mags and Peeta can't go any further we stop in a clearing by the force field. Mags and I immediately get working on weaving us a shelter while Katniss says she's going to try and find water. Peeta tries to go with her but eventually accepts he's not strong enough.
The entire time she's gone he's watching the trees tensely. Katniss is gone for quite a while. Mags and I have already made a makeshift hut and a set of bowls. I'm just about to go look for her when Katniss comes through the trees. She doesn't have water but she does have a repulsive looking rodent in her hands.
"No water," she says sadly. "But this guy knew how to find it. He just finished drinking when I shot him."
I grimace at the tree rat but it doesn't make a bad meal when we cook it with the force field. It's a little gamey for my taste. I like fish a lot better but it's not bad for a first night in the games.
Night quickly approaches and we stay huddled in the entrance of our hut, waiting to find out who made it through the first day. Finally the anthem plays and the faces are projected in the sky.
The first to be shown is the man from Five that I killed without so much as a blink of my eye. I guess it didn't take long for me to become that monster from before. I swallow the bile in my throat and hope that Annie wasn't watching. If she was I hope she doesn't hate me for what I'm doing.
I try my best to block it all from my mind as I keep watching. My finger is tapping incessantly but I can't seem to stop it. I watch the sky tensely and sigh in relief when I don't see Johanna's face.
But I feel a pang when I see Cecelia and Woof as well as Seeder. I was fond of them. It's worse for Mags who's known everyone for a long time. I can see the sad, far off look in her eyes.
So far all the careers are alive as well as Wiress and Beetee. That's good cause only Beetee seems to know the full plan. Hopefully he can stay alive until we meet up or else this won't work. Come to think of it a lot of this plan won't work if even one thing goes wrong. A lot of it is based on chance and luck, and none of the odds have ever been in our favor.
We're all lost in our own thoughts when the parachute lands silently in front of us.
"Whose is it?" Katniss asks.
"Who knows? Peeta can get it since he died today," I say.
Peeta crawls over and grabs the parachute. We all gather around him as we look at our first gift. Then all I'm filled with is disappointment. What the heck is that? It looks like a hollow cylinder. None of us know what it is and we fall into a wary silence.
I'm nodding off to sleep when Katniss suddenly shouts in triumph. "A spile!"
We all stare at her quizzically. Katniss explains what it is and hope begins to fill me.
"You think there's water in these trees?" I ask.
Katniss nods and we begin to make a hole for the spile to fit in, our dire need powering our actions. We wait tensely waiting for something to happen and then begin cheering as a drop falls out of the spile followed by a steady stream of water. We fill bowls with water and with our thirst abated, we settle in for the night.
I offer to take the first watch and Katniss surprisingly agrees without a fight. I guess she trusts me not to kill her after the effort I put to save Peeta.
"Wake me up if you get tired," Katniss says before curling into Peeta's side. He places his arm around her and in a few minutes they're sound asleep.
Seeing them together causes me to think about Annie. I wonder what she's doing right now. I have no idea what time it is there. I just hope that she's holding herself together. I don't want Annie to be watching the games. I don't want her to see what I become here or watch any of us die.
I sigh heavily as I stare out at the trees. Hopefully this impossible plan works so that I can get back to Annie. I need her. Without her I feel lost. I miss the sound of her voice and that beautiful smile of hers.
I'm thinking about the times we spent on the beach when a loud bong pierces the air, causing me to jump. It sounds like the toll of a clock. I hear Katniss sit up behind me and move next to me. I stay on high alert and count the tolls. Twelve.
"What do you think that was about?" I ask.
Katniss shrugs. "I don't know. One for each district maybe?"
"Could be," I say, but I doubt it. I silently curse Plutarch. This would have been a great little detail to tell us. It's silent for a moment before Katniss retrieves her bow.
"It's my turn to watch. Get some sleep, Finnick."
Just a few hours ago I wouldn't trust Katniss as I slept. But after I saved Peeta, I saw it in her eyes. As much as she hated it, she owed me. So I oblige and move next to Mags. I close my eyes and enter my dreams where finally I can see Annie.