Waiting for forever and a day

Update (7th of September 2012): Hi there! Reviews have highlighted that my grammar needs working on. So I thought I would attempt to fix it many thanks for reading!

Authors note: So, this is my first attempt at writing hunger games fan fiction. I am seriously obsessed by this book. While reading it for the gajillionth time, I had a "what if" moment and thought it was good enough for a story. Sorry if the ideas already been written! I swear I haven't seen anything similar to it, however, that doesn't mean it probably doesn't exist. A quick search tells me that there are over 20,000 hunger games stories on the fan fiction sight. So it wouldn't surprise me that my self-proclaimed original thought is not so original. So tell me what you think! I'd love to know if you like it or if you have any constructive criticism regarding it.

Abstract: Ever wonder what's in the other sections of the arena? This fan fic explores the horrors of an unknown section of the arena and the harm that it causes to one of our victors. Set before the lighting tree incident but after the jabberjays. From Peeta's point of view.

Chapter one: the fight and the flight

Eyes still closed, I begin to wake up. I am in that glorious halfway point between sleep and being awake. My mind is coated in a haze and I lazily stretch my body, waking up my muscles. I bask in this feeling as I lay with my eyes still closed. Everything comes back to me, as if the universe suddenly implodes into my mind. The quell, the monkeys, the blood, the water, the fog, the itching, the clock, Katniss. And that kiss. Now that was a kiss. If heaven was a memory, I would be happy to last forever in the moment of that kiss. Sure, the setting of the kiss is unfortunate, but the powers that kiss had on me was like the halfway point between sleep and waking up, while at the same time your heart is beating like you're running a marathon- blissful, yet a thrill.

Before getting up, I allow my mind the pleasure of reliving that kiss.

Being an expert at the way Katniss kisses, this one was different to the others. She started kissing me for what I thought was just to shut me up. But it escaladed and we got deeper into the kiss. I had been able to slowly move her backwards, until she was lying down. One of her hands was on my chest; the other was entwined in the hair at the nape of my neck, while my hands began slowly roaming her body. Gaining confidence, I had started kissing up and down her jaw line, before she became impatient, moving my lips back to hers. And then it was over.

Sorrow floods over me briefly at the thought that it will be the one and only real kiss shared between us. I think of how the kiss and the kisser are worth dying for though, washing away any self pity or doubt that thought implied.

I can tell that it is still early. Probably sometime between 5 and 6 am since the sun is only just showing signs that it will be rising.

Opening my eyes, I begin to take in the sounds around me, realising that everyone else must be up. Finnick is weaving, Johanna is collecting water from a tree about 20 meters away and Beetee is fiddling with the wire. Katniss noticeably missing, until I notice her returning to the site with a basket of those nut things Mags found.

"Morning all" I say with a little too much jubilation in my voice, eyes on Katniss. She meets my gaze, noticing I am awake, and then timidly looks down blushing. I smile to myself.

"Wow Peeta, you're in a chipper mood." Johanna replies, "It's as if you're getting up for a day of leisure not the possibility that you could be dead in a couple hours!" tone thick with sarcasm as she continues wiggling the tap to collect water.

"Jo, come on. A little restraint" Finnick tells her tediously, obviously warning her to keep her comments regarding the capitals brutality to a minimum today.

"What? Just making an observation..." she says nonchalantly with a shrug then continues on with collecting water.

Katniss, who remains quiet through this whole exchange, comes over with the basket, offering me some of the nuts.

"So," she says, noticeably squirming to avoid making eye contact for longer than a second.

"Did you, ah, sleep okay?"

I smile at her attempts to make small talk.

"Yep, like a log".

I continue smiling. Unlike in the past, I am not the first to flit my eyes away. Katniss moves to sit next to me, our arms touching. We continue eating, avoiding talk of the kiss. Johanna and Finnick join us, as we share the food and water amongst us.

Beetee gets up and joins the group and all of a sudden the atmosphere has changed from one of light friendly chatter to one that is more serious. He stands in front of the group, waiting until he has all of our attention, and then takes a deep breath and signs.

"I think we all know that the next step to take is to take out Enobaria and Brutus, yes?" he looks at the four of us, taking us all in with those twitchy glances.

We all give him a nod, and let him continue with his plan. Talking to the group like a teacher would to his students, he explains the plan. The wire he has been carrying with him the whole games is going to be wrapped around the lightning tree and then ran all the way through the jungle down into the ocean. At midnight, when the tree is hit by lightning, the electric current will run from the tree, down the wire to the ocean. The beach will act as a conductor, as it will be damp from the 10 pm tidal wave. Anything in its path will be electrocuted. That means that if Brutus and Enobaria are anywhere near the beach, they will be killed instantly. If not, all sources of food from the ocean will be killed, taking out the arenas main food supply. Everyone agrees to the plan, even though it is obvious that the only one that fully understands it is Beetee.

"So," Beetee says with a sigh.

"It is probably best that we go and inspect the lightning tree so I can make the needed adjustments to my calculations". This signalling the end of the conversation, we all get up and begin packing up camp. We pack the necessities first, the tap, the ointment Haymitch sent after the fog, our weapons. We begin walking towards the twelve to one section of the arena, as Beetee recommended.

We are walking on the beach in front of the jabberjays section, when out of nowhere, a spear flies our way, landing in the sand only 5 meters in front of us. Enobaria and Brutus come barrelling out of the monkey mutation jungle, armed to the nines with weapons. Enobaria makes another attempt with a spear, and this time is more successful. We all make to duck; however, Finnick made a block in front of Katniss and me. The spear slices the side of his left shoulder, and he narrowly misses being impaled by it. He cries out in pain, dropping his trident. Beetee goes to help him, putting pressure on the wound.

"Beetee, its nothing," Finnick says, waving him off and gets up and collects his trident. Katniss begins to hesitantly fire arrows towards the pair, clearly unsure whether to leave or move towards Enobaria and Brutus to further attack. Johanna and I get ready to fight. Finnick gets back on his feet with Beetee to his left.

"Finnick, you are losing too much blood." Beetee says while continuing to hold pressure to the wound. His hands now covered in Finnicks blood.

"If our lightning tree plan is to work, we are all going to have to be a part of it. We have to retreat!" Beetee gets up and makes an attempt to pull Finnick along with him. Katniss has continued firing, while Johanna and I persist to dodge Enobaria and Brutus' assault. They have gotten closer to us and Johanna looks ready to run towards them.

"I could take these two in my sleep," Johanna mumbles, but is cut off by a cry of anguish from Finnick. Beetee continues to apply pressure to his arm. Looking at Finnick, I see that Beetee is right.

"Yeah, let's move! They are get too close for comfort," I say, getting up and helping Beetee move Finnick. Holding him under his uninjured shoulder, I half support half drag him as we make our way across the beach, in the opposite direction of Enobaria and Brutus. I look behind and my eyes bludge as I see that Katniss has remained.

"Katniss, go! Move Katniss, move," I say, frantically waving at her to follow. She lowers her bow and sprints behind us. The others follow. We continue running across the beach, past our previous camp site. Heavy breathing behind me indicates that the others are still there, but just as exhausted as I am.

"We are losing them," I hear Beetee shout, "Seek cover in the jungle!"

I lead the group up the beach and into the foliage of the jungle, until we are deep enough that the beach is no longer in our sights. Gasping for air, I drop Finnick, and collapse on the ground next to him. I guess I still have not fully recovered from when I hit the force field. Johanna is leaning against a tree, catching her breath and Katniss does the same. Beetee sits on the floor on Finnicks other side and starts attending to his wound.

"Where,"

Breath.

"Are,"

Breath.

"We?"

Finnick asks, struggling for breathe.

"Oh crap!" Johanna blurts out, moving away from the tree.

"Where the hell are we? What section of the arena are we in?" looking around her in alarm. This is not good. We all look at one another in fear of which section of the arena we could have stumbled into while in flight mode.

"Do you still have the map Peeta?" Katniss ask as she sits up, moving closer to me in the process. I taking check of my resources attached to my belt.

"No, I must have left it at the site or dropped it as we were running. I'll make another one." I get up and grab a large leaf. With my knife, I begin making another map while the others gather around me.

"That's where we got attacked; on the Jabber Jay beach" Johanna says while pointing to the map while I write that down.

"We passed where we slept last night, and that was between sections four to five and five to six" Finnick adds.

"So, we know that we are not in the Jabber Jay jungle" I say while crossing that out on the map,

"Or section five to six" again crossing it out.

"So that must mean that we are"

"This is the beast section" Katniss cuts in, before I complete my sentence, fear laced through her voice. Looking up to the sky she continues

"It is nearly six am. We have to get out of here. Once it hits six am, the invisible wall traps us in here like it did in the Jabber Jay section" glancing at Finnick as she says this.

Johanna gets up and starts moving towards the beach.

"Let's get out of here, before we have time to find out the thing that accompanies the sounds we heard coming from here!" calling out behind her as she runs.

Katniss and I share a glance before I get up, grab her hand and tow her along with me, trying to save her from the unknown horrors the beast entails. Finnick and Beetee follow running in the direction of the beach. We are ducking and weaving through the trees and branches, hoping that we make it out in time.

The beach comes into view, and so has Johanna. We all come to a skidding stop at the scene before us. Johanna, reaching out in front of, hand held as if pressed up against something. We are too late. The wall is already up.

"Oh shit. This is not good." She says, lacking her usual verve.

No. It definitely is not.