Chapter two: Separation
I find that I'm nervous to meet Katniss and Peeta. As Haymitch mentioned before, when Haymitch's name is called, Peeta rushes forward to take his place. I'm not sure Katniss likes Peeta yet, but he's still madly in love with her.
While on the train, I manage to snag several containers of sugar cubes to get me through the week. This was going to be a long week. We all already know what it is like. Most of us have been to the Capitol more than once because we've been here with other tributes as their mentors. I can't help but to wonder which other Victors know about our rescue mission. I don't see another Victor I know personally until I find Johanna Mason. The others are all either older or younger than me. Johanna is the same age as me and during our mentoring we'd become friends. I walk over to her.
"Jo! Been a while," I say as flirtatiously as I can.
"Save the flirts for someone who cares Finnick," she says rolling her eyes.
"How've you been?" I ask. I want to make small talk with her first before I ask her what she knows. We talk and catch up and laugh at one another for a while before I find an opening to ask her anything.
"Listen," I lower my voice.
"Sorry lover boy, I don't want you," she smiles seditiously at me.
"That's not what I want, I want to know what you know. Heard anything about us getting rescued?" I ask my lips grazing her ear. I can't let the Capitol hear about this. I pull away from her and read her face.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard about that, poor Annie, I'm sorry she has to go through this," Johanna says. I know she hasn't heard much about Annie, so I know she knows what I'm talking about. "I'm sure she'll be all right, I mean, you're going home aren't you? How about an alliance, you and me? We can make this," she says holding out her hand. I shake it.
"Alliance." I can't refrain from hugging her. "Thank you," I whisper. Now I don't feel so alone.
"I'm serious," she says looking at me.
"I know you are, we'll be a fantastic team."
~HG~HG~HG~
The arena makes me feel like I'm a fish trapped in a bowl. With the help of Katniss, Peeta, Johanna, Mags, and the Victors from District 3, Beetee and Wiress, we've managed to figure out how this arena works. It's a clock. Ticking away our time. Several people have died already. We're in the woods trekking along and suddenly we reach the edge. Peeta walks right into the force field keeping us contained in this arena. Katniss screams and tries everything she can think of to bring him back to her. She loves him. Maybe she doesn't realize it, but in that moment, when she's sobbing because he could be dead, I see it.
"Move," I move her out of my way and preform CPR on him. It's something everyone from District 4 learns at the age twelve. That is, if they don't get reaped for these damn games at that age.
"Please Finnick, bring him back to me," Katniss begs once she realizes I'm trying to save him. I don't know why I'm doing this for her. Maybe it's because if the situation were reversed, if Annie had walked into the field and I thought she was dead, I'd be in hysterics too. I feel an urgent tap on my shoulder and look up at Mags. She's pointing at something. Some sort of Fog is closing in on us and we have to move or we're going to be enveloped by it and die. I pick Peeta up and sling him over my shoulder. The four of us start running, but I realize Mags isn't as fast as she used to be.
"Katniss!" I call. She turns around and sees me hesitate.
"We can't save them both," I tell her, "You're not strong enough to run with one of them and I can't run with both of them."
"Finnick," I snap my head around. Mags said something. It's been over a year now and she's finally said something. "Go. Annie." There's a pause between her words as she struggles to get them out. Katniss comes up and touches my elbow.
"Mags, you've been great. I love you." I say. Katniss is now pulling at my elbow as the fog closes in. Tears come to my eyes. I don't want to lose Mags. She's been everything I could ever ask for in a grandmother to me all these years. It's been ten years since I was reaped and she was my mentor.
"I love you Mags," I say as she slowly steps backwards toward the fog. She nods her head at me.
"Love. Annie." She's reminding me that she loves me too but I have to get back to Annie. There are tears in her eyes as well. She pushes her hand in my direction telling me to go on and the Fog takes her away.
"Come on Finnick, we've got to run," Katniss yells at me. I run because I have to get out of this for Annie. If it weren't for that I would just stop and break down and die with Mags. A small part of my heart is lost. When we get to the beach I put Peeta down and collapse beside him. I don't know if my CPR worked or not. Katniss collapses on the other side of him and is still sobbing begging him to come back to her. Finally he does. When he does, she wraps her arms around his neck and clings to him. He pulls her into his lap and holds her close. I miss Annie. I don't know when we're going to get out of here. We're waiting on something, but the longing to feel Annie in my arms again is driving me insane.
~HG~HG~HG~
We're in this arena for a few more days. I find that half of us knew about the rescue mission and we're all trying to hang on. Of course, not all of us are going to be able to be rescued. The Victors from 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, and of course Peeta and Katniss, don't know anything. Beetee has a perfect plan of escape for us, but when Johanna and Katniss have been gone uncoiling the wire for a while, the end of it springs back up and we know something is wrong. I leave Peeta and Beetee behind and make a sprint down the slopes yelling for Katniss and Johanna. I cannot let either of them die. Beetee will keep Peeta alive.
I don't find Johanna before I hear Katniss back up the slopes, screaming for Peeta. Peeta was to my right screaming back for her. Johanna will be fine. She knows what to do. She knows what we were up to. Saving Peeta and Katniss is higher on my to do list than saving Johanna. Surely she'd forgive me. I get to the tree just in time to see Katniss draw an arrow and shoot it straight into the force field and then we all watch as the field explodes.
There's a hovercraft that was waiting that comes down to rescue Beetee, Katniss, and then me. Johanna, Peeta, and the one remaining Victor, either Brutis or Enobaria, are captured by the Capitol before we can do anything about it.
On the hovercraft, Beetee and Katniss are taken directly to the hospital portion. I have reason to believe that Peeta may have knocked Beetee out before taking off, and Johanna did what she knew to do in an emergency, knock Katniss out and rip the tracker from her arm. The hospital workers take the trackers from my arm and Beetee's arm out within minutes of our rescue. They smash them into powder and throw them out one of the few openable windows.
When the doctors set me free, I go directly to Plutarch Heavensbee and try to talk him into stopping in District 4 to rescue Annie. I don't want the Capitol to get to her before I do. I know they'll hurt her and torment her and try to get information she doesn't know out of her. I promised her I would never let them hurt her again.
"I'm sorry Finnick, we can't stop there but I'll call ahead to District 13 and tell them we want her immediate rescue," he says. Haymitch is in the room too. Whatever they were talking about before I don't know.
"Please? I don't want them to hurt her," I beg. Annie and Mags are all I had left. I can't lose them both. He ignores me as the phone goes to his ear. As he said, he's calling District 13 and he asks that they travel to District 4 to save Victor Annie Cresta.
"They'll let us know when they have her," he says hanging up the phone. I sink into a chair. Annie. My Annie. They won't get to her in time. President Snow acts fast.
"If they kill her, don't stop me from killing myself," I say. I refuse to live without her.
"I don't think they'll kill her Finnick," Plutarch says, "They'll use her to get to you. Snow isn't a stupid man," No. He's not. I know that. I sit in silence for a while and then it dawns on me he called District 13.
"District 13?" I ask. Plutarch looks at me and smiles.
"District 13 was destroyed yes. They're not stupid people either. They owned and operated underground nuclear mines. That's where the people escaped to when their District burned to the ground," he tells me.
"All this time we've been lied to?" I ask.
"No dear boy. All this time we've been fooled. The president of 13 struck a deal with Snow. Let the people of 13 live and hide underground, and they wouldn't rebel with nuclear weapons far stronger than anything the Capitol has ever seen. Snow agreed. He wasn't interested in watching his sweet Capitol be destroyed like 13."
~HG~HG~HG~
District 13 calls as we're passing over District 12. We're about forty-five minutes out from the three days we've already been here. Plutarch, Haymitch and I are sitting around the table talking when he gets the call.
"What do you mean?" he gets up and looks out the window. He points to Haymitch and motions him to come to the window too. Haymitch and I both do.
District 12 is in ruins. The only part of the District that remains is the Victors Village. There is black smoke everywhere and even a few still burning flames. District 12 has been destroyed.
"That's unfortunate," Plutarch says into the phone. My mind has wandered to Annie again. Have they destroyed District 4 too? They've killed her. They've killed my people. My throat closes up and my eyes begin to water. My next mission is to find something to kill myself with, and a hiding place where no one will stop me.
"Finnick," Plutarch says, as I'm about to leave the room. I stop but don't turn around. "Annie isn't dead," he says, "they got to District 4 and found twice as many Peacekeepers as before and all of the remaining key people were taken into custody of the Capitol." I want to scream. She might not be dead, but they're going to hurt her. I promised I wouldn't let them hurt her again but there's nothing I can do to save her. I open the door in front of me and slam it behind me. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going away from that room, away from the windows, somewhere that I can scream and cry and not be bothered.