I'm so warm that I swear I died and went to hell. All I can think is that now that I'm dead that I should have just died right away, before I killed anyone so that hell wasn't necessary. Because it is hot, and my entire body is screaming in pain. Then my eyes focus and I notice the rocky ceiling of the cave and I know that I didn't die, that I'm not in hell. I'm in the arena, and I'm not really sure if I'm relieved or disappointed.
"Arowana," I try to get out, but my throat feels huge and is so full of crap that I can't even understand myself. I attempt to sit up, but my stomach churns and I'm so weak that I end up lying back down.
"You're awake," she says then, with so much relief in her voice that it makes me try to laugh, but all that I get out is a painful, raspy cough.
"Unfortunately," I say.
"You sound horrible. I prayed that you weren't going to get sick, but that didn't turn out too well I guess. Your feet were already so bad, now there's this." I remember how cold I was, how I couldn't feel anything.
"My feet," I croak.
"They were purple," she says softly. "But don't worry, your sponsors sent me some stuff that fixed them right up." How many sponsors do I have?
"That's good," I say. I try to sound like I mean it, but my voice doesn't make it sound real convincing even though I am sincere.
"How sick are you?" she asks me, putting a hand on my forehead. The look she gets then terrifies me.
"I'm fine. Just a cold, I'll be up and better in just-" A coughing fit seizes me and it feels like I'm going to end up spitting out my lungs.
"It sounds like you have pneumonia," she states.
"It isn't that bad," I argue, but my throat is on fire and I doubt she can hear me.
"Untreated, this will kill you. Do you want me to kill you now, or are you going to try to fight it?" I think of Daisy and force myself to sit up. I'm going to say something about how there's no way some stupid illness is going to kill me, but then I notice the nice little parachute floating to the ground outside. The bright sun makes a beautiful background, actually.
"Kill me now if you want to-" I have to take a break and cough. "But if you would please, I have a parachute outside." She rolls her eyes, letting herself smile, just a little.
"How did I know that'd happen?" Then she gets up and grabs it, snatching a box off of the end. Inside the box is a syringe with this huge needle sticking out of it.
"I hate needles," I notify her when she gets ready to stick it in my arm.
"Just close your eyes and you won't notice a thing."
"I'd rather die," I cough out, and then she presses down and the thing goes into my arm and I let out a small cry of pain when I feel it pierce the skin. And God, does it go deep.
"It's done," she says after what feels like forever. The thing didn't look that big.
"It didn't do anything," I say. I cough right after that to emphasize that point.
"Give it time. I'll take the first watch and you get more sleep."
"Wait. First tell me how many are left. Who died in the tornado?"
"There are nine left. I'm not sure who, but none of the Careers died."
"Titus?" I start coughing again afterwards and she waits patiently to tell me the answer.
"He's still alive." Then she walks away to take watch and I lay my head back down. I fall asleep so quickly that I wonder if I shouldn't start getting shots just so I don't lay awake all night.
I start to panic the next time I wake up. My stomach doesn't hurt anymore, and my breathing is fine, but my fever is flaring out of the control. I try to get out of the sleeping bag when I realize I'm already lying naked on top of it. Beside me there's a basket woven from leaves and filled with water. I chug at least a quart as soon as see it.
"What's wrong with me?" I ask in my normal voice to no one in particular. When I sit up, I notice that Arowana is gone. Panic sets in and I get up, then rush to the mouth of the cave. She's sitting right outside though, weaving another basket. Her face is red and sweat is beading around her forehead, so I'm guessing the Gamemakers just decided to ramp up the temperature and I'm not dying of a fever. I relax a little. That medicine really did make me better then.
"Did you ask what was wrong with you? I could really have fun answering that question."
"Oh shut up," I grumble. She looks up from her work.
"Get dressed, I found the Careers when you were passed out. Now we just have to finish your plan." I blush just a little when I remember that I'm naked. Not because Arowana is there, that's fine with me. What isn't fine is that I'm probably on national tv right now, and there are most likely women twice my age having fun with this scene. I hustle to quickly put some clothes on, even though it's hot enough that I really don't want to. After I'm dressed we grab all of our things and set out. Both of us realize that once this mission is done we'll be forced to split up. We won't be going back to the cave.
That realization keeps us silent, along with the extreme heat. Just climbing down the steaming mountain is difficult. I'm dying to grab water from the stream, but then I realize that it's basically gone. Just a small muddy trickle runs across the bottom, and that's too filthy to drink. Both of us splash our faces, though. Not only is it cool, but the mud also protects us from the hot sun.
When Arowana thinks we're close to where she last saw the Careers, she has me climb a tree to see for sure. I grab the binoculars from my pack and climb as high as I can on an old oak tree before the branches start threatening to break. Then I put the binoculars to my eyes and search.
They're surprisingly high-powered, and I can see anything within a mile or so radius. I scan the area for any tributes, but the trees are so thick in most places that I don't see much. But Arowana said the Careers were in a clearing, so I should be able to see them. I look through the small gaps in the trees, searching for people. When I find a big guy and Kyra, I start to say I found them. Then I zoom in and notice the guy is Titus, and that he's holding the biggest knife I've ever seen.
I can't look away as I watch him cut off Kyra's head. My stomach churning, I do a quick sweep of the area with my binoculars, waiting for the other Careers to come rushing in to kill the brute and give away their location, but they don't. I get a decent view of Titus one more time, then start to zoom out. I stop almost instantly though.
I beg myself to just look away. All I have to do is put the binoculars down and I won't have to watch. But I'm transfixed. I can't move. And I'm forced to see something that I know will haunt me until the day that I day. Titus doesn't step away from Kyra's body to let the hovercraft take her away. He doesn't search for supplies he could use. He cuts her open with his knife and sticks his hand in to yank out her heart.
My arms start shaking and I'm afraid I'll fall out of the tree, but I'm not that lucky. Instead I watch him sink his teeth into it. Take a bite off of it. Eat it. I regain control of my body and basically fall to the ground. Arowana is by my side in a second.
"What was the cannon for?" she asks.
"Kyra died," I say in a shaky voice. I have to throw up. I'm going to throw up. But I didn't eat yesterday, so there's nothing in my stomach. Arowana watches silently as my entire body shakes with painful dry heaves. When those finally stop, she walks over to me and silently hands me the bag of dried fruit. I get down a couple pieces before putting it back in my pack.
"What was that about?"
"I watched her get beheaded," I say simply.
"It'll be okay," she tells me softly. I shake my head because I know that until Titus dies, it will never be okay. From the first time I saw him at his Reaping, I could tell that he was crazy. I just never imagined….
"I didn't see any of the Careers, but they'll probably be around where Kyra was. We should get-." I see the boy from District 1 in the trees before he sees us, but he reacts far too quickly and my warning isn't fast enough. The second he catches a glimpse of Arowana, a knife is out of his hands and through her back. My spear is stuck in his chest just as quickly. I look around for more of them, wait for them to come for me, but now it's obvious that their pack has split up. That's the reason why no one helped Kyra, and the reason why no one is helping this boy.
Or at least I hope it is, because I only wait for a millisecond before I fly to Arowana and kneel beside her. Her face is ghostly white and contorted with pain, but she's still alive.
"I'll save you. I just have to beg and my sponsors will get something to help you."
"It's too late," she whispers. Tears start running down my cheeks even though I knew this would happen sometime. I just didn't think it'd be like this. That I'd have to see. That I'd have to be here.
"No, it's not. Please don't give up." I pray for a parachute even though I know none will come. The people of the Capitol wouldn't spend that kind of money, not on her at least. My hand finds hers and she grabs it as tightly as she did on the Reaping that first day. But now, instead of scaring me away, she's using me as an anchor. The thoughts of that makes my grip tighten, as if I can keep her alive simply by holding on.
"Win this for me. Please." she chokes out so quietly that I can hardly hear her.
"I will, I swear," I tell her.
"And my family. Don't forget your promise."
"I'll take care of your family."
"Finnick," she mouths. Then she's gone. I kiss her lips softly and close her eyes. Then, giving her one last look, I get and up start to walk away with a dull ache in my heart. I don't get two steps before I notice the sun gleaming off a silver parachute. "Too late," I think. Then it falls a little further, and I get a good look at it. It isn't for her. It's for me. And with it, I will be nearly unstoppable.
A gleaming silver trident.
