At the Cornucopia, we cautiously assess the weapons that nobody took, watching out for any sign of the Careers. I switch my club for a spear, and I pocket a few knives. Now I feel much more useful.
Wiress makes herself at home on the shore. I look in my pocket and discover that somewhere along the line, I was handed a coil of wire. Beetee's. He's been too weak to carry it.
I hold it out to her. "Hey, can you clean this, Wiress?"
She nods and gets straight to washing it. To my amusement, she starts singing. I think I've heard it before, so I start humming along.
"Psst. Haymitch." Katniss startles me from behind. "We should put together a map of what we know about the arena."
I nod, coming back to my senses. "Right." I find a random twig and start drawing in the sand. I make a circle and divide it twelve times, like the spokes of a clock.
"Well, you're not much of an artist, are you?" Johanna sneers at me.
"I am when this can keep us alive longer," I snap back. She's no match for me, really.
I mark in the parts of the circle that we know: the lightning, the fog, the monkeys, the wave, and the blood rain, and Katniss reminds me of what time each obstacle occurs. Finnick, Beetee and Johanna look over our shoulders to see my handiwork.
"It's not the whole thing," I say, "but it's a good start. Now we know when to avoid which places."
It's only then that we realize: it's become deathly silent.
I turn around to find Wiress with her throat slit, Gloss standing over her. And he's not alone. He doesn't even get a chance to escape. Katniss fires a fatal arrow at him. Johanna thrusts an axe at Cashmere, who keels over, dead.
Just goes to show, never mess with two angry girls.
Three cannons go off. I stand up, shaking. Enobaria and Brutus are still left, glaring at us menacingly. Game time.
This will be just like old times, killing off some Careers, I think to myself.
Brutus throws a spear at me. I deflect it with my own spear, and the impact makes my muscles ache.
Finnick jumps in front of me just as Enobaria lets loose a knife. It sinks into his leg. Better there than in his chest.
To our surprise, the District 2 tributes run away without more of a fight.
"Oh no, you don't," I mutter.
I fling a knife at Enobaria's heels, but she's too quick for me. I begin sprinting towards her.
The next sensation is like a gigantic hand is pulling me downwards. I sink to the ground, along with my allies. The Cornucopia is spinning us like a merry-go-round. I hang on with every ounce of strength, hoping I don't get sick. After about a minute, we stop moving.
I put a hand to my forehead, trying to stop the migraine that's begun to hit me hard. It hurts so badly that I can only see by squinting. "Kill me, Katniss. Just kill me."
"Gladly," Johanna replies, taking hold of her axe.
"No." Katniss glares at Johanna; then she focuses on me. "We still need you, okay?"
I slowly open up my eyes. "Just let me stay here and die if you won't do it."
Johanna waves indignantly. "Hello. My offer's still up in the air."
"Cool it," Finnick yells. "All of you! Beetee's missing."
I look out into the water, thinking he probably fell in. Surely enough, I see his head bobbing out of the blue, working hard to stay afloat. Finnick plunges in to rescue Beetee.
I see a mental light bulb go off in Katniss' head. "Cover me."
She ducks down and runs into the water, grabbing the coil from Wiress' body before the hovercar can take her away. Suddenly, I'm thankful that I've never had to deal with dead bodies. That's the second one for Katniss, including the District One girl from last year, Glimmer. I remember the horrifyingly disgusting way she died, with her tracker jacker stings bursting open, and my stomach churns.
Katniss doesn't hesitate to do it quickly, and she returns to shore, giving the coil back to Beetee.
"Thank you. I think I can try walking again," he says. "Let's go back to the beach at the twelve o'clock mark."
"But the tail moved when we were spun," Finnick argues. "It won't point there anymore."
"We should follow Brutus and Enobaria," says Johanna.
Katniss is looking crestfallen, regretting ever mentioning the clock while the Careers were within earshot. Beetee just says that we should wait until ten, when the wave returns. We'll be able to see it and we'll know which way to go. Me? I'm a clueless mess.
In the end, we take a risk and go down a path that we randomly select, my headache lessening to a dull throb. We end up somewhere in the jungle. It looks safe enough, so we settle down. Katniss and Finnick go off to collect some water. A few moments later, I hear her screaming, and the rustling of leaves.
"Prim!"
She must think her sister's in danger. This doesn't make any sense to me, though. Primrose Everdeen never set foot in the arena, thanks to Katniss. Then I hear a different, smaller, female scream. It sure sounds like it could be her sister, but how can that be?
I can only think of one thing.
"Don't lose your head, Katniss!" I shout, hoping she can hear me. "It's jabberjays!" The Capitol obviously took some sound bite of Prim talking (we're at eight tributes left now, and they always interview family then).
Johanna gives me a poisonous stare. "She can't hear you, Pops. But maybe the others can. I didn't come this far to die because of your stupidity."
I pull out a knife and point it at her threateningly. "Not a peep out of you, Axe Girl, or I might just let this knife find your back."
"Ooh, I'm so scared…"
I roll my eyes. She's not worth the effort. I walk to the edge of the jungle, trying to reach Katniss, and I run straight into a wall of glass. Now I can't hear any of what's going on in there.
Katniss and Finnick return soon, only to discover the wall.
"Sorry," I say to them. "We're all stuck."
Katniss puts a hand to her ear and I see her mouth ask, "What?" Right. She can't hear me at the moment.
Great. Now we wait.
They stand there miserably. Jabberjays flock over to them, and Katniss shoots them, trying to silence whatever voices are coming out of their stupid mouths. Probably more of her loved ones, since this is the Capitol we're talking about. Plutarch Heavensbee may be the new Head Gamemaker, but he's showing no mercy.
Poor Katniss is shaking when the wall disappears. While the others recover from the aftermath, I try to calm her down by talking about the family interviews, assuring her that Prim is alive. Nobody questions it because we know each other the best. I won't give up on her. Slowly, she catches on and breathes in and out deeply.
"Finnick heard the voice of some girl named Annie," she tells me.
"That's Annie Cresta, the girl Mags volunteered for. And I'm pretty sure she's with Finnick."
A cannon catches everyone's attention, and we watch as a hovercar lifts a male body into the air. He looks as if he's been mauled by something. It's in a section we haven't visited.
Please don't let that be Chaff, I think.
I mark off the area in my still-readable sand drawing, labeling it mutt.
"You think that's what's in there?" Katniss asks.
I shrug. "For all I know, it could be."
We go to sleep for a while, until the anthem rings out and the fallen tributes illuminate the sky. Chaff didn't die today. Thank goodness. I sleep easier knowing my friend's alive.
