Effie sets her barely eaten sandwich back down on her plate. Her stomach rumbles a little but it keeps clenching at the mere idea of eating. She's too anxious to do anything but watch the screen fearfully. Peeta puts down the telephone and joins her once again. It keeps ringing. They want interviews, comments, reactions… She had tried to shield him a little in the beginning, answering the phone and commenting herself, but they're never satisfied. It's never enough. So they decided to take turns.
"I scheduled an interview for tonight" he sighs. "What did I miss?"
"More bloodshed" she replies, rubbing her hand against her face. To hell with make-up. "Both of 9 are down." Which brings the tally to six dead for now and the fight at the Cornucopia doesn't look like it's stopping soon.
Peeta picks up her sandwich and steals two or three bites unhappily. He doesn't seem to be more hungry than her.
"Oh, Oh, Oh, troubles for the team of the girl on fire, it seems!" Caesar's voice booms suddenly and his face appears in the bottom right corner. "The arena is enclosed in a force field, dear viewers, and it seems they're heading right towards it. There're in for a nasty surprise, aren't they, Plutarch?"
The camera switches point of view, leaving the bloodbath at the Cornucopia for the jungle where Haymitch, Finnick, Mags and Katniss are painfully making their way uphill.
Plutarch's face takes Caesar's place in the corner. "I wouldn't recommend trying to stab it, no." The Head Gamemaker is laughing and Effie wants nothing more than to strangle him. "Abernathy has a thing for force fields, though. Isn't that how he won the last Quarter Quell?"
"No… No, stop, stop, stop…" Effie begs while Haymitch swings his knife back and forth to clear the way, unaware of the danger he's in.
"Yes, you're absolutely right!" Caesar agrees. "Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the fiftieth Hunger Games, former mentor to everyone favorite girl on fire Katniss Everdeen... His death would surely have a huge impact on her, by all reports they are quite close and he did volunteer to take her fiancé's place. His death could change the face of the whole game… Ah, they have just reached the edge of the arena where the force field is now, haven't they, Plutarch?"
"Oh, god…" Peeta breathes out, a hand covering his mouth.
"Yes… Yes, they have." Plutarch says, but he doesn't sound too pleased about that.
The four tributes have stopped at the top of the hill and look worse for the wear: dirty, thirsty and exhausted. Haymitch pauses long enough to swipe sweat out of his eyes.
"Maybe we'll have better luck on the other side. Find a spring or something" Finnick's voice lacks conviction and Haymitch grunts in answer before preparing to strike the vegetation again.
"Ah, I wouldn't do that, Haymitch…" Caesar fake sympathetic tone is the last straw for Effie.
She stands up, ready to… To do what? Dive through the screen to save him? She can't do anything and it hurts.
"Effie, don't watch." Peeta warns, grabbing her to make her turn away but she struggles against him, staring at the screen. She doesn't want to see. She can't avert her eyes.
Katniss' cry rings out just as Haymitch slams the knife down.
When Haymitch is flung back against Finnick and Mags, Effie collapses against Peeta, unable to stand upright. The boy catches her and helps her sit down but she can't hear anything he's saying.
"That must hurt, ladies and gentlemen…" Caesar laughs.
And then Katniss screams Haymitch's name and shakes him, slaps his face but…
"I don't think he's breathing anymore." Caesar comments. "Can we have any confirmation on that? Yes? Yes, dear viewers, his heart stopped. How sad… Haymitch was always one for a good laugh…"
Tears are rolling down her cheeks but she doesn't even feel them. Peeta tries to hold her but she pushes him back. She doesn't want anyone except Haymitch. She just… She needs Haymitch. Her life has no meaning if he's not there to antagonize her… It was shallow and sad before he came in, he made her realize that and she can't, she can't, ever go back.
"No…" It doesn't come out as a sob but rather as a helpless whimper. "No…"
"What are they doing?" There's a hint of wonder in Caesar's voice, like he can't phantom what's happening. "This… It appears District 4 tribute is trying to revive him… That's… unprecedented to say the least."
At those words, she lifts her head from her hands and stares at the screen with a hope that's actually painful because if it's… But it is true. Finnick is giving mouth-to-mouth and pumping on his chest and… The camera focuses on Katniss who slowly lowers her bow and kneels beside Haymitch. Finnick doesn't stop.
"Come on… Come on…" Peeta chants, obviously unaware he's speaking out loud.
Effie holds her breath. She doesn't want to breathe if Haymitch doesn't. She doesn't want to live in a world without him to grit her nerves and kiss her and hint at how much he loves her… She…
Haymitch coughs, opens his eyes wide and pants for air.
"Incredible!" Caesar blurts out "If you're joining us now, District 4 Finnick Odair just saved District 12 Haymitch Abernathy."
Effie sobs with relief and, this time, she lets Peeta hug her.
"What happened?" Haymitch growls, a scowl of pain on his face and a hand clutching at his heart.
"A force field happened." Katniss replies, swiping tears from her face with her sleeve. "You should really work on the 'staying alive' part, Haymitch. Your heart stopped."
Haymitch lifts his head to have a look around and lets it fall again, eyes close. "I'm too old for this crap."
"That you are, my friend." Finnick seems worn out. "You're welcome, by the way. How do you feel?"
"Just peachy." Haymitch says ironically.
"What a turn of events!" Caesar doesn't seem entirely delighted by it. "Let's see what's happening at the Cornucopia."
The camera focuses back on the fights still raging on the beach.
"I… I need a drink." Effie stutters, through her tears. "Something strong."
"Yes…" Peeta agrees, going over to the drinks cart. "I'm beginning to see why Haymitch is so obsessed with liquor."
They don't move very far nor very fast from the place where he almost died. Haymitch can't walk on his own, he needs Finnick's help to take a mere step – which he hates – and Mags, even leaning on her makeshift staff, isn't very quick. Katniss stays in front – apparently she has decided she trusted Finnick enough not to kill him while she has her back turned, and Haymitch is awfully grateful for small mercies – showing off with her superhearing when he knows full well her strange capacity to detect force fields has more to do with the rippling squares he glimpses here and there in the air. He really should have paid more attention. Force fields are, after all, a specialty of his.
"It would have been easier to let me die" he comments, low enough that only Finnick can hear. "Nobody would have blamed you."
Finnick strengthens his grip on him, adjusting their position to make his weight less cumbersome. "Wouldn't have been very friendly, now, would it? We've always been good friends, you and I."
He can remember Finnick's first games as a mentor… How devastating it had all been for him. He can remember advising him to find something to help him forget. That something had been Annie. It really wasn't what he had had in mind.
"Are you that sure of whatever it is you're planning?" Haymitch whispers, because for a tribute to do what Finnick did… You can't afford to save anyone in the arena, even your own allies.
"I'm that sure I don't want to see anymore of my friends die if I can help it" he replies curtly.
"I wasn't aware we had a choice in that."
Katniss asserts they're trapped under a dome soon after stating that she can't see any water around. They move a few yards down the slope but no providential stream greets them and, when sundown bares on them, turning the air to steam, they decide to camp.
"We can use the force field as a weapon if need arises." Finnick decides while gathering leaves and grass to weave them together into mats. Mags is collecting some nuts, Katniss is standing guard, and Haymitch can't do anything but leaning against a tree and remembering to breathe.
"Copycat" he manages to joke but it comes out slurred.
Katniss shots him a worried look right before requesting Finnick takes guard duty while she goes hunting. Finnick and Mags are completely transforming the place, weavings blades into a hut and a bowl for the nuts… They're making themselves right at home.
"Haymitch, are you sure you're alright?" Finnick asks at some point.
He doesn't answer. His eyes are closed and he focuses on his breathing. In and out. In and out. In and out. Each time he breathes in, there's a piercing pain stabbing through his heart. He's too old to have that kind of encounter with a force field and come out uninjured. His heart must be damaged.
A chuckle escapes him at that thought but it soon turns into a long and painful cough, that makes Mags frown in concern. She puts her hand on his brow and then on his cheek, clearly trying to determine if he's running a fever and then, at last, she takes his pulse. He doesn't need to see her eyebrows knit together more fiercely to know it isn't as regular as it should be.
"I think my heart's broken." he says, to no one in particular or maybe he's thinking of someone, out there, watching him from behind a screen. Mags pats his hand reassuringly and croaks something he thinks means rest. Rest. What a lovely idea. He closes his eyes again and tries to sleep. He has to trust Finnick to protect them, he won't be of much use anyway if a fight were to arise. He's not sure if he actually falls asleep or he's just delirious but he dreams of white sheets and honey hair spread out on a pillow. The vision is so perfect, his throat clenches a little and he's gasping when he finally wakes up to find Katniss crouched in front of him, a look of worry on her face.
"I couldn't find water" she apologies, before pulling down the zip of his suit a little, probably to help him breathe more easily. "And you missed the cannons. The bloodbath is over, eight dead."
She's actively not looking him in the eye.
"I think the ninth will fall into a dead ear too" he rasps out. The piercing pain in his chest is doubled by a throbbing in his left arm, now. "Sorry, darling. I wasn't much help, after all."
"Don't." Katniss hisses. "Don't you dare give up."
He can barely see Finnick standing behind her, a hand in his hair, a gloom on his face. Katniss is in safe hands. At least, he thinks she is. Their secret plan he couldn't be let in on will hopefully work and Peeta will free her from this hell pit.
"Think about Effie." Katniss bids him. "She's waiting for you. You can't give up."
"Don't." he pleads. He doesn't want to think about Effie. "She doesn't belong in here." Effie is made for parties and life not for arenas and death. He can't think about her there, it would sully her somehow. He loves her too much for that.
"Haymitch, please…" Katniss' voice is cracking a little but she's not the kind of girl to break under duress and she quickly conceal this display of emotions behind a fake cough.
"Sorry, darling" he mutters.
She nods slowly and forces a smile on her lips. "Sleep a little more, okay? The pain will stop, I promise."
When he's dead?, he wants to ask her, but he can't bring himself to move his lips again. They're parched and he feels as if every breath is precious and shouldn't be wasted on speech. The sky brightens just then and the Capitol seal floats in the night sky. Katniss' hand rests on his wrist, just on the golden bangle, but her head is thrown back to look at the faces of the eight dead victors projected unto the sky. The lights from above ripples on her, golden and reddish hues that brings her features into sharp focus. Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, the mockingjay. The girl he dies to protect.
He doesn't wonder if she could really do it, change the world, bring down the Capitol because he knows with the right motives there's nothing she can't do. She has proven that time and time again. She's like him : selfish. Selfish people are the most dangerous and love is the most dangerous motivator of all. Snow should never have threatened Prim or Peeta because Katniss will stop at nothing until they are safe.
His last thought before darkness surrounds him once more is for Effie. Because even though he doesn't want to taint her memory with the horror of the arena, he's selfish and he can't help but desire the small comfort of her face.