AN: Thank you so much for the reviews! I love reading them.
Chapter Ten – Finnick
This is it. The day that I've been dreading for months and fearing for years has arrived. Today we go back into the arena for the second, and probably last, time.
I wake before Annie. I watch her as she sleeps on my chest, feeling relieved whenever her body rises and falls as she takes a breath. I can already picture myself doing this in the arena. Staying up all hours of the night just to make sure that she's still breathing. That she hasn't been taken from me.
Valeria and Leonis arrive for breakfast. They sit with Tressa, Harvey, Lux, Annie and I and we all eat in silence. I push more and more food on Annie, determined for her to start the day off on a full stomach. She's going to need it. We both are. We consume toast, cereal, blueberry muffins, buttery croissants, yoghurt and a range of fruit until we feel so stuffed we're certain we couldn't fit another morsel in. It seems extreme, but it's necessary. This is our last guaranteed meal. From now on, if we want any more food, we're going to have to find it in the arena.
We say our goodbyes to Harvey and Lux, before Valeria and Leonis take us up to the roof where we'll board the hovercraft that will transport us to the arena. I go first. An electric current freezes me in place on the ladder as it rises. When I enter the hovercraft, a doctor is waiting to inject my tracker into my left forearm. I hiss at the sharp pain.
Valeria boards the hovercraft next, followed by Annie, who is also injected with a tracker, followed by Leonis. We take our seats amongst the other tributes and their stylists. Annie and I grip hands firmly as the hovercraft takes off. I notice Annie's eyes watering. I squeeze her hand and she looks at me. I meet her gaze with a smile.
"It's going to be alright, baby," I say quietly. "Nothing's going to happen to you so long as I'm alive."
She forces a brave smile and nods as I kiss the back of her hand.
It's a short flight to the Launch Centre in the arena, maybe around twenty minutes. Annie and I must separate now – tributes enter the arena alone.
"I'll see you real soon," I promise her, pulling her into a hug that lasts longer than it was supposed to. Despite my words, I can't bring myself to release her easily.
Valeria is overeager to help me into my tribute outfit. This year, it's a fitted black and silver jumpsuit with full-length arms and legs, made of very sheer material, and a pair of black nylon shoes with rubber soles.
"I'll do it," I tell her firmly.
I take the clothes and put them on in the bathroom that adjoins to my room in the Launch Centre. I tuck the pendant that Annie made me into the suit. I don't want it snapping or getting caught on anything. Then I retrieve Haymitch's gold flame-patterned bangle from my trouser pocket and put it on, like he told me to. I study myself in the mirror. The suit will offer little protection in the event of a blizzard, or rain, or even a cold wind, which tells me that the arena will most likely be hot. A desert, maybe?
"Thirty seconds to launch." Claudius Templesmith's voice sounds.
I exit the bathroom back to where Valeria is standing beside the metal plate on the floor. That's how I'll get into the arena. When I stand on it, a hollow glass tube will lower from the ceiling and encase me. Then the plate will begin to rise, lifting me up out of the Launch Centre and into the arena.
"I'd say good luck but you probably don't need it, what with you having so many adoring sponsors," says Valeria smugly.
"None of them matter to me," I tell her, taking my place on the metal plate. "All I care about is Annie, and getting her out of there alive."
"Twenty seconds to launch."
Valeria guffaws. "Whatever, Finnick."
No more words are exchanged between us. Claudius announces that there are ten seconds to launch, and I brace myself, getting ready for the plate to rise, mentally preparing myself for what lies ahead.
The plate slowly begins to lift me up, and soon, Valeria is out of sight. Harsh rays of sunlight obscure my vision from above. A cool breeze catches my hair. I rise higher and higher, until eventually, there's no more glass and I'm standing in the arena.
A sloshing sound from below makes me look down. I find water lapping up over my shoes. Water. Water! I smile. This means that Annie and I are automatically the front runners.
I'm standing in the sea. No, it's not the sea – it's a large circular pool of water, surrounded by a golden beach and then dense jungle. It's salt water, I think to myself. Damn it. Undrinkable.
"Let the 75th Hunger Games begin," comes Claudius Templesmith's faceless voice. "May the odds be ever in your favour. 60, 59, 58, 57..."
Less than a minute to go. In the middle of the pool of water, about forty metres away from me, there is a rocky island, on which stands the large metal horn, the Cornucopia, housing a large loot of glittering weapons. I see that there are rocky spokes radiating from all the way around the island. How many are there? Ten? Twelve? On my right, there is a spoke. On my left, stands the District 9 female on her plate, and on her left, there is another spoke. So there's twelve. Twelve spokes creating twelve wedges, with two tributes in each wedge.
"43, 42, 41, 40..."
"Annie..." I breathe, desperately scanning the ring of tributes to find her. I hope the Cornucopia isn't blocking my view of her. It's hard to tell one tribute from another since we're all dressed identically. Where is she? Where is she? Where is she?
"35, 34, 33, 32..."
There. Far off to my right, standing on a plate two wedges away. It was her red hair that made me spot her. It's been fastened into a bun, and like everyone else, she's looking around, trying to get her bearings before the gong goes off.
"21, 20, 19, 18..."
I keep my eyes on her until her head turns to me and our gazes connect. I smile at her but I don't know if she'll be able to see it from so far away. I need to figure out what I'm going to do. I need to get to the Cornucopia and secure a trident, if there is one, and a few knives for Annie. But how do I get there? It looks like I'll have to swim to my right until I reach the spoke, climb onto it, and then run along the spoke to get to the island.
Ten seconds. God, I hope Annie will be okay. Seven seconds. We just need to get off the island, away from the bloodbath, and then we can figure out our next move. Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One.
The loud gong sounds, and I dive off my plate to the right and into the warm, salty water that's a bright turquoise colour. I try to clear my head of all worries about Annie while I'm swimming, just concentrating on getting to the spoke quickly and safely.
I reach it, pull myself up, and start running along the rocky surface towards the Cornucopia. I look over in Annie's direction and see she had the same idea as me – she too is running along her spoke towards the island. Most of the other tributes are still in the water, a lot of them probably trying to teach themselves how to swim at this very moment, and a few haven't even left their plates yet.
I reach the island just before Annie does. I jump over the rocks to where her spoke meets the island and hold my hand out to her. She reaches out and grabs it, and together, we swiftly make our way around to the mouth of the Cornucopia.
We're the first ones here. In front of us lies an array of weapons, everything from bows and arrows to maces and swords and axes, the smaller, less useful weapons scattered at the front, and the more valuable ones displayed at the back. I'm surprised and panicked – normally there are food packages of some sort, and water bottles and backpacks full of supplies amongst the weapons. But there isn't this year. This year it's all fighting equipment.
Annie scoops up three knives, varying in size, and slips them into her belt. Come on, there must be a trident, I think to myself. There has to be a trident. Yes! My eyes fall on a large, sturdy black trident further inside the horn. I lunge forward and grasp it, claiming it as mine.
Annie gasps. I turn to my left and find Katniss aiming an arrow at my face. I immediately raise my left wrist, making Haymitch's bracelet clearly visible.
"Good thing we're allies, right?" I say.
"Where did you get that?" Katniss demands.
"Where do you think?"
Before she has the chance to answer I notice that the District 5 male has managed to find his way onto the island. He's standing behind Katniss and about to stab her in the back with a large knife.
"Duck," I command calmly.
Surprisingly, Katniss obeys me, and sinks to the ground. I throw my trident at the District 5 tribute, spiking him square in the chest, killing him instantly. The first canon of the Quell booms around the arena.
I cross over to him and pull my trident out of his chest.
"Annie, you come with me."
Annie skips over the rocks and Katniss rises, turning towards us.
"You take this side. Me and Annie will go and find Peeta."
Katniss nods and begins firing arrows at those who approach the island.
Annie and I make our way around the Cornucopia, searching the plates for Peeta. I don't know how Katniss learned to swim, but I'm pretty sure Peeta won't be able to.
"There!" Annie shouts, pointing across the water to where Peeta is neck-height in the water, clutching onto his plate, while the District 10 male delivers brutal punches to his face.
"Go tell Katniss," I say, before diving into the water and swimming as fast as I can over to Peeta. It's difficult with the trident in my hand, but I can't afford to let it go.
When I get there, I pull the District 10 tribute off Peeta and he smacks me in the jaw. Peeta lets go of his plate to try and help me but sinks beneath the surface straight away since he can't swim. I dive under the water to pull him back up, but the District 10 tribute plunges in after me, and it isn't long before the three of us are having a full-blown fight underwater, me and Peeta trying to protect each other while we both get shoved and kicked. I finally manage to lift my trident and pierce it through the District 10 tribute's throat. I hear a faint canon blast from above the water. The tribute's dead body floats to the surface.
I hold Peeta close to me as we re-emerge above water. Annie and Katniss are standing on the island and they both let out cries of relief. I help Peeta over to the nearest spoke and haul him up. The girls dash out onto the same spoke, and then the four of us run as far away from the island as fast as we possibly can.