That night Ramsey slept with such restlessness that it was easy to tell she'd be exhausted the next day. Memories of Zane haunted her dreams, his screams the only thing she could hear. Once or twice Finnick had awoken, turned over to check on her, signed at her unease, and carefully edged closer to her.
He couldn't get the image of her telling him to not touch her and storming off, out of his head. Did she really think so lowly of him that she couldn't even entertain his attempts at comforting her?
The following day, things were brewing, anyone could tell that something wasn't just right with the six victors.
Katniss and Peeta wandered off towards the water, their voices no higher than hushed whispers.
"Look, the pool is down to nine. I think it's time we took off."
Katniss was growing increasingly uneasy with the company they had found themselves among.
Beetee was no direct threat, that they knew of, and she had even wanted him as an ally going into it. The others, though, she hadn't wanted any of them. Finnick had basically thrown himself into their alliance with the gold bracelet he somehow got a hold of. He was somewhat trustworthy, he had put his life in peril on a number of different occasions in order to protect them. His downside, though, was his allegiance to Ramsey- and therefore Johanna. They were the deadly duo, and Katniss couldn't stand either of them one bit. She couldn't trust them as far as she could see them.
She couldn't help but feel guilt as she recalled all of the times that Ramsey had put herself in danger on behalf of her. She had killed the monkey that had almost drowned her, launched a dagger into Cashmere's throat for her- almost drowning as a result-, and even gone up against her very best friend in order to protect her.
But why?
Why had her and Finnick and Johanna been stuck to her and Peeta since the beginning? Why hadn't they just taken their open opportunities and killed them when they could? Why were they constantly protecting them?
Something was wrong with the whole picture.
"Tell you what, let's stick around until Brutus and Enobaria are dead. I think Beetee's trying to put together a trap for them right now. Then, I promise, we'll go." Peeta was always the voice of reason, always the one with the right answers. And Katniss was grateful for that, because without him, who's to say how many poor predicaments she would have fallen into?
"Hey love birds, get over here!"
Johanna's voice broke them from their scheming, the two slowly making their way over to the small group.
Katniss couldn't help but notice the eeriness that had seemed permanently cast over Ramsey since the jabberjay incident. Her eyes had grown glossy and wild, constantly flittering from one side to another. She was fighting to hold herself together, fighting to maintain control.
Joanna sat to one side of her, the closeness already grounding Ramsey.
Despite how shaken she was, there was no doubt that she was okay. Very okay, and still very much deadly.
Finnick hesitantly lowered himself beside Ramsey, begging for her to allow his company. And to his surprise and relief, she wearily rested her head against his arm.
"I think we'll all agree that our next plan is to kill Enobaria and Brutus. I doubt they'll attack us openly again, seeing as how they're so outnumbered. I suppose we could track them down, Ramsey and Johanna would have no issue whatsoever, but that is very tedious work." He chuckled wryly, earning a tiny smirk from the two in mention.
"Anyway, I think our best plan would be to set up a trap."
The six spoke about strategies, the intelligence of both Brutus and Enobaria, and the places where they would most likely be and most likely attack.
It was deemed that they were only staying in the edges of the jungle because the large group had claimed the beach. And therefore, upon their departure, the other two would arrive.
"Here's what I propose: a twelve o'clock strike. What happens at exactly noon and midnight?" Beetee's voice had grown smooth, his eyes lit with a fire of intelligence.
"The lightning bolt hits the tree."
He nodded to Katniss, pleased with her answer.
"Yes. So what I'm suggesting is that after the bolt hits at noon, but before it hits at midnight, we run my wire from that tree all the way down into the saltwater, which is, of course, highly conductive. When the bolt strikes, the electricity will travel down the wire and into not only the water but also the surrounding beach, which will still be damp from the ten o'clock wave. Anyone in contact with those surfaces at that moment will be electrocuted."
They mulled over his plan, there was no way it couldn't work, right?
Katniss and Peeta agreed without a second thought. Finnick though, looked to Ramsey and Johanna. The two had their faces pressed together, lips to ear and lips to ear, their voices entirely inaudible as the spoke.
Katniss rolled her eyes.
"All right," Johanna began, Ramsey nodding in agreement with her, "It's better than hunting them down in the jungle, it's too hot in there anyway."
Because of his weakened state, Finnick and Peeta took turns carrying Beetee to inspect the tree they planned on executing their plan with. Though Katniss had been weary, she allowed Johanna to take the lead, Ramsey insisting on bringing up the back.
Katniss didn't feel safe though, one enemy leading them and the other with full control of their lives from behind.
After thorough inspection of the tree and Beetee making comments that only he understood, they all returned to the beach to wait while he worked with his wire. Finnick fished with his spear and Katniss and Peeta assisted him, while Ramsey and Johanna kept watch.
"She wants to kill you, you know." Johanna chuckled to Ramsey, the smaller girl squinting an eye.
"You act like she can stand you anymore than me." She giggled out, Johanna's face dropping to a blank stare. It lasted only for a moment before she allowed herself to laugh, the two smiling at one another.
Despite anything that had gone on, or anything that would ever take place, Johanna loved Ramsey wholeheartedly. In a world where everything was corrupt and everyone she had ever been close to was killed, she found solstice in the company of her best friend.
And even Ramsey, with her unpredictability and constant question of both sanity and humanity, was grateful for Johanna. For someone who understood all that she had endured. For someone who didn't see her as a ruthless killer, nor as a victim of the Capitol who needed to be protected. But who saw her for all that she really was, and Ramsey could only do her best to try and return the favor for her.
Following the playing of the anthem and the tribute-less sky, they began their hike up towards the twelve o'clock tree.
Finnick assisted Beetee in wrapping his wire around a small branch first, and then the trunk of the tree itself.
"Because of all of your speed and agility, Katniss, you, Johanna, and Ramsey will take the coil through the jungle and unwind it while you go. You're to lay it across the twelve o'clock beach and drop the spool, with whatever is left around it, into the water and make sure it sinks- that's vital. And then you need to run. Run as fast as you can, and as far as you can. If you leave now, you can make it safely."
Beetee gave out their instructions, everyone's attention on him.
"I want to go with them as a guard." Peeta began, his eyes trained on Katniss.
Johanna scoffed, Ramsey's hand shooting towards her instantaneously, stopping her from any further input.
"I'm perfectly able of protecting myself, as is Johanna, and as is Katniss." Ramsey chose her words carefully.
"And you're too slow. The girls are fine with taking care of themselves. Besides, I'll need you on this end." Beetee was growing aggravated, voicing that if the girls had any chance of reaching safety, they had to leave then.
"Don't worry. I'll see you at midnight." Katniss reassured Peeta once more with a kiss before facing the deadly duo. "Ready?"
The two shared a glance for a moment, a small ball raising in Katniss' stomach as she knew she was putting herself in danger.
"You guard, we'll unwind. We can switch after, if you want." Johanna shrugged, Ramsey giggling beside her and grabbing the coil.
Katniss would never be able to get rid of the apprehension that Ramsey brought to her. There was something so wrong with her entire existence and it simply flowed from her in waves.
They worked swiftly through the jungle, the three of them proving to be a strong force together. About halfway through, Katniss volunteered to switch with one of them, the duo deciding it would be better for Ramsey to stand guard.
Both Johanna and Katniss' hands were on the coil when the vibration occurred, the wire from above springing down at them and bunching around their wrists and feet.
Someone had cut the wire, and was coming for them.
They looked at each other for only a moment before Johanna's eyes shot to Ramsey.
Katniss' hands had released the wire and grasped an arrow for only a moment before the metal cylinder came crashing into the side of her head, throwing her to the ground and onto her back.
Johanna had hit her, that was all she could process. Johanna had struck her with the coil and she was going to kill her.
Johanna's weight came down on her, "Just stay down!" She hissed, holding her down.
And then came Ramsey, pulling her knife from her belt and moving towards her with it. "Ramsey, hurry."
"I am!"
She stabbed at her left forearm, digging the tip of it in and twisting, ripping at something. The pain was excruciating, her hot blood covering both her and Ramsey. She was tearing at something.
"No," Katniss managed to whimper out, the sound being louder than she had planned.
"Sh!" Ramsey's elbow came down on her throat, a fairly light hit, but enough to silence her cries for help.
"She's as good as dead, let's go, Enobaria!" Brutus' voice broke through the fogginess of Katniss' mind, everything moving too slowly and too messily for her liking.
And then Ramsey and Johanna were gone, their footsteps silent in comparison to those of Brutus and Enobaria.
The alliance was broken, they had been planning it all along. Katniss knew that she should never have gone along with it. She should've killed Finnick that first moment at the cornucopia, and killed Ramsey in the jungle as she had led their group in, and Johanna that first moment they saw them on the beach. Without Johanna, Wiress and Beetee would've been dead and then she could've saved Peeta.
Oh, Peeta.
Her mind shot into overdrive, realizing that he was alone with Finnick, so unsuspecting of the broken alliance. She had to save him.
With blood pouring from her arm and pain searing from her temple, she dragged herself through the jungle and to where she last knew Peeta was.
Ramsey and Johanna and Finnick had to have had their alliance set in stone. Both Johanna and Ramsey, and Johanna and Finnick had years of friendship to back their trust in one another- Ramsey and Finnick's strange "romance" of sorts only fueling to it all.
A cannon fired.
Her heart leapt into her throat and she pushed her hardly functioning body further.
She broke into the clearing of the twelve o'clock tree, the world falling eerily silent. "Peeta?" She called, receiving no answer.
Beetee lay on the ground beside the tree, obviously injured, though very obviously alive as he shooed Katniss away from shaking him.
"Katniss! Katniss!"
"Peeta! I'm here, Peeta!"
Though he didn't come. It was Enobaria and Finnick that broke through, both just feet from the lightning tree. Her mind was racing, she could kill both of them, easily.
"Katniss!" Peeta called again, his location still unknown.
Another cannon blasted.
With any luck, it belonged to Ramsey or Johanna.
They were the enemies, they all were. All Katniss could do was get rid of as many of them as possible so that Peeta could win.
He'd only have to kill one enemy.
Enemy.
"My love, please do remember who the real enemy is."
"Katniss, when you're in that arena... You just remember who the enemy is, that's all."
The words came back to her in a rush, clogging up her senses even more so than before.
Who was the real enemy?
And then suddenly she knew. The words all morphed together, it all clicked. The meaning was clear.
She knew exactly who the enemy was.
And she wrapped the wire around her arrow, and raised it to the sky, straight to the Capitol, and she let it fly.
The lightning struck.
The arena blew, and it all went white.