Chapter 25
Johanna wakes up to take my place, taking watch with Finnick. So I try to get some rest. When I wake again, everyone but Katniss is awake, they are watching a parachute land on the beach. Katniss joins us. Theirs bread inside. Johanna goes to sleep.
Katniss tries to convince me we should leave the alliance, but we end up staying, because Beetee said he had a plan to kill the others. Finnick wakes up Johanna, so she can hear. Beetee draws a sketch in the sand, of the arena.
"If you were Brutus and Enobaria, knowing what you do now about the jungle, where would you feel the safest?" asks Beetee.
"Where are we now. On the beach. It's the safest place." I say.
"So why aren't they on the beach?" Beetee asks.
"Because we're here," says Johanna.
"Exactly. We're here, claiming the beach. Now where would you go?" asks Beetee.
"I'd hide just at the end of the jungle. So I could escape if an attack came. And so I could spy on us." says Katniss.
"Also to eat. The jungle's full of strange creatures and plants. But by watching us, I'd know the seafood's safe." says Finnick.
Beetee smiles. "Yes, good. You do see. Now here's what I propose; a twelve o'clock strike. What happens exactly at noon and at midnight?" he asks.
"The lightning bolt hits the tree," says Katniss.
"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 strickes, 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 electrified." says Beetee.
"Will that wire really be able to conduct that much power, Beetee?" I ask. "It looks so fragile, like it would just burn up."
Beetee nods. "Oh it will. But not until the current has passed through it. It will act something like a fuse, in fact. Except the electricity will travel along it," he says.
"How do you know?" asks Johanna.
"Because I invented it." he says. "It's not actually wire in the actual sense. Nor is the lightning natural lightning nor the tree a real tree, you know trees better than any of us, Johanna. It would be destroyed by now, wouldn't it?"
Johanna looks away. "Yes," she frowns.
"Don't worry about the wire- it will do just what I say," Beetee says.
"And where will be when this happens?" Finnick asks.
"Far enough up in the jungle to be safe," Beetee says.
We agree to do it after talking more about it. Beetee wants to inspect the tree. After a while, Finnick suggests that Katniss takes the lead. "Katniss can hear the force field," he tells Beetee and Johanna.
"Hear it?" Beetee asks.
Katniss smiles. "Only with the ear the Capitol reconstructed," she says.
Beetee smiles back. "Then by all means, let Katniss go first. Force fields are nothing to play around with."
Katniss gets three rats, and I gather nuts. The Katniss and I roast them using the force field. Beetee throws a piece of bark from the lightning tree at the force field. It glows for a moment. "Well, that explains a lot," he says. Katniss looks at me then bites her lip, to stop herself from laughing at him.
We go back to the beach. Beetee gives us the afternoon off while he works with the wire. Finnick has us gather sea food. And then we clean the meat. I open a oyster and find a pearl.
I laugh, remembering something Effie once said. "Hey, look at this!" I say holding the pearl up. "You know, if you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls," I say looking into Finnick's eyes.
"No, it doesn't," he says.
Katniss laughs. I rinse the pearl off and hand it to her. "For you." I say.
Katniss takes it. "Thanks,"
I stare into Katniss's eyes. She looks like she's excepting death. "The locket didn't work, did it?" I ask. She doesn't look at me. "Katniss?" I ask.
"It worked." she says.
"But not the way I wanted it to," I say.
More bread is delivered. Beetee starts to set up the wire. The wave begins. We put the wire out along the beach. Katniss and Johanna are supposed to run the wire through the arena. But now that I know Katniss still wants me to live, I don't want her out of my sights. Or else my worst nightmares, the ones about losing Katniss, could come true. "I want to go with them as a guard," I say.
"You're too slow. Besides, I'll need you on this end. Katniss will guard. There's no time to debate this. I'm sorry. If the girls are to get out of there, alive, they need to go now." says Beetee, handing the coil to Johanna.
"It's okay. We'll just drop the coil and come straight back up." says Katniss.
I frown. I don't want them to separate us, but they have to go now if they're going to make it out. Beetee tells Katniss and Johanna the path to take. Katniss grabs my face.
"Don't worry. I'll see you at midnight." she says and gives me a kiss. She turns to Johanna. "Ready?"
Johanna sighs. "Why not?" she says with a shrug. "You guard, I'll unwind. We can trade off later." Then they walk into the jungle.
Once Beetee sets everything up, we move into the jungle. Finnick wanders off, and I take Beetee to the lightning tree. He adjusts the wire for a few moments, and then it snaps. Someone cut the wire. I run to the two o'clock sector and find Chaff, Brutus runs out of the jungle and stabs him. His cannon goes off.
Brutus looks up at me and smirks. "You know, I ran into you're friend, Katniss, earlier. I'll do you a favor, so you don't have to live without her."
My eyes widen, Brutus killed Katniss! I reach for my belt, holding my knife. It's gone. Beetee must have it. I grab my spare knife, slowly. Regret fills me, if I had left earlier today, when Katniss said, I may not be about to kill Brutus. I stab my knife into Brutus's chest, and scream Katniss's name.
"Peeta!" Katniss screams, I realize Brutus couldn't have killed Katniss, because a cannon didn't go off, but I can hear the pain in her voice. "Peeta! I'm here! Peeta!" It sounds like her voice is coming from the lightning tree. I start running toward her. I could make it. "Peeta!" she screams. Brutus's cannon goes off. I've officially killed someone. The tributes from District Eight, of Five, from the last arena don't count like this.
I call for Katniss again, still running. I reach the tree, and just for a moment, I see Katniss aiming her arrow at the sky, with wire wrapped around it. She lets the arrow fly, and I watch her hair stand up as the lightning hits the tree. And I'm thrown onto the ground. "No," I whisper, right as the explosions begin. "I lost her."