When I wake up the next morning, it's clear that the Gamemakers have turned up the heat. It feels like the sun is constantly on my face and body, and I begin to sweat almost instantly. Finnick is the same, though he's still gorgeous. He's awake too, and doesn't seem too bothered by the heat. He sees that I'm awake, and kisses me.
"Hungry?" he says.
I shake my head. "Not really."
"Well, good. Because there's no food left, anyway," he replies with a laugh.
I laugh and shove him lightly. I stand up and wish the water near us wasn't infested with fish that tried to kill me. I would love to sit in the water, especially since the weather is like this. How can it go from pouring rain to scorching heat so quickly? But, then again, this isn't the real world. This is the arena. And the Gamemakers control it. I shake my head and take a step forward.
Instantly, an orange trail of light flashes across my face. I back up. What the hell was that? I stick my head out the cave's mouth again, and another one crosses me line of vision, barely missing my head. More come, and before I can move, I feel strong hands on my back.
"Aury, move!" Finnick shouts. I don't have to move. He pushes me down. I land with a slight grunt, and I shove Finnick off of my back. He lets me up, and starts to run, pulling me with him.
I run alongside him without question, because what's happening is clear. Another attack on me is happening. Honestly, I wish they would just kill me already. I'm getting tired of always running from them. I shake my head and keep pace with Finnick, who's still gripping my arm.
I finally realize what's being shot at us. Rather, at me. It's fire. Pure fire. It seems somewhat ironic that fire is being shot at a District 4 girl. Fire is the weapon they chose to attempt to kill a water girl. Funny.
I feel some of the fire catch my left arm. I grip it in pain, but keep running. At last, Finnick stops running. He looks around, then looks at me, then collapses to the ground. I drop down with him and I notice his back is badly burnt. He must have been hit when he pushed me down.
I gingerly run my fingers along his back, assessing the damage. I hear him groan in pain. I think about what I can do for him. And I start to feel horrible. He got burnt saving me. It's my fault he's hurt now. I feel panic and guilt start to rise in my chest, when I hear a soft clang right next to me. I look over and see a parachute, holding a silver container. I don't hesitate to grab it and open it. There's medicine inside, for Finnick's burns, and a note attached to the side.
Use this well. And don't feel guilty about what happened.
He wanted to save you. He loves you.
-Mags
I laugh a little. I manage to sit Finnick upright, with his back facing me. I slip his shirt over his head and apply a generous amount of the medicine to his back. He sighs at the relief it brings him.
"Thanks," he says.
"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have these burns," I say ruefully.
"Don't say that," he tells me, taking my hand in his. He notices my arm, which is burned as well. "You need some of that too. Don't waste it all on me."
I do as directed and apply a bit of the medicine to my arm. The pain subsides almost immediately. I smile at the relief and turn back to Finnick. "Do they hurt much?" I ask.
He shrugs. "No," he replies. I scoff at him. "Not really."
I put my hand on his cheek and rest my forehead against his. "You get to wander around shirtless again. You should be happy," I say jokingly.
"Oh, I am," says Finnick. He kisses me and I stand up.
"Are you okay to walk?" I ask him. "I don't want to push you, but I don't want to stay in one place for too long either."
"I think so," he says. He gets to his feet, slowly, but when he's standing, he looks fine. "That medicine is a miracle."
"It is," I agree. Because the burn on my arm is almost completely gone now. I examine Finnick's back. The huge burn that was once there is now a small, darkened patch of skin. In another minute or so, it'll be completely gone. "Come on, then." I take his hand and we move on.
As we walk, I can't help noticing how eerily quiet it is. There aren't any birds singing, and I don't hear any wind. It's even more disturbing, given I'm being hunted right now.
"Attention tributes!" a voice booms overhead. "There will be a feast taking place today at the Cornucopia, where rewards await each of you! And just so you all know, the location of the Cornucopia has been changed."
I look at Finnick. He shrugs. "Good to know," I say. "I guess they want to end this."
"Guess so," Finnick murmurs. I lean up and kiss him.
"What did you want to do?" I ask. I mean, does he want to split up or stay together until the very end.
"Go to the feast," he says. "And I guess we'll have to split up there."
"Well, Glade will probably be there," I say. "And she'll probably kill me before..." I don't finish my sentence. I glance around the forest. "Where do you think they moved the Cornucopia to?"
"I have no idea," he says, shaking his head. "Somewhere where there aren't a lot of trees. Probably a clearing of some sort. Or in the middle of a body of water, like it was before."
I nod and continue through the trees. Something ahead glistens in the sunlight. I take off toward it and, of course, it's the Cornucopia.
"Wow," says Finnick, coming to stand beside me. "That was fast."
We stand side by side, examining the golden metal of the Cornucopia. On the inside are bags that have our district numbers on them. And right in front of me are two bags labeled "4". I look at Finnick. He nods.
"I'll go first," he says. He doesn't give me a chance to respond before he sprints to the mouth of the Cornucopia and grabs one of the bags. He turns to me, wink, and takes off again. But this time, he stops short. He looks at me. His eyes are wide and he screams to me. I whip around, and behind me, Glade is glowering over me, prepared to kill me.
She drives her knife downward, straight for my skull, but I actually manage to dodge it. I make a bee-line for the Cornucopia. The second I place my hands on my bag, I'm attacked again. Not by Glade, but by tributes.
I let out a strangled cry, because the tributes I'm being attacked by are all the tributes that died this year. I recognize almost all the faces. Bree, Cole, Cora, Tex, Blair, everyone. All their faces are grotesque and bloody and mangled. They look just as they did when they died. Except for their eyes. Their eyes aren't theirs; they're all black and hollow looking. And they're on me in a second. They claw at me, like they're trying to rip my skin off. I manage to climb to my feet and run as fast as I can, still gripping my bag.
"Aury!" I hear Finnick yell.
"It's them!" I scream back, motioning for him to run. "It's all of them!" And Glade.
I keep running, but when I'm finally at the safety of the trees, I can't escape into them. Whenever I try to run further, a sort of force field pushes me back. I start to kick at it, my foot bouncing back every time.
"Aury!" Finnick yells again. I feel him wrap both his arms tightly around me. "Aury, it's okay. It's okay."
"No!" I scream. "Can't you see them? It's all of them! The dead tributes!" I try to push him away, but he keeps a firm grip on me, hugging me to his chest.
"Shh," he shushes me. "It's okay, Aury."
"No, it's not!" I continue screaming. "Because they're all after me! Not you!"
"Aury," Finnick whispers. "They were never there."
"What?" I gasp.
"The tributes you saw were never real," he tells me slowly. "It was just the Gamemakers, trying to drive you insane." They did.
I take a deep breath and relax. But only for a moment, because Glade is still out there. I turn my head around to look for any sign of her. I see nothing. Until...
"Aury, move!" Finnick shoves me away from him and I fall to the ground. I quickly scramble to my feet.
I grab the knife that I dropped and turn around to see Glade, standing over Finnick's bloody body. She's laughing maniacally, and I have no choice whatsoever, but to hurl my knife straight at her. It lands with an awful cracking sound, signaling that I've punctured her skull. She slumps to the ground and her cannon fires.
I push her body away with my foot and kneel down next to Finnick. He's not dead; his cannon never fired. He opens his eyes and smiles at me.
"Hey, Aury," he says casually.
"You're crazy," I say. "You just got stabbed, because of me."
He shakes his head and shrugs. "That's okay," he says. "It doesn't hurt that much." He actually sits up and leans his head against a tree. I notice that he didn't get stabbed in his chest, but in his upper arm.
"Finnick," I say quietly. He looks at me. "There's only us left now. I killed Glade."
Finnick sighs. He takes my hand in his and whispers, "Kill me, then." I shake my head dismissively.
"I can't-" I begin. But I'm interrupted by the loud roar of the hovercraft coming to take Glade's body.
A claw comes down and grabs her bloody body and lifts her up. I expect the hovercraft to leave after that, but it doesn't. It sits there, with a constant drone that's so loud I can barely hear what Finnick is saying.
"Run!" he shouts.
I can't. My muscles won't work, even if I did want to run. I'm practically glued in place. I turn to look at the hovercraft. It's landed now, and the doors of it are sliding open. And who else would step out but President Snow.