Okay, here's Chapter37! What's Finnick up to now? Read and find out…
Finnick's POV
My first thought is that I need an ally. Someone who is a real rebel at heart, has no one the Capitol can take away from them, and owes me. Johanna will do just fine. I walk up to her, sure that she'll take my bait.
"Your tribute know how to swim?" I ask her. She looks up from the screen and at me.
"Yeah, why?" she asks, eyeing me suspiciously. I pull her under the table so that we can talk. Some of the mentors are real tattle-tales, such as Enobarba.
"Not many tributes can. If we set off a flood, then at least half of them will be killed. You say your tribute can swim, she'll be fine," I propose the idea to her.
"No, Odair, sorry," she says and I give her the most helpless look I can muster. "It would be different if it was Reed in there."
"Please. Annie can't hang on much longer. She acts fine, but she's losing it on the inside. Johanna, please!" I plead, desperately. She must see a bit of herself in me because she lowers her gaze.
"Do you love her?" she asks me, dead serious.
"Yes," I tell her.
"Then I will help," she says.
"Thank you, Johanna. I need you to come with me," I tell her, dragging her by her arm out the door and into the room labeled maintenance, avoiding the Peacekeepers' gazes. Inside is a giant box, probably a heating system or something. Behind it are several sets of Peacekeeper suits and gas masks.
"Here put this on," I tell Johanna, handing her a suit and a mask that should cover any distinguishing features. I also don the suit and mask and grab another mask. When we finish, we both look like the Peacekeepers standing just down the hall. "Don't say anything," I firmly warn her. She does have a tendency to just blurt out whatever is on her mind. She nods and we walk out of the maintenance room and towards the Peacekeepers standing at the end of the hall. I address the one with the key hanging on his belt.
"There has been a gas leak. I've been ordered to get one of you to help me fix it," I tell him in my most authoritative voice, handing him a mask. Johanna nods her head beside me.
The Peacekeeper with the key nods and takes the gas mask, following Johanna and I into the maintenance room. As soon as the door is closed, I nod to Johanna, who is quick to knock the guy out. We leave him unconscious lying on the floor without the key.
Next, I push the giant box away from the wall and see a door. My hands are shaking so I hand the key to Johanna, who unlocks the door and then steps aside for me to open it.
I really don't have a next move, except hoping that the Gamemakers are asleep because it's the middle of the night. I open the door and find that my hunch is correct. All the Gamemakers are slumped over their chairs, heads on desks, snoring. I've always thought that they worked in shifts or something because things do happen at night during the games, but maybe they just all got bored of watching the tributes do nothing but sleep. Maybe they have special orders to make this game last for a while.
I walk straight to the giant control panel in the middle of the room and look for a section labeled "Natural Disasters" or something of the like. I find it and see dozens of buttons that say things such as "Tornado, Thunderstorm, Rain, Fog, Earthquake, Tsunami, Hurricane, and Drought." But no flood!
"See that old dam?" Johanna asks me, pointing toward a spot on the edge of the arena. "Put an earthquake there and the wood should give out," she explains. If the dam breaks then the arena will flood. Annie can swim very well, so that shouldn't be a problem for her. I do as Johanna says and program the earthquake to hit right under the dam. I press the enter button hoping that this works. Only now that I have pressed the button do I think of the effect this could have on mine or Annie's family. They could be killed. But that could happen anyway because no one is safe in Panem.
Footage of the earthquake is played on the giant screen. I see the whole arena ripple as a huge shock wave goes through it. Johanna tugs on my arm just as an alarm goes off inside the room. We sprint out the door and shake off the Peacekeeper suits as quickly as possible. I think that one of the Gamemakers may have seen us. We give the key back to the unconscious Peacekeeper and run back inside the mentor room and sit down at our District stations. I mouth a thanks to Johanna as she gives me a death glare. I have no idea what's wrong until I see the screen behind her. The earthquake killed her tribute, who just fell out of a tree and died on impact. How could I have known that would happen? I ignore her implied accusations as I search for Annie, who is now running towards high ground. She must have figured that the dam is fixing to break. I watch as the wooden beams pop and groan from the sudden change in support.
All at once, the dam completely crumbles to the ground, spilling water into the arena. Most of the tributes are in the forest and shouldn't be able to get to dry land. The water has reached the cabin now and has already filled all the caves. Annie is climbing up to the cliff from where they came up with the plan to blow up the Careers. But the water will cover this in a matter of minutes.
"Annie," I say in her ear, scaring her a bit.
"Yes, Finnick," she pants.
"Don't bother getting to high ground; everything will be covered in a matter of minutes anyway. Just concentrate on swimming, only four others are left and I don't think they can swim," I instruct her.
"Better get my interview dress ready then," she jokes and I can't help but smile.
Annie's POV
I'm swimming again, except that the water is black looking because it's reflecting the night sky. I try not to think of my dream, but I just can't help it. Everything I touch underwater seems to be a dead body. I try not to imagine Melanie's brown little curls breaking the surface of the water, but I do anyway. I hear Sam calling for help somewhere, but the current is so strong that I couldn't swim to him even if I wanted to. Clayton is still out there somewhere, along with the boy from 8 and girl from 10. Over the sound of rushing water, I hear a cannon go off. An hour later, the anthem starts to play. Maple is shown first, followed by the boy from 8. Three tributes left until I go home.
The current drags me under many times, until finally I consider just floating on my back. After about five times of getting my head banged against the tops of trees and such, I give this up and go back to swimming. I hope the ear piece is water proof and I attempt to talk into it.
"Finnick?" I say and am greeted by Mags voice.
"Hey, Annie, just a little longer now, okay," she says, "the others can't swim, but they are putting up a good fight. Shouldn't be much longer now, okay Salty." I have no idea where she got the idea to start calling me "Salty," but whatever.
"Where's Finnick?" I ask her, desperate for someone who isn't going to call me a seasoning.
"He's here, staring at you," she tells me, confidentially.
"Okay, can you put him on?" I ask her and am rewarded with Finnick's voice.
"Finnick!" I cry, "What's going on? Why did the dam break?"
"I'll tell you later, Annie. Just keep your head up. Not much longer n—" he breaks off because there is a cannon. "The boy from 5, Annie, only two left! Only two, Annie!" he practically screams.
"Don't yell, Finnick," I can hear Mags' voice in the background. "You'll scare her!"
Just now there is another cannon boom. There is silence from the ear-piece. Then they both erupt into cheers.
"Only one more, Annie! Keep your head above water! You're doing perfect," Finnick tells me, using his mentor-pep-talk. "The boy from 12 is left! He can't last much longer!"
If he thought that would cheer me up, he was wrong. I think of the last time I saw my friend; he wouldn't even talk to me. I immediately start bawling my eyes out. As if on cue, I hear him screaming again. This time I fight against the current to get to him. He's only about a half mile away. It takes me about fifteen minutes to get to him. I ignored all of Finnick and Mags' protests; I almost took out the ear-piece, but Finnick would be furious with me if I did.
Finally, I see him, hanging onto the topmost branch of a tree. "Sam!" I scream at him. He sees me and attempts to wave, but just sinks down into the water. I swim towards him with all my might, even though I have no idea what to do when I reach him. But when I do get to him, he's already swallowed too much water. I study his dying face, pale and soaking wet. His blue eyes sparkle in the darkness.
"Remember," he instructs me. "There are better things to fight for."
"You really are wise, Sam," I tell him and shut his eyes when the cannon goes off, nearly deafening me.
I can barely hear Finnick and Mags cheering from the ear-piece before it goes static.
Then the anthem plays and Claudius Templesmith's voice rings out all over the flooded arena for only me to hear. And everyone else watching me. "Ladies and Gentlemen, let me present the Victor of the Seventieth Hunger Games, Miss Annie Cresta!"
A hovercraft appears into the night sky and drops a ladder for me to grab onto. I do and am paralyzed for a moment as it pulls me up. When I reach the hovercraft, people in sterile white uniforms grab my soaking form and force me to sit down, even though I'm still sobbing my eyes out. When we land, I am taken into a while room and stabbed with a needle as people push me onto a small white bed. I go to sleep right afterwards.
And here ends the Seventieth Hunger Games! Haha nope! Still have lots to do! Should I split Annie's story into another book or just continue with this one? It doesn't really matter to me, but it might be easier to keep up with. I could end this one when she gets back to 4, then pick up with her going on the victory tour in the next one or just keep it all nice and neat in one story? DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! B/C I MIGHT UPDATE AGAIN TONIGHT IF YOU DO! And I really do want to hear your opinion about splitting her story!