Finnick's POV:

It's almost lunch time and I'll need to find somewhere to anchor the boat soon. It's been quite an eventful day already. After the "mishap" on the shuttle, I made it to work without further embarrassing myself. Not that it bothers me too much, because I was daydreaming of my woman, but still. I spent most of the morning checking out the beach and inspecting some of the plants along the coast of Eden.

Everything looked pristine and lush as it always has until I noticed some odd brown spots on the leaves of a few plants on the north side of the beach. This was definitely odd - our environment is so controlled. We rarely have disease – in humans, animals, or plants. I plucked several samples and tucked them into envelopes to send to the lab for review, just to be on the safe side.

I reminded myself that I had to always be aware that Mother Nature is one step ahead of man. That's why I had this job - to be on the look out for abnormalities. I just never expected to find anything out of place, especially here of all places. This didn't give me a good feeling at all.

I decided to take the boat and make a run across the north side of the beach just to make sure there was nothing more to be concerned about in the water.

Everything looks good as I make a quick sweep past the beach, so I take it a little farther out and stop for a lunch break. Dropping anchor, I go down into the cabin and fix a quick lunch. It's cooler in the cabin – I didn't realize I had been so warm outside. I remind myself to check the temperature after lunch. I can't seem to shake the uneasy feeling I've had ever since I found the damaged leaves. After lunch, I lay down to rest a few minutes hoping to organize my thoughts before going back on deck.

I close my eyes and visions of Annie fill my mind, relaxing me instantly. I love that woman with everything in me. She's my whole fucking world. We have our entire lives ahead of us – years of dreams to fulfill. I want to share everything with her. I want children with her – lots of children. I want lots of practice conceiving those children! I want a home on the beach. I want long walks on that beach every morning and every evening. I dream of making love to her with the sounds of waves crashing and the salt air floating in through the open windows. I dream of making love to her as the sun rises on the far side of Eden and starts to peek through the curtains and highlight her skin. I dream of making love to her on the beach in the soft, warm sand and in the cool of the water. I will christen every part of my future, my life, my body with imprints of Annie. I will see these dreams come true. I make that promise for both of us and for our future.

Anxiety about the leaves keeps me from resting long, call it intuition or whatever you like, but I have a gut feeling something is not right. I go on deck, pull up anchor and decide to check out the waters about a mile out off the north shore. When I get to where I can barely make out the beach, I stop the boat, walk around and peer out at the water as far as I can see. I take a deep breath, inhaling the salty air and feel it pierce my lungs in a warm and welcome way. I feel the breeze run her fingers through my hair and caress my skin like it has done a million times before. She's quite possessive of me. This is my life. This is home. It has been a part of me since before I was born. It is in my blood. I bet if you take a sample of my blood it will contain salt water!

I notice again that I am warmer than usual, my skin feels almost hot. I check the temperature and sure enough, it's a couple of degrees warmer than it should be. I jot this down in the captain's log and decide to take a quick swim to cool off. It doesn't help. The water here is warmer than usual, too. I am really concerned now. What the fuck going on? Is there some connection between the brown spots on the plants and the changes in temperature?

I climb back into the boat and take some samples of the water. I note the waters temperature in the log, and place the water samples with the leaf samples. I take one last sweep around the beach before I head back, overly cautious, I know, but I can't help myself. About half way back the sunlight reflects off of something floating just under the surface of the water. I feel goose bumps break out all over. This is not right, something is very fucking wrong.

I stop and walk over to the railing, peering down into the water and see if I can make out the cloudy image in the aqua waters. Shit! Fish. Dead fish, or to be more exact, hundreds of dead fish. What the hell is going on? Fish do NOT die in mass out here! Something is definitely not right. They have not been dead long – there is no odor on the breeze nor have they been eaten – this is not chum – it is an entire school, floating belly up.

I want to scream. These fish and these waters are my life. What have I done, or not done, to protect them? A variety of emotions sweep across me – sadness, grief, pain, anger, and frustration. Dipping a net down into the water, I scoop up several fish and place them in a large container. These, too, will go to the lab for inspection. I have to figure this out. If this is something new, I need to find a way to overcome it.

What is happening? How long has it been going on? Is this just some small twisted gift that Mother Nature has sent to shake me up? Has it affected other areas of Eden? What about District 14 – has anyone else been affected? The sooner I get these samples back to the lab, the sooner I can begin to get answers. My fear is that the answers will only leave me with more questions – questions that I may not be able to answer. Why do I feel like I'm running out of time? Why do I feel the need to hurry. I need Annie and I need her now.

I wish I could have foreseen the danger ahead. Even if I could have, I don't know that I could have prevented the magnitude of the catastrophic events that would soon take place and affect us all.