"We have been through a lot already guys. We lost some friends and allies, but we will pull through. We have dealt with worse."
It is not comforting to think that the one who is in the most distress is the one comforting people, but Finnick is doing his best to make sure that everyone in the alliance keeps their heads. We have already lost several friends, although we have seemed to gain a few new members of this alliance as well.
We lost Mags in the toxic fog, which nearly destroyed Finnick. We lost Blight, which seems to have at least a slight impact on the otherwise hard shelled Johanna Mason from District 7. And we lost the female Morphling, who for some reason sacrificed herself for Peeta and that fact alone confused me. Why would she protect Peeta, who was her competitor, and give her life for him?
Wiress continues to say "tick tock" during Finnick's speech, which is beginning to wear on Johanna's already thin patience. But right before Johanna could get her axe and kill her, I discover what Wiress is trying to say. The arena is a clock! The traps all make sense now!
"Tick tock. This is a clock." I say once I realize what the cryptic message really means. Every part of the forest is arranged like a clock, with the things that are happening occurring at certain times. It all makes sense now.
Now that we have this information, Beetee from District 3 begins to formulate a plan as to how we can eliminate the Career competition. The others except for Wiress, who decides to sit near the edge of the Cornucopia and continues to say "tick tock", begin to converge around Beetee in order to create a solid plan.
While the rest of the group is creating a plan, I notice that Finnick is distracted. Once he separates himself from the rest of the group to get some air, I follow him in order to check up on him.
"You doing okay Finnick?" I ask, surprised at my genuine concern for his well-being.
Finnick looks surprised as well that I am caring, before he answers, "I am fine. Well, as fine as I am going to be in an arena where I have to kill people. I… I'm fine."
I shake my head at him before I ask in a sarcastic voice, "What happened to being honest with me Odair?"
For some reason, it brings me some joy to see some sort of a smile on his face. Although it was only a partial smile, I still consider it an accomplishment.
Finnick chuckles then answers, "I can't get anything past you, can I Ms. Everdeen? If I didn't know any better, I would hazard a guess that you at least kind of care about me. But that would not make any sort of sense now, would it? That would require the stoic Ms. Everdeen to express an emotion other than annoyance."
This time, it was my turn to laugh. I knew that Finnick wouldn't want to directly talk about his heartbreak over losing Mags, especially since the cameras are on us. But I knew that he cared about her and she cared about him. That is why she sacrificed herself in order for him to live. She was the closest thing that he had to a family. I can kind of relate, since I have lost someone close to me.
We seem to have a relationship now where we can have an off the wall conversation, but we know what the other is talking about. I am annoyed at myself for getting close to the other victors. I am annoyed at myself for getting close to him. I swore that I wouldn't get close to anyone in the games after what… what happened to Rue. But they are starting to grow on me. Even the continuous "tick tock" that Wiress has been doing for the last half hour has been growing on me, but I am glad that she abruptly stopped.
Wait.
As I realize that her stopping abruptly doesn't make any sense, I look over to see Gloss beginning to pull out a knife from Wiress' throat. Without thinking, I pull out my arrow and shoot right into his chest, killing him instantly.
"Katniss! Watch out!" Finnick screams as he shoves me out of the way and flings his trident into Cashmere's chest, killing her instantly.
"Fuck!" Johanna screams, as I notice a knife protruding from her leg that seemed to be thrown by Enobaria. Peeta seems in shock as it looks like Johanna shoved him out of the way of the knives path.
Johanna, although injured, throws one of her axes at Brutus. Her toss seemed to be effective, as it looked like it has seriously injured him. She begins to chase after the District 2 victors as they retreat.
Just as that was about to happen, the Cornucopia begins to spin. Everyone is caught by surprise by this, as everyone is thrown onto the ground. The spinning gets faster and faster. Although I try to hold onto the rock as hard as I can, my grip begins to slip from the wet rocks.
Just as my grip fails me, I feel a familiar hand grip onto mine. I look up and see Finnick giving me a determined look as he holds tightly onto my hand. Despite the chaos that is occurring around us, bodies and weapons are being thrown like ragdolls from the spinning, he refuses to leave his eyes from mine.
He whispers softly, although I somehow am able to hear him above all the noise, "I got you Katniss. Just hang on a little longer."
He manages to maintain his grip on me throughout the entire spinning process, which surprised me since I saw Peeta getting thrown into the water after Johanna lost her grip on him. Once the spinning stops, Finnick continues to hold onto my hand, as if he is afraid that I will float away if he lets go.
I start to say, "Finnick, the spinning is over. You can let go now…"
But he shakes his head profusely as he says, "I have lost so much already. I almost lost you. No way in hell am I letting go yet."
Only when Johanna is trying to help Peeta get the remaining water out that he was choking on after she pulled him from the water did Finnick let go of my hand. But the impression was already made. Now I know how he feels, but I am still unsure how I feel or if I should feel.