(13)
My brain is moving in circles. I cannot concentrate on my plan of action if I'm watching the Games. I decide the Games are more important and watch the screen obediently, making a silent promise to come up with a strategy when Leanore silences the television.
My mother and Annie converse about something else very quietly and soon enough, the pair moves on to search for Effie. The cameras show Morrison. To my surprise, he hasn't returned to his brothers. Instead, he is sitting on a large rock, looking out into the distance, apparently at nothing. It's still too warm for him to put his shirt back on.
That's when there's a moan and he turns around. Johanna rolls over in the sleeping bag and hits herself in the head as she swings her arm across her body. She mumbles some curses and finally manages to sit up. At first, she just stretches, but then she eventually turns toward Morrison, who is neither smiling nor frowning.
She calls over to him, "Aren't you hot?" Johanna gradually pulls the sleeping bag away from her body.
"Actually, no. I'm fine," he replies. Then he adds, "Why? Are you?"
"Yeah, a little," she fans her face with her hand. "Look at my hair," she says absentmindedly. Johanna places her hands into her hair and shakes it up a bit. Dirt falls out of it. Normally, her hair is pretty spiky, but as she wakes, it's completely entangled and unusually flat.
"It looks fine," Morrison lies.
"Yeah, if mess is your standard," she smiles, standing up. She is barefoot and I notice her shoes are very far from her sleeping bag. "Morrison, mind passing me those," she asks, pointing to the simple black sneakers.
He grabs them and tosses them without much thought, still staring into the forest.
Johanna curses and sighs, "Where are my socks?" She searches around for them for a few minutes before forgetting her shoes all together. It's a while before either says anything but Johanna finally breaks the silence. "How are you going to tell them?"
"Tell them what? That we're allies?" he replies with a tint of frustration.
"Yeah…" Johanna gives him a weird "play along" stare that reminds me of how my mother was looking at Annie.
"I don't know," he decides is the safest answer.
"They're fools," she sneers.
"Who?"
"Why, the Capitol of course!"
I can hardly believe my ears. Johanna just called the Capitol people fools and it wasn't edited out. Is someone falling asleep on their job? Is this conversation planned? What she's just said reminds me of the Johanna I know. She's definitely more gutsy than me, probably even more so than Finnick (and that is saying something). But the question is: will Morrison be as brave as her?
"I know," he replies softly
"Once there's a small spark, there is no way to stop the fire," she continues.
"Yes. What the citizens of the Capitol don't know about what's really happening in Panem is completely appalling," I get the answer to my question by this response.
"No kidding. The whole country is in rebellion and the Capitol is still living in a bubble," Johanna looks up into the sky.
I'm still in disbelief that this conversation is getting through.
"And to think," Morrison reaches his arm out and plucks a berry of nightlock off the bush nearest him, "it's all because of some berries." He twirls the berry in his fingers before throwing it at a tree.
The berry bursts open and the poisonous juice stains the bark of the tree. Then, at the instant Morrison returns his gaze from the smashed berry to Johanna, fire encircles her, reaching far above her head. She yells and tries to escape from it by bolting, but the fire follows every step she takes.
"Johanna!" Morrison calls into the fire. He grabs for his shirt and pulls it on, running into the fire circle with her. Some people would consider this an act of bravery, but I think what he's just done is extremely foolish.
The cameras try to get a view from inside the fire, but it is impossible. Instead, I end up hearing sounds of struggling, screaming and a brief period of silence. It takes several minutes, but Morrison and Johanna escape the fire and it immediately extinguishes as they hit the ground.
She literally pushes him out of reach of the flames and this force knocks him to the ground. She falls on top of him, but other than being winded and a few minor burns, they are both alright.
"Get off me," Morrison says gruffly.
She laughs a little in his face and pins him to the ground.
"Johanna!" he yells again, this time, in a more mollified tone.
"What's going on here?" an alarmed voice calls. Morrison attempts to look up, but Johanna keeps him down with her weight. Eventually, she succumbs to her fear, or perhaps, curiosity, and turns around to face the intruder.
"Oh, it's just Jamie," Johanna says with relief, getting off the ground and dusting the dirt off her clothes. "We were just, uh … attacked by a fire."
"I heard the screams and saw the smoke," Jamie never stops looking at Morrison. "So, naturally, you would end up on the ground together."
"No, she fell," Morrison speaks up. He awkwardly stands up next to Johanna.
"Oh, yeah, that's right! I forgot that you two were allies! It would make a lot of sense for you to pin him to the ground, Johanna," Jamie looks very angry.
"Actually, we are allies," Johanna breaks it to him.
Of course, I know this is all an act. Jamie knows that Annie told all of the people who are to be rescued not to kill each other. I spot another similarity between Peeta and his brother: the ability to lie convincingly.
And Morrison plays right along. He looks at his shoes, unable to meet Jamie's eyes. "I was going to tell you today."
Jamie remains silent and stares at Morrison coldly. "We said: no alliances without the approval of all the members in our Pack. Remember the long argument we had about Prim?"
"Yes. I still don't think she's useful or she can kill," Morrison replies.
"Prim is a very valuable ally. She can heal just as well as her mother and she very good at tending to people. Plus, she's Katniss' sister. I'm sure Katniss would want her sister to win more than she would want either of us," Jamie argues.
"True, but Katniss is dead, so she may actually prefer if Ms. Everdeen was with her in heaven," Morrison mocks slightly.
"In any case, choosing the correct allies is huge. How could you make a decision about Johanna without discussing this with Peeta and me?"
There is a period of long silence before Jamie says, "You know what? Just forget it. Do whatever you want." He storms away.
Morrison starts to follow him, but he takes only two steps before Johanna grabs his hand. Surprised, he faces her and she mumbles, "Don't go." She steps a little bit closer and I'm a little puzzled as to what is happening.
"Morrison…" There is something in Johanna's voice I've never heard before. I can't quite identify it.
"Johanna," he replies, but his tone is different from hers.
She leans into him and steps on his toes to reach his face. That's when she whispers something in his ear. It's inaudible to the viewer. Suddenly, Morrison's eyes widen and he steps back from Johanna.
"How do you know?"
"Listen…" she says quietly, "You can hear the noises if you're very silent."
"Where's my knife?"
"Did you sleep with it?"
"I don't know. Did I?" he gives her a funny look.
"I'm just kidding," she snickers a little.
"No, seriously. Where is it?"
"I took it from you," she admits.
"When?"
"Last night…"
"But, I thought I stuck it in the tree."
"Yeah, you did, but I took it," she says, slightly impatient.
"When did you take it that I didn't see?" Morrison looks just as puzzled as I do.
"After you fell asleep."
"What? But we…"
A rustling in the bushes cuts Morrison off. This isn't a quiet, muted rustle. You could probably hear the sound of crushing leaves from very far away.
Johanna steps back carefully and motions Morrison after her with a finger to her lips. She reaches the knife by her backpack and tosses it to him. Without a word, she climbs up into a tree.
Morrison stands guard around the small clearing of forest. For several moments, the world remains frozen in this way: Johanna in the tree and Morrison holding the knife, ready to attack without any notice. No other sounds are made.
I'm horrified to find Cinna stand up from the bushes.
My heart skips several beats as Morrison registers his presence.
Cinna sees Morrison and they lock eyes. There is a frightening second when Morrison aims his knife straight for Cinna's heart. But then, Jamie appears out of nowhere and places his hand on Morrison's arm, lowering it. He says in Morrison's ear, "Think of Katniss."
Cinna's green eyes return to their normal shape as he slowly steps out of the bushes.
I Whisper a silent prayer thanking Jamie. Cinna still appears alarmed and Morrison remains ready to kill, but there is less tension than a minute ago.
"Well?" Morrison glares at Cinna in such a way that I want to punch him in the face.
Cinna remains frozen in place, but Jamie steps over to him and says, "Hey, if we're making alliances, why not Cinna?"
My designer looks half baffled, half frightened. "I don't want to slow you down," he says under his breath.
"Good! Then we both agree you should be my fifth kill," Morrison walks up to Cinna and holds the knife to his neck.
I close my eyes, waiting for the sound I hoped I would never hear again. But instead, I hear Peeta's sweet voice calling to Morrison, "Don't be a jerk."
My eyes flash open at the sound of Peeta and sure enough, he is there, standing behind Jamie and Prim is with him. Johanna has climbed out of her tree and now stands off to the side, anxious to see what will happen next. She looks as content as a viewer of the Games, not an actual participant.
Morrison lowers his blade and Cinna breathes in slowly. "A jerk, eh? I'm sorry. Maybe I didn't read the rules correctly. I thought the object of this Game is to kill people!" Morrison yells at Peeta, right in the face. Morrison does have a point. As I think this, I realize just how effective his lying is. I know that all of this is staged, and yet for a second, I completely forgot.
Johanna comes up to Morrison and touches his shoulder. This immediately calms him down.
Prim speaks up, "I'm sorry, Cinna. You can leave now."
I notice Johanna's hold on Morrison strengthens and she holds him in place as Cinna runs away, deeper into the woods. I think it is odd how six tributes had just been in the same place and how all six are still alive. If I think this is strange, what must the other viewers think?
In my head, I try to tally up how many people are left. The Career Pack is now five. My mother, Annie, and Effie are a team of three. Cinna, Merrow and Mayla are all alone. That's eleven. Then I think of Rory, Vick, Mr. Mellark and Mayor Undersee. That makes fifteen. So far, seven have died. It takes me some time before I realize the other two tributes are Greasy Sae and Thresh's grandmother, Yula.
That's when there is a cannon and the camera whips from the Career Pack to the deformed figure of Mayor Undersee, an arrow through his skull. The cameras just catch a glimpse of Merrow, who is running wildly through the woods. A feel a deep pang of sadness seeing Madge's father die. I can only imagine what is happening to Madge right now back in District 13. In fact, I get a very clear picture. Her head is probably buried in a pillow. She's crying for her father, for her mother, for me and for Gale.
I change the list inside my head. Sixteen are left. It's mid-afternoon and the Capitol people must be thirsty for blood. I watch for several hours. The Career Pack is split up by more fire, but they rejoin at the Cornucopia. Unfortunately, all the supplies are gone. Prim suggests they go to the lake to get water. From the beginning aerial shot of the arena, I know there is no lake. The only water source is a small stream at the base of the mockingjay's tail. The Cornucopia is in the place of the mockingjay's heart. There is no way that they would be able to reach the stream by nightfall.
I wish I could be there with them to tell them that they are heading in the wrong direction, but Morrison leads the Pack up to the head of the mockingjay. For the second day, all five of them survive on one bottle of water alone. Everyone must be extremely dehydrated.
I'm thrilled when a package floats down and lands in Prim's hands. Inside of it are sixteen rolls from District 4. I now know the secret code. I just hope that the Gamemakers haven't figured it out. Along with the rolls is water. The tributes drink sparingly.
Annie and my mother find Effie sometime around two o'clock. Effie has a few nasty burns, but nothing too pivotal to her health. The trio eats the slab of meat and finishes all of the water bottles. At least when they begin to travel, they are headed to the bottom of the mockingjay.
Ultimately, the cameras come to rest on Rory and Vick. I am utterly shocked to see they are by the stream, carelessly drinking water and hunting with arrows. Now I know I have missed something crucial but I still don't ask Leanore anything. I wonder where Gale's brothers learned to hunt. Maybe he taught them a few things when I was gone. I probably would have done the same for Prim if I knew that our district was in potential danger.
It's nighttime now and nothing much is happening. The camera scans through all of the tributes. I feel especially bad for Mr. Mellark who has no supplies. He appears to be eating some kind of particularly juicy berry to keep him alive.
Finally, Leanore turns off the television and says something about getting rest. My brain is already active. She climbs out of bed and turns the light off on me, whispering, "Goodnight." The fire in my brain sends sparks flying everywhere. I go from one idea to another, jumping around from place to place. Late into the night, my plan is formed and I close my eyes, ready to sleep.
The darkness of the hovercraft engulfs me and I fall into a dark void of nothingness. No thoughts pass through my head. I am, for the first time in years, completely relaxed.
When I wake, there is an intense shake from Leanore and screaming coming from the television. I would recognize the sound of her voice anywhere. A memory of the jabberjay recording comes back to me. There is pain, suffering, utter torture and I know that the voice belongs to Prim.