Chapter Twenty-Five

The night-time bulletin from the Capitol shows us that no deaths have occurred today - quite an accomplishment, considering the reaping of the first two days. At what is judged to be nine, we head off of our beach and make for the twelve o'clock beach again. Beetee is finally recovered enough to walk on his own, but we are slow-going, nonetheless.

When we get to the tree, Finnick helps Beetee uncoil the wire and the rest of us stand guard. Every once in a while, I glance back to check their progress, but I have no idea what progress really looks like. There is a long strand of wire tied to a heavy branch and set aside on the ground. The rest of the spool is being passed back and forth between Beetee and Finnick as they wind it around the tree. Beetee's side of the tree is very precise, the wire set in uniform rows, with the angles between the rows reminding me of the wiring of a circuit board. This fills me with unexpected confidence in the plan, as surely Beetee is devising an efficient conduit for the energy. I follow the wire down to the branch and try to work that out - it might be like a ground wire? Is that even necessary in this case?

We hear the wave hit the beach just as Beetee announces that he is finished wiring the tree. He steps back for a minute to admire his work and Finnick scratches his head with a slight smile on his face. Then, Beetee turns around to us. "OK, what we need next is for Johanna and Katniss to take the coil back down to the lake, unwinding the wire as you go. Drop the spool into the lake - make sure it sinks. Then, run for the jungle."

Wait. Wait - wait - wait. "I want to go with them as a guard," I say.

"You're too slow," replies Beetee. "Besides, I'll need you on this end. Katniss will guard."

"But - ."

"There's no time to debate this. I'm sorry. If the girls are to get out of there alive, they need to move now." He hands the coil to Johanna.

Katniss looks at me with a panic on her face she is trying to cover. She glances at Beetee, at the tree. Then back to me. "It's OK," she tells me. "We'll just drop the coil and be right back up."

"Not into the lightning zone," says Beetee, his normally neutral voice tinged with urgency, now. "Head for the tree in the one-to-two o'clock sector. If you find you're running out of time, move over one more. Don't even think about going back on the beach, though, until I can assess the damage."

My breathing quickens and everything in my head races. If this does work - if Beetee really is about to unleash something deadly enough to kill everything in the water … Or, if this is all a ruse (as the larger part of me can't help but think) - all about separating us into one-on-one battles …. Nothing - nothing about this is right. It's not right. We've reached the tipping point of the games and are making the wrong decision. We made the wrong decision by not running away earlier, as she suggested. But how to object without breaking the alliance here and now? I shake my head as Katniss approaches me, and she gives me a reassuring smile. She takes my face in her hands. "Don't worry. I'll see you at midnight."

Then - she kisses me; its very gentleness is more powerful than the kisses of last night. Her hands are warm and damp on my warm, damp face, and again I feel that sensation of living an entire life in a moment - frozen in time. I feel her fingers on me, after she lets me go. And as the moment melts - disintegrates into the moist night - I understand that it is over. I have kissed her for the last time. I have, most likely, seen her for the last time. Now is the time for the alliance to end - we didn't break it; Beetee did - nonetheless - it is over now.

I watch her follow Johanna down the slope, walking behind her with the arrow fitted to her bow. Until there is no sign of her left but the fine golden wire, quivering in the moonlight. My mouth feels dry, and my breathing will not slow. I grip the handle of the machete and watch the wire tensely, but also try to keep attuned to any movement from the left side of me, where Finnick is standing, in silence. The pincer sound of the insects in the sector next to us has reached its frantic peak, adding to the sense of mayhem. When she is far enough away - too far for Johanna to hear what happens - I will move on Finnick - then Beetee.

Beetee says, calmly, "Don't worry, Peeta."

I swallow.

Just then, the regular quivering of the wire abruptly stops. The line goes slack and, seconds later, we hear a cry.

I jump forward. "Katniss!"

"Shit," says Finnick. He looks at Beetee. "The Careers. Be quiet - I'll be right back."

"I'm coming," I snarl.

He pushes me back. "Stay here, Peeta! She won't thank you for getting into the fray."

"Fuck you!" And I'm about to use the knife on him, when he knocks me down and springs away.

"Stay the fuck there, Peeta!" he shouts, as he disappears into the trees.

Cursing, I get to my feet.

"Peeta, no …" starts Beetee, but I follow Finnick into the trees.

I'm slithering down the slope as quickly as I can, when I'm confused by footsteps running toward me from the direction of the one o'clock sector. I squint into the darkness and a shadowy figure comes springing out of the trees. Chaff. He freezes when he sees me - and I just have time to register that he's weaponless, cut up, and much thinner than the last time I saw him. "Peeta," he says hoarsely. "Is it time?"

Time? The question is on my lips when there's another crash behind him. Brutus stumbles into sight as Chaff is turning around. Brutus has a sword, but Chaff rushes him, anyway, attempting to grip him in a bear hug before Brutus can strike. Brutus' blade hits, though. Chaff cries out, and I spring down to help him.

Weakened, but still struggling, Chaff clings to Brutus even as he is falling down, down to his death. It's enough to knock Brutus off of his feet, and they start sliding down the slope, me in pursuit.

Boom!

The cannon sounds and I hesitate, not knowing if Chaff has already succumbed or if someone else has died. I can't escape the situation, though - locked into a combat with a Career. I reach them as Brutus has pushed Chaff off of him and he's struggling to pull up his sword when I get the first cut in. I have to get in close to use the machete. I slice his right arm - to the bone. I can feel the sickening click of it against the metal of my blade.

"Fuck," he snarls at me and grips the sword with his left. I parry his first, awkward blow, but he's very strong - I feel the give in my wrist even with his weakened strike - and I know I won't be able to outlast him in a blade-to-blade duel. But if I'm smaller, I'm also a lot younger - and quicker. And wrestling taught me to anticipate an opponent's moves. He makes a half-swivel to find his footing on the slope so he can swing at me harder - and I follow his turn, pull back the knife and stick it in his belly, just above the purple belt. His blood squirts on my face as he staggers toward me. I dance away from him, blessing my prosthetic foot for not failing, for once, to keep me balanced. The hot saliva is in my mouth and the metallic scent of blood is all around me, as I slice a gash across his throat. His sword drops to the ground. I draw back, expectantly. I'm waiting for the cannon - or for him to stir and come after me, but there's nothing, and in the silence, I remember.

"Katniss!" I scream into the night. "Katniss!"

There's no answer. I don't think I've missed a cannon. But I'm only assuming that Chaff is dead, yet. The cannon might have been for someone else.

"Peeta! Peeta! I'm here!"

I stare about me in confusion. Her voice has come from somewhere above me. I'm not sure how far down I came. I look around for the tall tree. I can feel the crackle of static in the air, realize it must be near midnight.

"I'm here! I'm here! Peeta!"

I turn and start heading back up the slope. My mind is torn in two directions. Surely, she won't be at the lightning tree, this close to midnight. But what if she is - injured and in need of help? I can't be sure; voices travel strangely in the jungle, but it seemed like her voice came from my left side, not my right. So I head straight up, slowing as I approach the crest of the hill.

When I reach it, I find that I'm much closer to the one o'clock tree than the twelve o'clock. Brutus and Chaff led me much further along the clock face than I realized. Katniss isn't there, which means….

Boom!

"Katniss!" I cry out, desperate, face up to the sky.

This time, there is no answer. I run toward the twelve o'clock sector, keeping just down the slope so that I don't accidentally run into the force field. But I'm far too late. I can feel it again, the hairs on my neck standing straight up - and there's a flash of light, so bright that I don't see anything for a few seconds once it's over. Then there's a loud crash, and the ground below me rocks as if shaken with sudden violence. I fall on my back, sliding slightly downhill.

All around me, the trees begin to ignite with bright white flames and the ground begins to vomit up dirt and vines.