My first thought is that Annie fell overboard. Luckily, she is still at my side. When I say she is at my side, she is sitting on the ground, curled up in a ball, and her hands are pressed over her ears. At least she isn't in the water. I need to figure out what is going on and we need to figure it out fast. I tell one of my favorite sailors to take care of Annie while I go figure out what is happening. He agrees and I take off to find Ryan.
On my way, nothing terrible is happening, or so I think. I find Ryan, also in a panic, by the staircase to the bottom level.
"What is going on?" I demand. He points to the door, his face in fear of what is coming. I open it and I am greeted by flames. The boat is on fire. The heat burns my face and I slam the door shut. Ryan isn't going to do anything, I can tell by the expression on his face. It is all up to me now.
I take around 30 seconds to devise a plan, a terrible plan that I don't even know if it will work. Before I can second guess myself, I am climbing up the mast of the boat. I try and think of it as climbing a palm tree. I have done that all the time and I have climbed some trees in the arena. I don't look down but push myself upwards until I get to the top, where they have a little stand where the lookout is. He isn't here right now.
I cup my hands around my mouth and hope that I don't have to talk for a while. This is going to take all of it away.
"PLEASE EXIT THE SHIP IN AN ORDERDLY MANNER! WE HAVE LIFEBOATS AND LIFEJACKETS SO YOU WILL LIVE PAST TODAY! HOWEVER, YOUR SCREAMING DOES NOT HELP SO STOP IT! ORDERLY MANNER, PEOPLE!" I repeat my message 3 times. I turn around and see half the boat covered in flames. It is probably a good time to leave the boat now, that everyone is off.
I climb down the mast and start making my way to the lifejackets. I open the chest when my attention is directed to something else. A scream, a human scream, the scream of a girl, the scream of the only girl on board today: Annie. I start running back where I came from, hoping the fire didn't take her over.
The flames are hotter and hotter against my face. They are spreading faster now. No one is coming to help; they have already gone home, jobless. I keep running, pushing myself through. The screams have stopped and I can't help but think that Annie is dead. I won't live either if I don't know if she is alive or not. I can feel my skin burning and when I touch my arm, some skin is peeling off, like when you get sunburn. This is like a sunburn times 15, though.
The last place not totally consumed in fire is my dad's office.
I push open the door and find Annie, huddled in the corner of the office. The windows show flames and the door is the only way not totally consumed. I pick her up and put her on my back. Then, I remember what my dad told me. If the boat was ever to go down, I needed file folder number 32. I scramble through the file cabinet and pluck out 32.
I push open the door and the fire is right with us as I run. I keep running and I feel myself getting weaker and weaker. I try and breathe but it doesn't work too well. I turn around and look at everything ablaze, the office, the box of lifejackets, the mast where I was just standing.
I jump off the side and into the water. The water is cold and amazing after the heat of the boat. I have to keep swimming to shore. I swim and enjoy every second of it.
I pull myself up on the sandbar, file a little wet because I hid it under my jacket. I keep it there. I can hear people screaming, coming towards us. The group is led by Daniel and they all have towels and food and emergency medicines. I try and keep my eyes off the boat but I can't.
When the emergency group finally arrives, they carry Annie and me off the beach. The last thing I see before I black out is the boat going up in flames and sinking into the water.
I blink, once, twice before images appear that make sense to me. My mother and my father are here, standing over me. My mother puts her hands to her mouth in gratefulness that I was alive. I am in the hospital, lying on a bed. A doctor is standing in the corner.
"Can I speak to you, dad? Alone?" My mom is brushing away tears as she nods and steps into the hallway. The doctor follows her and leads her away, probably to look at some test results.
"The boat. What happened?" I demand. For someone barely alive, I feel quite well.
"We really don't know. It had to be arson, nothing else could've caused the fire to break out. The boat is gone now and I really don't know what we are going to do. I don't want to sugar coat it but simply, we don't have jobs now." Not having a job has never been a concern for us. My mother isn't employed and my dad's side of the family has had that boat in the family for years. The Odairs are famous for their crabs. Sure, there are other crabbers but we have had the reign.
"I'm almost 18. I can work now, I'll find a job."
"No, Finnick. You are away half the year with mentoring tributes. This needs to be full time." I open my mouth to protest but he puts his finger up to his lips.
"Don't worry, something good will happen. It always does." He leaves and shuts the door behind him. The doctor comes back in, smiling.
"Well, Finnick, you should be ready to go home now. Just put this on your upper arm once a week for five weeks and the burn should leave." She hands me a bottle of ointment. I thank her and get out of bed.
My legs feel funny from not walking for so long. On my way out, I check the calendar. Just 3 short days until my birthday. The mood doesn't feel so cheery.
I push open the hospital doors, to find rain. It rains every so often here and it is okay. I trudge my way home, empty minded. I wonder what happened to Annie, what happened to the file folder, and what will happen to my newly jobless family.
Well, everything just got a lot more interesting! Please review! The more you review, the faster the next chapter will be out!