And then everything goes into chaos, absolute, total, complete chaos. I know what Johanna's doing. Peeta leads us far enough into the woods so that we should be safe, except I have to go back in and so does Beetee.
"Stay here," I tell them after a while and before they can protest, I take off through the jungle, back down the path we came to the beach. Johanna is already gone but Katniss is still lying on the beach, eyes closed, and her arm bloody from where Johanna successfully cut out the tracker – I hope.
"Johanna! Katniss!" I shout. Katniss remains still, so I take off down the beach. I don't think Johanna killed her. Johanna can probably hold up with both Careers for a little bit, but not as long. When I've ran as far as I can before probably hitting a force field, I notice that there is no Johanna or Brutus. Johanna must've ran and then hid, Brutus probably went searching for her. I pull out my trident, standing to throw and she does too when Enobaria notices me.
"Listen, I don't want to kill you and I highly doubt that either of us actually wants this fight to happen," I tell her, as calm and casual as I can muster up.
"Why? What is all this about?" She asks angrily. She's still in fighting position.
"We are about to break out of here, blow up the force field. If you choose to help, I can let you live. However, if you don't, I'm going to have to kill you." She sums up her options before speaking again.
"What will I get from all this?" She asks.
"When we get out of here, I'll make sure the people in charge don't kill you. And even if you are taken by the Capitol, they love you. They won't kill you. If you join with me, you won't die. That's what I can offer you," I tell her. She considers.
"I never would've thought Finnick would be making a deal with a Career," she smirks.
"Well, I'm about to experience a lot of firsts, aren't I?" At that moment, she launches a knife at me, but I've already expected it and jumped out of the way, barely missing it as it sticks into a tree. I'm stronger than her, and push her to the ground, leaning my trident an inch away from her neck.
"We don't have time for indecisiveness. Whose side are you on?" I ask her, keeping the trident close as her reminder.
"Fine, you've made a deal," she sighs. I hold out my other hand and she slowly puts the rest of her knives into it.
"Anything else you've got there?" I ask. She shakes her head no. I release the trident from her throat as she stands.
"Where are we going from here?" She asks as two cannons go off right after each other. I have no idea whose they are, they really could be anybodies. Katniss or Peeta if we failed, Johanna, Beetee, Chaff, Brutus. Enobaria seems unfazed by the noise though.
"The tree, the one that always get struck by lightning," I tell her. We take off through the forest. We are quite a bit away, almost on the other side. I can begin to see Beetee sitting up above in the tree. That leaves Peeta, Chaff, Katniss, Johanna, and Brutus. Which two are dead? I don't entirely know what happens after this and I don't really have to face that decision.
I look up, following an arrow that can only be Katniss' shooting through the sky. It's target is clear.
"Back up!"I tell Enobaria, to get away from the explosion. We take a few steps backwards before the force field explodes with a loud noise and a burst of blue light. I'm throw back as is Enobaria and I don't even know where she landed. Not next to me. Stuff falls from the sky but I can't move. Can't do anything. I'm not dead. I probably won't die from this, but then the explosions start up.
Trees erupting everywhere, and I close my mouth and cover my eyes to keep dirt from getting in them. I hear something burst into flames behind me and I know I must move away before I catch fire. I crawl, slowly. I hear something else but I don't see it. I slowly remove my arm from my face and lay down, the smoke getting to me. From above, I see a hovercraft coming to pick me up. I don't know who is driving it, but it pulls me up and I don't fight. I don't have anything left to fight with. My trident is flung on the ground, I can see it burning below. That's the last thing I see before I'm pulled all the way up into the hovercraft.
When I wake up, I'm in a hospital room in a thin gown. I can breathe normally, good, clean air. Katniss lays beside me but other than that, the room is eerily white. I get up, I can't stand to sit and walk into the hallway.
"Finnick," Plutarch breathes when he sees me. "You did good. We saved her, you saved her." He tells me.
"So, we got everyone out then?" I ask after seeing just Katniss.
"No, um, we weren't able to," he says, clearing his throat. "I'm sorry, Finnick. Johanna and Peeta were taken by the Capitol. Brutus and Chaff were killed." Johanna will surely be interrogated brutally. Peeta should be okay but Johanna knows too much. She might be killed.
"What about outside the districts?" I ask him.
"Full scale rebellion. Communications are down in Seven, Ten, and Twelve. But Eleven has control of transportation now, so there's at least a hope of them getting some food out," he answers.
"And four?" I ask, the only one I really care about. That's where Annie is.
"Rebellion as well. Daniel is in charge, I believe you were friends with him." He tells me. I'm tired of not getting my answer the one he knows I want.
"And Annie?" I ask.
"We're trying to get her out of everything, explosions are going on now," he answers gently.
"Get me there, now," I tell him, almost a command.
"No, I'm sorry. There's no way I can get you to Four. But I've given special orders for her retrieval if possible. It's the best I can do, Finnick." I sigh. Haymitch had joined us.
"Don't be stupid. That's the worst thing you could do. Get her killed for sure. As long as you're alive, they'll keep her alive for bait," Haymitch says. Katniss enters with a burst.
"Eat," Plutarch tells her, passing soup to her and another to me.
"Katniss, I'm going to explain what happened. I don't want you to ask any questions until I'm through. Do you understand?" Haymitch asks. She nods and then he reveals our plan.
"You didn't tell me," is her response.
"Neither you nor Peeta were told. We couldn't risk it. I was even worried you might mention my indiscretion with the watch during the Games. Of course, when I showed you this, I was merely tipping you off about the arena. As a mentor. I thought it might be the first step toward gaining your trust. I never dreamed you'd be a tribute again," Plutarch says. Katniss keeps asking questions and we keep answering, I a little less. I've lost both Annie and Johanna. We move back into the hospital type room and I lie back on the bed.
"Katniss. Katniss, I'm sorry. I wanted to go back for him and Johanna, but I couldn't move," I told her, she doesn't respond. "It's better for him than Johanna. They'll figure out he doesn't know anything pretty fast. And they won't kill him if they think they can use him against you."
"Like bait? Like how they'll use Annie for bait, Finnick?" She says, rudely. That's the first time I cried. It was silence as I cried myself to sleep. I wake eventually just in time to hear Gale, who must've entered.
"Katniss, there is no District Twelve."
Okay, we have ended Catching Fire! Anyone catch the reference in this chapter? When I was reading this book for the first time, I just closed the book and stared at the back for a while because I couldn't believe it was over. Thanks for reading and make sure to review!