I am so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. I still hope you all will read it and give feedback. I love hearing your ideas! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!
The glass wall finally retreats and I pick Katniss up and quickly walk her back to the beach. I sit on the sand and just hold her, rocking her back and forth and just trying to remind her that it wasn't real, it's wasn't Prim, it was mutts. Finally she relaxes her muscles and tremors begins rocketing through her body.
"It's all right, Katniss," I whisper to her.
"You didn't hear them," she whispers back. Them? They must have had an arsenal of birds ready for her. For all of us, I am sure.
"I heard Prim. Right in the beginning. But it wasn't her. It was a jabberjay," I say soothingly.
"It was her. Somewhere. The jabberjay just recorded it," she answers.
"No," I say, shaking her head. "That's what they want you to think. The same way I wondered if Glimmer's eyes were in that mutt last year. But those weren't Glimmer's eyes. And that wasn't Prim's voice. Or if it was, they took it from an interview or something and distorted the sound. Made it say whatever she was saying," I explain.
"No, they were torturing her. She's probably dead," she says hopelessly.
"Katniss. Prim isn't dead. How could they kill Prim? We're almost down to the final eight of us. And what happens then?"
"Seven more of us die."
"No, back home. What happens when they reach the final eight tributes in the Games?" I lift her chin so she is made to look into my eyes. "What happens? After the final eight?" I see her calm a bit and she thinks.
"At the final eight? They interview your family and friends back home," she answers.
"That's right. They interview your family and friends. And can they do that if they've killed them all?"
"No?" she says, almost like a question.
"No. That's how we know Prim's alive. She'll be the first one they interview, won't she?" I ask her. I can tell she is still having problems believing it. "First Prim. Then your mother. Your cousin, Gale. Madge. It was a trick, Katniss. A horrible one. But we're the only ones who can be hurt by it. We're the ones in the Games. Not them," I explain.
"You really believe that?" she asks.
"I really do," I say in my most convincing tone. She looks over at Finnick, who is staring at me, wanting to believe my words.
"Do you believe it, Finnick?" she asks.
"It could be true. I don't know. Could they do that, Beetee? Take someone's voice and make it….," Finnick asks.
"Oh, yes," Beetee says. "It's not even that difficult, Finnick. Our children learn a similar technique in school."
"Of course Peeta's right. The whole country adores Katniss's little sister. If they really killed her like this, they'd probably have an uprising on their hands. Don't want that, do they?" Johanna chims in, not much emotion in her voice. She throws her head back and scream at the sky. "Whole country rebellion? Wouldn't want anything like that!"
We all stare at her in shock. No one talks openly about rebellion like that. I am sure they are not showing her on the screen, but still. I am sure there will be retributions for this.
"I'm getting water," she says, heading for the jungle again. Katniss catches her hand and says, "Don't go in there. The birds…." She must have forgot that the birds are gone for now. Johanna shakes free and says,
"They can't hurt me. I'm not like the rest of you. There's no one left I love." She stomps into the jungle, but returns pretty quickly with a shell of water for Katniss. Katniss nods thanks, but does not say anything. Johanna goes back to get water for Finnick and to collect the arrows Katniss shot at the birds. Beetee begins messing with his wire again, while Finnick goes for a swim. He's a known playboy in the Capitol and I believe I have hear he was an only child who lost his parents already. Who could he have left?
"Who did they use against Finnick?" I ask, curious.
"Somebody named Annie," he answers. That makes a little sense, I think.
"Must be Annie Cresta."
"Who?" she asks.
"Annie Cresta. She was the girl Mags volunteered for. She won about five years ago," I explain, picturing the hysterical girl form the reaping this year.
"I don't remember those Games much. Was that the earthquake year?" she asks. Of course, that was the year her father died.
"Yeah. Annie's the one who went mad when her district partner got beheaded. Ran off by herself and hid. But an earthquake broke a dam and most of the arena got flooded. She won because she was the best swimmer," I explain, remembering it must better because I watched it in the weeks leading up to the Games.
"Did she get better after? I mean, her mind?"
"I don't know. I don't remember ever seeing her at the Games again. But she didn't look too stable during the reaping this year." Mags must have known this and volunteered to keep that girl from losing what little sanity she has left. And Finnick is in love with that girl. The poem he wrote for the interview was for her. Suddenly I feel really bad for him. He came here, knowing that he would have to kill everyone, including Mags to get back to her. I remind myself that I still have to kill him to get Katniss back home. Maybe someone else will take care of that for me. Actually, I really hope that everyone will take each other out.
Suddenly the cannon blasts and we see a hovercraft hover over what we think is the six-toseven o'clock section. It has to lower its arm a few times to pick up a tribute that seems to be in pieces. When I realize that Katniss is feeling better, I get another leaf and draw another map, adding 'JJ' in the four-to-five o'clock section, for the jabberjays and 'beast' in the one corresponding with the piece were we just watched the hover craft.
Katniss takes a swim as Finnick weaves a basket and net to fish with. I help Katniss put more ointment on her skin and watch her work as she cleans the fish Finnick brings back. The anthem begins right as we are about to eat and we watch the day's losses.
Cashmere and gloss. Wiress, Mags, District five's female, the morphling who saved me, Blight and the male from ten.
Sixteen of us down in a day and a half.
"They're really burning through us," Johanna says.
"Who's left? Besides us five and District two?" Finnick asks.
"Chaff," I say immediately. I have been looking for his loss. I know it will bother Haymitch the most, well, unless he loses us.
A parachute comes floating down. It has a bunch of bite-sized square shaped rolls. I think they are from District 3. "These are from your district, right, Beetee?" I ask.
"Yes, from District Three. How many are there?" he asks.
Finnick counts them, holding them kind of possessively as he picks up each one. "Twenty-four."
"An even two dozen, then?" Beetee asks.
"24 on the nose. How should we divide them?" Finnick says. These are obviously for Beetee, so he should be the one to decide.
"Let's each have three and whoever is still alive at breakfast can take a vote on the rest," Johanna says, Katniss gives a little giggle at that and I see Johanna give her an approving look. We wait until the ten o'clock hour, watch the wave and give it time to recede before we make camp for the night. Kantiss and I take first watch since we are both very well rested. Johanna, who has only had about an hour of sleep since we began the Games, is out quickly. Finnick falls asleep soon after, but is extremely restless. Kantiss and I sit with our right sides against each other, me watching the forest and her watching the water. When she rests her head on my shoulder, know this is the right time to try to convince her to let me go, to make it back home.
"Kantiss," I say quietly, stroking her hair. "It's no use pretending we don't know what the other one is trying to do. I don't know what kind of deal you think you've made with Haymitch, but you should know he made me promises as well. So, I think we can assume he was lying to one of us." She suddenly looks up into my eyes.
"Why are you saying this now?" she asks.
"Because I don't want you forgetting how different our circumstances are. If you die, and I live, there's no life for me at all back in District 12. You're my whole life. I would never be happy again." I see her start to say something, so I put my finger on her lips. "It's different for you. I'm not saying it wouldn't be hard. But there are other people who'd make your life worth living." I pull at the chain on my neck and hold it out to the moonlight. I slide my finger on the catch and it pops open. She looks at the pictures and I know that after hearing what she heard today, she might actually be considering letting me get her home. "Your family needs you." I let her look at the pictures for a bit and continue, "No one really needs me." My family doesn't need me, Haymitch can survive on his own and Katniss will be all right as soon as the shock wore off.
"I do. I need you," she says. I take a breath and am about to start explaining why she is wrong, but Katniss stops me by kissing me. It's not one of her fake kisses, even though I know the cameras must be focused on us. I attempt to stop and make my argument, but Katniss does not give up. This is a completely different thing. We turn and wrap ourselves around each other and keep kissing. I cannot believe we are doing this, she is doing this, but since I am determined to be dead in the next few days, I will take what few joys I can have.
It's not until the lightening begins hitting the tree that we stop.