Welcome back, readers! Brace yourselves, because this chapter will be filled with TONS of drama, especially at the end. Some unexpected twists could be in store for you, and I have to admit…I think this chapter might be the longest one so far. Anyways, you have been warned…let's see what will happen next.

The Time Is Now

Since there were cameras in all of the tribute residences (some of which had, despite their quiet conversations, undoubtedly noticed an alliance between five mentors and two powerful fugitives), Finnick and Annie were assigned to sneak Effie and Golias out of the Training Centre and into a building in the Capitol that didn't contain any cameras—where they would have to wait and stay safe until the other mentors received news on the kids' location, until Nessa and her tribute allies entered the city to collect the medicine they needed, or until Bongo and Objectiva sent a signal to inform them that they had the amulets. Luckily, Effie knew just the place where they could be safe: her own home, which was her residence for whenever the Hunger Games weren't to begin for quite some time. Also luckily, Golias was able to use his scenery-changing powers to block himself and his four companions from any cameras' view long enough for them to pass them. All it took was closing his eyes and allowing some very hard-to-see-through fog to manifest around them; fog that he was unable to control the scent of. Until they finally got to the right place, the quartet smelled nothing but a strong cookie aroma, which quite miraculously didn't draw any attention from nearby pedestrians.

Meanwhile, Johanna, Blight, and Seeder stayed at the Training Centre and informed more mentors about the plan they were pursuing now—including Beetee, Wiress, and Haymitch, the latter of whom found the humor in the situation when he learned that the biggest perfectionist in the escort business was now a talking pink giraffe with magical powers she didn't have 24/7 control over.

The District 3 mentors, on the other hand, were noticeably surprised to learn about that last part, and about the kind of animal Golias was. "Are you sure they aren't mutts?" Beetee inquired.

"More sure than ever before," replied Seeder. "Trust us, there's more to Nessa than the tributes realize. And she's already got several differences from them as it is."

Wiress smiled in amazement. "I never realized such a thing was scientifically possible."

"Me neither," commented Beetee. "But then again, I suppose anything can be possible in a world of science if you put your mind to the test. It is truly fascinating, the results unique combinations of DNA can create. With the right combinations, you can end up with an entirely new definition of science that has so many differences, it functions much differently than the sciences we are familiar with."

"To the point where it's become far more than just science," concluded Wiress, catching on to his train of thought. "It's become magic."

Though nonetheless, all three of them grew concerned about Effie's safety when he learned from Blight that the Peacekeepers now knew what the Big Big Friends looked like and what they were capable of. And, like the rest of the mentors who now knew all of the details right down to Annie temporarily being trapped inside a painting (Chaff and District 8 mentor Cecelia), he was not only willing to help her reunite with Nessa somehow and switch back. He also expressed interest in helping Matt, Yuri, Lili, and their new friends, even though locating them (or at least trying to) meant finding out how to access footage from all the Capitol's cameras.

Despite finally convincing most of the chosen mentors to participate in the plan by telling them the stylists and remaining escorts could keep an eye on their tributes, Johanna and those still with her had several disadvantages. One was that some of them had been among those who were filmed by the cameras in the District 4 tribute residence, which meant that the authorities more than likely knew they were allied with the Big Big Friends. They needed to find a way to go undercover safely without the help of anyone's layout-changing powers, before the Peacekeepers intervened—and even if this wasn't an issue, there was still the fact that, having spent most of their lives in their respective districts, none of them knew exactly where in this city the Capitol monitored all the cameras around Panem.

Well, at least they knew one thing was for sure: they couldn't stay in the Training Centre a second longer, or else they'd have to deal with a Peacekeeper army. So the group quickly tried to think of a way they could leave without raising any more suspicions. Almost instantly, Chaff came up with an ideal solution: a fake case of food poisoning. The mentors then spent the next twenty minutes pretending to be ill, until someone finally called an ambulance that, with a little help from the fighting talents of Chaff, Cecelia, and the mentors from 7, Beetee and Wiress succeeded in hijacking and deactivating the cameras of while en route.

After that, the mentors in the ambulance spent the next while driving all over town, observing every building and trying to figure out which one contained the nation-wide camera screens. An immensely difficult task, since none of the buildings, from the majestic but not quite as impressive to the extremely luxurious, just didn't seem to be the one they were looking for. It wasn't until an hour had passed that they'd toured the entire town to no avail, and Wiress decided, "Perhaps we should reunite with the other four and regroup. Our only other option is to enter the buildings and search every room they have, which is far too risky after all we've done so far."

Seeder agreed. "Golias did seem to have a solution to finding the right place from the beginning. We didn't resort to it because it might be too spontaneous, but now it seems to be our best choice."

However, because even Haymitch didn't know the way to Effie's main residence, the group ended up having to travel around the Capitol for yet another thirty minutes. Then they ended up driving for their lives, because after that half-hour passed, two hovercrafts and a truck—all of which were filled with Peacekeepers—caught up to them.

Unbeknownst to our heroes, those soldiers dressed in white weren't the only villains who were staying on their toes. Back at the Training Centre, Clove was busy in the gymnasium, practising at every training station there was, but making sure she spent the most time perfecting her stabbing and knife-throwing skills. Enobaria, whom she learned had been told to remain in her bedroom with Cato's stylist and the District 2 escort during her conversation with President Snow, was granted permission to watch her practice and give her some tips, to her delight. Also present for Clove's extra training was Atala, the tributes' head trainer, who not only helped her pupil prepare herself as well, but also kept in touch with the Peacekeepers and Game Makers for word on what was going on in the arena, and word on Rani's still-elusive whereabouts.

"Remember," Atala announced at one point, "your skills are strictly reserved for after the Peacekeepers track you down. Don't use them unless your targets put up too big of a fight for our soldiers to sedate and capture them. Once you manage to convince the evacuees that you want to help them evade the authorities, make sure they stay together and with you at all costs, with your tracker secretly intact. We need it if the Capitol can stand a chance at locating those rebels and detaining them. Do not, under any circumstances, let your tracker be cut out."

Clove gritted her teeth and swung her sharpest knife at a mannequin's heart. "Yeah, everyone knows that's a no-brainer," she grunted. "I'll also remember to dodge quickly if Thresh and Fire Girl come after me on instinct. Until they literally knock themselves out trying to catch me or something."

"Sure you don't want me to join her in this?" Enobaria asked the head trainer.

"I'm absolutely certain," stated Atala. "If you or anyone accompanies Clove to the hospital, it'll look too suspicious. As risky as it is, she'll be better off going solo."

As she reached for another knife, this time to practice stabbing from up close, Clove had to hold back a chuckle. It felt good to finally be in the spotlight, but she had to admit that like this was much better than by being in the arena. Here, everyone was depending on her to practically become the Capitol's superhero, and now her own mentor was feeling jealous that she couldn't tag along on her mission. Not to mention that when she prevailed in that mission, her special treatment was only going to increase…

Needless to say, the real District 2 female tribute of the 74th Hunger Games was not worried. Sure, there were three physically powerful tributes involved in the arena evacuation (yes, she'd learned from Enobaria that Lover Boy had unsurprisingly also betrayed her fellow Careers; he really was on her list of enemies), but she didn't only have muscles of her own on her side. And was there a chance that the evacuees would succeed in killing her, knocking her out, or at least removing her tracker?

Not in her opinion. Geolo Keyship might have betrayed the other Careers, but that was only because he had been separated from them for a while—she knew it, based on how much of a weakling he was. Once she came back to him, he would do anything she requested, even if she didn't threaten him or touch him. And then there was her replacement, who couldn't be more childishly naive. If she, not to mention Geolo, decided to trust the girl she'd replaced, then the rest of the evacuees would too. That lady was the reason why they were evacuating the arena in the first place, and her leadership was part of the reason why her team had made it so far.

There was one part of her mission Clove wasn't looking forward to though: having to pretend to be the evacuees' friend until her tracker led the Peacekeepers to them. It wasn't that she was a bad actress; she was actually pretty good at winning people over just by talking to them. It was flat-out simple. What she wasn't excited about was having to pretend she wanted to help all of them, including Katniss Everdeen. That girl was her arch nemesis, the one person she had vowed never to be nice to! And soon she was supposed to come up and beg her to accept her as an ally? Even if she was only pretending to be nice, the thought of being kind to Fire Girl made Clove downright sick. Without a doubt, when the Peacekeepers arrived and the evacuees learned she had set them up, Fire Girl wouldn't be sedated or captured. She would be killed on the spot by the only tribute who had never been launched into the arena.

Clove practiced her strongest techniques for ten more minutes before setting down her knives and stepping forward to practice her reflexes and agility. With an imaginary Glimmer and Marvel as her opponents, she began cartwheeling, jumping here and there, doing midair "combat," strikes, punches, and kicks, and eventually, flips. She only stopped when she heard a male voice speak up from Atala's communicator: "Cyrus to Atala, Cyrus to Atala."

"Atala here. Over."

"We haven't found Rani, but we do have a new scoop. Some of the mentors are on the run from us, and they stole an ambulance. Also, Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta have mysteriously disappeared, with the magic elephant and Effie Trinket. No info on the kangaroo or the fairy who's with them yet. For some reason they're no longer with Effie. Over."

"Copy. Whatever you do, don't lose that ambulance. Over."

"Copy that. We'll let you know if something else happens. Over and out."

Enobaria came to join Clove. "You know, it's never the same without a real opponent. Feel up for a fight against the best?"

"Uh, no thanks," Clove said. "I have to be completely unscathed when I face those evacuees tonight, and I doubt fighting you is going to leave me without any marks. Thanks for the offer though."

"Keep in mind that it's an open invitation," shrugged Enobaria. She then heard a knock on the gymnasium's exit door, and went to go answer it while Atala focused on her walkie-talkie.

Clove picked up yet another knife to start resuming her training, but this time she couldn't help studying its blade instead. Not to see how sharp it was either; for some reason, Enobaria's open invitation had triggered a wistful energy within her. Was it simply her regretting not being able to battle against her mentor because of the circumstances? No…it was something else. Fights that didn't have to do with revenge or anger just weren't her style. Not away from home…not away from Cato. Those violent but playful fights were reserved for him. They'd always been…at least until he volunteered himself into the Hunger Games and then got killed…

Suddenly her melancholic energy vanished, and made way for fury. It wasn't really Cato's fault that he was gone, or her own! Her stupid replacement and that Woolweave girl were really the ones to blame! They were going to pay in blood; she would make sure of that. Her grip on the knife tightened, and with a fierce and angry yell, Clove thrust it forward, causing it to pierce right through the mannequin and fall on the floor, leaving a see-through hole in the puppet's chest. If only that mannequin had been one of her real enemies! Then she could let go of her vengeful rage and celebrate that successful attack. Stabbings didn't usually go through bodies that far, after all.

Enobaria came back into the gymnasium, now holding something behind her back. Her expression was mostly casual, but Clove noticed a crafty happiness within her eyes as she approached her. Still angry but now a bit confused, she walked toward her mentor and asked, "Did something happen out there? Something good?"

"I'll let you be the judge of that, Clove," replied Enobaria. "You see, the person outside the gymnasium just now was none other than President Snow's Minister Of Interior, who received a rather interesting parcel from some of District 1's medics. Apparently, a one-of-a-kind patient was put into their care yesterday…a patient that they saw fit to kidnap after healing, and bring to President Snow. And he thought you might want to have a look at their patient before we decide what to do with her."

Clove's eyes slowly widened in anticipation. A one-of-a-kind patient from District 1's medics that was so one-of-a-kind they saw fit to…could it be? She remembered the video of the handcar theft at the Capitol's train station, the one that President Snow had shown her earlier. The kangaroo, Effie, and the others had said they needed the handcar to go to District 1 because one of the fairies with them needed medical attention, and they didn't want to take her to the Capitol's hospital! Seriously, this was just getting better and better.

"I thought you'd be interested too," Enobaria grinned. She then showed Clove what she was holding behind her back: a jar with its lid taped onto it. A jar that contained none other than Wish-Trish, with a piece of tape over her mouth and a rope tied around her wings!

A sinister smile manifested on Clove's face. "Well well well," she teased, "we meet again, Wish-Trish."

"MMMM!" Wish-Trish yelled in terror. She tried to scoot back, but before she could, her sister's killer grabbed the jar and tilted it, causing her to slide forward and bump into the wall in front of her.

Laughing, Clove removed the tape from the lid, then the lid itself, and reached into the jar. She pulled out the terrified fairy, gave the jar back to Enobaria, and peeled the smaller piece of tape off of Wish-Trish's mouth.

"Please do not kill me, Knife Witch," begged Wish-Trish. "I honestly have no idea how far my cousin and our friends have progressed, nor where they currently are! It is not a lie or a coverup, I truly do not know!"

Clove smiled tauntingly. "Knife Witch, huh? Oh, poor little fairy. Looks like I was right. Seeing that other fairy you were with back on my birthday—what was her name…Starpoint—really did leave you rattled."

Atala came towards them to observe the scene. "You two already met?"

"Well, yeah, about two months ago," confessed Clove. "She and another fairy tried to use their body-switching magic on President Snow and someone from one of the weaker districts, but Cato and I taught them a lesson. The other fairy's been dead ever since."

Tears filled Wish-Trish's eyes. "F-for your information, that 'other fairy' was my twin sister. And you will not…you will never…get away with ending her life."

"Oh really?" Clove replied, deeply enjoying the strong power she had over her old enemy. "Just look at us, Body Switcher. I'm the one who has the upper hand this time. And your cousin and your friends…they don't even know you're here. I can do whatever I want to you now. I could even kill you. But first, I have one question: where's my dagger?"

Wish-Trish almost choked on her tears. "W-what dagger?"

"The one I used to kill your twin sister. The one that, I have to confess, has been in my family for years. Where is it?"

"You will never find it," said Wish-Trish. "I brought it to my home when saving Starpoint from you and your monstrous accomplice, but I have not seen it since my cousin removed it from her body and transported it into another room."

"Your cousin, huh?"

"Please don't kill her!" Wish-Trish pleaded, her tears now streaming from her eyes. "She is all I have aside from my mother! Please…"

Clove studied the fear and sadness her prisoner was experiencing, and then smirked. "You know, maybe I won't kill you. Not yet. Maybe I'll keep you alive and secretly bring you with me when I track down my replacement. Then you can watch me finish her off…after all, she is one of the people you switcherooed. And then I'll find your cousin, get her to tell me where my missing dagger is, and stab her. And you…you'll be with me the whole time, watching it happen. Helplessly, helplessly watching your cousin die…and who knows? Maybe when I get my dagger back, I'll pay a little visit to your mother."

"Please do not…!" Wish-Trish continued begging, her voice now barely audible.

"Will you stop crying?" Enobaria snapped. "Nobody knows you're here. Those medics said they told your cousin you were dead, and they couldn't save your life! They're pretty good actors."

"Now that's even better," murmured Clove. Turning back to Wish-Trish, she said, "Listen carefully, little fairy. I have a very important job to do soon, and you're not going to interfere. You'll go with me of course, but in a backpack filled with weapons. You won't move, make any noise, or anything until I pull you out so you can watch me put on a show. If you blow my cover too soon, I'll give you a cut. Which will be pretty painful, since your head's the size of a penny. Unlike even the smallest knife in here."

Wish-Trish could only sob, while nodding yes in sadness, fear, and despair. What else could she do, in her current state? All tied up, in a room surrounded by enemies, with her only magical power being to make others swap bodies once they wished to do so?

"Thank you," smiled Clove. And to Enobaria, she said, "Tell the Minister Of Interior that I'll take care of this tiny prisoner from here on out."

"I'll get right on that," promised her mentor, before turning to exit the gymnasium.

When she was gone, Clove gave Wish-Trish one more sadistic grin for good measure. "Face it," she told her. "When I'm around, enemies like you can never win."

"Right," was all Wish-Trish could bring herself to say.

Thankfully, the mentors who had hijacked the ambulance eventually drove right past Effie's residence, where Annie saw the chase through one of the windows. Golias and Effie then leapt into action from indoors, causing the street the vehicles were travelling on to suddenly transform into a fancy outdoor area that was half a carnival and half a fashion show. Something that quickly got a lot of attention from civilians in the Capitol, who for some reason couldn't notice a deliciously-scented fog but could notice a spectacle like this.

All the civilians quickly crowded around, half of them determined to win the fashion show (which was hosted by a shiny robot clone of Caesar Flickerman) and the other half observing the ambulance long enough to recognize Wiress and Beetee in its front seats. Before the Peacekeepers could blink, they were being loudly booed, and shoes, wigs, jewelry, food, drinks, and hats were being thrown at all of their vehicles by the civilians who had glimpsed the ambulance's drivers, the possibility of ambulance theft not clicking with them. To them, it looked like the mentors, whom they'd developed an attachment to since they had first become victors, were trying to put on a show of their own now that the Hunger Games were getting inauthentic in the conflict department, and the Peacekeepers were trying to sabotage the show and force the audience to return to boredom.

Being very careful not to expose anything besides her eyes and up, Effie peered through the window and gasped in shock when she saw Capitol residents rebelling against the Peacekeepers, buying the mentors enough time to escape. "Why that's simply disgraceful! And yet a relief as well…"

Finnick chuckled. "I don't know if Johanna talked to anyone down there or not, but either way, there's one thing you don't see every day."

"Come on, get away from the window!" Golias urged. "We don't want anyone to see us!"

The others obeyed and stepped closer to the walls. Silence followed after that, and the four sighed, now beginning to realize just how long they might have to wait here, until they received some news. All the news they were waiting for, whether from the mentors (or even the kids themselves), from Nessa, or from Bongo and Objectiva, would certainly take more than an hour to receive…talk about a boring next few minutes, despite what was going on outside.

Luckily, Effie knew just the thing to keep them busy: experimenting with their appearances, since they had one of her own wardrobes and some scenery-changing magic to help with that task. And Golias had a few ideas too—ideas that involved real games he hoped would impress Finnick and Annie, like playing musical instruments, riding a magical merry-go-round, and forming a secret circus with four performers…

Meanwhile, back outside, the Peacekeepers were left with no choice but to respond to the civilians in a much more violent way that thankfully went unseen and unheard by Effie and her companions due to the closed and very enhanced windows. Yet several more civilians of the Capitol did hear what was happening and intervened, and pretty soon the authorities were forced to call off the search for the hijacked ambulance until they could deal with their current opponents and figure out how to deal with half of their own townspeople in the right way. Call off the ambulance search…for the moment.

It wasn't until the evening that things finally started to become eventful again for our groups of protagonists. It didn't happen with all of them simultaneously, but one by one, something important happened with each group. And the first thing that happened was a very big moment: Geolo finally applying the finishing touches to the hovercraft and realizing that, while there was nothing he could do to fix the front of the vehicle, its insides, formerly torn wing, and engine were all good to go.

"There are a few things I couldn't do anything about though," he was now warning Thresh, Rue, and Katniss (the rest of the team had fallen asleep during the long wait). "First there are the burns, which as odd as it may sound, didn't impact the outsides too badly. The insides were actually hit by the fire more, likely because the crash's impact on the driving controls' electrical parts were what caused the fire to begin with. Luckily we put it out when we did, not to mention the inadvertent protection those dead Peacekeepers provided to some of the spaces…let's just say it could have been worse. Secondly there's the dents and tears in the hovercraft's front, but those won't really interfere with our flight because the engine and wing are repaired and the crash didn't damage the rooms inside the hovercraft. Only the burns did anything there, and all that resulted in was the floor becoming more dark and crunchy. But the last thing…well, that's where it gets complicated."

"You mean you couldn't fix the hovercraft's driving controls?" Katniss asked, clearly predicting the answer was yes.

Geolo awkwardly shrugged. "Not exactly. Thanks to the land mines' wiring I was able to fix most of them. Although there was one part of the control panel demolished beyond repair, and since the controls are all connected to the same system, that might prove to be a problem later on. But for the first few miles it shouldn't affect the flight…at least provided we don't fly too fast…"

"But we might need to fly faster," said Rue. "Nothing bad happened to us since the mutt attack, and that was hours ago now. Foxface has to be right. There's something waiting for us outside the arena, something we won't have much time to get away from once we get to it."

"I know," Geolo inhaled. "But unless you'd rather stay here and keep playing the game, we don't have a choice. It's the arena or the nasty surprise."

"The surprise," Thresh curtly told him.

Rue stole a glance at her district partner and a nervous-but-trying-to-hide-it Katniss, and then nodded after a second. She was trying not to show it for the mission's sake, but she was just as worried about the escape plan as some of her allies were. Even now that they were so close, there was still so much that could go wrong. What if there were large Peacekeeper troops out there, just waiting to activate their weapons? What if the arena's forcefield had been upgraded, so that no hovercrafts could surpass it? Really, anything could happen in these circumstances. There was a chance they would succeed in breaking out and evading the authorities, but there was an even greater chance that they would die trying to do so. What was it going to be? Soon they were going to find out, and it would be such a nerve-wracking experience…

The national anthem of Panem began to play, snapping Rue out of her thoughts. She, Katniss, Thresh, and Geolo looked up at the sky, and sure enough, they could see the country's symbol being projected up there, just above two words: The Fallen. Except this time, the image didn't make way for a picture of a tribute. Instead it made way for a picture of a man that Geolo instantly recognized as the Peacekeeper whose helmet had gotten burnt by the hovercraft crash's fire. And just below him was one word: CAPITOL.

Geolo cringed at the sight, especially when the man's picture faded and was replaced by that of a slightly older man, also with the word CAPITOL underneath. This was the first time anyone from the Capitol had ever died in the arena, and if things had gone differently, it would have been his own picture displayed up there. The Capitol undoubtedly wanted this to also be the last time this kind of thing happened, one of their own dying in a place strictly reserved for minors who weren't from their city.

Still, as the next few deceased Peacekeepers had their pictures displayed, Geolo was unable to help glancing at Thresh, who was not only still alive, but also saved his life. And he also couldn't help telling him one word that they both knew would enrage the Capitol once the cameras picked it up: "Thanks."

Thresh didn't say anything in response, but he noticed him glance his way. Was this his way of saying "you're welcome?" Geolo quickly shrugged off the question. He didn't want to make any assumptions in case they were wrong. Disrespecting the toughest and strongest tribute in the arena was the last thing he wanted to do, and not just because he was an extremely necessary person to have on their team. Thresh was everything he wasn't. Confident, muscular, not needing to rely on anyone to survive…never afraid to go by only his own opinions…

After twelve Peacekeepers had their pictures shown in the sky, one more picture was displayed. Cato's, under the words DISTRICT 2—and immediately an immense wave of guilt came over Sonia, who had been roused upon hearing the nation anthem. She still couldn't believe she had actually killed someone, even if that someone was a Career who would have killed her if given the chance. Even if it had been the only way to get her team as far as they'd now made it. She was never going to be able to live this down.

Cato's picture disappeared, the anthem stopped, and the typical forest sounds of the arena resumed. Everyone stayed silent, and a tear fell from Sonia's eye. Cato may have wanted her dead, but it hadn't been the other way around. Not really. She'd wanted to emerge as a victor before learning of Nessa's plan to escape the arena, but never for any demises to happen in the process. To her it didn't matter how wicked the Careers were, or that they'd killed her district partner and tried to do the same to her. They were technically still people. With lives. One of which she was responsible for ending.

"It's okay," Nessa quietly said. "They may have to be here for always, but…maybe the people in the other hovercrafts will help them get better."

Peeta sighed, wistfully and nervously. He couldn't blame anyone for not telling her the truth about how tributes were eliminated from the Games, but still. Knowing what really happened to them, and that Nessa thought it wasn't quite as bad as it was…that only made watching the fallen tributes' memoriam harder. He could only imagine what all the families and friends of all those victims were thinking, watching her trying to give her allies hope that the truly impossible would happen.

Not wanting to risk Nessa becoming just as sad as she was, Sonia said, "Sorry for crying, I just…I just feel so bad! I never wanted to hurt anyone, and I never thought I would! I mean…well…" she sniffled.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Katniss quietly replied. "You only did what you had to do."

Sonia turned toward her in agony. "No, you're not getting my point. I…" Yet when she saw the sadness and regret in the Girl On Fire's eyes, she fell silent. Wow—she'd known there was a soft side to Katniss Everdeen, since she'd volunteered to save her younger sister from the Games, but she never thought it would come out like this. Mourning for thirteen people who'd all wanted her dead? Some of whose own deaths she herself had been responsible for? Until now, Sonia had always thought the only people Katniss truly cared about were her family and Peeta; she just seemed so reserved, fierce, and/or with her head in the game every other time she'd seen her. But seeing her now…well, that made Sonia feel even more guilty. She'd misjudged Foxface, and now she was realizing she'd also misjudged Katniss. Would she ever stop being responsible for these bad things?

Still, despite her guilt regarding that, Sonia didn't hold back. She went over and sat next to Katniss, who bent down and comfortingly put her arm around her. Then Rue did too, followed by Geolo, and then Peeta. Thresh, meanwhile, just stood aside, but somehow Sonia could sense that even he felt bad for her. And knowing her, she didn't have to look at Nessa to know she also felt the same. Though she looked anyway, partly because Foxface was sitting next to her and she wanted to apologize for the attitude she'd given her up until she'd admitted to having no loved ones.

Yet when she did look her way, Sonia jumped a little. Panem's national anthem had just played, loud enough to wake the rest of them, and Foxface was still sound asleep. Had she been asleep this entire time, despite that loud music? Dread filled the girl from 8, and she asked, "Foxface? Everything okay…you know, aside from the obvious?"

The fox-like tribute didn't respond. Nessa glanced at her in surprise for a moment, but said, "Hmm…maybe she is asleep."

"What?"

"Well she started sweating just before you started crying, Sonia, so I thought she was nervous about the escape plan and I tried to cheer her up. But I don't think she heard me…"

Rue rushed toward Foxface and studied her, instantly growing concerned. "She's not nervous at all. I think she has a fever."

Nessa's eyes widened. "A fever? Oh no…"

Soon everyone was crowded around Foxface, calling her nickname and trying to wake her up. But no matter how hard they tried, she just wouldn't respond. When this went on for half a minute, Katniss asked Geolo to fill them in on the details regarding the hovercraft again—now. He obeyed, this time adding, "The only part of the control panel I couldn't fix was the retractable ladder. It can still retract, but it won't be able to paralyze us like back when we were being transported to the arena."

"Then get in there and start the engine," instructed Katniss. "If you're serious about bringing her with us, we have to get her to some medicine as soon as possible."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah! I will!" Geolo replied. Biting his tongue to stop himself from rambling again, he leapt back into the ditch, carefully made his way into the hovercraft, and nervously walked toward and sat down in front of the mostly-fixed control panel. This was it; the moment they'd all been waiting for. It was finally time to break out of the arena. Which meant that now, Thresh, Peeta, and the girls were counting on him more than ever. It was up to him to drive this complex vehicle, bust his team out, and fly the team to every intended destination until they were in America. The place where only one person in Panem had ever gone before.

As he observed the control panel and reached for the button that would start the engine, Geolo could feel his heart pounding harder than ever before. This was his first time doing this…what if he made a mistake despite knowing so many things about how hovercrafts worked? What if the authorities captured them despite his best efforts? Quickly, he began to doubt he'd be much help in the driving department, even though he was the only one who could do it without Tally and the District 6 tributes still in the Games.

But then he thought of all his allies, particularly those who believed in him. Mainly Sonia and Rue, who saw differences between him and Tally that not too many people would have picked up on—and, because of those differences, would choose him over her if they had to. If he didn't at least try to help them and the rest of the gang, they might never be able to see their loved ones again. Which would be twice as bad for Nessa, because that would mean she would be stuck in the District 12 escort's body forever. And there was no way he wanted someone as sweet and innocent as her go through such an awful experience.

With that, Geolo pushed aside his doubts (at least for the moment) and pressed the button, starting the hovercraft's engine. He then pulled a lever, causing the vehicle to ascend until it was hovering above the ditch, forty feet away from the ground next to it. Next, he seized the steering wheel and flew the vehicle backwards, so that when he activated the ladder, his teammates would be able to reach it.

Once the hovercraft was in the right position, Geolo pressed another button, allowing the ladder to extend outside and into his team's view. Two seconds passed, and he heard Rue climbing into the vehicle first, with Thresh right behind her. The two of them strapped themselves to seats in the hovercraft's cargo bay, while Sonia made it in next. However, instead of also going to the cargo bay, she rushed into the pilot's cabin and warned, "You'd better start getting us out of here now. As in, right now."

"But it doesn't sound like everyone's—"

"Just extend the ladder farther down the higher we go. The others will climb up in the meantime. Trust me." It was clear in her voice; something bad was coming their way, and there wasn't enough time to explain what it was.

With no other choice, Geolo pulled the lever and held down the ladder button at the same time. The hovercraft then flew even higher, now a minute away from hitting the arena's ceiling, where its life-threatening forcefield was waiting for them. Quickly, he used his foot to point toward a specific group of red buttons and said, "Sonia, quick—press the first one in the first row counting from the left!"

Sonia climbed over and followed his instructions. Once she pressed the button in question, a large missile shot out of the hovercraft and rammed into the arena's ceiling. Just as Katniss made it into the vehicle, still holding her bow, the ceiling was engulfed in a powerful fiery explosion, sending a large chunk of it flying out of the arena and into the real sky.

"Guys!" Sonia screamed, rushing back to the hovercraft's entrance/exit. She and Katniss both peered downward, and sighed in relief when they saw the remaining of members of the team were okay. Well, aside from Foxface, who was still suffering from her injuries, but had finally been roused and was now gasping in fear as she realized what was happening around her.

"We're okay, don't worry!" Nessa called up to them, once again carrying the fox-like tribute on her back.

"Nessa, come on! Hurry!" Katniss yelled, frantically waving her free hand toward the cargo bay as Sonia made her way there and strapped herself to a seat.

Geolo realized he was still pressing the ladder button and released it. "Brace yourselves!" he hollered. "It'll finally be time in 45 seconds!"

Nessa arrived at the top of the ladder, and Katniss held out her hand to help pull her up. She took it and then slowly tried to push herself forward, making sure she had an equally strong grip on Foxface and didn't accidentally drop her.

"Do you two need any extra help?" asked Peeta, waiting a few rungs below them and continuously glancing downward, growing increasingly concerned.

"No…thanks…!" Nessa strained. Yet with herself having to multitask, she just couldn't seem to get inside the hovercraft easily. Even with Katniss helping her.

Not wanting this to take any longer, Katniss tossed her bow into the cargo bay and said, "Just pull her up first. Quickly!"

"What's going on?" Rue called from inside the cargo bay.

"Rue, stay in there," ordered Katniss. "We're coming, it's just taking a bit longer than—"

"GOTCHA, LOVER BOY!"

Startled, Katniss and Nessa turned just in time to see Marvel (him catching up to the group and managing to get onto the ladder due it being close to the ground for too long was what Sonia's warning had been referring to) appear behind Peeta, grab him by his backpack, and try to pull him off the ladder. But Peeta tightened his grip on the rungs he was on and stiffened his body, making it impossible for the Career to succeed in his ambush…at least with only one hand. However Marvel wasn't about to try and use both hands to pull, for he knew that would mean making himself fall off instead.

"Peeta!" Katniss cried out in fear.

"Don't worry about me," her district partner shouted, "help them!" He struggled to get Marvel off his back using his left hand and right foot, but the boy from 1 didn't surrender. He not only continued trying to shove him off, but also placed his foot underneath Peeta's left foot and pushed as hard as he could.

Katniss, meanwhile, grabbed Foxface by her backpack and carefully heaved her into the hovercraft with Nessa's help. She was trying to be as fast as possible—Peeta had saved her life less than 24 hours ago, and that wasn't even the only time he'd done it. It was high time she returned all the favors he had done for her, but if she was going to rescue him from Marvel, a great deal of combat would be required. Combat she knew better than to let Nessa witness. She just needed to get her and Foxface into the vehicle and out of sight before Marvel gained the upper hand…

Within seconds, they finally succeeded in getting the fox-like tribute into the hovercraft. While she was taken into the cargo bay by Thresh, who had unstrapped himself in case anything went wrong, Katniss quickly motioned for Nessa to get inside the vehicle. "I'll take care of Peeta," she promised. "But you have to get in first!"

"Okay…" Nessa whispered. She didn't want to just do nothing to save Peeta, after all the times he'd saved her from the Careers throughout the Games, but she trusted Katniss. Foxface and Sonia had both said she was among the strongest tributes, and tonight she'd learned she was among the nice tributes too. Someone who was strong and nice would be able to save Peeta easily…right?

Katniss stood back, and Nessa managed to climb into the hovercraft. She then went into the cargo bay, where Rue got out of her seat and helped her strap herself into another one. After that, Rue considered leaving to see what she could do to help save Peeta, but Katniss and Thresh both insisted that she stay in the cargo bay with Sonia, Nessa, and Foxface. Katniss then grabbed her bow after Rue found it, and she notched one of her arrows to it. Next, the Girl On Fire took aim, though she needed to wait until exactly the right moment before she could shoot. If she hit her ally instead of his attacker, she'd regret it more than Sonia could possibly regret stabbing Cato.

The hovercraft was now only ten seconds away from exiting the arena. Peeta noticed this and pumped his back forward as best as he could, trying to knock Marvel off balance. This attempt prevailed, but Marvel grabbed the third-last rung of the ladder before he could fall too far. Still, he was separated from him, and Peeta took the opportunity to climb the rest of the way up as fast and carefully as possible. Yet just as he was about to enter the hovercraft, Marvel gave it all he had, caught up to him, and shoved him to the left, successfully knocking him off the ladder's side. Peeta was able to grab the side's edge just in time, but his legs were now no longer close enough to the rungs to touch them. If his fingers slipped, then gravity would take him away.

Marvel laughed, and just as he begun to wrench his opponent's hands off the ladder, Katniss released her arrow, which pierced directly through the Career's neck. But before she could shove him off the ladder and help Peeta back on, a strong metal object was propelled into the sky and collided with his upper legs. Its impact was painful enough to make him let go of the ladder's side, and Katniss could only scream Peeta's name in agony as both he and Marvel tumbled downward, straight into the leaves of a cluster of trees.

The last thing the hovercraft's remaining passengers heard before officially leaving the arena three seconds later was a cannon, and the last memory of the arena's insides anyone received belonged to Rue. For she had gone into the pilot's cabin to warn Geolo about Peeta being in danger after her friends told her to stay away from the vehicle's exit. And while she'd been in there, her gaze had wandered toward the windshield—just long enough to glimpse a now-conscious Glimmer in the Cornucopia, using the slingshot she'd built that morning to slingshot yet another land mine into the sky.

Whoa. The long-awaited arena evacuation has finally happened, but one particular member of the team (seriously, bless his heart) just had to end up separated from them. Hopefully, the trees will soften his fall…and hopefully, the rest of the evacuees won't run into any trouble themselves.

Will Peeta manage to survive despite the fall, and the return of Glimmer? And what will become of the rest of the gang? We'll have to wait and see in the next chapter.