Where the sand ends, woods begin to rise shapely. No, not really woods. At least not the kind I know. Jungle. The foreign, almost obsolete word comes to mind. Something I heard from another Hunger Games or learned from school. Most of the trees are unfamiliar, with smooth trunks and a few branches. The earth is very black and spongy underfoot, often obscured by tangles of vines with colorful blossoms. While the sun's hot and bright, the air's warm and heavy with moisture, and I get the feeling I will never really dry here. The think blue fabric of my jumpsuit lets the seawater evaporate easily, but it's already begun to cling to me with sweat.
Peeta takes the lead, cutting through the patches of dense vegetation with is long knife. I make Finnick go second becasue even though he's the most powerful, he's got his hands full with Mags. Katniss goes next and I am behind her. It doesn't take long, between the steep incline and the heat, to become short of breath. Me and Nolan haven been training intensely, I'm not sure about Katniss and Peeta, and Finnick's such an amazing physical specimen that even with Mags over his shoulder, we climb rapidly for about a mile before he requests a rest. And I think it's more for Mag's sake than his own.
The foliage has hidden the wheel from sight, and I watch as Katniss scales up the rubbery tree. I assume she is trying to get a better view of the arena. I glance over at Finnick, "Where do you think Nolan is?" I ask him. I refuse to believe that he is dead.
Finnick looks at me like he's thinking exactly what I'm thinking. That he is dead. The sad look that crosses my face causes Peeta to look over at me. "That's your district partner right?" he asks and I nod my head. "I saw him head into the woods with Johanna."
My face instantly lights up, "That's good." I says with a smile spreading across my face. When Katniss comes back down, she finds Finnick and me and we seem to know what she is thinking. She doesn't trust us.
He grabs one of his tridents raised in a causally defensive position. "What's going on down there, Katniss? Have they all joined hands? Taken a vow of nonviolence? Tosses the weapons in the sea in defiance of the Captiol? Finnick says.
"No," Katniss says.
"No," Finnick repeats. "Because whatever happened in the past is in the past. And no one in this arena was a victor by chance." He eyes Peeta for a moment. "Except maybe Peeta."
She holds his gaze, weighing his speed against her own. The time it will take to send an arrow at him verus the time his trident will reach her body. Then she turns to me, knowing that I would defend Finnick, even if it cost me my life. Calulating if we should block first or go directly for an attack. I can feel we've both about worked it out when Peeta steps deliberatley between us.
"So how many are dead?" he asks.
"Hard to say," Katniss answers. "At least six, I think. And they're still fighting."
"Let's keep moving. We need water," Peeta says.
So far there's been no sign of a freshwater stream or pond, and the saltwater's undrinkable. Again, I think of my Games when I found water relatively easily.
"Better find some soon," I say. "We need to be undercover when the others come hunting us tonight."
The absense of water intensifies my thirst. I keep a sharp eye out as we continue our trek upward, but with no luck. After about another mile, I can see an end to the tree line and assume we're reaching the crest of the hill. "Maybe we'll have better luck on the other side. Find a spring or something."
But there is no other side. I know this before anyone else, even though I am furthest from the top. My eyes catch on a funny, rippling square hanging like a warped pane of glass in the air. At first I think it's the glare from the sun or the heat shimmering up off the ground. But it's fixed in space, not shifting when I move. And that's when I connect the square with Wriess and Beetee in the Training Center and realize what lies before us. I tap on Katniss' shoulder and point to it. Her warning cry is just reaching her lips when Peeta's knife swings out to slash away some vines.
There's a sharp zapping sound. For an instant, the trees are gone and I see open space over a short trench of bare earth. Then Peeta's flung back from the force field, bringing Finnick and Mags to the ground.
Katniss rushes over to where he lies, montionless in a web of vines. "Peeta?" I walk over to them and there's a faint smell of singed hair. She calls out his name again, giving him a little shake, but he's unresponsive. Her fingers fumble aroccs his lips, where there's no warm breaths although moments ago he was panting. She pressed her ear against his chest, to listen for a heart beat. I am sad as she realizes that there isn't one.
"Peeta!" She screams, shaking him harder, even resorting to slapping his face, but it's no use. His heart has failed. "Peeta!"
Finnick props Mags against a tree and pushes Katniss out of the way. "Let me." His fingers touch points at Peeta's neck, run over the bones in his ribs and spine. Then he pinches Peeta's nostrils shut. It never even occured to me to do this.
"No!" Katniss yells, hurling herself at Finnick, thinking that he intends to make certain tha Peeta stays dead, to keep any hope of life returning to him. My hand comes up and hits her so hard, so squarely in the chest that she goes flying back into a earby tree. Finnick closes off Petta's nose again after sending me a gratful look. I watch as Katniss pulls out an arrow from where she sat, whips the notch into place and is about to let it fly when she is stopped by Finnick kissing Peeta. He's not actually kissing him. He's got Peeta's nose blocked off but his mouth is tiled open, and he's blowing air into his lungs. I can see this, I can actually see Peeta's chest rising and falling. Then Finnick unzips the top of Peeta's jumpsuit and begins to pump the spot over his heart with the heels of his hands. Now that Katniss has gotten over her shock, I see that she understands what he is trying to do.
It's obvious that Finnick has dones this before. There's a very set rhythm and method. And I see Katniss lower the arrow to the ground as she leans back and watches, desperately for some sign of success. Angonizing minutes drag past as my hopes diminish. Around the time that I'm deciding it's too late, that Peeta's dead, moved on, he gives a samll cough and Finnick sits back.
Katniss leaves her weapons in the dirt as she flings herself at him. I make my way over Finnick and wrap my arms around him. "Peeta?" I hear Katniss say softly. She brushes the damo blond strans of hair from his forehead, finding the pulse drumming against her fingers at his neck.
His lashes flutter opne and his eeyes meets hers. "Careful," he says weakly. "There's a force feild up ahead."
Katniss lets out a laugh, but there are tears running down her cheeks. "You were dead! Your heart stopped!" She burst out, before really concidering if it's a good idea.
"Well, it seems to be working now," he says. "It's alright, Kantiss." She nods her head but the sounds aren't stopping.
"Katniss?" Now Peeta's worried about her.
"It's okay. It's just her hormones," I say. "From the baby." Katniss looks over at us.
"No. It's not —" She gets out, but is cut off by an even more hysterical round of sobbing that seems only to confirm what I said about the baby. Finnick meets er eyes and she glares at us through her tears.
Both me and Finnick look at Katniss strangely quizzical. He glances from her to Peeta as I do the same, slowly putting the pieces together. She loves him. I figured the whole thing was an act last year to survive, and maybe it was but somewhere along the way she fell in love with him. Maybe she doesn't even know it yet. Finnick gives a slight shake to his head, "How are you?" he asks Peeta. "Do you think you can move on?"
"No, he has to rest," Katniss says. Her nose is running like crazy and she has nothing to use as a handkerchief. Mags rips off a handful of hanging moss from a tree and gives it to her. She is too much of a mess to even question it. She blows her nose loudly and mops the tears off of her face.
She seems to notice a gleam of gold on Peeta's chest and reaches out and retrieves the disk that hangs from a chain around his neck. Her mockingjay has been engraved on it. "Is this you token?" She asks.
"Yes. Do you mind that I used your mockingjay? I wanted us to match," he says.
"No, of course I don't mind." She forces a smile.
I turn to Finnick, knowing that I need to talk to him. About the interview, about how I feel about him, because if I am to die in here, I at least want him to know.