"No no no no no!" Johanna caught Annie just before she hit the mud.
Peeta crouched beside her, his lip quivering in fear, "An-Annie?"
Annie couldn't muster the breath to answer him. A thousand knives pierced her from the inside, until she couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe.
"It's going to be okay," Peeta promised her. "We're going to get this out of you." He reached for the shard of wood embedded in her abdomen.
"Don't!" Johanna caught his wrist just before he began to pull. "You'll kill her!"
"Then what do we do?" he looked at her, and Johanna ripped her sleeves from her uniform.
"We've got to tie it off. Give me your knife."
"Johanna…" Annie could barely utter the word. It was all happening too fast. Static roared in her ears. She could feel her blood leaking from her body. She was dying, and Finnick wasn't even there to hold her as she drew her last breath.
"Hold her down," Johanna commanded, and Peeta gently braced Annie's shoulders against the ground. Johanna sat on her legs. Then, she began to saw away at the severed branch. Annie let out a scream, her body writhing against the pain. She could feel the wood scraping against her bottom rib, and a fresh spurt of blood gushed from the edges of the wound.
Peeta bent down by her ear as he held her, his voice trembling as he whispered, "It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay…" But she could hardly hear him over her own screams.
Finally, Johanna managed to cut the shard down to a bloody nub. She wrapped her sleeves around Annie's torso, bound them tightly about the wound, but blood still seeped from the makeshift bandage. Peeta offered up his sleeves, and they finally managed to staunch the flow of blood. Annie's whole body throbbed with the pulsing of her heart. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she couldn't wipe them away. Her breath came in choked quivers, and Johanna slapped at her cheeks,
"Hey, hey! You're not dying on me. We're going to the lightning tree, come on."
Peeta shook his head, "We're never going to make it. We'll get caught up in the eleventh sector, we're not fast enough."
"But we're too close to the beach," Johanna pointed in the direction of the Cornucopia, where glimpses of the sea shimmered between the trees. "We're going to fry if we don't get out of here, we've got to move. Carry her." Johanna grasped Annie underneath her arms and began to lift her up.
Annie let out a cry as the piece of wood shifted inside her, ripped at her flesh. But Johanna didn't flinch as she loaded her onto Peeta's back. He looped his arms around her legs, and Annie managed to wrap her arms around his neck. Peeta started forward as gingerly as he could, but every step sent another stab of pain through her body. It was too much to bear—Annie's eyes began to flutter closed as a dizzy numbness overcame her.
Johanna squeezed her shoulder, "No, stay awake." She started forward, ready to lead them through the darkness, though not before she told Peeta, "Don't let her pass out."
"Right," he murmured hesitantly. But his voice perked up when he spoke to Annie, "Thank you for saving my life, Annie. How did you do it?"
Annie drew in a breath to speak, but she couldn't pull the right words together in her cloudy mind, couldn't force them from their lungs without feeling the wood scraping against her rib.
"Is it the same thing you did for Finnick?" Peeta pressed her.
She managed to nod against his neck. It felt like so long since Finnick had hit the force field at the start of the Games, she'd almost forgotten about it. She'd gone into this Quell determined to do everything she could to keep him alive, and now he had a chance to escape—to escape the Arena, to escape Snow's threats, to escape the Capitol's lusty whims. Annie eyes closed once more as she pictured him, smiling and unburdened. Finnick was going to be free, end perhaps that was worth the cost of her life.
Finnick felt its veiny roots beneath his feet long before he glimpsed the lightning tree through the darkened jungle, but it was only when he approached it that he could appreciate its sheer size. The thick trunk soared above the canopy, as if reaching up to receive the lightning directly from the sky, and Finnick couldn't help but doubt whether or not they could really harness its power. Beetee, however, seemed much more sure of himself as he began to unspool his wire.
"We need to wrap the trunk at least a dozen times. Will you two help me?"
Finnick knotted the wire to one branch, and Katniss wound the coil around the trunk while Beetee checked behind her for any catches or slack. The minutes crawled by, and they wrapped the tree more than two dozen times before Beetee was finally satisfied.
"Alright," he held the spool out to Finnick. "Take this to the beach, then come straight back."
"I'll go too," Katniss quickly offered, but Beetee shook his head,
"I need someone here to protect me."
"Then I'll do it, and Finnick can stay here," she held the hand out for the spool, but he only looked at her over the rim of his glasses.
"We'll look for Peeta as soon as we get rid of the Careers," he promised, and Katniss dropped her arm in defeat.
Beetee turned his attention to Finnick as he handed him the coil, "Bury it, but make sure it's still in contact with the damp sand."
"And-" Katniss added haltingly. She looked at Finnick, worry shimmering in her eyes. "If you find them, you'll…?"
Finnick nodded to her, "I'll bring them back." He was determined to bring them back no matter what. As soon as he buried the coil at the beach, he was going to double back through the arena to find Peeta and Johanna and Annie. He still wasn't sure what Beetee's escape plan was, or how much time they'd actually have to run before the Capitol came after them, but he wasn't leaving without Annie.
The coil hissed as it unspooled at his hand, and as Finnick shuffled towards the center of the arena, he kept a wary eye out for any sign of Annie and the others. With every snapping twig and rustling leaf, he prayed she'd come bursting through the darkness, into his arms. He didn't care about the cameras anymore—he needed to hold her, to feel her pulse, to hear her breathing. He needed to know she was alive.
Finnick blinked out of his thoughts when he felt the wire go slack, and he glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Brutus' spear flying at his face. The blade whizzed through his hair as he ducked, just barely missing his scalp. He struggled to regain his footing, but Brutus didn't give him the chance. The Career charged at him with Enobaria close behind.
It was only then that Finnick realized he didn't have his trident—he must have let it go when he'd taken Annie's hand in the tidal wave, and now he only had a broken coil to defend himself with. He threw his hands up in desperation, "Stop, stop! You don't have to do this!"
The Careers slowed, but Enobaria didn't stop until she had her sword pressed against his neck. "It's a little late for making a new alliance," she smirked at him, her razored teeth glinting in the dark.
Finnick's throat raked against the blade as he swallowed, and he tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke, "Listen to me, I have a plan." He couldn't tell them the truth, not yet, but if he could just get them to go along with him for a few minutes, none of them had to die. "If we just-"
But Enobaria stopped him with a raised eyebrow, "Where's Annie?"
Finnick could only stare at her, breathless.
Brutus' eyes began to follow the wire trail that Finnick had left behind himself. "They're this way!" he shouted to Enobaria, and in the moment she turned her head to look at him, Finnick saw his chance. He grabbed Enobaria's wrist and kneed her in the gut before she could react. Her grip loosened on her sword as she doubled over, and he wrenched it from her hand. Brutus ran, following the wire towards the lightning tree. If he managed to kill Katniss or Beetee before Finnick could stop him, there'd be no escaping the arena. Finnick left Enobaria coiled on the ground and raced after him, shouting for him to stop. But his heeds were cut short by the sound of a cannon blast.
Finnick's heart dropped into his stomach. "Katniss!" he called through the darkness, but no one answered him. "Katniss!" He burst into the lightning tree's clearing, stumbling over its roots, then, over Brutus' prone body. His eyes were wide and blank, and the shaft of an arrow marked his heart.
"Katniss?" Finnick's eyes darted about the clearing in search of her. Just behind the tree, he could see Beetee lying facedown, his body motionless. Finnick readied his sword, not knowing what to expect next—had Katniss panicked? Did she attack Beetee? Was she going to come after him too? He saw a pair of eyes watching him from the jungle underbrush, and with a sigh of relief, he started towards her, "Katniss, are you okay-"
"Don't come any closer!" Katniss stood upright, her arrow aimed at him. Finnick could see it trembling beneath her fingers as she glared at him, her last shreds of reason giving way to animalistic fear. Finnick knew the look well—it was the look in every Tribute's eyes just before their last kill, just before they won their Games.
Finnick dropped his sword, put his hands in the air, "Take it easy."
"What were you doing with him?" Katniss demanded, motioning to the body at Finnick's feet.
"I wasn't with him," he explained as calmly as he could. "I was-"
A crack of thunder burst overhead, and Katniss nearly lost hold of her arrow as she jumped. Clouds began to swirl above the tree. Midnight was only moments away.
"We need to get out of here," Finnick told her. Beetee's plan was going to fail, and all Finnick knew to do now was keep Katniss alive. "We can look for Peeta, but we need to go."
"You want me to find him so you can kill him?" Katniss hissed, her teeth bared in anger.
Finnick's own hands were shaking, his life gathered at the tip of Katniss' arrow. But with Snow still watching, there was only one thing left he could think to say to her: "Katniss, remember who the real enemy is."
Her eyes widened at the echo of Haymitch's words. The sky boiled above them, and a charge of lightning began to gather in the clouds. Finnick offered one of his surrendered hands to Katniss,
"We need to go, now!"
But Katniss wasn't listening. She picked up an end of wire and twisted it around her arrowhead. Finnick's cries were drowned in the deafening thunder as he ran for her. But it was too late. Lightning struck the tree at the same moment Katniss loosed her arrow. The blast sent them both flying, and the fall forced the air from Finnick's lungs. Pain split his skull, and for a moment he was stunned, unable to do anything but watch as lightning raced up the wire, followed Katniss' arrow into the dome of the arena. Sparks of fire showered towards them, followed by a shower of debris that pelted and burned his skin. Then, the dome itself began to fall. A matt of welded, warped beams dropped from the sky, plummeting towards Finnick, and he could only squeeze his eyes shut as he waited for them to crush him.
Suddenly, everything went black. Was she dead? No, Annie could still feel the pain in her side. She could still feel the most recent cannon blast ringing in her ears. She could still feel Peeta gasp beneath her as he stumbled to a stop.
"What's going on?" he breathed. "Is this the finale?"
"No…" Johanna reached out and found Annie's arm in the darkness. "This is it."
"What do you mean?" Peeta asked, but Johanna ignored his question.
"Put Annie down. You need to get to the lightning tree and bring back help." She pulled Annie from his back as she spoke, and the sudden movement sent a jolt of pain through Annie's body. She let out a cry, and Johanna was more careful as she lowered her to the ground.
Peeta hesitated, "If the plan worked and the Careers are dead, what happens now?"
Johanna scoffed at him, "You still don't get it? This isn't the Games anymore. The arena's shut down—we've got to get the hell out of here!"
"Are you serious?" Peeta asked, his voice hushed in astonishment.
"Yes!" Johanna gave him a shove. "Now go, hurry! Bring someone back to carry her!"
"I will," Peeta promised. He started into the pitch black jungle, and after several moments the noise of his stumbling and groping began to fade.
Johanna crouched by Annie's side, shaking her shoulder, "Hey, you still awake?"
"Yeah." Annie took a deep, shaky breath before she added, "You should go with him."
"Shut up," she retorted, though her voice was more gentle than usual.
Annie gripped her arm, "If you don't go now…" She couldn't finish the thought. Even in the darkness, dizziness overwhelmed her, and she felt herself fading again.
"Annie?" Johanna shook her shoulder again. "Annie, come on, stay with me. We're almost out of here."
But she was so dizzy, so tired, so hurt…
"Annie!" Johanna started to pull at her hair, when a faint droning sound caused her to freeze. The low, steady hum grew nearer as they listened. Annie remembered the sound well—the sound of a Capitol hovercraft coming to collect their bodies.
Words gushed from Annie's lips with a burst of adrenaline, "Johanna, get out of here!"
"What, am I supposed to just leave you here?" Johanna barked, but Annie could hear the tremor in her voice.
Tears sprung to her own eyes—they'd been caught, and she could only hope she would die before Snow was able to exact his wrath on her.
"You said you can't save everyone," she choked. "Please run!"
A spotlight bore down on them, and the wind whipped at their hair as the hovercraft forced its way through the canopy. Its claw descended towards them, silhouetted against the blinding light. Annie pushed Johanna away with all the strength she had left, but Johanna clung to her, unwilling to leave even as the steel jaws closed around them, lifted them into the air. She readied the knife she'd taken from Peeta, their last weapon.
"Stay down," she hissed in Annie's ear, and as soon as they rose into the body of the hovercraft, she slashed wildly at the first body she saw.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Haymitch Abernathy staggered backwards, barely dodging the blade. "It's us!" he shouted, and Johanna dropped the knife, stunned. Plutarch Heavensbee rushed forward to catch Annie as the claw released her. He slid her across the cold metal floor where Haymitch waited with an IV. He thrust the needle into her arm and slipped an oxygen mask over her head. "You're going to be okay, sweetheart. We've got you."
Annie's head rolled on the bare floor as she struggled to make sense of her surroundings. Katniss and Beetee lay beside her, fitted with their own IVs and masks, singed and unconscious. Haymitch and Plutarch were pressing gauze over her makeshift bandages while Johanna tried to tell them what to do. It was only in the light of the cabin that Annie could see how much of her own blood caked her body, how much of it was still oozing around the splintered shard of of wood in her side.
She flinched as Plutarch shined a flashlight into her eyes. "Annie, can you hear me?" he asked her, his voice loud and slow. "Can you stay with me for just a little longer? Tell me where you are, Annie."
But as she felt herself fading, there was only one clear thought that swam through her mind,
"Where's Finnick?"
The faint hum of a hovercraft reached Finnick's ears as he woke. His head throbbed, and he let out a groan before he finally opened his eyes. Fuzzy, white shapes lingered before him, and as he blinked, they morphed into rows of Peacekeepers, closing him in on every side.
"No…" Finnick could only breathe the word before one of the Peacekeepers stepped forward. Without a word, he struck Finnick with the butt of his gun, and suddenly, everything went black.