Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games)

The anthem begins, butthere are no faces in the sky tonight. The audience will be restless, thirstingfor blood. Beetee's trap holds enough promise, though, that the Gamemakershaven't sent in other attacks. Perhaps they are simply curious to see if itwill work.

At what Finnick and I judgeto be about nine, we leave our shell-strewn camp, cross to the twelve o'clockbeach, and begin to quietly hike up to the lightning tree in the light of themoon. Our full stomachs make us more uncomfortable and breathless than we wereon the morning's climb. I begin to regret those last dozen oysters.

Beetee asks Finnick toassist him, and the rest of us stand guard. Before he even attaches any wire tothe tree, Beetee unrolls yards and yards of the stuff. He has Finnick secure ittightly around a broken branch and lay it on the ground. Then they stand oneither side of the tree, passing the spool back and forth as they wrap the wirearound and around the trunk. At first it seems arbitrary, then I see a pattern,like an intricate maze, appearing in the moonlight on Beetee's side. I wonderif it makes any difference how the wire's placed, or if this is merely to addto the speculation of the audience. I bet most of them know as much aboutelectricity as I do.

The work on the trunk'scompleted just as we hear the wave begin. I've never really worked out at whatpoint in the ten o'clock hour it erupts. There must be some buildup, then thewave itself, then the aftermath of the flooding. But the sky tells meten-thirty.

This is when Beetee revealsthe rest of the plan. Since we move most swiftly through the trees, he wantsJohanna and me to take the coil down through the jungle, unwinding the wire aswe go. We are to lay it across the twelve o'clock beach and drop the metalspool, with whatever is left, deep into the water, making sure it sinks. Thenrun for the jungle. If we go now, right now, we should make it to safety.

I want to go with them asa guard, Peeta says immediately. After the moment with the pearl, I know he'sless willing than ever to let me out of his sight.

You're too slow. Besides,I'll need you on this end. Katniss will guard, says Beetee. There's no timeto debate this. I'm sorry. If the girls are to get out of there alive, theyneed to move now. He hands the coil to Johanna.

I don't like the plan anymore than Peeta does. How can I protect him at a distance? But Beetee's right.With his leg, Peeta is too slow to make it down the slope in time. Johanna andI are the fastest and most sure-footed on the jungle floor. I can't think ofany alternative. And if I trust anyone here besides Peeta, it's Beetee.

It's okay, I tell Peeta. We'lljust drop the coil and come straight back up.

Not into the lightningzone, Beetee reminds me. Head for the tree in the one-to-two-o'clock sector.If you find you're running out of time, move over one more. Don't even thinkabout going back on the beach, though, until I can assess the damage.

I take Peeta's face in myhands. Don't worry. I'll see you at midnight. I give him a kiss and, beforehe can object any further, I let go and turn to Johanna. Ready?

Why not? says Johannawith a shrug. She's clearly no happier about being teamed up than I am. Butwe're all caught up in Beetee's trap. You guard, I'll unwind. We can trade offlater.

Without further discussion,we head down the slope. In fact there's very little discussion between us atall. We move at a pretty good clip, one manning the coil, the other keepingwatch. About halfway down, we hear the clicking beginning to rise, indicatingit's after eleven.

Better hurry, Johannasays. I want to put a lot of distance between me and that water before thelightning hits. Just in case Volts miscalculated something.

I'll take the coil for awhile, I say. It's harder work laying out the wire than guarding, and she'shad a long turn.

Here, Johanna says,passing me the coil.

Both of our hands are stillon the metal cylinder when there's a slight vibration. Suddenly the thin goldenwire from above springs down at us, bunching in tangled loops and curls aroundour wrists. Then the severed end snakes up to our feet.

It only takes a second toregister this rapid turn of events. Johanna and I look at each other, butneither of us has to say it. Someone not far above us has cut the wire. Andthey will be on us at any moment.

My hand frees itself fromthe wire and has just closed on the feathers of an arrow when the metalcylinder smashes into the side of my head. The next thing I know, I'm lying onmy back in the vines, a terrible pain in my left temple. Something's wrong withmy eyes. My vision blurs in and out of focus as I strain to make the two moonsfloating up in the sky into one. It's hard to breathe, and I realize Johanna'ssitting on my chest, pinning me at the shoulders with her knees.

There's a stab in my leftforearm. I try to jerk away but I'm still too incapacitated. Johanna's diggingsomething, I guess the point of her knife, into my flesh, twisting it around.There's an excruciating ripping sensation and warmth runs down my wrist,filling my palm. She swipes down my arm and coats half my face with my blood.

Stay down! she hisses.Her weight leaves my body and I'm alone.

Stay down? I think. What? What is happening?My eyes shut, blocking out the inconsistent world, as I try to make sense of mysituation.

All I can think of isJohanna shoving Wiress to the beach. Juststay down, will you? But she didn't attack Wiress. Not like this. I'm notWiress, anyway. I'm not Nuts. Just staydown, will you? echoes around inside my brain.

Footsteps coming. Twopairs. Heavy, not trying to conceal their whereabouts.

Brutus's voice. She's goodas dead! Come on, Enobaria! Feet moving into the night.

Am I? I drift in and out ofconsciousness looking for an answer. Am I as good as dead? I'm in no positionto make an argument to the contrary. In fact, rational thinking is a struggle.This much I know. Johanna attacked me. Smashed that cylinder into my head. Cutmy arm, probably doing irreparable damage to veins and arteries, and thenBrutus and Enobaria showed up before she had time to finish me off.

The alliance is over.Finnick and Johanna must have had an agreement to turn on us tonight. I knew weshould have left this morning. I don't know where Beetee stands. But I'm fairgame, and so is Peeta.

Peeta! Myeyes fly open in panic. Peeta is waiting up by the tree, unsuspecting and offguard. Maybe Finnick has even killed him already. No, I whisper. That wirewas cut from a short distance away by the Careers. Finnick and Beetee andPeetathey can't know what's going on down here. They can only be wonderingwhat has happened, why the wire has gone slack or maybe even sprung back to thetree. This, in itself, can't be a signal to kill, can it? Surely this was justJohanna deciding the time had come to break with us. Kill me. Escape from theCareers. Then bring Finnick into the fight as soon as possible.

I don't know. I don't know.I only know that I must get back to Peeta and keep him alive. It takes everyounce of will I have to push up into a sitting position and drag myself up theside of a tree to my feet. It's lucky I have something to hold on to becausethe jungle's tilting back and forth. Without any warning, I lean forward andvomit up the seafood feast, heaving until there can't possibly be an oysterleft in my body. Trembling and slick with sweat, I assess my physicalcondition.

As I lift up my damagedarm, blood sprays me in the face and the world makes another alarming shift. Isqueeze my eyes shut and cling to the tree until things steady a little. ThenI take a few careful steps to a neighboring tree, pull off some moss, andwithout examining the wound further, tightly bandage my arm. Better. Definitelybetter not to see it. Then I allow my hand to tentatively touch my head wound.There's a huge lump but not too much blood. Obviously I've got some internaldamage, but I don't seem in danger of bleeding to death. At least not throughmy head.