I grabbed my bow and quiver, another spear, and made sure the knives were secure in my belt before walking over to the group. We made our way back to the beach and sat down on the sand, underneath the shade of a low hanging tree.

"Besides Brutus and Enobaria, who's left?" Katniss asked.

"Maybe Chaff. Just those three." Peeta said.

"They know they're outnumbered. I doubt they'll attack again." Finnick said.

"We're safe here on the beach." I supplied.

"So what do we do? We hunt 'em down?" Johanna questioned.

A sudden scream was heard in the forest. It was followed by a panicked voice that exclaimed, "Katniss! Help me!"

Katniss's eyes widened with fear as she shouted, "PRIM!" She got up and ran into the forest, before Finnick could stop her.

"Katniss! Katniss! Wait!" He yelled and went after her. Peeta tried to run behind him but I grabbed his arm and held him back.

"No Peeta! It isn't safe!"

"I need to get to Katniss! She needs my help!" He struggled against my hold.

"Finnick's gonna take care of it! He will pr-" I was cut off by a familiar voice. A rich british accented voice.

"(Y/n)! Help! (Y/n)!" Newt's voice screamed. I shut my eyes close, knowing that there was no way Newt would be here in the arena.

The voice continued to scream for help and from a distance, I could hear Annie's voice calling out for Finnick. My legs felt weak as I clutched onto Peeta's arm. "They are just mutts, (Y/n)." He said.

"He's right. It's not Newt. They're jabberjays." Johanna assured.

"How did they get his voice then?" I looked up at her, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. "Jabberjays copy, don't they?"

"I dont know how they got his voice but trust me, it's the Capitol playing tricks, alright? You need to be strong, (Y/n). They can't hurt Newt. You know that." She said firmly. I nodded my head and wiped away the tears.

The voices of the birds were suddenly cut off, leaving the beach with a lingering silence. Behind us we heard the rustling of leaves and we turned to see Katniss and Finnick in a distance, running towards us.

"Katniss!" Peeta exclaimed and ran towards her. He suddenly bumped into an invisible wall and with a grunt, he stumbled back. I raised my hand and tried to push forward, but the wall restricted me. As Katniss and Finnick came closer, I tried to tell them to stop. Peeta was banging his hands on the barrier while Katniss collided with it on the other side. Tears ran down her face as soundless screams ripped from her throat.

I turned towards Finnick, who had teary eyes, full of pain and worry. "Finnick, it's gonna be okay!" I said. "They're just mutts, Annie's fine. You're gonna be alright." No matter what I said, he still looked distraught. His lips were moving but I couldn't hear a thing. He rested his palm on the barrier before sliding down against it. "Hey, hey, hey! Finn! Stay with me!" I frantically spoke, panic evident in my words. I lowered myself down to the ground, my eyes widening with desperation to ease my best mate's suffering. He shut his eyes and covered his ears with his hands, agony lacing his face.

Knowing the terrors wouldn't stop until the hour was up, I stayed by Finn's side, ignoring the faint cries of the jabberjays on the other side. After what felt like an eternity, the wall suddenly disappeared, causing Finnick to slump against me. Immediately, I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed his back in a soothing manner. "It's over, Finn. The jabberjays are gone. You're alright." I whispered in his ears.

He clutched onto me and buried his face in my shoulder. Johanna walked up to us and placed a hand on Finnick's arm. He flicked his eyes towards her before looking at the ground, a vacant look on his face.

"Are you okay?" She questioned, her voice concerned.

He waved her hand away and mumbled, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine."

Katniss, who had passed out after the intense shrieking of the mutts, suddenly woke up with a gasp. "Prim! Find Prim!", she struggled to say.

Peeta shushed her gently. "Prim's safe. She's alright, Katniss. They won't touch Prim, alright?" She nodded slowly, sweat glistening her forehead.

"Your fiancé is right." Johanna said, causing all of our eyes to turn towards her. "The whole country loves your sister. If they tortured her or did anything anything to her, forget the districts," She shook her head. "There would be riots in the damn Capitol."

She turned towards the sky, and continued in a louder voice. "Hey, how does that sound Snow? What if we.. what if we set YOUR backyard on fire!? You know you can't put everybody in here!"

When she realized all our eyes were on her, she replied in a dejected voice, "What? They can't hurt me. There's no one left that I love." A frown tugged at my lips, knowing Johanna's family was also attacked by the Capitol. She let out a sigh before saying, "I'll get you some water." She walked into the forest, slashing her axe through the green vines that hung from the branches above.

I looked at Finnick, only to find him looking back at me. "Go with Johanna, I'll be fine." He said with a sad smile. He looked at the others before standing up with a wince. "Let's go back to the beach.", He told them. I swift walked to catch up with Johanna.

Once I was by her side, I spoke with a low voice. "I'm sorry for what they did to you. Trust me, I know how you feel." She turned to look at me, her dyed red hair swinging about her face. Her eyes held many emotions, the most prominent one being anger. She gave a tight lipped smile as we came to a stop in front of a big tree.

"I wish things were different, (Y/n). I so badly wanted to lead a normal life. To grow up in a happy place... Have a family..." She shrugged as she pierced the spile into the trunk of the tree, water gushing out of it moments later. I held an empty coconut shell under the stream, waiting for it to fill up. "But it is impossible. All I can do is sit on my bed all day and stare out of the window at people cutting trees." She sighed.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "It isn't impossible to find love, you know?"

She gave a sad smile before replying, "To a person like me, finding friends itself is a difficult task, let alone finding love."

"You never know." I said. "One day you might stumble into the one."

She snorted and pulled out the spile from the tree and secured it into her belt, letting the conversation end there. The both of us walked back towards the beach, the water sloshing about in the shell that I carried.

Once we made our way closer to the beach, I could make out the figure of Katniss and Peeta sitting on a log near the tree line. Finnick was in the sea, washing the dirt out of his blond hair. Johanna reached out and clattered Katniss's arrows, causing the latter to turn around with a jump. I gave a small smile and handed her the shell full of water.

She accepted the water with a "Thank you", although her expression remained uncertain as to why I would help her.

"No problem." I said, "I'm gonna check up on Finnick." With that I walked towards the waters while Johanna plopped down beside Katniss on the sand.

When I was waist deep into the water, Finnick turned around and gave a smile. "Hey."

"You alright?" I inquired, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Not really, no." He said with a shrug.

"Wanna talk about it?"

He let out a sigh before grabbing my hand and dragging me further into the sea until we were neck deep. My eyebrows furrowed with confusion as I kicked my legs to keep afloat. "Cameras are near the tree lines. They can't hear us this far into the ocean." He clarified and I nodded.

"I thought that they had her." He said, his green eyes sad. "Jabberjays copy and I thought they were torturing her in order to get her voice. I was so scared, (Y/n)." I placed my arms on his shoulder as a few tears slipped down his bruised cheek. "I'd go mad if I lost Annie."

"They won't take her, she's a victor. Snow killed my parents because they won the games years ago, most people would've forgotten them by now. Annie won quite recently, so they won't harm her. Trust me." I whispered. "And after all this is over, we needn't worry about her safety. We will all be fine."

His green eyes bore into mine as he smiled a little.

At that moment, Johanna called out, "Finnick! (Y/n)!" We turned our heads towards her. She gestured for us to come over.

"Thank you, (Y/n)." He said. I nodded with a smile and the both of us made our way back to where the rest of the group had assembled into a circle.

"I have a plan." Beetee said as soon as we reached.

Of course, we already knew the plan.

I leaned against a low hanging branch and listened to what he had to say. "Where do the careers feel the safest? The jungle?"

"The jungle's a nightmare." Johanna said with a shudder.

"Probably here on the beach." Peeta supplied.

Beetee looked at us in a prodding manner. "Then why are they not here?"

"Because we are, we claimed it." Johanna replied.

"And if we left they would come." Beetee said, a smile playing on his lips.

"Or stay hidden in the tree lines." Finnick pointed out.

"Which in just over four hours will be soaked with water from the 10 o'clock wave. What happens at midnight?"

"Lighting strikes that tree." Katniss stated.

"Here's what I propose. We leave the beach at dusk, we head to the lighting tree." Beetee said, pointing towards the massive tree. "That should draw them back to the beach. Prior to midnight, we then run this wire from the tree to the water. Anyone in the water or on the damp sand, will be electrocuted."

"How do we know the wire's not gonna burn up?" Johanna questioned.

"Because I invented it." The wise man from district 3 replied. "I assure you it won't burn up."

Finnick, Johanna and I exchanged glances. Katniss looked at us questioningly, while Beetee waited for an answer. "Well, it's better than hunting them down." I said with a shrug.

"Yeah, why not?" Katniss said. I mentally sighed with relief that Katniss was onboard with the plan, it would have taken a lot of convincing if she wasn't. "If it fails, no harm done anyway, right?"

"Alright, I say we try it." Peeta agreed. "So what can we do to help?" He asked Beetee.

"Keep me alive for the next six hours. That would be extremely helpful." He replied.
____________________________________________________

The sun was setting, a lingering colour of pink and purple painted the sky. The water sloshed about my feet as I stood waiting for the plan to begin. Finn was swinging his trident around, a distant look on his handsome face. "Just a few more hours." He said, his choice of words careful.

"After that, it's just a matter of who comes out alive. It's going to be chaotic." I mumbled.

"Just stick by my side, okay?"

"Always."

We stood there for many moments, just taking in the beautiful view of the sun slipping beneath the tree tops and the cool breeze that blew across our faces.

"Katniss still doesn't trust us." Finnick whispered with a frown. "She might kill one of us as soon as we get the coil into the water."

"If she is planning to kill and run, she will need Peeta by her side." Johanna said from behind us. I looked back towards her and she shrugged. "All we have to do is make sure they don't stay together."

I glanced towards the star crossed lovers from district 12, who were sitting down on the beach a bit away from us, tangled up in their own worlds. Just as Peeta leaned in to kiss Katniss, I turned away, not wanting to invade their privacy.

Peeta's feelings were genuine and pure for Katniss, and I thought about mine for Newt. Oh how badly I missed him. I needed to see him. I wanted to hug him and be engulfed in his warmth. I craved to be by his side. I couldn't help but let a tear slip out of my eye. And before I could start crying, I wiped the tear away and took a deep breath, reminding myself that in a few hours I'd see him again.

"Alright, love birds." Johanna called out, causing them to pull apart. I turned around and walked towards Beetee, Finnick by my side. I grabbed my bow and swung the quiver around my shoulder.

"Let's get going shall we?"