We meandered uphill through the dense forest, Finnick was in the front and I followed close behind him. Beetee was struggling to climb the steep trail. The heavy coil that he carried, only weighed him down and yet, he refused our offers to carry it.

About an hour later, the anthem of Panem was played. We looked up at the sky as images of the fallen tributes were being displayed.

Cashmere, Gloss, Wiress, district 5 female, female morphling, Blight, Chaff.

I was surprised to know that Chaff was one of the fallen. That meant that only Brutus and Enobaria were left. We walked further into the woods until we stumbled into a clearing. A massively large tree stood in the centre, and the vines that hung from it were as big as a regular tree.

Beetee stared at the tree for many moments. "Minimal charring. It's an impressive conductor. Let's get started."

We walked up to the tree and started winding the wire around its massive trunk. We went round and round until it was entirely wrapped up. "Typically, a lightning strike contains five billion joules of energy."

"In other words, we're toast" I said.

"We don't want to be anywhere in the vicinity when it hits." He said with a smile. "You two girls, go together now." He walked towards Johanna and Katniss and handed the coil to the latter. "Take this. Unspool it carefully. Make sure the entire coil is in the water. You understand? Then head to the tree at the 2 o'clock sector. We'll meet you there."

"I'm gonna go with them as a guard." Peeta volunteered.

"No, no, no. You're staying here to protect me."

"No, I need to go with her." He protested.

"There are two careers out there and I need two guards. I want to have (Y/n) here to help me make sure that the wires aren't cut or tangled up."

"Finnick can protect you just fine on his own." He told with a pointed tone.

"Why can't Finnick and Johanna stay with you and Peeta and I'll take the coil?" Katniss supplied.

Finnick and I exchanged glances, knowing that Peeta and Katniss were trying to escape. Beetee walked up to Katniss and stated, "You all agreed to keep me alive till midnight, correct?"

"It's his plan, Katniss." I said. She looked at me with narrowed eyes. "We all agreed to it."

"Is there a problem here?" Finnick asked in a threateningly calm voice.

Katniss held a look of anger for a moment before she sighed in defeat. "No. There's no problem."
She placed a kiss on Peeta's lips before whispering to him, "I'll see you at midnight."

"Alright, let's go." Johanna said and began walking towards the beach. Albeit reluctantly, Katniss followed her.

The sky was dark now, and the clouds above were whirring, indicating that the lightning was going to strike soon.

"Hey Peeta!" I called out to the boy from 12, as soon as the girls were out of sight. He looked up and I waved him over to where I stood. "Do you trust me?" I whispered.

His eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "What do you mean?" At that moment the first sound of thunder rippled through the arena, and though it was faint, my heart started to beat faster knowing that the chaos was about to start.

I turned towards Finnick and tossed him one of my knives. Beetee held his hand out and with a nod, Finn made a cut across Beetee's arm and dug the knife into his skin. Beetee let out a grunt as blood flowed down his arm.

Peeta's eyes were wide as he took a few steps back. "Peeta trust me. Please." I begged. "We don't have time, we need to get the tracker out of your body."

A scream was heard and it was no doubt that it belonged to Katniss. An expression of betrayal took over Peeta's face as he stared at me. "Katniss!" He screamed and took off in her direction.

Finnick ran behind him as the thunder started to become louder. I tore a part of my sleeve and ran over to Beetee. I wrapped the cloth tightly around his arm to stop the bleeding.

"The wire." He pointed towards the lightning tree. I ran over to the tree and found the loose end, and started to wrap it around an arrow head.

Suddenly, a machete whizzed past my head and hit the roots of the tree. I turned around to see Brutus with a smaller knife clutched in his hand. I grabbed another arrow from my quiver and lifted my bow to take aim. I let the arrow fly but it missed my target. Brutus ran off into the forest and I let out a frustrated growl.

Beetee came up behind me and took the wire from my hand. "Go, I'll wrap it around a spear and try to pierce it into the force field."

"Be careful." I said, before running in the direction Brutus had gone. I ran deep into the forest and kept my eyes open. I came to a stop and looked around, trying to catch sight of the man from district 2. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms pulled me into a head lock from behind, causing me to drop my bow as the air was knocked out of my chest.

I struggled against his hold as he tried to choke me. His hand grabbed ahold of my pendant and pulled on it, ripping it from my neck. I let out a strangled scream as I tried to push him away. His weight was suddenly lifted off my back and I gasped for air as his clutch on my neck was gone.

I whipped my head around to see Finnick had Brutus pinned against a tree and he speared his trident into the bulky man's chest. The sound of the blast of the canon was lost amidst the rumbling thunder.

"Where are they? Where's Peeta?" I asked, still gasping for air.

"I don't know, (Y/n)." He replied. "I saw Enobaria run, but I couldn't kill her, she was too far."

"We need to find either Peeta or Katniss. Now." My voice was urgent.

"Let me remove your tracker first." I held my hand out and took a deep breath. I scrunched my eyes shut as the knife pierced through my skin. I bit my lip to stop myself from screaming. He removed the small device from my arm, which was about the size of a coffee bean, and dropped it on the forest floor. A small blast of light came from the clearing, and I knew it was Beetee's attempt to pierce the force field.

"Tie that up as soon as you can." He nodded towards my bleeding arm. "I'll go back to the tree, you circle the perimeter. If you don't find them, go to the 2 o'clock sector as fast as you can. You hear me?" He placed a hand on my shoulder and I nodded through the pain from my arm.

"Don't you dare die, Finnick." I mumbled. He gave me one last smiled before running towards the tree while I grabbed by bow and began to search for the others. I headed towards my right and looked in every direction for any sign of them. I clutched my arm with a wince as the blood poured out from the cut.

I looked up at the sky and frowned. The cloud were glowing and churning about, massive thunders ripping through the arena. It was a matter of minutes before the lighting came.

With a grunt, I ran towards the clearing to help Finnick, the only goal in my mind was to get the bloody walls of the arena to fall down. The massive tree was in my sight. As I got closer, I gasped when I saw Beetee's unconscious form lying on the ground, the spear wrapped with wire beside him.

A few feet away, the sight of Katniss pointing an arrow at Finnick, made my stomach drop.

"Katniss," he said, panting. "Remember who the real enemy is."

The sky began to light up and my eyes widened. "God damn it!" I yelled and ran towards Katniss, who had lowered her arrow. I snatched the wire from her and tried to wrap it around an arrow. My hands were shaking terribly and the blood made it slippery. Katniss knelt down beside me and said, "I'll do it." She grabbed the arrow and wire and began to wind it up.

"(Y/n)! Katniss! Get away from that tree!" Finnick's panicked voice came from behind. I stood up and tried to run backwards but I nearly tripped.

"Get away from thay tree!" He screamed and ran towards me.

Many things happened instantaneously.

Finnick wrapped his hands around my waist and yanked me back and with a blinding flash, the lightning descended down towards the tree, accompanied by a deafeningly loud thunder. Katniss released the arrow with a yell and her body was thrown back due to the force of the lightning. Finnick and I landed in the bushes and my ears began to ring.

Bright electric current flowed along with the arrow and struck the dome with a loud bang. The clouds disappeared as the entire force field turned black.

My head throbbed but I managed to sit up. "You alright?" Finnick asked from beside me as he clutched his side.

I nodded in response, but the small action made my head pound. "What about you?"

"I'll live."

I looked at the dome above us, pieces of it falling down, causing natural sunlight to filter into the arena. "Finnick we need to get the tracker out of you." I grabbed a knife from my belt and handed it over to him. With a small grimace, he cut his arm and took the tracker out.

Debris of metal began to fall down as the hole in the dome got wider. A hovercraft lowered itself into the arena and a long clamp like structure started to descended from it to pick us up.

"C'mon, drag Beetee into the light. They'll spot him then. I'll look for Peeta." I said while trying to stand up. After steadying myself, I limped towards the forest and shouted, "Peeta! Johanna!" My head was spinning as I tried to stay on my feet.

"Johanna, where are you?!" I yelled with desperation. I leaned against a tree and winced. Every inch of my skin screamed for me to stop, but I needed to find them. I heard Finnick come up behind me and he grabbed my uninjured arm.

"(Y/n), we have to go now. C'mon." He said.

"But Jo-Johanna and Peeta..." I tried to protest.

"We can't do anything about it now. I'm so sorry." He sounded distraught. "We have Katniss. They'll come back for the others. Snow is going to send an army to capture us if we don't leave now."

I nodded meekly as I put my arm around his shoulder. The both of us limped to the clearing, avoiding all the debris that laid fallen on the ground. The hovercraft was lowering a big metal basket when we reached the small area that was lit up by the sun.

When it touched the forest floor, Finnick hoisted me into it and then got in himself. I leaned against his shoulder as the basket rose into the sky. The swaying motion made me feel a little nauseous. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that Finnick and I were now safe. We were pulled out of the arena and into the hovercraft, the hatch shutting close behind us.

We were welcomed with the cool atmosphere of the air conditioned hangar. And then a very familiar voice called out, "(Y/n)!".

I turned around and nearly cried out with joy as I took in the sight of the one person I wanted to see the most, Newt. But the only thing I could manage was a weak laugh. He lifted me into his arms and hugged me tight. I wrapped my hands around his neck and winced from the sudden pain, but it didn't matter. I held onto him as tears flowed down my cheeks and wet his shirt. He rubbed my back soothingly and gently sat me down on a chair.

I pulled back and he wiped away the tears. His eyes inspect every inch of my face, a big smile on his lips from the fact that I was alive and safe. But the smile turned into a frown when he saw the blood on my hands and shirt. "Let's get you cleaned up shall we?" He asked in a soft voice. I nodded tiredly in reply.

I tried to stand up, but I almost fell down due to the fatigue in my bones. "Woah woah, steady there." Newt said and sat me down again. "How about you catch your breath for a moment." He chuckled. I was so exhausted that I could only manage to crack a smile. He sat down beside me and I leaned my head against his shoulder. "Are you alright mate?" He asked Finnick, who sat opposite to us in the compartment.

"I've been better." He replied with a smile. I looked towards my left and saw Katniss and Beetee's unconscious bodies lying on a board on the floor. The only indication that they were alive was the constant rise and fall of their chests.

A door opened to my right and I turned to see two ladies is a grey jumpsuit walk in with a box in each of their hands. They were followed by Haymitch and Plutarch, and the latter came to a stop in front of me and said, "You did good, miss (l/n). And you too mister Odair"

I mumbled a small 'thank you'. One of the nurses sat in front of me and gently took my injured arm in her gloved hands. She cleaned the wound and stitched it up before wrapping my arm with a bandage.

"Unfortunately, Peeta and Johanna are still in the arena." Haymitch said with a sigh. "We can assume that they are going to be imprisoned by the Capitol. She," He nodded towards Katniss, "is going to throw a fit."

"Are we headed to 13 now?" Finnick asked while standing up.

"Yes." Newt replied. "We will reach there in a few hours. Meanwhile why don't you both take some rest?"

"There are a few cabins on this hovercraft." Plutarch said. "Freshen up a bit and then we can talk about what to do next. Can you make sure there is a change of clothes in two of the cabins?" He politely asked the nurses, who finished dressing our major wounds.

They nodded and went through the same door they came through. Newt pulled me up slowly and once I was stable on my feet, we walked through the doors and into a room with a table in the centre and many control panels lining up the walls. The conference room had another door on the other end, through which led to a small corridor, cabins on either side.

"You can take that one." He told Finnick and pointed to a door which had the number 4 on it. Newt opened the door to room 5 and led me inside, closing it behind us.

Wanting to wash the remaining blood off my face and hands, I opened the door to the bathroom and inside the small room was just a toilet and a wash basin. "There's no shower in the hovercraft, unfortunately."

"That's not a problem. I don't have the energy to shower anyway."

He took a towel from one of the racks in the bathroom and soaked it in water. After squeezing the excess water out, he gently brought the towel to my face and wiped away the blood and sweat. Once he was done, he cupped my face in his hands and looked at me with a small smile on his lips.

"I missed you so much." He whispered.

Wanting to fulfil the desire to kiss him since the moment I stepped into the wretched arena, I leaned in and lightly pressed my lips against his. He pulled me into an embrace and kissed me slowly. His hands remained on my face, careful not to touch any wounds on my battered body. Many moments later I pulled away, the blush evident on my cheeks as I smiled. "They're probably waiting for us." I said.

"I'll let you get changed." He said. After placing one last kiss on my forehead, he left the room.

I peeled the torn jumpsuit off my body and put on a shirt and a pair of track pants that the nurses had kept for me. It was a few sizes too big, but it gave me the comfort and warmth that I needed. I sat down on the bed and sighed. A few knocks were heard on the door. "Come in." I mumbled.

The door opened and Newt came in, a glass and an apple in his hands. I didn't realise I was extremely thirsty until Newt handed the glass to me and I gulped the water down within seconds. "Slow down, tiger." He chuckled. "Here, eat this before you have a good meal. Or else you'll throw everything up."

I took a rather large bite out of the apple and savored its sweet taste. "Thanks." I managed to say with my mouth full.

"Anytime, love."

Once I was done devouring the apple, we went to the conference room, where Finnick, Haymitch and Plutarch waited for us.

"So glad you could join us, miss (l/n)." Plutarch said. I nodded with a smile in reply.

"All right, let's get down to business." Haymitch declared. "Unfortunately, we just got word that Johanna, Peeta and Enobaria have been taken by the Capitol."

A frown took its place on my lips. We had failed half of the mission. Peeta was essential in order to convince Katniss to cooperate with the plan.

"She's going to loose it when she finds out about the boy." He mumbled.

"She'll still cooperate though?" Plutarch asked Haymitch in a low voice.

"Without Peeta? There's no guarantee."

"Just tell her, her win-" Finnick was cut off when the doors to the hangar opened, to reveal Katniss herself standing there, a syringe in her hand and hatred on her face. She looked at each one of us in the room, before her eyes settled on Haymitch.

He took a step forward and with a sickly sweet smile, he said, "Good morning, sweetheart."

She sneered before lunging at him, but he quickly caught her arms and pushed her against the wall. Newt wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me protectively into his side.

"What are you doing with them?" She exclaimed, breathing heavily.

"You and a syringe against the Capitol? See this is why no one lets you make the plans." He said, yanking the syringe away from her hand. She glared at Finnick and I, a look of anger and betrayal on her face.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" She asked us, still fighting Haymitch's restraining hold.

"Stop, stop. Just listen." Finnick tried to calm her down.

"We couldn't tell you with Snow watching. It was too risky." I reasoned.

"Better for you to know nothing." Haymitch said. She grunted and threw his arms away, and Haymitch took a step back with his hands raised.

"Where's Peeta?" She demanded.

"Now Katniss," Plutarch said in a calm voice. "You have been our mission from the beginning. The plan was to always get you out. Half the tributes were in on it. This is a revolution and you are the mockingjay. And we're on our way to district 13 right now."

The confused expression never left her face. "13?" She questioned. Pluratch nodded in reply. In a slightly panicked voice, she asked, "Where's Peeta?"

I looked down at my feet and Finnick pinched the bridge of his nose when Haymitch answered her, "He still has his tracker in his arm. Johanna cut yours out."

"Where is he?"

His voice became low and somber. "In the Capitol. They got him and Johanna."

At that moment she lost it. "You son of a bitch!" She yelled and smacked Haymitch across the face. Haymitch tried to push her away but she kept hitting him. Plutarch picked up the syringe and injected her with the serum, causing her to fall to the ground. "You promised me that you would save him over me. You promised me. You're a liar. You promised." She sobbed. Her eyes closed and she laid limp on the floor of the hovercraft, the drug finally kicking in.

"Well, she was always on the dramatic side." Haymitch said after a few moments, easing up the tension.

"Can we be excused?" Newt asked Plutarch, who replied with a nod.

Newt, Finnick and I went into my room and sat down on the bed. Newt had a worried look on his face and said in a low voice, "I have some bad news."

"What's wrong?" I questioned.

He let out a deep sigh before replying, "With all that happened in the past few days, we didn't have any time at all to think about the other district." His brown eyes bore into mine. "Annie and my mum are still in district 4. From the sources we have at the Capitol, Snow is furious and there's a rumour that he is sending peacekeepers all over Panem to capture all previous victors... to torture information out of them about what we are upto."

"Oh no.." I whispered. Finnick's eyes were wide with worry as he stared at Newt.

"I think they are going to use