THE NIGHT HAD BEEN FAIRLY UNEVENTFUL ON FINNICK'S END. There were two kills that Leia had missed when she fell asleep in her chair, but neither of them were anywhere near where Finnick was, which was good. There were only fifteen people left, including him. He got some sleep but not a lot since he was probably terrified and paranoid. He was smart, so he was saving the bread for a time that he really needed it. But he was going to need water soon, and he did not have any.

That day, once it got light, he made his way down to the ground below the tree and began putting some of his supplies to good use. He was using the twine and the rope and weaving them to create a net. He then found a way to hook it up to a tree so that when he pulled it, whatever was standing on top of it would be captured.

Leia, realizing that sitting there and watching him was not helping him at all, decided to go around the building with Mags and try to get him some sponsors. The older woman worked on getting some for Isla, and Leia took the Odair boy. At that moment, she was speaking to a woman and her husband and trying to sell them on the idea that Finnick was going to win. "He got a great score on the individuals, and he's still alive. He shows real promise."

"And he's just so adorable," the woman commented, which grossed Leia out. It was really disgusting how many people had commented on Finnick's appearance — men and women — and how attractive he was. He was fourteen. He was just a child.

The husband seemed very hesitant, and he looked up at the screen which was switching between Finnick and the other active Tributes. "I'm not sure I want to spend money on this kid that'll die in a day."

"He won't, and you are very rich, sir," the Calore girl pointed out. She was not positive of the fact, but nearly everyone in the Capitol was extremely loaded. A donation would not even put a dent in what they had, so she had come to the realization that people were selfish assholes. "If you could just donate a little bit, it would help so much."

The woman pointed up at the boy, and she was making it seem like he was totally defenseless. Leia wanted to interject and say that he was doing great, but she knew that thinking they could help him live would convince people to donate. The wife cooed, "Look at him. What will he do without our help?"

"Oh, you've got me. Here you go. Help the poor kid out with whatever he needs," the man responded, and he pulled out his checkbook, writing on one of the slips before handing it to her. Her eyes widened at the amount written on it, knowing they''d be able to get Finnick something good.

All of a sudden, there was a scream. Leia whipped around to see Finnick looking up as well, confused. That meant that he heard it and that the threat was near him. He had been covering the net with dirt and leaves to conceal it, but he brushed off his hand and grabbed his knife before heading to investigate. The girl on the other side of the screen shook her head. "No, no, no. What are you doing?"

He stepped into a clearing, and his eyes widened when he saw a blonde girl lying in the middle of it. There was blood all around her, and she was clearly dying. However, despite that fact that whoever stabbed her was probably still around them somewhere, he decided that it was a good idea to proceed further into the clearing.

"Finnick!" the girl wheezed out, and everyone realized that it was Isla that was lying there. He rushed to her side and kneeled next to her, searching frantically for something that he could use to stop the bleeding. Before he could do anything, though, she grabbed his arm with her hand covered in her own blood and looked up at him with a firm expression. "You have to go. It's a trap."

"No, I'm not leaving you," he insisted. Leia felt awful for thinking it, but he needed to go. Isla was not going to survive. Whatever had been plunged into her torso had clearly hit some major organs. She was bleeding out, and he needed to follow her advice and get the hell out of there before he was lying dead next to her.

"It's too late for me," she insisted. It was true, and Finnick seemed to know it because tears were starting to well up in his eyes at the sight of his only acquaintance in the arena dying in his arms. She pushed him as hard as she could with her remaining strength. "Get the hell out of here!"

It was too late. A second later, a body came flying out of the brush and dove toward Finnick with a spear in his hand. The younger kid dodged the weapon and rolled to the ground, and the figure stopped for long enough that Isla could see that it was Beryl — the girl from District One.

Leia froze when she saw that Finnick was gripping his left arm. Maybe he had not dodged the spear as well as she thought he had. There was a deep cut across his bicep, and blood was pouring out of it. Beryl was regaining her balance, and he took the chance to kick her in the side of her calf so that she fell over.

He then jumped to his feet and began running. He ran all the way back to his tree, and he could hear the Career close on his tail. Once he reached his spot, he dove behind the thick tree and waited. Beryl stopped when she reached the spot, unsure of where the kid could have gone.

The Calore girl was terrified, but her nerves were almost completely gone when she realized that the girl was standing right on top of the net that he had made. Finnick snuck to where the rope was tied to the tree, and he counted down for himself before tugging it as hard as he could.

Beryl cried out in shock as her feet left the ground, and she realized what was happening a second too late. Finnick reached down and tied the rope to the bottom of the tree so that the girl was suspended and flailing in the air. She fell still as he walked over to her.

"I'm sorry," the boy breathed out, and then, he took his knife and plunged it into her head. He was crying as he did so, and it was clear that he really did not want to do it.

Leia turned around a moment too late, and she saw the blood splatter across the ground. She composed herself and looked back up at the couple. The man snatched the check out of her hand, and she was expecting him to tear it up. However, she was shocked when he took out his pen and added another zero to the end of his previous amount. He handed it back to her and told her, "Make sure he wins."

《✵》

FINNICK NEEDED TO PACK UP HIS THINGS AND MOVE. One Career was down, but it was not long before the others found him. His arm was still bleeding, and he had wrapped it in a piece of his shirt that he had ripped off. He desperately needed some water and to eat, but he had yet to see any sign of refreshment in his hours and hours of walking on the first day. So, his best bet was going to have to be to keep walking and pray that he finds something.

Someone somewhere must like him because after about four hours of walking, he found a pond. He was so thirsty that he did not even check his surroundings before he collapsed into the water. The jungle was hot and humid, and he was so happy to have something to cool him down for a moment. He began scooping water into his mouth before taking out his canteen and filling that up.

His head whipped up when he heard a noise, and Leia grew worried. She leaned forward in her chair and scanned every corner of the screen that she could see for some sort of threat. However, she chuckled when she realized that it was the sound of his gift.

"Oh, thank God," the Odair boy sighed when he saw the twinkling of the silver canister floating down toward him. He jumped up and grabbed it once it was low enough, and he collapsed on the ground again. He opened it to see medicine and a couple of bandages. Leia frowned because the money that she had gotten would buy twenty times all of that. Finnick looked up at the sky and thanked his mentor. "Thank you, Mags."

He began fixing himself up, applying the medicine and wrapping the bandage tightly around his arm. The bleeding seemed to magically stop, and he laughed as he began packing everything back up. As he was putting his things away, Leia heard a low growl.

"Finnick, watch out!" she shrieked, even though he could not hear her. There was a jaguar standing right across the tiny pond, and it had a murderous look on his face. Leia did not know a lot about jaguars, but this one looked particularly angry. Finnick's head slowly looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw the cat.

"Oh, shit," he cursed, and he stood up very slowly, trying not to startle it. He held his hands up and tried soothing it somehow. The Calore girl had a feeling that it could not be soothed, though. "Good kitty."

Then, he took off. He had a spear that he stole from Beryl in one hand and his bag slung over his other arm. Leia did not know what she expected because there was no way that Finnick could outrun a jaguar, but it made it even more unlikely when he tripped and fell onto his face.

He spun around onto his back, and the cat was only a few feet away from him. Leia's heart dropped, and she had to stand up. There was no way that he had made it that far to be killed by a freaking jaguar. It just was not fair. It stalked around his trembling frame for a moment before pouncing.

And then it stopped.

The Calore girl was on the verge of tears until she realized that Finnick had lifted his spear just in time so that when the animal jumped, it landed right on top of the sharp end. After a moment of it being impaled, it collapsed right beside the boy whose eyes were wide in terror and shock. Leia let out a breath that she had not even known that she was holding, and she collapsed back onto the couch.

Once he got over what had just happened, Finnick stood up and began collecting wood. Leia was confused until she realized that he was building a fire. He cut the jaguar into a bunch of people and began cooking it. Man, that was a good idea. He ate a couple of pieces and then stored some in his bag for later. He put out the fire and walked until it got dark.

He found a little hidden spot to spend the night, and it was then that he heard the familiar clinking of a gift. Leia grinned, realizing that that must be the second part of the money. However, this was not in a canister. It was dark, so he could not make out the shape until it was right in front of him. His eyes widened as the large thing landed in his hands.

It was a trident.