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Chapter Twenty
DEPARTURE
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Without further discussion, we head down the slope. In fact, there's little discussion between us at all. We move at a pretty good clip, one manning the coil, the others keeping watch. About halfway down, we hear the clicking beginning to rise, indicating it's after eleven.

"Better hurry," Johanna says. "I want it put a lot of distance between me and that water before the lightning hits. Just in case Volts miscalculated something."

"I'll take the coil for a while," Katniss says. It's harder work laying out the wire than guarding, and she's had a long turn.

"Here," Johanna says, passing her the coil.

Both of their hands are still on the mental cylinder when there's a slight vibration. Suddenly the thin golden wire from above springs down at us, brunching in tangled loops and curls around our wrists. Then the served end snakes up to our feet.

It takes only a second to register this rapid turn of events. Johanna, Katniss, and I look at each other, but neither of us has to say it. Someone not far from above us has cut the wire. And they will be on us at any moment.

My hands close around the feathers of my arrows as I see Johanna take the coil from Katniss and smashes it against the side of her head. She gets knocked down into the vines, I sit down on her chest, pinning her at the shoulders with my knees.

I take a knife and stab it into her left forearm. She tries to jerk away, but she is still too incapacitated. I dig into her flesh, twisting it around. I wipe down her arm and coat half of her face with her blood. "Stay down!" I hiss as I stand up.

Johanna grabs my hand and pushes us into the nearby bushes. Footsteps are coming. Two pairs. Heavy, not trying to conceal their whereabouts.

Brutus's voice. "She's good as dead! Come one, Enobaria!" Feet moving into the night.

"We need to go back to the others. Tell them that the plan won't work as we had planned." I say and Johanna agrees and the two of us take off into the jungle. Walking down the hill a few minutes ago had been easy but running up it isn't. The adrenaline that runs through our veins helps a lot.

The insects, possibly excited by the smell of blood, have increased their clicking until it's a continuous roar in my ears. The boom of a cannon pulls me up short. Someone has died. I know that with everyone running around armed and scared right now, it could be anyone.

"You go to Beetee, make sure he's okay, I'll find Finnick," Johanna says.

I hesitate on this, "Okay, but make sure Finnick is okay for me then." She nods her head and takes off running in the other direction and I head back to the tree.

The tree swims into view, its trunk festooned with gold. I see Katniss above at the same time. No one is here. "Peeta? I hear her call out.

A soft moan answers her and I whip around to find a figure lying higher up on the ground. "Beetee!" I exclaim. I hurry and kneel beside him. Katniss looks at me with distrust as if she is debating on whether or not to send an arrow my way. Beetee is not conscious, although I can see no wound except for a gash below the crook of his elbow. I grab a nearby handful of moss and clumsily wrap it while I try to rouse him. "Beetee! Beetee!" I shake him in the way you should never shake an injured person, but I don't know what else to do.

Katniss grabs the knife that Beetee is holding, one that Peeta was carrying earlier. It is warped loosely in the wire. I watch as she stands and lifts the wire, confirming it's attached back to the tree.

She squints hard up the hill and I realize that we're only a few paces from the force field. The insects are dying out and I hear nothing but the jungle sounds. Beetee is useless. I can't rouse him. I don't know exactly what he was trying to do. I've got to get away from this tree and get Katniss away too.

"Katniss! Ember!" I hear his voice though he's a far distance away. "Ember!"

I hear them coming. Two of them. Crashing through the jungle. I see Katniss get her bow and arrow into position.

Enobaria and Finnick reach the lightning tree. They can't see Katniss but I stand out in the open. There's only a faint insect click here and there. Another cannon.

"Finnick!" I call out and he looks over at me. As he looks at me I see Katniss out of the corner of my eye raise up her bow, aiming at him. I leap in front of her, blocking her line of sight with my body. "Katniss, don't, please."

She stares at me for a moment, and then she lowers her bow as if she just came to a realization. She glances around and sees Beetee's knife. Her shaking hands slide the wire from the hilt, wind it around the arrow just above the feathers, and secure it with a knot.

She rises, turning to the force field. "Katniss," I say cautiously. Her bow tilts up at the wavering square, the flaw, the ... what did Beetee call it that day? The chink in the armor. She lets the arrow fly, see it hit its mark, and vanish, pulling the thread of gold behind it.

My hair stands up on end and the lightning strikes the tree. "Katniss! Get out of here!" I yell at her as I run towards her in hope of pushing her out of the way. I can hear Finnick yelling at us from behind me. I wrap my arms around her and turn us away from the force field so that I take most of the explosion.

A flash of white runs up the wire, and for just a moment, the dome bursts into dazzling blue light. I'm thrown backward to the ground, body useless, paralyzed, eyes frozen wide, as feathery bits of matter rain down on me. I can't reach Finnick, but I can only hope that I managed to pull Katniss away from the explosion in time. My eyes strain to capture one last image of beauty to take with me.

Right before the explosions begin, I find a star.

Everything seems to erupt at once. The earth exploded into showers of dirt and plant matter. Trees burst into flames. Even the sky fills with brightly colored blossoms of light. I can't think why the sky's being bombed until I realize the Gamemakers are shooting off fireworks up there, while the real destruction occurs on the ground. Just in case it's not enough fun watching the obliteration of the arena and the remaining tributes. Or perhaps to illuminate our glory ends.

The hovercraft materializes above me without warning. If it was quiet, and a mockingjay perched close at hand, I would have heard the jungle go silent and then bird's call that precedes the appearance of the Capitol's aircraft.

The claw drops down from the underside until it's directly overhead. The metal talons slide under me. I want to look to see if Finnick is still over there. To let him know that I am alive, but I am frozen, helpless to do anything, but I'm grateful that the rebellion has picked me up. Now the real war can start.

As I am lifted inside, I feel something be injected into my neck and I feel myself become drowsy. The last thing I see is a person in a white doctor's outfit.

When I swim back into semiconsciousness, I can feel I'm lying on a padded table. There's the pinching sensation of tubes in my left arm. They are trying to keep me alive. I'm still largely unable to move, open my eyelids, and raise my head. A beeping goes off but I can't stay awake to find out who it will summon.

The next time I resurface, my hands are tied down to the table, the tubes back in my arms. I can open my eyes and lift my head slightly, though. I'm in a large room with a low ceiling and a slivery light. There are two rows of beds facing each other. I can hear the breathing of what I assume is my fellow victors. I slam my head back down on the table and go out again, with one thought in my mind.

By tomorrow I will be in District thirteen, with the others planning the rebellion.

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Hey guys, thank you guys so much for reading this chapter I hope you enjoyed it and if you did then don't forget to vote and comment.

So there it is—the end of the second book. With 46,084 words and 122 pages in google docs, this book has come to a close. I am currently working on the third book which will cover Mockingjay and I look forward to seeing you guys there.

I honestly never thought I would make it this far. I figured I would give up on this series before I even finished the fifth chapter of the first book, but here we are going into the third. I really love these books even if they are poorly written and cringy in some parts.

I am really proud of this book and the first book. I mean they aren't the best, I could go back a change a few things in the first book that I left out but I like them. Especially the first book because I didn't base that in the books or movies, all of it came from me and I think that made me like it more and makes me want to write an original story.

Anyways thanks to anyone that has read this far, and I hope to see you guys in the next and final book.