THEY ALL TOOK SOME DEEP BREATHS BACK ON THE BEACH. "So besides Brutus and Enobaria, who's left?" Katniss questioned. They were sitting in a circle, and Luna was leaning against one of the rocks with her head in her hands because it would not stop pounding. Blood was dripping down the right side of her face from where she got hit with the case.

She went through all of the districts in her head, trying to remember everyone that she saw had died the night before in the hologram show in the sky, plus the people that she had seen die since. "Talon. Maybe Chaff. Just those four."

"They know they're outnumbered," Finnick pointed out. Even though the Careers were skilled, they knew that they would be no match for six people, five of which were pretty skilled with a weapon or two. "I doubt they'll attack again. We're safe here on the beach."

"So what do we do? We hunt 'em down?" Peeta questioned with furrowed eyebrows, looking around at them. They could not just wait and hope that the others would starve and die. Luna knew that he was thinking about what would happen after that. With no knowledge of the plan, he thought that only one of them was making it out. It was very possible that only two of them were, but Luna was trying to be optimistic.

They all whipped around when the sounds of screams filled the air. It sounded like a little girl being tortured, and she cried the Everdeen girl's name. Katniss jumped up immediately, bow in hand as she began sprinting into the forest, shouting, "Prim! Prim! No!"

"Katniss! Katniss, wait!" Finnick called after her because the chances were that that was most definitely not her sister. He ran off into the forest after her. Without thinking, Luna raced after him. It was a bad idea to be in the woods with only two people when the Careers and Talon outnumbered that.

Peeta climbed to his feet to go after the girl, but he only made it a few yards into the trees when he ran into some sort of barrier. It was like he had hit a wall, but there was nothing there.

Once the two reached the brunette girl, she was staring up at the sky. "Katniss! You okay?" Before the girl could answer, the familiar voice of Annie filled the air. She was shrieking Finnick's name and begging him for help. Both he and Luna looked around with panicked expressions.

"No! It's not her," Luna assured him as she saw a bird flying above their heads, its mouth moving with Annie's voice, but that did not seem to calm Finnick down one bit. He continued shouting for Annie and searching for her frantically.

"Finnick! It's not her," Katniss insisted, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to look her in the eye so that she knew that he was hearing her. She explained, "It's just a jabberjay. It's not her."

But Finnick was not having it, and he brought up a point that made all of their faces drop when they realized that he was right. "Well, how do you think they got that sound? Jabberjays copy." Katniss looked absolutely terrified. That meant that Snow had Annie and Prim.

"Luna! Luna, help, please!" The bloodcurdling scream made the Geyser girl freeze completely as her stomach dropped. Both people in front of her shifted their eyes to her, but she was not reacting. She was just staring at the sky in shock and horror. "Luna! Luna!"

"Lennox!" she finally responded. She could not think or hear, and she vaguely felt Finnick grab her arm and begin dragging her away.

She stumbled along, the sound of her brother's pained screams following her. Peeta's face appeared, and she just told herself that if she could get to him, it would all be okay. He was shouting something that Luna could not hear. She thought it was because of all the screaming and her panicked state, but she soon realized that it was because there was a barrier between them.

She collapsed into it, and she could tell that Peeta and Johanna were trying to calm her, Finnick, and Katniss down. Tears formed in the girl's eyes, and she began sobbing and covering her ears. She felt arms around her, and she immediately knew that it was Finnick. The sound of their loved ones haunted them as they screamed and cried as well.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

《 ✽ 》

LUNA'S EXPRESSION WAS BLANK AS SHE STARED AT THE WATER. She was lying down because her head hurt so much, and the screaming only made it worse. Now, Lennox's terrified voice was playing in her head over and over again, and there was nothing she could do to help him. She didn't know if he was hurt or scared somewhere.

Lennox was her twin. He was her other half. He was her best friend. He had always been there. She had no clue what she would be without him. He gave her something to fight for and something to live for. If he was gone, then she didn't want to get out of there.

"I have a plan," Beetee announced, and Luna just turned her head. She guessed that it was something to do with the lightning and the wire. They all leaned in curiously, waiting for him to explain. Of course, he did not just tell them, he made it a whole interactive conversation so that they could figure it out for themselves with his guidance. "Where do the Careers feel safest?"

They glanced at each other, wondering when the hell he decided that they were back and school and that they had the time for this. Peeta finally guessed, probably basing his guess on where they knew the Careers were at that moment. "The jungle?"

"The jungle's a nightmare. Probably here on the beach," Katniss contradicted. The forest held so many threats that Luna could barely keep track. She had experienced two of the hours, and from what she was hearing, none of them were very pleasant. There was also the fact that they would not even be able to see the clock from there, if the Careers even knew it was a clock, so they would not know what section to stay out of.

Beetee raised his eyebrows at them again. "Then why are they not here?"

"Because we are," Luna answered confidently. The Careers knew that they were there and knew that they would be outnumbered. They were skilled, but they did not stand a chance against six people, probably even with the element of surprise. "We claimed it."

"And if we left, they would come. Or stay hidden in the tree line," the man continued, and they all nodded along like schoolchildren with their math class that they never really understood. "Which in just over four hours will be soaked with water from the 10:00 wave. And what happens at midnight?"

"Lightning strikes that tree," Luna replied, pointing over at the big tree across from them that stood out.

Beetee nodded at her proudly, and she really felt like an idiot if he was proud of her for saying something that they had known already. "Here's what I propose. We leave the beach at dusk. We head to the lightning 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 bitterly. She clearly did not have much faith in the man or his knowledge of wires.

"Because I invented it," the man answered, and he seemed really proud of his plan. Luna's eyes widened at that. She knew that she recognized the design from somewhere. "I assure you, it won't burn up."

Peeta looked over at Katniss, and she nodded at him, signalling that she must have trusted the plan. She had liked Beetee from the beginning, and he was probably about to get rid of the Careers for them. The Mellark boy shrugged. "Well, it's better than hunting them down."

"Yeah, why not? If it fails, no harm done anyway, right?" Katniss agreed, and the rest of them either nodded or voiced their agreement. She looked over at the man with raised eyebrows, wondering how they could contribute to his plan. "So what can we do to help?"

"Keep me alive for the next six hours. That would be extremely helpful," he responded, and they all nodded. However, the sound of metal clinking caused them to look up.

Later in the evening, Luna had just finished washing the blood off of her face since her wound had mostly scabbed up when Peeta walked over to her and sat down in the very shallow water beside her. He raised his eyebrows at her. "How are you?"

"Fine," she answered with a sigh. She wasn't sure if it was the truth or not, though. She felt kind of numb at the moment, but she was pretty sure it was her body and mind stopping her from feeling everything. He had just come back from speaking to his District partner, so she questioned, "How's Katniss?"

"She wants to leave," he revealed. She had guessed as much, considering that after the Careers were gone, she thought they were going to turn on them. But Luna was really surprised that he had told her, that he trusted her like that while knowing that she was close to Finnick and Johanna.

"I won't tell them," she replied, and she was shocked that the words came out of her mouth. She was even more shocked that she meant it. She had know this boy for maybe a week, and she was prepared to lie to her friends for him. What was he doing to her? "But, Peeta, your best chance in this is to stay with us."

He sighed, "Luna, it's not that I don't trust you."

"You don't trust them, but I promise they won't do anything. I won't let them," she assured him. She really did not want him to leave. They were stronger as a pack. With the Careers gone, the only threats were the ones created by the arena. None of the others were going to turn on Peeta and Katniss.

But Peeta did not know that, so he asked, "How are you going to stop Finnick and Johanna?"

"Just..." she trailed off, unsure of what she was going to say. She couldn't say anything that would promise him that he would be safe without revealing the plan, so she just had to beg. "Please don't go."

"I'm sorry. We're staying for the plan, and then..." he stopped, and she nodded slowly, understanding what he meant. If she could keep him and Katniss and Beetee alive until the Careers and Talon were gone, she had to trust that Katniss would protect him until they were rescued.

If  they were rescued.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

did you miss me?