The Name of the Game I Finnick Odair

The Jabberjay Incident

Kenzie stripped of her undershirt and tied it around the wound Enobaria's knife had made in her thigh; it wasn't deep. Beetee thought he could walk now, if they'd go slowly, so Katniss helped him up. The group decided to head to the beach at twelve o'clock. That should've provided hours of calm and should've kept them clear of any poisonous residue. However, Kenzie stayed put, realizing she had no idea where to go now. And then there were Peeta, Johanna and Finnick, who each headed off in a different direction.

"Twelve o'clock, right?" Peeta said. "The tail points to twelve."

"Before they spun us," pointed Finnick out. "I was judging by the sun."

"The sun only tells you it's going on four, Finnick." Katniss chimed in.

"I think Katniss' point is, knowing the time doesn't mean you necessarily know where four is on the clock. You might have a general idea of the direction. Unless you consider that they may have shifted the outer ring of jungle as well." Beetee spoke up, causing Kenzie to grin.

Leaning close to Katniss, she muttered, "I'm sure this is exactly your point."

The Girl on Fire nodded as if that had in fact been her point, a small smirk tugging at her lips.

"Yes, so any one of those paths could lead to twelve o'clock." Katniss said, causing the group to circle around the Cornucopia again, scrutinizing the jungle. It had a baffling uniformity. Kenzie remembered the tree that took the first lightning strike at twelve o'clock, but every sector had a similar tree.

Johanna thought the group should follow Brutus' and Enobaria's tracks, but they had been blown or washed away. There was no way to tell where anything was.

"I shouldn't have mentioned the clock at all," Kenzie said bitterly. "Now they've taken that advantage away as well."

"Only temporarily." Beetee tried to comfort her. "At ten, we'll see the wave again and be back on track."

"Yes, they can't redesign the whole arena." Peeta reasoned, but the only thing that actually made Kenzie feel better was Johanna's logical reply.

"It doesn't matter," she said impatiently. "You had to tell us or we would never have moved our camp in the first place, fish bait."

Kenzie sent her a grateful smile, while Johanna waved her off. "Come on, I need water. Anyone have a good gut feeling?"

Kenzie randomly chose a path and the group took it, having no idea what number they were headed for. When they reached the jungle, they peered into it, trying to decipher what may have been waiting inside.

"Well, it must be monkey hour. And I don't see any of them in there." said Peeta. "I'm going to try to tap a tree."

"No, it's my turn." Finnick argued calmly.

"I'll at least watch your back." Peeta protested, but Kenzie shook her head.

"Katniss can do that." Johanna chimed in. "We need you to make another map. The other washed away."

The District Seven female yanked a large leaf off a tree and handed it to him. After a moment of hesitation, Katniss followed Finnick into the jungle. Kenzie couldn't help but worry something was going to happen. She hated splitting up and not being able to protect everyone. However, she had to admit she quite liked staying at the beach, protecting Peeta and Beetee. (Obviously Johanna could protect herself, so Kenzie didn't count her.)

Kenzie's heart twisted painfully, once she saw Finnick and Katniss running towards them in a quick speed. Peeta and Kenzie were yelling for them to stop, hands raised, but it was clear that the duo couldn't hear them. They ran into the invisible barrier, Katniss with her shoulder and Finnick face-first. His nose was gushing blood now. Kenzie could see that it dawned on Katniss' and Finnick's faces, realizing why no one had come to their aid. Beetee shook his head sadly, Peeta got up and put his hand on the surface, Katniss' hand coming up to meet his, as if they could touch, and Kenzie stepped closer to Finnick, well, as close as the invisible barrier would let them. She didn't bother saying something, knowing he could not hear her, not that this stopped Peeta, who spoke soothingly to his partner. Then the birds arrived, imitating the screams of Finnick's and Katniss' loved ones. Of course the quartet couldn't hear that, but before the barrier had been closed the group had heard a voice screaming, followed by Katniss fearful shouts. Kenzie's eyes filled with tears, when she saw that Finnick had instantly given up. He was hunching on the ground, clenching his hands over his ears as if he was trying to crush his skull, while Katniss put up a fight, shooting the birds for as long as she could. But there were too many of them, so eventually she gave up, too.