Breathe in, Breathe out • F Odair² •

XXI

"If the girls are to get out of there alive, they need to move now."

•∘♔∘•

*Finnick POV*

When the four of them reached Beetee, it soon became evident that he had indeed come up with a plan.

"I think we'll all agree that our next job is to kill Brutus and Enobaria," he said mildly. "I doubt they'll attack us openly again, now that they're so outnumbered. We could track them down, I suppose, but it's dangerous, exhausting work."

"Do you think they've figured out about the clock?" asked Katniss.

"If they haven't, they'll figure it out soon enough. Perhaps not as specifically as we have. But they must know that at least some of the zones are wired for attacks and that they're reoccurring in a circular fashion. Also, the fact that our last fight was cut off by Gamemaker's intervention will not have gone unnoticed by them. We know it was an attempt to disorient us, but they must be asking why it was done, and this, too, may lead them to the realization that the arena's a clock," Beetee explained. "So I think our best bet will be setting our own trap."

Before Beetee could go on, Finnick remembered that Johanna was still asleep. "Wait, let me wake Johanna up. She'll be rabid if she thinks she missed something this important."

"Or not," Katniss muttered. She didn't stop him, though, so he let the moment pass; they didn't need her to like Johanna, or any of them, really. They just needed to get her out alive.

Johanna woke up with a jolt when Finnick shook her awake, grabbing tight hold onto her ax.

"Just me," he said. "Beetee's come up with a plan. Figured you wouldn't want to miss it."

She looked from Finnick, to the gathered group of Athena, Beetee, Katniss, and Peeta, and merely said, getting to her feet, "About time. We haven't got much of it left."

As soon as they had rejoined the group, Beetee shooed them all back a bit so that he could have room to work in the sand. He swiftly drew a circle and divided it into twelve wedges. It was the arena. He didn't draw it with the precise strokes that Peeta used when he drew the arena, or the careful, steady, precise hand that Athena always had when she drew, but in the rough lines of a man whose mind was occupied by other, far more complex things.

"If you were Brutus and Enobaria, knowing what you do now about the jungle, where would you feel safest?" Beetee asked.

There was nothing patronizing in his voice, but he still reminded Finnick of a schoolteacher easing his students into a lesson. It might have been the age difference, with Beetee being significantly older than the rest of them. Or it was the fact that it was clear to everyone gathered that Beetee was much, much smarter than the rest of them.

Everyone looked over at Finnick and Athena after the question was posed. Maybe because they had a fair few things in common with Brutus and Enobaria, being Career tributes.

"The beach," Athena said. "It's the safest by far, and the Cornucopia is nearby, and Careers usually like hanging out by the Cornucopia."

"So why aren't they here?" said Beetee.

"Because we're here," Finnick replied. "Like you said, they know we outnumber them, they wouldn't be stupid enough to try and attack."

"Exactly," Beetee said. "We're here, claiming the beach. Now where would you go?"

Finnick and Athena exchanged looks, thoughtful at this. Finnick tried to picture himself in Brutus and Enobaria's position. Maybe if it was just him and Athena instead.