If Fire Caught

Chapter 16: Katniss

I look up into the tree as I notice something moving through the tree tops. They are orange humanoids that look vaguely familiar. I decide that they are monkeys. I've never seen a real one but I've seen them before in books about the games.

I notice them getting closer and sit up, Finnick watching them beside me.

"Are those what I think they are?" he asks and I nod. I look over to see them start to close in on Peeta who is filling up some hollowed out coconuts with water.

"Peeta?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says.

"Grab the spile and come over here very slowly," I say. He looks at me and must have noticed the uneasiness in my voice because he walks slowly towards where Finnick and I sit. He tries to be quiet, but he was never very good at that, even with two legs. He must sense them because he looks up and it's almost like someone set off a bomb.

The monkeys start falling out of the trees and come after Peeta. Finnick and I fight our way through to him, Me with my bow and Finnick with his trident. I quickly run out of arrows and resort to stabbing them like Peeta.

One of the monkeys jumps out of the tree strait for his chest and I throw my knife at it, missing it. Both Finnick and Peeta are occupied with other mutts and I'm weaponless. I attempt to get to him but I know I'm not going to make it.

She does though, the Morphling from 6. She materializes out of the trees and tackles the monkey, screaming as it sinks its fangs in her chest. Peeta stabs it repeatedly until it releases her and grabs her, taking her to the beach Finnick and I following him with our guard up.

But the monkeys are gone, the silent voice of the Gamemakers calling them back, leaving only the wretched orange carcasses on the ground, many of them with arrows still sprouting from their chests.

Peeta gently lays the Morphling on the ground. I cut away the material over the bite to see four puncture wounds, fatally over her heart. Perta gently strokes her hair, as though she were a child. They had become good friends during the training. I remember one day where the two had painted me into a field of yellow flowers in the training center.

He talks softly to her about the paintings he does at home and the Morphling takes some of her own blood and paints what vaguely looks like a flower on his cheek.

"Thank you," he says. "Its beautiful." She smiles and I watch the light die from her eyes and he hand falls limply to her chest. Peeta picks her back up and lays her into the water. She drifts out where a hovercraft lifts her up out of the water, carting her away.

Finnick appears out of the trees with a fist full of arrows.

"I thought you might want these," he says.

"Thank you," I say as I take them from him and begin washing them in the salt water. "I'm sorry about Mags. If I hadn't fallen, she'd still be here."

"It's okay," he says. "I knew she wasn't gonna make it. I just thought I'd have more time with her."

"We all always think we have more time," I say. I look at the scabs from the fog droplets and notice that its no longer sore but really itchy. I look to see Finnick and Peeta scratching as well.

"Don't scratch," I say. "It'll get infected."

Then what do you want me to do?" Finnick asks.

I stare up at the sky, waiting for Haymitch to get the hint to send us something. It's almost funny how fast it falls from the sky in a parachute.

The solution comes in a tube of black ointment that smells like tar and pine needles. I quickly spread it on my arms and legs before throwing the tube to Finnick, who is closer to me. The ointment gives instant relief to the itching and I sigh.

"It looks like you are decomposing," he says and I look to see he's right. The ointment stained my skin a sickly green color.

"Better that than itching," Peeta says taking it from Finnick and removing his ruined jumpsuit. He rubs it on his arms and legs before passing it back to Finnick who, of the three of us is the worst. Peeta walks up to me and places something in my hand. I look to see its my Mockingjay pin. I totally forgot about it, leaving it in the jungle on my tattered jumpsuit.

"Thought you might like to have that," he says.

"Thank you," I say before pinning it to my undershirt and kissing his cheek. We are broken apart by a scream. I look towards where it came from to see a wave crashing through the trees. I brace for it to hit, but like the fog earlier, it seems to hit a wall and break apart causing a wave that barely reaches the shore. A cannon sounds and a hovercraft picks up a mangled body from the water.

"That's twelve," Finnick says.

The water washed away the parachute and the boys' mangled jumpsuits, but I don't really feel like they miss them.

We start picking things up when Peeta taps my shoulder.

"What do you think those are?" Peeta asks pointing towards three stumbling red figures.

"I don't know," I say. "And I'm not sure I really want to find out." Suddenly I recognize one of the figures, the healthiest one who is wielding an ax and my assumptions are confirmed when Finnick calls out to her.

"Johanna!" he calls and she responds heading towards us, dragging a stumbling man behind her and another figure walking in circles.

Yeah, I most defiantly did not want to meet up with her.