Two Evils ◦ Finnick Odair

undici; dangerous beginnings

TWO EVILS.

11. UNDICI: DANGEROUS BEGINNINGS

❝She's gonna lose it when she finds out about the boy.❞

❝She'll still cooperate, though?❞

❝Without Peeta? There's no guarantee.❞

Day had turned into night and the woods had taken on an eery glow that hadn't been there before. The atmosphere seemed to thicken with each passing minute like it was waiting for the storm to finally hit. The air was almost unbearable and Grier felt like she was choking in the cool night air.

Not an hour into their trek toward the Lightning tree, the pitch black sky had become filled with light. It wasn't bright enough to mimic the sun like mere hours before, but it was bright enough to illuminate their path. Grier knew what that meant; she had seen it hundreds of times before, and she hated it. Sure it felt good to see someone up there that you killed, but then there were the faces you knew. The people you were allies with, trusted even.

Music blared over head, and the sky flashed with pictures of the fallen, stoic and unmoving faces staring right back at them. That was the last time they'd ever be seen again, nothing more than a memory of someone who was once in The Games.

Grier found herself frozen in place, watching the sky above, feeling utterly weak as she stared at some of the people she hadn't been able to save and some of the people she hadn't gotten the chance to kill herself. A lump made its way into her throat with each passing victor and she tore her eyes away from the faux night sky. She had seen enough of it. Everyone around her had grown silent, only short pants could be heard emitting from the others' mouths, all of their chests heaving in synchronicity. 

At the last picture, the sky went back to its usual faux darkness. Grier released a tired breath, straightening herself out as everyone regained their senses. It was time to continue along the woody path, stumbling over fallen logs and dirt. Everything seemed to stretch on forever, the woods a picture that would never end. 

It didn't take long for them to reach the giant lightning tree after that. It's large branches seemed to stretch for miles, and the clearing around it was covered with dirt, too dry for any other plant life to live there. The tree didn't seem burnt from far away but once Grier may her way closer, she could see each and every one of its scars; so mismatched and patterned, each showing a different story. Now that was a tree that deserved to be in the Games. It looked just like a tribute with the amount of scars it held.

Beetee walked up beside her and rested his hand against the tree, rubbing the scarred bark. "Minimal charring. It's an impressive conductor. Let's get started. Typically a lightning strike contains five billion joules of energy. We don't want to be anywhere in the vicinity when this hits." 

An hour later and several coil burns later, the tree was wrapped up like a Christmas tree waiting to be plugged in. In some places, the tree would be scarce of the coil, but in others the coil just seemed to wrap around the branch hundreds of times. It was the armor to the warrior, ready to protect the tree from gaining any more scars. But there's always a weak point in armor, someplace where the weapon of your enemy could strike and hit nothing but skin. 

Just as Grier was ready to sit down and admire their mediocre work, maybe relax before all hell broke loose, Beetee unspooled a bit of the coil and thrusted it into Katniss' hands. "You three girls, go together now. Take this. Unspool it carefully. Make sure the entire coil is in the water. You understand?" He looked between the three girls, "then head to the tree at the 2 o'clock sector. We'll meet you there."