Catching Fire: Peeta's POV

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-five

The next few hours of my watch with Finnick go by silently. We don't talk. The only sound is the random noises from the jungle, and the waves gently crashing against the shore. Joanna wakes up taking my place. I go lay down next to Katniss, quickly falling asleep. I wake shortly after dawn with the sun just starting to make its appearance. Everyone but Katniss is awake and stirring around.

Thirty minutes later, a silver parachute starts descending over us. Katniss wakes up as the parachute makes it way down. She joins us as the parachute lands in the sand at our feet. Upon opening we find twenty-four rolls, identical to those Beetee received last night. Now, we have thirty-three rolls in total. We each take five, leaving eight left. Katniss takes a seat next to me on the beach.

After we both finish eating, Katniss takes my hand, tugging me toward the water. "Come on. I'll teach you how to swim."

She shows me what she calls a basic stroke. I practice in about waist high water as a precaution. It's not that hard. I don't know how Katniss even learned to swim, but she's a good teacher. District Twelve doesn't have any waterways you can swim in, at least within the District perimeters.

Katniss calls me over after about twenty minutes, showing me how to rid myself of the scabs from our little mishap with fog. We grab handfuls of sand to rub on our arms. The sand causes the scabs to peel off like you peel from a sun burn.

"Look, the pool is down to eight. I think it's time we took off," Katniss says under her breath.

I nod, considering if the odds are in our favor. If we leave now where will we go? The jungle is still full of mysteries. We don't know where and what Chaff is up too, and the last two Careers are still out there.

"Let's stick around until Brutus and Enobaria are dead. I think Beetee's trying to put together some kind of trap for them now. Then, I promise, we'll go," I say.

"All right. We'll stay until the Careers are dead. But that's the end of it," she sighs. Then she turns toward Finnick. "Hey, Finnick come on in! We figured out how to make you pretty again!"

The three of us scrub ourselves clean. The skin underneath is a light pink. We put on another layer of the medication to protect the delicate new skin.

Beetee calls us over. "I think we'll all agree our next job is to kill Brutus and Enobaria. 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?" Katniss asks.

"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 reoccuring in a circular fashion. Also, the fact that our last fight was cut off by Gamemaker intervention will not have gone unnoticed by them. We know it was an attempt to disorient us, but they must be asking themselves why it was sone, and this, too, may lead them to the realization that the arena's a clock. So I think our best bet will be setting our own trap," Beetee says, hardly taking a breath.

"Wait, let me get Johanna up," Finnick says stopping Beetee. "She'll be rabid if she thinks she missed something this important."

"Or not," I hear Katniss quiet mutter.

Once Johanna is up and has joined us, Beetee gestures for us to move back a little to give him room. He draws a circle, dividing it up into twelve pieces.

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

"Where we are now. On the beach. It's the safest place," I say.