Let The Flames Begin

Chapter 10

My headache is finally gone when I wake up. As we eat some breakfast, I think of ways to keep Katniss alive. She has to win this thing. Whether she realizes it or not, she’s shaping up to be the leader of the rebellion that is brewing.

She comes up to me and says quietly, “We need to leave. There are only eight of us left, and you’re the only one I trust.”

“Thanks for the compliment, sweetheart,” I reply, smiling my first genuine smile in years. “It’s the Careers we should worry about first, though. Wait until they’re gone.”

“Okay… by the way, I know how you can get rid of those blister scabs.”

After we all wash off and reapply lotion, Beetee discusses his official plan to get rid of Brutus and Enobaria, using my map of the arena as a guide.  “The best way would be to create a little trap,” he decides. “Now, where do you think they could be hiding?”

This is too easy for me. I’ve got more mentor years than all of them put together. “They’ll be on the edge of the jungle,” I say. “Far enough from the dangers inside but close enough to spy on us.”

Beetee nods and goes on to remind us of the lightning bolts that go off at twelve. That’s where he loses me, talking electronics like we’re supposed to understand every word of it. I know almost nothing about wires, coils, whatever he’s saying. Something about connecting a wire to the tree in the lightning zone and taking it all the way to the water. Then he says, “Anyone in contact with those surfaces at that moment will be electrocuted (pg. 360).”

That, I understand. The perfect plot to either kill the Careers or their food supply. We’ll be okay hunting animals.

“Now we need to investigate the lightning tree,” he continues. “So pack up.”

We return to the tree soon enough, but I pause. “Wait. Time to find the forcefield.”

“I’ll do it,” Katniss volunteers. She throws nuts near the giant tree, and when they bounce off, she tells us to simply stay below it. I draw a line a few feet away, so we can stay clear of it. Then we each take different jobs. Beetee is, of course, surveying the tree, with me standing guard. Katniss, Finnick and Johanna go off to get some food and water for us.

We return to our beach in the ten o’ clock section by late morning. Beetee lets us off the hook in the afternoon, so that he can work his magic. He’s still got his head on straight, as opposed to most of us who won the Games.

It’s not until nightfall that he gives us more details. Katniss, Finnick and Johanna agree to do whatever Beetee asks of them in order to make this possible. It takes me a second, but I realize that my worst fear is coming true. 

In other words, they want to destroy the arena.

I’m stunned by their boldness. Didn’t they watch me manipulate my arena? It may have been a while ago, but I’m sure all of them have seen my stunt.  I know Katniss did, anyways. Beetee would’ve been just a child when I won. More to the point, did they not hear what happened because of it? Aren’t they the least bit afraid of what the Capitol could do to them, to their loved ones?

“I’m not helping,” I say to them. “If you’re going through with this, count me out.”

They all stare at me in disbelief.

“You can’t be serious,” Finnick says.

“I’m dead serious. I’ll go off to find Chaff, ally with him.”

“Sure, you can leave us,” Johanna agrees. “But if I see or hear any sign of you, I’ll give you the same amount of mercy that I gave to your girl tribute. You know what that means. You run into me-” she makes a throat-cutting motion-“off with your head.”

“Suit yourself,” is all Beetee says.

I’m shocked to find that Katniss’ eyes are getting watery. “Don’t be stupid,” she implores. “You won’t last a day on your own.”

“You don’t get it, do you? I defied the Capitol, just like you and Peeta did. And I’ve regretted it ever since. I won’t put myself in that position again.”

I hadn’t been thinking about the fact that I would have to come back every year as a mentor, watching my two tributes give everything they had, only to die.  Almost twenty-five years. Forty-six of our District’s kids lost their lives in the arena since I was the victor, with one exception sitting before me and one watching over us. When I found the force field, I hadn’t been thinking about whether or not I was overstepping the rules. I didn’t know that I was about to lose everything.

I get onto my feet, gathering up my items. “Goodbye, everybody. May the odds be ever in your favor.” I stretch out my arm to give them the three-finger salute. Katniss is the only one who returns it.

Without another word, I start heading away from their camp.

“Hey, Abernathy.” Johanna’s voice makes me turn around.

“Yeah?”

“I saw the video of your Games. I’ll deny I ever said this, but… Contrary to what it may seem, I admire you, Pops. Don’t make me kill you.”

The next thing Johanna does leaves me completely bewildered: she gives me the three-finger salute, and runs back to the others. 

I stand in place for a moment, face the west, and make my way to the eleven o’ clock section, where we heard clicking sounds earlier.

Peeta must be yelling at me from his comfy seat in the Capitol. Whatever. I know Katniss can take care of herself. She’s done it for years since her father died, as she so often told me before.

Once again, I’m alone in the arena.