75th - part 12
johanna’s pov
I think about holding Katniss’s hand for the whole trip up to the lightning tree. I think about what she meant by it, whether she meant it as an opening for something more or as an ending to what never could’ve been. Maybe it’s supposed to be her way of saying the unsaid things before we die, because there’s a better than average chance that we’ll all be dead by morning if this plan goes wrong.
Finnick comes up behind me as we walk, making me jump in surprise as he mutters, “Be ready.”
“For what?”
“You know what,” he says under his breath, and walks away before I can tell him that I don’t actually know what.
It’s obvious though, isn’t it? This is the finale. If all goes well, I need to be ready for Haymitch to get us out. I need to keep Katniss and Cole alive til midnight. I need to make sure that the Careers are taken care of by the time that Haymitch arrives. But most importantly, I need to figure out what the fuck Beetee’s actual plan is, because it has to be more than just electrocuting the water if Finnick thinks that this is the moment.
Following the guidance of the all-knowing Volts, I end up walking with Katniss down to the beach, laying out the wire as we go. The spool is heavy, so we take turns holding it while the other watches our back. Neither of us say a word until we’re at least halfway down.
“I don’t want to go home without you,” Katniss says softly. “I can’t lose you.”
I scoff. “Yeah, you can. You’ll have your family, and they—”
“They need me, I know. But I…I need you.”
As much as I try to focus on the task at hand and forget this conversation, I accidentally let my guard down for a second and meet Katniss’s eyes. She’s watching me carefully, waiting for me to say something. I hate the way that her gaze makes me feel like she might be telling the truth. Finally, I shake it off and turn my attention back to the wire. “You’re just saying that because we’re about to get fried to death. You’ll be fine without me.”
“No I won’t, I—”
There’s a snap, and I feel the wire go slack in my hands.
Enobaria and Brutus are coming. I have maybe two minutes to make a move before it’s too late. We won’t make it against the two of them, so I have to be smart.
But when Katniss raises her bow, I act before I can think clearly about it. I whack her in the back of the head with the butt of my ax and she stumbles. Pushing her down, I crouch and watch the tree line for any sign of the Careers.
Come on, do something, I think urgently to myself. We're sitting ducks.
It hits me suddenly. The trackers. If Snow wants to kill Katniss, he knows exactly where she is. And if Haymitch wants to save us, Snow can’t know where we’re going. I find the slightly raised space on Katniss’s forearm and use my ax to cut out the device, tossing it into the trees.
Katniss groans in pain.
“Shh,” I push my hand to her mouth, accidentally smearing blood on her face. “Stay down. Don’t move.”
I cut out my own tracker and wait, staring up the hill, until I hear a man yelling in the distance. The Careers must have followed the wire up the hill instead of heading toward us. Quickly, I make sure my axes are secure on my belt and look at Katniss one last time.
“Stay here, ok?”
“Jo…” she groans.
This is it. This could be the last time I ever see her if something goes wrong. I allow myself one moment to forget about the Careers as I lean down and kiss her lips, hoping that it says enough of the unsaid. “I’ll come back for you, ok?” She doesn’t say anything, so I stand up. “Don’t move, I’m coming back.”
As I run up the hill, I silently ask Katniss to actually listen to me for once.