six; the jungle

They spend some time scrutinizing the Cornucopia to figure out which one pointed towards the lightning tree; because knowing that would help them figure out the others and help them know which sections to stay away from when they were active.

"At ten, we'll see the wave and be back on track." Beetee ended the conversation.

Finnick headed off to tap a tree and Johanna sent Katniss to guard him. Then, she handed Peeta a giant green leaf to make a new map, stating that the old one had washed away after the whole Cornucopia spinning thing. Isla sat beside Johanna's feet and watched Peeta drag his knife smoothly across the leaf's surface. She kept looking towards the jungle, fearing for Finnick, who knew what was out there, if there were any threats, or Brutus and Enobaria.

Suddenly an ear-piercing scream sounded from the jungle and Peeta stood up. "That's Prim. She's Katniss' sister. They have her here!"

"No, they don't. They must be jabberjays." Beetee explained. "You need to go find the others before they go mad, they don't know this is fake."

"ISLA!" She heard Finnick yell. And as soon as she did, she dropped everything, grabbed her trident and bolted into the jungle.

"FINNICK! FINNICK!" Finnick didn't know what was real and what was the sound created by the jabberjay. He stands in a clearing, looking around, eyes wide and panicked. Katniss beside him, breathing heavily as she listens to everyone she loves scream in pain.

"ISLA!" The screams are getting louder.

"Finnick! They're jabberjays! It's not real!" Katniss said to him.

"You don't know that, Katniss. Isla is actually in the arena." Finnick retorted.

Isla continued forward and smacked into a barrier. Stumbling back, she places a hand on her nose, which was aching, and reached out with her other hand. The barrier felt smooth, like glass, not a forcefield.

She banged against it, making her fists bloody until Johanna grabbed her hands and pulled her into a hug. "Jo, I can't hear them anymore! Finnick won't be able to hear me, I have to find him." She took out her trident and hit the barrier, Johanna did the same with her axe, and Peeta with his knife. Beetee was sat close by, safe.

Suddenly, two figures appeared from behind the trees in the distance. Isla stopped hitting the barrier and her eyes light up. "FINNICK! FINNICK!"

He couldn't hear her, but he looked up and saw her. Her lips were moving, and she was smiling widely, her red hair tumbling down her back, and sticking to her forehead and the sides of her face with sweat. Finnick grinned and ran right for her, but her face turned into one of panic and she started waving her arms. Finnick didn't understand until he smacked into the barrier and stumbled back in shock, his nose bleeding.

Isla could see all the birds land on tree branches around them. Little black birds. Jabberjays. She could see Finnick and Katniss drop to the ground. Katniss pulled her knees to her chest and blocked her ears, shaking back and forth. Finnick had curled up in a ball on the ground, hands over his ears and silent tears slipping down his tanned cheeks.

Isla was still hitting the wall, desperately calling out Finnick's name, screaming herself hoarse. Then, the barrier vanished, and she almost fell over, but Johanna grabbed her arm and helped her up. The redhead ran to Finnick, seeing Peeta wrap his arms around Katniss. She ran to her lover and placed her hands on his cheeks. His eyes were still closed, cheeks wet with tears, but he leaned into her touch, knowing who it was.

"Finnick. Finn. Hey, I'm here. It's okay, it's all gonna be okay. Open your eyes for me Finnick." He opened his beautiful, emerald green eyes and looked at the person in front of him. The gorgeous girl sat right there looking at him in concern, the one person he had left in this world, the person he had just heard screaming in pain, making his heart ache.

He collapsed in her arms and laid his head on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him and ran a hand through his hair, mumbling sweet nothing into his ears, laying gentle kisses on his neck and cheeks. "It's alright my love, it's gonna be okay. It's over now, I'm here, no one is hurt. We're okay."

"I heard you scream."

"I know Finn." She leaned her forehead against his. "But, it wasn't real. And I'm right here, and you're right here, and we're both okay."

He pulled away and took her hands, looking down at the bloody knuckles and frowning. "Your hands. What happened?"

"I was hitting the barrier, trying to get to you. But that barrier isn't a pillow. I'll be fine Finnick, you're still bleeding." She brought a hand up to his nose, then wiped the blood from his lips with her thumb, giving him a soft smile. "I love you."

"I love you too." She stood and held her hand out. He grabbed it and she pulled him up, linking their fingers before heading back to the beach, where everyone else was. When they arrived, everyone was talking about the jabberjays. If they were real or not.

"Do you believe it, Finnick?" Katniss asked. Isla squeezed Finnick's hand when he hesitated.

"I don't know, Katniss. Beetee, could they manipulate someone's regular voice to that?"

"Oh, yes. It's not even that difficult. Our children learn a similar technique in school." Beetee said.

"The whole country adores Katniss's little sister. If they really killed her like this, they'd probably have an uprising on their hands." Johanna said flatly. "Don't want that, do they?" She threw her head back and shouted, "Whole country in rebellion? Wouldn't want anything like that!"

Everyone looked shocked, Johanna grabbed the spile and muttered something about getting water before storming off. Isla let go of Finnick's hand and ran after her best friend.

"What was that?" Peeta asked.

Finnick sat down with a sigh. "Johanna lost everyone she loved. Snow killed them all. Isla doesn't have anyone left either, her brother died in the Games, her mother passed away months after, and she never had a father. So, they're in the same boat, me included. We don't have anyone but each other Katniss, you have a family, so do you Peeta. It's not the same. You wouldn't understand."

Meanwhile, Isla ran after Johanna, who was hacking at a tree violently. "Jo."

"Isla." The brunette turned around. Her eyes were glossy, but nothing dropped. Isla came forward, holstering her trident and wrapping Johanna in a hug. "I miss them." She whispered.

"I know, Jo. I miss them too." Isla whispered back, stroking her friends brown hair as they both closed her eyes, basking in the rare quiet. "You alright now?"

"I have to be. Let's head back." Johanna pulled away and grabbed the bowl of water, bringing it back with her. They joined the others and Johanna handed the water to Katniss as Isla walked over to where Finnick sat, slightly away from everyone else.

She leaned her head on his shoulder and laced her fingers with his. He dropped his head on hers and rested their joined hands on her thigh.

A cannon boomed and everyone looked up as a hovercraft appeared in what seemed to be the six-to-seven-o'clock zone. They all watched as the claw dipped down multiple times to pick up different parts of the same body, ripped apart. Katniss looked away, and everyone else looked horrified.

Peeta drew a new map and added JJ for jabberjay and then beast for the section which the tribute had just been picked from. And now there was a clear idea of what seven of the hours looked like.

Finnick stood and pulled Isla up with him, pulling her to the water, Isla armed with her trident, and Finnick with a net that he had just weaved and his trident. They both skewered and watched fish, handing them to Katniss who cleaned them.

The moon rose, filling the whole arena with its twinkling gleam, and just as they were about to dig into the raw fish, the anthem began, then the faces appeared.

Cashmere. Isla can't help the feeling of pride that rushed over her as she saw Cashmere's face appear, she remembered burying her trident in the District One girl's chest and was guilty as a smile threatened to come over her lips. Gloss appeared next. Wiress, and then Isla lost the smile as she frowns at the image of the kind woman who went too quick. The woman from District Five. A morphling. Blight. The man from Ten. Those were a lot of dead people, they were picking them off very quickly. At this rate, they would be done with the games tomorrow, must be some kind of record.

"Who's left? Beside us and District Two?" Finnick asked, running his thumb over Isla's knuckles.

"Chaff." Peeta replied with no hesitation, seemed like he'd been keeping an eye out for him, considering he was a good friend of Haymitch.

A parachute landed in front of them with a pile of bite-sized square-shaped rolls. "These are from your district, right, Beetee?" Peeta questioned.

"Yes, from District Three." The older male replied.

"How many are there?" Finnick asked. He lets go of Isla's hands and counted the rolls, turning each one over in his hands before he set them in a neat configuration. Katniss looked weirded out by this, but Isla knew what he was doing, it must have been something to do with their escape. "Twenty-four."

"An even two dozen, then?" Beetee asked.

"Twenty-four on the nose," Finnick confirmed. "How should we divide them?"

Johanna piped up. "Let's each have three, and whoever is still alive at breakfast can take a vote on the rest." This caused Katniss to give a small laugh, and Johanna gave her a pleased look, happy someone appreciated her dark humour.

They waited for the giant wave to flood out, and Isla shivered at the sight of it. She loved the water but being caught up in something like that couldn't be pleasant. Then, they headed to the beach to make camp. Theoretically, there should have been 12 safe hours.

There was a chorus of clicking coming from a section of the jungle, the eleven-to-twelve-o'clock wedge. But it stayed in the confines of the jungle, and the group stayed far from the part of the beach, just in case.

Johanna was still on her feet despite only getting about an hour of sleep since the games started, so Peeta and Katniss volunteered for the first watch, because Isla assumed they were well rested, and perhaps wanted time alone, away from prying eyes. Everyone else went out like a light, save for Isla and Finnick, who lay awake beside each other, her fingers running through his hair.