Querencia | Finnick Odair

Chapter 15

Then finally the plate moves up, wind catches my hair and the sun is blinding me.

I raise my hand up to shield myself from the light. The ground is moving. It is reflecting light. It's water.

The big timer is projected over the big golden cornucopia. All the goods seem to be piled up, not spread out.

I look around. Next to me is Cecilia who I don't see as a big threat. I can't see Johanna, but I do see Finnick who is on a plate next to the District 10 female. The plates are quite a distance apart, always two in a segment, divided from the other by a narrow strip of land. He seems to have seen me too, but I, for now, focus my attention on the strip of land to my right. 10 seconds. I have an advantage because I can swim. Finnick can swim. I do know that Gloss and Cashmere can swim for sure, but I would guess that the other Careers aren't far behind. My body tenses, the gong rings out and I push myself off the plate, diving into the water and swimming to the land as fast as possible. I am faster than usual because even though the waves are slightly annoying, my body is light.

I pull myself up to get onto the strip of land. Keaton was right. Water and hot weather. I sprint towards the Cornucopia as fast as the narrow path allows me, causing me to be the first to arrive and pull the bow and arrow out of the pile first, seeing that a long-range weapon is the best choice for now. I pre-nock an arrow and look around. Katniss is running on a strip of land and Finnick arrived on his too.

Both are my allies, so I look through the pile and find what I was looking for. A back strap with a katana and one empty sheath. I pull it on as quickly as possible and then Katniss arrives. I ignore her and grab two daggers, putting them into the front pockets of the straps. Then the girl next to me raises her bow, pointing the arrow towards my heart.

"Really Katniss?", I chuckle, "Put it down. I made Haymitch a promise. Would be a shame to break it this soon, really. Also. If you fire that arrow you will be dead in seconds. And your baby would be dead too."

I move my head, signalling her to look behind her, where Finnick stands, trident in hand.

"And not to mention that we should probably find Peeta", I say and finally she lowers the bow and turns to Finnick who grins at her.

"So you can swim?", he teases and I look through the pile, hoping to find water, food, medkits. But there is nothing. So I just grab some throwing knives and put them into the lilac belt when Finnicks voice calls out to duck. I do and the trident whizzes past me, hitting the man from District 5. Seems like the others caught up. I pull the trident out of the man's chest and throw it to Finnick.

"Let's go", I command, throwing the quiver of arrows over my shoulder and surrounding the Cornucopia by Finnicks side, inspecting the boxes while we pass them. "Only weapons", he calls out, informing Katniss who took the other side.

"Same."

"Do you guys have everything you need?", I ask, urging them to hurry as I see Gloss and Enobaria reaching land. Both Katniss and I load our bows. While Katniss will probably fire to kill, I aim for Enobaria's flank. She sees me and I move my head to the side. She is smart enough to listen and dives back into the water, while Katniss hits Gloss' calf.

"Katniss!", I call out before she can fire a second time, "two segments down."

That is where Peeta is. Sitting on his plate as many of the other victors.

"Guys!", Finnick now says and we see Brutus running towards us. Katniss takes the shot, but he blocks it with the belt.

We run down the strip that is closest to Peeta and Katniss starts unloading the weapons she took.

"I'll get him", Finnick says, placing a hand on her shoulder gently, but she protests.

"I can."

I place a hand on her belly which does not contain a growing baby, but of course, most don't know that.

"Not in your condition. We will exhaust ourselves enough later."

She then lets Finnick jump into the water. I hold up the bow and scan the water around us, looking for Mags while keeping an eye on the Careers. She is swimming towards us while Finnick tows Peeta. They arrive around the same time and while Katniss helps Peeta out of the water, I pull Mags up who can't weigh more than fourty kilograms. I also take another look around for Johanna but can't find her.

Peeta smiles at me kindly.

"Nice seeing you again"

"Same here. Now any problems with my allies who are your allies now too?", I question.

"No. Katniss wanted Mags on her first day."

"Then she has surprisingly good judgement", Finnick comments and helps Mags onto his back. I look back to the Careers.

Mags mumbles something and Finnick explains that the lilac belts are floating devices which is why Beetee is also struggling through the waves now.

"Up, up, up everybody", I call and we run away, away from the Cornucopia, away from the beach, into the jungle, up the steep incline. The ground is weird, but there are no footprints because it is so spongy. It is a big advantage because we don't have to look out for them once we set up camp as I had to do in the snow.

The thin material of the suit dried quickly in the sun but is soaked once again, this time in sweat. It is hot and humid and we don't have any water. The fact that I carry quite a few weapons adds to that as well.