Epiphany | Johanna Mason

Chapter Twenty-Nine

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

Beetee had been twisting his wire around the three for a long time by the time Johanna began to get nervous. It was already dark, she didn't want to have to run to make it. Everyone seemed to be nervous, there was a tense silence among them, anxious to see what would happen.

"Take this," Beetee said eventually, handing Katniss the wire. "Unspool it carefully. Make sure the entire coil is in the water. You understand? Then head to the tree at the two O'clock sector."

They'd been over the plan a thousand times on their way to the tree, no one was going to forget it. "I'm going to go with her as a guard," Peeta said, and Odette glanced at Johanna. Maybe it had been going too smoothly.

"No, no, no. You're staying here to protect me," Beetee said quickly, looking over the rim of his glasses. "And the tree."

"No, I need to go with her," Of course he did. Johanna wouldn't let Odette go alone, either, but it was crucial he stayed behind.

"There are two careers out there. I need two guards."

But Peeta wasn't giving up. "Finnick can protect you just fine on his own."

"Yeah," Katniss interrupted. "Why can't Johanna and Finnick stay with you and Peeta and I'll take the coil?"

Odette's shoulder brushed against her own as the tension rose. Katniss and Peeta couldn't run off. It had been stupid not to involve them in the plan, this was just a waste of time. Johanna wanted to tell them just that, but Beetee continued: "You all agreed to keep me alive until midnight, correct?"

"It's his plan," Johanna said at last. They had to go if they wanted to make it to the meeting spot. "We all agreed to it."

"Is there a problem here?" Finnick joined in with a pointed look.

"Excellent question." Beetee finished.

For a moment, Johanna thought Katniss was going to bolt. She was going to grab Peeta and drag him as far away from them as possible. But she surprised her by saying: "No, there's no problem." And she went to say goodbye to Peeta.

Not a second later, Odette had her arms around her neck and was hugging her so tight she had to suck in air. "Be careful," she whispered when Johanna hugged her back.

"Yeah," this was it. The last stretch. They'd make it out of the arena a second time. Together. Beating all the odds. "We're so close."

Odette pulled back at that. Not completely, always lingering, always wanting to share every bit of space. "Yes, it'll all be okay, I can tell." She promised a last time, giving her a quick kiss before letting go.

Johanna lifted the coil, which was heavier than she expected. She didn't know how Beetee had carried it around all day long. "All right," she said. "Let's go." And Katniss took the other side of the wire.

It was a long walk, most of which passed in silence. They were climbing over large rocks with a few added pounds in their arms or fighting their way through plants that were bigger than them. Halfway through, she'd handed Katniss the coil.

When another set of rocks changed into vegetation again, Johanna hopped off. "Come on. I want to put as much distance between me and this beach as possible. Frying is not how I want to go."

"Wait," Katniss said. "There's something..." she tugged at the coil, but it didn't budge. Was it stuck? They really couldn't use this. Then, the wire broke.