Boom, four chapters in four days. Suck it, writer's block!

The song for this chapter is "Runaway" by Aurora.

I open my eyes to see Finnick beside me, having spent the night with me for the first time since the Games started. All of the memories of the day before come flooding back. Glimmer and Marina both dead. Katniss.

Yesterday was rough, Marvel, Cato, and Clove hallucinated for the majority of the morning and it took nearly three hours for the antidote to start working. It's a good thing that Thresh didn't come looking for them during that time. Meanwhile, Katniss had fallen down a cliff, and while it seems Rue is looking after her, she still hasn't woken up. Later yesterday, around dusk the remaining members of the Career pack made it back to their camp. I'd been up for nearly two days straight, but Finnick came to collect me from the Command Centre and convinced me to finally go to sleep since Cato was safe and back at his camp.

I look at the clock on my bedside table and it reads 9 a.m., which is the longest I think I've slept in nearly a year. But I can hear a faint noise coming from the main room, a male voice that I don't recognize as Augustus or Brutus. Now that I come to think of it, I've hardly seen much of Augustus since the Games have begun.

I throw on the training gear they'd given me since it's some of the most comfortable clothing in my closet here in the Capitol. I decide not to wake Finnick since I figure he could probably use the sleep.

The voice sounds familiar, but that can't be right. Sure enough, Volts--I mean Beetee Latier, the Mentor from District 3. He's speaking with Fallon and Enobaria when I walk in, but he turns to greet me. "Ah, just the person I came to speak with."

Even though I'm a bit confused, I walk into the main area and pull my shirt down a bit more since I hadn't really had the chance to straighten out before leaving my room. "Beetee, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I hold out my hand for him to shake.

It's strange that somehow, this unassuming man held the record for the most Tributes killed before I took the crown. He takes my hand and gives it a firm shake. "It seems that our Tributes have struck an accord with one another, which would mean that you and I are in business together." That's...new. Beetee must sense my confusion because he begins to explain, "My male Tribute went to the stockpile while your Tributes were absent. But when he returned this morning, he found the camp occupied." I sneak a glance at Enobaria, wanting to ask her what on earth happened that he didn't get instantly killed upon entering the vicinity of the camp. "It seems that your male Tribute--your brother," he corrects, "thought that mine might be able to help with securing the stockpile."

"Securing the stockpile?"

"They intend to rig the area surrounding the stockpile with explosives, except for a few spots leading up to the centre is a pattern which only they know the answer to."

I'm impressed. "And he can do that? He can make explosives like that?"

Beetee chuckles. "Of course he can. It's simple. All he has to do is take the components from the podiums and rebury them." Right, of course. Easy, just move a bunch of explosive material and re-bury it.

I nod, trying to wrap my head around it all. "Well, I guess your Tribute had a pretty good idea then."

Beetee pushes his glasses up further on his nose. "Actually, it was Cato's idea. He's the one who suggested to the others that they keep him alive to help protect the stockpile."

That is a surprise. Cato, of all people, is asking questions first and swinging his sword second? That's new. "Oh, that's..."

"Smart?" Beetee finishes for me. "I said the same thing." Beetee begins to make his way towards the door. "I'll let you know if they require any additional components in the off chance some get damaged during transport." Beetee looks to something, rather someone, behind me and waves. "Hello, Finnick."

Busted.

"Hey, Beetee," I hear Finnick call from behind me. Enobaria is snickering, and I don't even want to see the look on Fallon's face. Beetee gives me a wry smile, telling me he knows exactly what's happening. Although that's not quite a surprise since Finnick and I are something of an open secret when it comes to the Victors who have been around for a while. Once Beetee is out the door, Finnick heads for the door too. "I should get going too."

Oh, great. He's going to leave me here to explain things to Fallon. And the sneaky smile and wink he gives me as he slips out the door tell me he's doing just that. He's going to pay for this later. Once the door clicks closed behind him, Fallon, in her orange outfit, turns towards me. Her face is exasperated, and her mouth is opening and closing as if she's a fish gasping for air.

I move to return to my room, but I can hear Fallon's heels clicking after me. "Octavia, we need to talk about this...you and Finnick Odair--"

I whip around to face Fallon. I grasp for straws on what to tell her. "It's not what you think."

Fallon scoffs. "Dear, I might not know everything when it comes to fighting, but there are a few things I do know about, and matters of the heart are one of them."

Of course, she does, I think to myself—just my luck.

I sigh. "Fallon, you didn't see anything. Okay?"

"But why, dear? You'd be the talk of the town! The two of you are the biggest stars here and getting together, well that'd put Katniss and Peeta to shame!"

I put my hands on her shoulders. I need to find a way to make her understand. "No, no, no Fallon, you don't understand," I whisper harshly. "It's...it's all complicated." Fallon nods, finally starting to get it. "It was just a one-time thing, that's it."

"I won't tell anyone." Fallon pauses for a moment before speaking in a hushed tone, "Such a scandal! I love it! Finnick Odair, what a good choice. I approve."

I give her a fake smile. "Thanks, Fallon."

~~~~

It only takes the better part of a day for the Tributes to build the explosives around the stockpile. Since the day before, I've been avoiding Haymitch, which has proven pretty easy to do since I think he's been avoiding me too.

I, like the other Careers, aren't too happy about the trick that Katniss pulled. Finnick has no Tributes left at all, and Cashmere and Gloss are down to one. But even three days later, she still hasn't woken up. Little Rue has been changing some sort of poultice that she made from herbs, but she hasn't been able to feed her anything. Katniss is wasting away in the arena, and if she doesn't wake up soon, she'll be gone. And when it comes to Peeta, it's a miracle he isn't gone already.

I can't say I wouldn't like to see that, have her just not wake up. It seems more peaceful than the other options. I don't want her to wake up and start reigning hellfire upon my brother and his friends--if you can even call them that. I just know Cato and Clove are starting to think about when they need to get rid of Marvel. But if they're smart, they'll keep him until Katniss is gone. Like I told him, he needs to get rid of the big threats before breaking the pack.

Finally, they go out hunting again, and Clove catches the boy from 10 in the arm with a knife. Cato finishes him off--he doesn't try to make friends with this one. As they make their way back to the camp, I notice movement coming from one of my screens. Katniss is waking up.

And even worse, she seems to be just fine. It's almost cute how she takes care of Little Rue and I almost start to feel sorry for her since I know she has a little sister waiting for her at home. I try and remind myself that she's just doing what every good older sibling should do.

That is until I hear my brother's name come out of her mouth. "So where are Cato and the others?" Katniss asks Rue.

"They got all their supplies down by the lake. It's piled up in this great big pyramid."

"That sounds tempting," replies Katniss mysteriously. That little bitch. She's planning something. And I don't know why it's Cato she's so concerned with. Is it because he chased her up a tree? Is it because of Peeta's leg? No, that can't be it. Everyone knows their little act is fake. Even Haymitch would admit that.

Haymitch, I think. He saw me interacting with Cato the night before. Could be have figured it out? I get out of my seat abruptly, causing Cashmere to look at me with confusion. "Octavia, where are you going?" I can feel Finnick reach for my arm, but I pull it away so he can't grab onto me.

I stomp over to Haymitch's station in a state of fury. I slam my hand down on his desk to get his attention. "If you wanted my attention you didn't have to take it out on my desk, sweetheart."

Usually, I would have rolled my eyes or given some sort of sarcastic remark, but I'm not playing this time. "Did you figure it out, hm? Did you figure out Cato was my brother, and you told Katniss?"

Haymitch looks up at me, clearly angry at the accusation. "Are you crazy? Of course, I didn't figure that out. And even if I did, I think I would owe you at least that much not to tell her, don't you think?"

I slowly nod and look around to see everyone staring, including Beetee and the guy from 5. He's right; I sound ridiculous. Don't I?

I return to my station in a walk of shame and sit back down at my seat.

"You good?" Finnick asks me in a low voice.

"Yea, I'm fine."

I have to sit there for the next damn hour, watching Katniss employ Rue in a dangerous plot to mess with my brother's supplies. How stupid is she? Bringing a little girl who clearly isn't made for battle into an attempted raid? Is she crazy? Or is she just trying to get Rue killed so she doesn't have to be the one to do it?

Haymitch gives me a cocky little waive and I scrunch my face at him. If I had a bow and arrow right now I'd be pointing it right at his annoying alcohol flushed face. Katniss and Rue plan to make a bunch of little fires to draw Cato, Clove, and Marvel away from the camp. And, of course, Katniss is letting Rue do the part of lighting the fires. The part where the Career pack is going to be running towards. "Coward," I say under my breath.

"What was that?" asks Finnick from the seat beside me. He's taken over Brutus' seat while he's not there.

"Nothing."

"Well, Miss Nothing, I am going to go get some food because I'm hungry. Want anything?"

I shake my head. "But can you tell Brutus to come here if you see him? I think shit's about to hit the ceiling."

A few minutes later, Brutus walks in with Gloss just as Rue lights the first fire. Katniss is poised and looking at the encampment. Every second Cato sits there with everyone under the tarp, I'm worried that Katniss will decide to draw her bow and shoot. There's no way for me to tell how good her accuracy is at long range without seeing it, but with the score of 11, I'd say the odds are pretty good.

Marvel is the first one to spot the smoke. "Guys. Guys, look! Over here. Come on, come on. look!" He points to the smoke that's now billowing high above the tree line with his spear.

"Let's go. You stay guard and don't move until we can get back," Cato orders the boy from 3. I'm almost relieved when they run after the source of the smoke because I know that the only one they might run into is Little Rue who would likely have the sense just to avoid them.

Katniss gets this little smirk on her face that makes me want to punch it. I can sense Cashmere, Gloss, and Brutus feeling a similar type of tenseness. She clearly has it out for the Careers, which doesn't make the Career Mentors very happy. It's deeper than some sort of grudge about the tree thing; it's like she just hates them just because they're Careers. And someone like that is dangerous. I know I've had my own battles with the whole Career ideology, but it saves the kids' lives in my district. Keeps the ones, not in the Academy out of the Games and teaches the ones in the Academy how to come home. If I had been in any regular district, I would have been reaped because of who my father was and so would Cato, we'd both be in the Games still, but we'd hardly stand a chance. But then what about the fact that people are volunteering for this? That they want to go into the Games to kill kids for glory? That's why Cato's here, isn't it? And why do you think you did it? Nags a little voice at the back of my head. I snap myself out of my thoughts and repeat what I'd told Haymitch before. I can't afford to think like that.

"I want to see if she's going to figure out this booby trap," enthuses Caesar.

Out of nowhere, the girl from 5 comes barrelling out of the forest. "She's certainly figured it out, hasn't she?" says Caesar. The girl from 5 must've memorized the entire pattern because she hops around like it's no one's business, grabs a knife and some food and runs away. The boy from 3 goes to investigate but she's long gone.

Now it's Katniss' turn to try and figure out the pattern. "Let's watch the Girl on Fire turn into the girl in pieces," says Cashmere. She's been eager to see Katniss go after she turned the beautiful Glimmer into a pudgy pile of green ooze. There's a few chuckles from our section of the room at that. Including me. Of course.

Katniss steps out of the clearing and for a moment, it looks like she's going to make a run for the pile, but instead, she draws her bow. "What the hell is she doing?" asks Brutus. We all lean forward into our seats to get closer to the screens.

For the first time ever, we see Katniss shoot. But I'm still not sure what she's shooting at. It whizzes by the pile and lands somewhere in the grass. She steps even closer and readies her bow again. "She's definitely aiming at the pile," I say, voicing my observations out loud. But none of us can understand why she's trying to shoot the supplies.

Katniss lets another arrow fly and it misses again. Or at least I think it does until the apples start to tumble out of their bag. I begin to question what she's doing, "Is she--?"

Boom.

The apples set off one of the bombs which set off another and another until the pile itself eventually gets blown sky-high. Katniss, who's also been blasted backwards by the bombs, barely slinks her way into the forest before the boy from 3 comes back to look at what's happened to the pile he was supposed to be guarding. She's in some sort of shock and her ear seems to be bleeding, telling me that the blast has ruptured her eardrum.

It doesn't take long for Cato and the others to come back, and they're pissed. "What the hell happened?" demands Cato.

"I don't know!" replies the boy from 3, his voice scared and shocked.

"Our stuff!" cries Cato as he rips the spear out of the boy's hand. Cato reaches for his neck and twists it. Instantly a cannon goes off.

A chorus of "oh's" can be heard coming from around the room. "Oh, shit," says Gloss from beside me. "Did he just snap that kid's neck with his bare hands?"

All of the Career Mentors begin to laugh a mix of astonishment and shock, but I instantly feel bad once I see Beetee heading for the door. The others start to whisper excitedly, presumably about Cato's abilities, but I head to intercept Beetee before he reaches the door. "Beetee, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," he says. "It was going to happen sooner or later, wasn't it? He didn't really have much of a chance against the remaining Tributes. By my calculations, his death was instantaneous, no pain. A good death by all accounts if such thing exists."

I don't understand it. "Then why put in all that work for him when you knew he wasn't going to make it?"

He gives me a look. "We do the best with what we can."

I return to my seat and watch as Marvel and Clove try to calm Cato down. "We need to go back into the woods, whoever blew up our stuff is still out there!"

Marvel points to the sky. "Cato, we probably just didn't hear the cannon because the explosion covered it up. No one could have survived a blast like that!"

I pound both my fists onto the table. "Don't be idiots. She's right there! She's looking right at you! Just go fifty feet to the left and stick her with the pointy end!" I say into my screen as if somehow it'll make Cato hear me.

Of course, it doesn't. I leave after about an hour of the Tributes just sitting there. For some reason, Katniss keeps watching them instead of looking for Rue, who is currently trapped in a net set up by Marvel.

I decide to head to the courtyard to get some much-needed fresh air and something to eat. When the doors open and I get the nice warm breeze on my face for the first time, I take a deep breath and look around for people I know. Luckily, Jo and Finnick are seated at one of the benches, so I go over to join them.

"Your brother just got his shit rocked," Jo tells me as if I didn't realize that already.

I sigh as I move to sit next to Jo. "Yes, he did."

Finnick takes a sip out of his straw and sits back into the bench. "Well, if it's any consolation, they're going to find out in an hour that the bomber is still alive, and she's just sitting there in some sort of blast shock."

Jo rolls her eyes. "It's almost like she wants to get caught."

We watch as the sky goes dark and the faces appear in the sky. Only the boy from 3 and 10 appear, letting Marvel, Cato, and Clove know that the bomber is still out there. Katniss is the first to take off, presumably in search of Rue. She puts on a pair of goggles that I know the Careers also have that allows for better visibility at night.

Jo points at the screen with her drink. "Oh, so now she goes looking for the little girl. Pathetic." At least I'm not the only one who feels that way.

Marvel takes off in a separate direction to Cato and Clove, probably not wanting to be left alone with one of them for fear of getting picked off. Cato and Clove are running in the wrong direction. However, Marvel isn't.

"Ooo, this is exciting," enthuses Caesar. He points with his pen to the map. "Both Katniss and Marvel are closing in on the spot where Rue is trapped in the net. Who will get there first?"

Each of Rue's screams is heart-piercing and agonizing. No one wants to hear a little girl screaming. As much as we joke to get through everything, everyone on this bench, and I'm sure in the Mentor Centre, are feeling for her. I look around to see the Capitolians squealing at the excitement of Marvel and Katniss racing to the source of the scream being carried through the forest by the Mockingjays. My jaw tightens as I look around at all of them, getting their entertainment off of the terrified little girl. It's not right. It just isn't.

Katniss shouts back at her. "Rue, I'm coming!" And in that moment, I don't hate her. I can try, but I can't. It's just not right.

The answer to Caesar's question becomes clear: it's Katniss who gets there first. She begins to cut her out of the netting when a spear enters her body.

"No," I gasp. Marvel shot the little girl with the spear. He didn't even blink twice. Katniss whips around sinks an arrow into him. I don't feel bad for him after what's he's done. He should've aimed for Katniss.

After checking to make sure there aren't more Tributes around, Katniss kneels down to Rue. Her voice is getting all choked up as she tries to tell Rue that she's going to be okay. But everyone, including Rue, seems to know that she isn't.

Jo, who's in the middle of Finnick and I, doesn't take her eyes off of the screen but moves to grab both of our hands.

Rue stares up at Katniss with her beautiful brown doe eyes. "Did you blow up the food?"

Katniss nods. "Every bit of it." Her voice isn't laced with any malice like it usually seems to be when she talks about people from the Career districts, only sadness for her dying friend--her dying little sister. My heart is suddenly aware of how it's going to feel when Clove goes as if I'm only now letting myself realize what it's going to feel like to lose a little sister figure, just like Katniss is here.

"Good," replies Rue. You can tell her energy is leaving her. Jo grips harder on my hand. "You have to win." I expect my anger to flare up after hearing those words, but it stays dormant. "Can you sing?"

In my head, I scoff. Surely, Katniss, antagonist to my brother and the biggest threat to his life, isn't going to sing.

But she does. And it's beautiful. "Deep in the meadow, under the willows. A bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your eyes. And when they open, the sun will rise."

I look beside me to see Jo with wet eyes, Finnick too. Rue is gone. This isn't right.

Jo abruptly wipes her eyes and stands up from the bench. "We need to go."

Finnick and I don't question it and head inside after Johanna, who leads us into the elevator. We follow her to floor 7 and flop down onto the large couch. Since we're not in public anymore, I sit next to Finnick, and he puts his arm around me as I snuggle into his chest. Usually, Jo would make some sort of comment, but it's not that kind of night. To my surprise, she turns on the screen. I had thought she wanted to leave to get away from the sight.

A sobbing Katniss, who seems to be gathering flowers, appears.

I'm so perplexed by Katniss that when I speak, it comes out as more of a breathless question, "What is she doing?"

Jo swallows hard. "She's giving her a funeral. A proper one. A real one."

A funeral? In the Hunger Games? That's unheard of! I want to yell.

Click.

Everything in that moment clicks into place. This isn't right. None of it is right or okay in any capacity. My brother could just as easily die, just like a little helpless girl just did. Even though I need to keep my brother alive and will at any cost, I can't go on ignoring my brain telling me it's not right. The Career mentality tells you to push that all aside and to just focus on what you can control, but I don't want to. I don't want to have to be happy that a girl is dead so that my brother can come home. I want them both to be able to come home. I don't want Clove to die so that Cato can come home. I want them both to come home. And hell, if it meant that the Games were off, I'd want Katniss to go home too.

I want it all to change. I do.

When I realize there's nothing I can do to rescue my brother and the kids trapped in there, my gut sinks. And that's what they are. They're not competing. They're trapped. But there's nothing I or anyone else can do about it. Most of them won't get songs sung to them as they die, just a cold hard, metal object sticking out of them.

But there's nothing me or anyone else in the world can do about it.

My eyes begin to leak tears onto Finnick's shirt. "Hey, hey, it's alright," says Finnick in a hushed voice. He runs his hand over my hair and kisses me on the forehead.

"I want Cato to come home," I say softly. "But I don't want it to have to be like this." In an even lower voice, the lowest I can manage to the point that I'm not even sure Finnick will hear me, I let out a few more words as treasonous as any, "It shouldn't have to be like this."

Dun dun dunnnnnnnnn.

It's officially the final countdown with only 6 Tributes left! Can you believe it! Reality has finally hit Octavia and hit her deep. How long will she stay? Who knows! Next time, find out how Octavia will react when there's a change of rules. And what will happen when political forces begin to move behind the scenes? Will they be moving in favour of our friends or against them? All this and more coming up!

If you didn't get to answer it last chapter here, it is again! Question time: Do you think Katniss would've trusted Finnick if it weren't for Mags? And does only three members of the Career pack seem not threatening enough?

*In chapters that rely heavily on the books or movies, I'll let you know when I choose to show something that may have happened in only either the books or the movies for those of you who have only seen/read one. In this chapter, I borrow from the movies until we get to the neck-snapping scene. After that, I borrow from the books where the Careers don't go hunting for the bomber until later because Katniss' observation of Cato being the one to insist the bomber is still out there while the others believe they must be dead really characterizes him as a threat, which is important.