star crossed lovers ➸ cato hadley

xiv. these violent delights...

It wasn't long until the forcefield was lifted and the jabberjays laid dead in heaps around Natalie and Finnick. Cato and Peeta had immediately went over to console Natalie, who had flinched at their touch, whereas Rosen was slapping Finnick repeatedly on the arm. "You idiot!"

"Can you stop hitting me now?" Finnick asked with an amused look as Rosen hit him one more time.

"They wouldn't touch me and you know that." Rosen huffed in annoyance, ignoring the look that Finnick was giving her. She had given him a look of her own, silencing him with the protest she knew he was about to make.

"She's right, Finnick, they wouldn't dare hurt Rosen, the Capitol loves her too much. Forget the districts, there would be riots in the damn Capitol." Both Rosen and Finnick turned to look at Johanna. And though the both knew it was far from the truth, they sure wasn't going to tell anyone else that.

"Hey, how does that sound Snow? What if we set your backyard on fire? You know you can't put everybody in here." Johanna shouted into the open, daring President Snow to unleash something upon them.

     "What? He can't hurt me. There's no one else that I love." With everyone staring at her, Johanna couldn't handle their sympathetic looks so she walked away, claiming she was going to get some water.

➸

     "Where do the Careers feel the safest?" Beetee asked the group, five faces all ready to hear about the plans he was waiting to unravel.

"The jungle's a nightmare." Cato answered. "They would feel the safest on the beach."

"Then why are they not here?" Beetee questioned.

"Because we claimed it." Johanna spoke impatiently, almost like she was talking to the group of victors as if it was the most obvious answer. "If we left, they would come."

"Or stay hidden in the tree line." Finnick added.

"And which just in over four hours will be soaked in water from the ten o'clock wave. And what happens at midnight?" The District three male prompted.

"Lightning strikes that tree." Cato responded.

"Here's what I propose. We leave the beach at dusk. We head to the lightning tree. That should draw them back to the beach. Prior to midnight, we then run this wire from the tree to the water. Anyone in the water, or on the damp sand, will be electrocuted."

"How do we know the wire's not gonna burn up?" Johanna added.

"Because I invented it. I assure you, it won't burn up."

Johanna, Finnick and Rosen had all shared a look, like a plan was unravelling and it was finally be set into place. Natalie had noticed the odd exchange between the three and looked at her family in return.

"Well, it's better than hunting them down." Natalie spoke with a shrug of the shoulders. The last thing she had left like doing was adding more deaths to her lists and the added guilt on her mind.

"Alright. If it fails then no harm done anyway, right?" Cato shrugged, feeling indifferent to the whole situation. The careers was raised to be ruthless, rarely did they have any plans in the games. It was all down to survival; kill or be killed. Whether his mentors died due to the wire or his own hands, he didn't care.

"Alright." Peeta agreed. "I say we try it."

"So what can we do to help?" Finnick asked.

     "Keep me alive for the next six hours. That would be extremely helpful."

➸

     "I think we need to go." Cato stated to his wife and brother-in-law. There were only 10 people left, 7 of them being in a group together. What happened when they had killed the rest and they were the only ones standing? The trio knew just how lethal Finnick and Johanna were, whereas Rosen was the dark horse. She had no experience being in the games but she had trained alongside them nonetheless.

Peeta glanced at Beetee and Johanna talking then towards Finnick and Rosen laughing as they stood soaked in water. "What if we stayed? The plan's gonna work."

"I think so too but once the careers are dead, we know what happens next and I'm sure none of us want to be the ones to shoot first." Cato answered as Natalie nodded in agreement.

"What if they don't either. What if all of us refuses to shoot first."

"We still might end up dead." Natalie declared.

"Maybe not. It worked for us the last time." Peeta protested, trying his hardest to get the two on his side. He didn't want any extra stress put on Natalie's shoulders and he feared them leaving would cause more harm then good.

"They're not going to make that same mistake again especially not when Rosen is here with us. We all know there's going to be one person walking out of here alive, and it's gonna be one of us." Cato spoke, already knowing that he would do anything to ensure the survival of his wife and unborn child.

"The careers are still out there. What about we stick with them til midnight and if we hear a cannon, we go?" Natalie questioned, hoping they could come to a compromise.

     Cato and Peeta looked at each other before agreeing with the terms. Little did they know about the trouble that was awaiting them.

XXX
hey guys, I really need your opinion. I have plots for the third part of this book (aka mockingjay part one) and im really excited for them but I have no idea whether I should continue after this second part as I don't think anyone is really enjoying it. if you want me to continue or not then please comment before I publish the new chapter so I know whether to change the ending.

also please excuse this mess.