When Worlds Collide

Chapter Nine

“I swear if that crazy woman will not shut up in the next three minutes I’m going to…” Gale started, but Katniss quickly cut him off. “Clarisse, can you help us over here?” She asked, winking to Gale, he smiled, seeming to know what was going on. But Clarisse didn’t hear her because she was too busy muttering about “that Jackson”. Katniss got up, grabbed her arm, and pulled her over to the truck.

“Hold out your arms, you’re strong right?” Katniss asked her.

“Yeah, totally, the strongest by far!” Clarisse bragged. “But don’t touch me again!” she added.

Gale came out from under the truck, the transmission trailing behind him. He picked it up and heaved it into Clarisse’s arms, and she almost fell forward with the weight.

“Hold that for me, will you?” Gale asked, a small smile crossing his face. He quickly went back under the truck, not saying another word. Clarisse’s face began to turn bright red, and her muscles were straining to hold the metal thing.

“Oh! And whatever you do, do not drop that!” Gale yelled while she dropped it with a bang, smirking. She dropped it both to annoy him and because it was getting too heavy for her to hold. It landed square on his foot, and he leapt up under the truck, slamming his head yet again on the metal. “Ow!” He yelled, adding curses to the mix of slurred cries of pain. He rolled it off his foot and came out, tripping Clarisse and making her fall.

“What, too heavy?” She smirked at him again, despite her position.

“Idiot! You could have stopped this whole thing! It would have taken days to get back to 2, let alone find another working truck!” Gale snapped, standing up as tall as he could, which was a very intimidating height. She rolled her eyes, standing back up.

“Size isn’t that great of a thing, it’s skill that matters.” She told him.

“You better watch where you step if you go into the woods," Gale said, “You might just find my skill.” He added. She rolled her eyes again.

“Yeah, try and survive at Camp Half-Blood, and you’ll easily see mine.” She shot back.

“Whatever, just go get some wood, we need to make a fire. I’ll work more after my foot stops throbbing.” Gale said.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” Clarisse snapped.

“Alright, fine, then you can just go make your own camp. Enjoy yourself.” He said, waving to her.

“I think I will!” Clarisse  retorted.

“Why do I feel sticky?” Gale asked, moving around, ignoring Clarisse. Katniss laughed, not telling him. Soon though, she took her hand and wiped it across his forehead, showing him the black tar that covered his face. He burst out laughing. “How long has it been like that?” He asked, taking an extra cloth, trying to wipe the now partially hard oil off his skin.

“A couple hours.” Katniss replied. They both got up and began to walk Gale’s snare line he had set up earlier. None of them had caught anything except the last one.

“Don’t say a word!” Clarisse said, hanging upsidedown by her foot in a tree snare. She was trying and failing to cut at it with her sword.

“I told you you’d figure it out eventually.” Gale said, not caring about what she said. She sighed, seeing she wasn’t getting any help, and lugged herself upwards, grabbing onto the rope. She tried to cut at it, but lost her grip and fell back down, dropping her sword.

“Are you going to help me or not?” She asked, flailing her arms.

“I don’t know, why should I?” Gale said, looking at Katniss, who had a huge smile on her face. “I wouldn’t struggle if I were you. The wire gets tighter as you move. You wouldn’t want to lose your foot, would you?”

“Could’ve told me that a minute earlier.” She said, grimacing as the wire bit in. She relaxed, lifting her head slightly to stop the blood rushing to her head.

“I’ll get you down if you agree to stop bragging and just keep your mouth shut!” Gale said.

“How are you going to get me down? This thing is impossible, it won’t break, I can’t move. If I can’t get it how are you going to get i-” She began, but stopped when she saw that Gale held the other end of the wire in his hands. If he pulled down on his end, she would be pulled upwards, but if he released his grip, she would plummet.

“Trust me now?” He asked.

“Trust, maybe not. Respect, a bit.” She told him, still keeping her smirk on her face.

Gale released the wire, and Clarisse fell to the ground. She quickly stood up and brushed herself off. She removed the snare and made her way back to the original camp.

“I would watch my step if I were you!” Gale told her in a mocking voice. But when she didn’t take his advice, she found herself hanging upside down again in another trap.

“By the gods, you set more traps than the Hermes Cabin!!” She yelled “Someone get me my stupid sword!”