Sharp Objects

chapter twenty two

I wake to chaos.

A strange buzzing sound resonate painfully through my ears, along with the tortured screams of another person, most probably a girl. It takes me a few seconds to awaken. I open my eyes, and find that I can't see a thing. The air is surrounding me with thick buzzing insects.

A shooting pain course through my leg. Thats when I begin to scream.

Grabbing anything I can get a hold of, including my pack,my sleeping bag and my jacket, I blindly run,my free arm flailing,helplessly trying to bat away the furious insects. It doesn't work.

Through the hazy blur of my half-closed eyes,I notice the others,running too. A boy is just ahead of me. Not sure who; it could be cato,Marvel or peeta. I hope it's one of the first two,not just for there sake but for my own too.

The screaming builds. And it's not coming from my own mouth. A hard sound,like a drum,pounds the earth behind me. I don't look back to see, but I'm pretty sure that someone had fallen. And I'm pretty sure that they won't get back up again.

Another bout of furious pain crashes through my arm, and I almost drop my things from the sheer agony,but I have to carry on.

Clove, you mustn't stop, mustn't fall. Don't give up.

It is exactly the same words I said to myself yesterday. I hope that in the future, I won't have to forsake my minutes to assess the day ahead in favour of running from death.

Every single step in a chore,every pound of my feet on the earth ascends into agony.i cannot stop it,I'm powerless. The buzzing is still there,drowning out everything around me except for the screams.

My eyes are still slightly closed,so I can see what's in front of me,but no further. I don't think I want to see anything further: those insects were tracker jackers.

The tracker jackers were developed by the Capitol during the dark days,when the rebellion,to deter the rebels from breaching Capitol areas. They are gold blooded wasps with a poisonous sting that raises a huge lump and causes powerful hallucination.

The pain,I'm fine with: I've felt with pain all my life. But the hallucination,not so much.

It feels like we have been running for hours,but finally,when we break into a line of trees into the field where the games begin, I feel relieved. It's almost like the light at the end of a tunnel,and,at the same time,awakening to real life after living in hell.

I scan the arena around me,hoping that I would at least be able to see somebody clearly enough to recognize them.yes,I can see Marvel. He must of been ahead of me. And zafira. I could of lived without her,but at least she was more useful that glimmer.

Glimmer.

The screams,the person that fell. It must of been her.

I can feel my lips rising into a grin, probably making me appear as a madwoman with morals or regard for the lifes of others. But I am a career. And I am in the arena. What does the world expect.

My vision blurs again,and I instantly feel dizzy.my head starts to spin. Without warning,I trip.hands outstretched,I grab on to the things closet to me: zafira.

"Get off of me!" A distant voice Shouts,I am shoved to the ground. My head still spins uncontrollably. The landscape around me blurs into a dozen fragments Image that sends my already disoriented brain into overdrive. I can't make sense of anything. Voices Marge into one giant monster,crackling,howling and screaming.

It's driving me insane.

A figure runs into view.tall,and holding a sword,slick with crimson. Cato. I cannot deny the relief that settles my hearts frantic beating when I see him.

I try to stand up again, grabbing hold of somebody and hauling myself to my feet. But It makes me feel worse.

I stagger a few steps,and then stop right in my tracks: somebody is on the ground, and somebody is standing over them. Faces aren't recognizable in my state,but it doesn't matter. The only thing I do recognize is a huge spear held in the standing person's hand,and the huge cackle that feels my head.

Without thinking, I muster every ounce of strength possible, and wrench one precious blade from my vest. Each moment is painful,every time I focus my eyes,I feel as if I'm about to pass out.

But it doesn't matter. I take every last bit of force inside of me to throw that knife.

I don't see were it hits,but the person with the spear falls backwards in disjointed little frames,like a slow-motion movie is unfolding before my eyes and I know that I've got them.

I try to run towards the two people on the ground,but a voice from behind me stops me. It's the nice side of the monster,I can tell. It's the nice side of the monster,somebody kind.

I trip,fall,and land,on my hand and knees on the grass. I look up to the sky,the bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds . The clouds turn to the shapes of rabbits and hope across there blue field.

No,clove,the sky is not full of rabbits.

What was I thinking?

Trees,trees will be safe to look at.

No, trees aren't trees anymore. They have arms, Reaching out to drag me back into the forest. No,no I won't let them. They can't take me back into there, where the insects,the buzzing,sounds.no, I will not go back.

Suddenly,my vision returns to normal . For just a mere few seconds,I see who is on the ground. Zafira,with a knife through her heart.and cato,sprawled across the floor,unconscious,but alive because of me. I've saved his life, again .

That is my last thought, before I collapse