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Clementine looked at Katniss first, and then behind herself. Mutts. They had just gotten past the fog, and now this? The gamemakers didn't know when to stop.
"We need to get back to the beach." Clementine whispered. Within a second of her saying that, the monkey mutts decided to attack. Seeing that Katniss was using her machete, Clementine opted to use her bow and arrows that was laying on the ground.
She shot the first arrow through the heart of one of the mutts that tried to attack Peeta. As much as she wanted to protect Finnick, she had to make sure that Katniss and Peeta lived. Finnick seemed to be holding his own, though - as he was killing the mutts with his trident. She saw Katniss get thrown underwater by one of the mutts, but Peeta came to her rescue before Clementine could act. Anyone who had a brain knew that they weren't actually together, and that she wasn't pregnant, but in these games, Clementine could tell that they did love each other.
As a mutt leaped to attack Peeta, a body emerged from the shrubs, letting the mutt bite into her instead.
"No!" Clementine screamed. She recognized the woman as a morphling.
"Who is that?" Katniss asked, breathing heavily.
"A morphling! Help me get her!" Peeta exclaimed. Clementine felt sympathy for the morphling girl. She limped behind Katniss and Peeta as they carried her. Finnick trailed behind, still processing the death of Mags.
As Katniss and Peeta held the morphling in the water, watching her take her last breaths, Clementine sat next to Finnick. He said nothing, but reached his hand out as if he were asking her to hold it.
Without hesitation, she grabbed it, giving it a tight squeeze. "Please don't leave me." He whispered in her ear.
***
They were eating scavenged food when they heard voices. "Someone's here." Katniss said, grabbing her bow. The four of them attempted to hide, but when Clementine caught sight of who the voice belonged to, exposed them all. As soon as Finnick saw who it was, he followed after.
"Jo! Johanna!" She called, running towards the girl covered in red. Was it blood? Not giving her time to explain, she pulled Johanna into a bone crushing hug.
"Clem, I've been looking for you!"
"We were all dehydrated. Then the rain started. Thought it was water...but it turned out to be blood." Johanna explained why she was covered in blood.
"Tik tok." Wiress muttered.
"Yes, I know. Tik tok." Johanna rolled her eyes.
"What's wrong with her?" Katniss asked.
"Shock." Beetee replied.
As Wiress continued to ramble, Johanna got increasingly angry. This, in return made Katniss angry, and Clementine knew this would end badly. As they started to scream at each other, Finnick pulled Johanna over his shoulder, carrying her away.
"She got them out for me? What does that mean?" She heard Katniss asked. Johanna needed to be more discreet. Shaking it off, Katniss took Wiress into the water to get her cleaned up.
***
"This entire arena seems to be laid out like a clock, with a new threat every hour, but they stay only within their wedge. It all starts with the lightening, then the monkeys. That's the first four hours. At ten, that big wave hits from over there." Katniss explained. Clementine nodded, following along.
"Wiress, you're a genius!" Finnick exclaimed, following behind Katniss.
"But the tail points to twelve." Peeta pointed out.
'That's where the lightning strikes at noon and midnight." Clementine told him.
Clementine looked at Wiress as she began to hum nursery rhymes to herself. She wondered when the woman would come out of her shock. Her attention was turned to Peeta when he started to draw a clock in the sand. Lightning, waves, blood rain, fog, monkeys. That seemed to be the schedule.
Clementine was drawn out of her thoughts when she heard Wiress gasp. Gloss had stabbed her.
"No!" Clementine exclaimed, running as fast as she could on her ankle to grab Wiress's body. Katniss had shot an arrow through Gloss's chest, causing him to fall dead into the water.
"Wiress?" Clementine asked, feeling for a pulse. She'd never been close to Wiress - she'd only seen her at capitol parties at Snow's mansion, but she couldn't imagine losing her. More than that, she couldn't imagine Beetee losing her.
"She's gone." Clementine said, not meeting eye contact with anyone - especially not Beetee.
***
The six of them sat on the beach. Clementine rested her head on Finnick's shoulder as he played with her hair. She'd unintentionally grown too close to him.
"Besides Brutus and Enobaria, who's left?' Katniss asked. Clementine didn't raise her head from Finnick's shoulder.
"Maybe Chaff. Just those three." Peeta responded.
"They know they're outnumbered. I doubt they'll attack again." Finnick said, looking down at Clementine.
Beetee was explaining his plan - run the coil around the big tree and all the way down to the beach, so that when lightning hit the tree, it would electrocute anyone on it.
A child's scream tore their focus away from the plan, however.
"Prim!" Katniss screamed, running into the forest towards the voice. Finnick followed after her, leaving Clementine, Johanna, Beetee, and Peeta on the beach. Johanna helped Clementine off the ground, and as they went to follow them, they slammed into a barrier.
"What the hell is this?" Johanna asked, slamming her fists against it. She knew the answer, though. It was a invisible barrier keeping the group apart.
"How did she hear Prim? What was that?" Peeta asked, panicked.
"Jabberjays. They copy sound." Clementine said grimly. Peeta's face paled as he turned to see both Katniss and Finnick holding their hands over their ears.
After what seemed like an eternity, the bour was up, and Clementine rushed over to Finnick. He was still covering his ears.
"I've got you, it's okay. It's okay." She whispered, rubbing his back. "I've got you."
