Jeopardy: The Fourth Quarter Quell

Bandage - Claymore

Claymore

"How's your back?"

"Fine."

The silence extends for a few seconds. I sigh and pluck at the bow string, listening to the twang dampened by the trees. She's sat with her legs drawn up to her chest and her head resting on her knees, facing away from me and arms wrapped around her calves. Through the slash in her shirt I can see blood still trickling slowly down her back.

"You're not fine."

"No shit."

I grit my teeth. I will get a proper conversation out of her; this is getting boring. I'm used to her being snappy, but not like this. And I'm running out of ideas. "We've got bandages," I offer, "We got them, remember?" The roll is soft in my hand, pristine white. I hadn't realised that my hands are muddy, and I itch to use some of our water to clean them off, but if there's one thing that will set this scenario off, it's wasting supplies. When she doesn't even move, I add, "You're hurt. Injured. Bandaging it will help."

I should have considered that the girl might have been armed, stopped Portia from just running off after her or been quicker to get there myself. I can see it in my mind; if she hadn't dodged, if she'd been a little bit closer...no. It didn't happen.

"Pass me the bandages, then," she sighs. It's a reluctant sigh; I'm right and she's not happy about it. But the rush of pride that usually comes with being right doesn't happen. Instead, I'm just happy that it's more than two words. As I take the bandages over, she uncurls herself and reaches around her back to feel where the wound is. It's like a dividing line about half way down her back, running long from left to right. Not deep but painful and still bleeding, which is worrying.

"Do you need any help?" I ask. She shakes her head, flinching slightly in pain as she reaches around to start wrapping it whilst holding her shirt out of the way with the other. The whole thing just looks clumsy and the bandage is crooked.

"You can help by shutting up," she suggests tersely.

"But it's all wonky!"

"I don't care, it's a bandage. It doesn't have to look good...ouch!" The look of pain that darts across her face is enough for me; I'm helping whether she wants it or not. She tries to push me away as I take the bandage from her hand, but I duck behind her so she can't reach and set about rearranging it. We did a bit of first aid in training, but mostly about setting broken bones. We're told that it's not necessary to staunch wounds because it won't stop them bleeding and if you can move, you're fine, so there's no point wasting time on learning it, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not doing it right. Blood is already starting to seep through the cloth.

The silence seems to go on for days. The Cornucopia is out to my left, a few hours' walk away, and unless they're dead that's where Ade and Crispin are. There's one more left who's probably Venus, because I can't see the girl from Six who I can't even remember getting the better of her. An all-Career final three. The Capitol must be loving this.

It's been bloodthirsty with so many people. And there's already been a death today. The Gamemakers will be letting us catch our breath, get ourselves ready for tonight. I try to think about that, about the fight and who it'll be and what sort of tactics will be most effective against them, but my thoughts keep slipping away.

"I'd like to be able to breathe, thank you," she snaps.

The blood seems to be stopping, which is good. I breathe a sigh of relief and tuck the spare end in. Almost as soon as I'm done she stands up, stretching out her arms. "Now what?"

Good question. The sun is winking through the trees, sinking in the sky, and still there's only three left. One we know who and where, the other we only know who. Ade won't be leaving the Cornucopia; it's too much of a solid position. We're going to have to go to her.