Glimmer's Story

Chapter 16

 The liquid was everywhere! It was like an orange flood! Whatever it was, it was over 100 degrees. I felt like I was getting roasted over a fire!

   "AHHH! OWWW!" screamed someone behind me. I turned around and saw that it was Clove and her skin was turning really red.

   "Clove! SWIM!" I screamed at her. She nodded and started to swim. I started to swim too until someone grabbed my ankle and dragged me under.

   My mouth opened to scream, but a bunch of the liquid came in and started burning my mouth. I didn't dare open my eyes even though I wanted to see whoever dragged me under. The current flipped my body in different directions and waves started to attack. I didn't know which way was which, and my throat started screaming for air! No doubt, this was planned by the Gamemakers. It was sad that someone right now was controlling my life or death just to keep the audience going.

   My feet kicked, my hands splashed, my skin burned, and my throat killed. I needed air, fast! My body ached from thrashing, but I didn't stop. It felt like I was swimming up forever! How deep was this!? When my hand touched something solid, I realized that the entire time I was swimming down! This was the ground! AHHHH! I couldn't stand this! My body was on fire!

   I swam up and up for as long as I could stand. My throat was on fire and was as dry as the desert. My head started to get dizzy, and my hands stumbled to keep moving. It wasn't long after when I blacked out.

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   "Glimmer! GLIM! BREATHE!" someone shouted. I recognized that it was Marvel's voice. I heard someone yelping out in pain in the background, and Cato telling them that it would be okay. I was half conscious, but my eyes just didn't have the energy to open. Someone was pressing down on my chest as well. Probably Marvel...

   Soon, I gained enough strength to open my eyes, and when I did, I coughed up some orange liquid. Marvel was in front of me, cradling my head in his hands.

   "You're okay!" he gasped in relief. I couldn't really remember much of what happened, but I screamed when I saw my skin. It was dark red.

   "What happened to me!?" I yelled.

   "You don't remember?" asked Marvel. I shook my head, and he started to explain how I almost drowned in this boiling orange liquid when Cato dragged me out of it.

   "Wait... back up. Cato saved my life!?" I said.

   "Yeah..." he admitted. I yelped out in pain when I sat up. Every inch of my body still felt like it was on fire.

   "Hang in there. We're trying to get sponsors for you guys," he said.

   "You guys?" I asked, confused.

   "Yeah you and Clove," he said. I turned around and gasped when I saw Clove. Her skin was red like mine and looked horrible. I felt like crying when I realized that that was what I probably looked like. Cato was only a light pink and Marvel... was Marvel.

   "Wait, where were you guys when we were burning to death!?" I asked.

   "Looking for you guys! Peeta and I got split up from Clove and then next thing I knew, Cato came up to me and told me he lost you!" he said.

   "Wait... wait Marvel, I remember something. I didn't almost drown. Someone dragged me under," I said.

   "Like who? Clove was the only one in there with you, and she wouldn't do that... unless. You don't think another tribute was in there with you, do you?" he asked. I didn't know what to say. That had to be the only other solution...

   "There could've been," I said. A parachute that landed right by me, interrupted us. I quickly grabbed it and opened it. It contained some type of white ointment, but I didn't hesitate to rub it all over my skin. An immediate cooling sensation took over, and I sighed. When my skin was covered in white, I passed the ointment to Clove, and she started to apply it.

   "We better start heading back," said Cato. It was getting pretty dark out, and I wanted to know how Lavena was doing. As we were walking back, my skin started itching really bad. I could see that Clove was scratching her arm too. It was probably the ointment.

   When we got back to our camp, Aaron was already asleep.

   "Where's Lavena?" I asked.