Pregnant in the Quell

Chapter 22

We're all sat on the shore, eating raw fish - which is disgusting - when we hear voices. Finnick instantly gets up, and Peeta gets in front of Orla and me, protecting us. As soon as Finnick sees the faces, he runs up to them shouting;
"Johanna! Beetee?"
"Finnick!" Our new allies call back. I hear Peeta mumble under his breath.

We slowly get up, still unsure of the situation. Peeta walks in front of me, his hand turning white from his grip on the machete.
"Peeta, it's okay. Look, Finnick obviously knows them, and he's been a trustworthy ally to us, so he must trust them." I say. Peeta slowly loosens his grip on the machete, and holds my hand. We walk up to Johanna, Beetee and another woman who I think is Wiress. They're all covered in a dark red liquid. I presume it's blood.

Wiress seems to be talking, and as we get closer, she's mumbling repeatedly;
"Tick tock, tock tock."

"What's the matter with her?" I ask to Johanna. It's not Johanna who answers, but Beetee.
"She's got something on her mind, and dehydration isn't helping, either." He says, trying to calm down Wiress. She's walking up and down the beach still murmuring. Johanna gets up and starts to shout profanities to Wiress. She doesn't know what's going on, so keeps on whispering 'tick tock, tick tock' until Johanna pushes her to the ground.

"Hey!" I shout, handing Orla and to Peeta. I jump in front of Wiress, who's laying on the ground, and shove back Johanna.
"What are you doing? I got them out for you!" She shouts, pushing me until Finnick intervenes. What does she mean I got them out for you! ? I don't understand what my role in this is.

Once Johanna, Beetee and Wiress are all cleaned up from the blood, we're all sat on the tree line talking.
"So what actually happened to you?" Finnick asks, curiosity taking over him.
"We were just eating some nuts, and then we heard something like rain. We looked up, thinking it was the rain, only to shortly realise that it was blood." Johanna answers.

Peeta and I give Orla to Finnick after her feeding, and head towards the sea. I'm going to teach Peeta how to swim, as it will probably come in useful. I show him the basics; front crawl and breast stroke, and after two hours, he's swimming and diving everywhere. He dives in from one of the strips of land connecting to the cornucopia, and doesn't resurface for about 20 seconds.

I'm about to dive in to see if he's okay, when he suddenly surfaces. He has something in his hand, which looks like a shell, and then he waddles up to the shore. He opens the large oyster with a knife, and there resting in the oyster goo, is a perfect grey pearl.
"For you," Peeta says, handing me the beautiful pearl. I fasten it to a pocket inside my wet suit belt, making sure it's safe and secure, wanting to keep it forever.

When I turn around, I see Finnick and Johanna cuddling and tickling Orla. It's such a cute sight, that I stay still, looking at them all for a while. When sge looks up at me, she starts to cry, so Finnick hands her to me, for another feeding, or just attention from her mother. It turns out to be the latter.

Peeta talks to Finnick, Beetee and Jo about plans on whether to stay on the beach or not. I sit against a tree with Wiress - who's finally calmed down, but still murmuring. She seems to love Orla, and she adores Wiress. As Orla seems content with Wiress, I decide to go to Peeta to ask what's going on.
"Well, we know it's not safe in the jungle and we're at the edge of it, so we've decided to go to the cornucopia." He says.
"Ok, well let's go." I say, ready to leave. We all pack up our things, and carry our weapons to the island. I carry my bow and arrow, but when I pick up Orla, it gets in the way, so I let Peeta carry my weapons.

I perch myself down on the rocks, Orla sleeping on my lap, and Wiress next to me. All of a sudden Wiress starts shouting tick tock, tick tock, and only now do I get what she means.

The arena is a clock. We are sitting on the clock.

I immediately get up, careful not disturb the sleeping Orla, and walk over to the rest of the group. I calmly but excitedly tell them about Wiress' discovery, and what we could do with this knowledge. After we've settled down, we eat the fish that Finnick caught, and relax watching the early orange sunset. Peeta requests to hold Orla, so I give her over, enjoying the 'daughter and dad' bonding moment.

Abruptly, the island starts to move. I think it's just me imagining things, until I notice everyone else stands up, running to hold on to the side of the cornucopia. Peeta runs with Orla and me to the inside part of the cornucopia. Peeta holds on to Orla as tight as he can without hurting her, and I wrap my arms around them both, keeping them safe. The island starts to spin faster, and I begin to loose my grip on them both.

I completely let go, but luckily Johanna catches me, her holding on to an axe hammered into the ground. We stay like that for about 30 seconds, until I loose my grip again.

This how I end. How I die. Please let Peeta and Orla survive this arena.

My grip loosens even more and even though Johanna tried her hardest to hold on to me, I plummet into the warm sea water. It goes up my ears, nose, in my mouth. I'm choking on the water, and feel as if I'm drowning. I keep spinning in the water, and feel dizzy and sick. Finally, the water begins to calm down, and I finally reach the surface, gasping for air.

Someone dives in, and puts their hands around my waist, to get me out of the water. As soon as I reach land, I throw up. It's mostly sea water. I feel hands rubbing my back, hands that could only be Peeta's. Once I'm done, I look up and see Finnick glistening wet from the water.
Only the second time do I hear Peeta, when he asks if I'm okay.
"Peeta, I'm fine now, but could I have a drink?" I ask.
"Of course!" He says, giving Orla to Jo, and then runs off to fetch me some water.
"You might want the spiel," I tease. He stops, and then sheepishly turns around to collect the spiel.
"Thanks," He says with a grin, and then runs off to get me water.

I thank Finnick for getting me out, and then glance now at the calm waters. It's only now when I see a body float towards the surface.