Chapter 13: "Don't cry"

"Free me before I slip away ..

Heal me .. Wake me from this day.

Can somebody help me?"

~ Full Blown Rose – 'Somebody help me'

Clove didn't remember ever having nightmares. Well, in fact, she'd just never thought of her dreams as nightmares. Dreaming about the arena, blood, swords and knives just never bothered her in a way that'd bother any normal person. She was not scared of them, she was excited. These scenarios she'd dream of so often were something she had been looking forward to happening. Living that dream had been her whole life. It was what she had been told she was in this world for. How was that ever going to frighten her?

She maybe would have been afraid if she hadn't known that she was a very good fighter and there was very little that could stop her. At least that's what she'd always liked to believe.

So there she was. She stood in a middle of a big clearing. Alone. The wind was brushing her face softly and it was not pleasant. It was like a cold breeze. It felt wrong. She could tell something was about to go down. And then she heard her name, coming out of someone's mouth like a warning.

"Clove!"

She narrowed her eyes in the direction she heard the voice coming from, but saw nothing. It was all a blur. She reached inside her jacket to get a knife, but found nothing.

"Clove!" Same voice called again and she looked around, not sure she actually knew where it came from that time. It seemed that it echoed around the whole arena. "Clove! Clove! Clove!"

She heard her name coming from every possible direction and felt herself panicking. Who was it? That voice sounded strangely familiar. "Cato!?" she yelled questioningly, feeling so stupid, just standing there so helplessly. She hated being so clueless. She hated not having any control over what was happening.

And then he appeared. In far distance. There was Cato, running toward her like his life depended on it. Shortly after, it turned out it did. A bunch of hungry –looking wolves were right behind him, barking furiously at their prey. Clove wondered how the hell had she not heard the beasts until now?

"Clove, run!" Cato yelled and for the first time in her life she heard him sound so terrified. "GO!"

She tried. She did. But she couldn't move. She couldn't do anything. So she just continued standing there, shaking. Cato was a few feet away from her when the wolves finally reached him. He collapsed on the ground and screamed in pain, as four of them dug their sharp teeth in his flesh.
"No!" Clove cried out, holding out her hand and pushing forward, but it was no good. She still couldn't move her legs. "Cato!" she yelled in a pain-filled voice, as she watched the beasts tear Cato apart. Blood was all she could see. Screams of pain was all she could hear. Dark red blood was everywhere.

And then one of the wolves heard her yells, too, and decided it was time to taste a different human being. It was a matter of a few seconds and he was already by her, sinking his teeth in her leg.

Blood everywhere.

"NO!"

"Clove, calm down!"

"No, no, NO!" she screamed, waving her arms around, trying to get the wolf away from her. Trying to get away, to get herself free. "Get off of me! Get OFF!"

"Clove, wake up!"

"No! Cato, help me!"

"Open your eyes!"

And she finally did. A dark-skinned boy was looking at her, worry and concern written all over his face, as he gently held her shoulders, keeping her in place. "You're okay." He whispered softly, as to not frighten her even more. "It's okay, Clove. You're okay."

She stared right at him, panting and feeling something wet flowing down her cold cheeks. She moved away from him a little, her back hit the wall behind her. "Don't come any closer."

"Clove, it's me. It's Thresh." He told her, holding up his hands to let her know he did not intend on hurting her. "We're in the arena. We're in the Hunger Games. We're allies, Clove."

She clenched her shaking fists, as two more people came into view. A light brown haired boy and a girl with a braid were looking down at her with furrowed eyebrows and a mixture of concern and confusion.

We're allies, Clove.

She swallowed hard and stared back at the guy in front of her. That calm, contained look on his face and the soothing feeling his intense gaze was giving her allowed her to start putting the pieces back together. "Thresh." She gasped, making him smile whole-heartedly.

"Yeah," he nodded. "it's me."

Clove let out a heavy breath and placed her hand on her pounding head, as if that was going to make it better. She felt her hair was all wet from sweat. "What the hell happened?"

Thresh looked away for a few seconds, a ghost of fear crawled onto his face. "You almost died."

Clove glanced to Katniss and Peeta, who still stood there deeply shocked, but said nothing to explain Thresh's vague answer. "What do you mean I almost died?"

"Your wound got infected." He told her, still not able to face her. " You went into septic shock."

"How come I don't remember what happened before I passed out?"

"Well, that's because you drank half a bottle of vodka to kill the pain." Thresh told her dismissively, getting up from the floor and proceeding to pack his backpack. Clove pulled herself into more of a sitting position, as she was going through her head in search for any memories she seemed to have lost for the time being. Vodka? Septic shock? Something wasn't right, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

She looked around the room they were in, ignoring Katniss and Peeta's glances. And it suddenly hit her.

"Where's Cato?"

Thresh's hands stopped putting one of his blankets inside his backpack, but he didn't look up or at her. He just kept his eyes on the floor in front of him, still as a statue. So Clove's eyes landed on Katniss and Peeta next, but they also were not about to respond or return her stare. They just stood there, slightly pale and looking scared of something that Clove wasn't yet aware of. "Guys.. where's Cato?" she asked again in a soft voice and the way she addressed them made things even worse for them. It made it even more impossible for them to choke out the truth.

Her eyes went from Katniss and Peeta to Thresh and then back again, but no one said anything. Feeling rage building inside of her, she made a lousy attempt to get up, but it was futile. She was still too weak from the shock. From gaining consciousness after she'd been knocked out for what seemed like a long time. "I'm gonna ask one last time and after that my knives are gonna fly." Clove threatened them seriously with that familiar fire in her eyes that they hadn't seen since day 1. Thresh finally looked at her, but not because her threat frightened him. He just knew there was no escape from what was about to happen. It had to be said. And he decided to be the one that'd do it. He was probably the right person to tell her, anyway..

"After you passed out... "Thresh paused there, as if trying to get some more courage before continuing. "they announced a feast at the cabin where we had found you and Cato the other day." he slowly began explaining, making her stare right into his eyes, which in result made him look away again. "They said each team was going to find something they really needed in that cabin. That for some of us it was the last chance."

Clove narrowed her eyes, feeling a big lump start to form in her throat. She didn't like the direction this story was going. She didn't like it one bit.

"Cato was sure that he would find the medicine for you there." Thresh continued, more quietly than she'd ever heard him speak before. "So he decided to go get it. And Katniss went with him."

Immediately, she glanced at Katniss who was by then covering her mouth with a slightly shaking hand, stubbornly keeping her eyes plastered to the floor.

"When they got to that cabin, Game Makers sent wolves after them." Thresh said, allowing himself to lift his head and look Clove in the eyes again. "He gave what they had found in the cabin to Katniss… and lured the wolves away from her. So she could make it back to us with it." He paused for a few seconds once more. "Katniss said she heard a cannon go off shortly after.."

All the air left her lungs. She placed her small hands on the wall next to her and shivering, pulled herself up on her feet, almost falling over again.

"Clove.." Thresh whispered, as he started to approach her, holding his hand out for her to help her. She flinched.

"Don't touch me!" she choked out, glaring at him with tears in her blood-shot eyes. "Don't you touch me." She gasped again, moving away from him, holding onto the wall, as her vision slowly started to turn blurry. "Don't touch me, don't.." she kept on whispering.

And then everything faded to black.

"Okay, up next… uh, Cade! Come on up!" one of the trainers called out when the last two Careers had finished their hand-to-hand combat. Cade came out of the crowd with a murderous look on his face. He stepped up on the ring with clenched fists. "We're gonna give you a bit of a break, though." The man told him with a sarcastic smirk, when he noticed the serious look on Cade's face. "Clove, you're up!"

Momentarily, the look on Cade's face turned from ready and lethal to confused. Two seconds later he was already facing a dark-haired little girl with a pale face and freckles covering it. Something squeezed his throat lightly and the breakfast he'd consumed half an hour ago bothered his stomach. He frowned at that, making Clove rise her eyebrows. "What is it, big guy?" she asked him, amused. "Am I too much for you?"

Cade narrowed his eyes and allowed a brief smirk lighten up his face for a second. "I'm up for the challenge." He told her and she smirked. She must have appreciated the fact he was not trying to laugh her up or dismiss her just because she was a girl. And because she was so small, compared to him especially. In a way, she felt that he respected her. He wasn't making any smart ass remarks about how guys were superior. She liked that.

"Begin!" the man told them and Clove threw the first punch right away. She hit him on the side of his neck, but he barely felt it, as he was able to move out of her way a bit. He caught her arm and pushed her down to the floor. She got on her feet so quickly, he couldn't help but say: "Not bad."

Clove ignored him, though he noticed a playful spark in her eyes. She motioned with one of her hands for him to bring it on. He smirked again and approached her with no intention to actually hit her. All he was doing was avoiding her little fists and giving her an occasional push. Clove quickly got tired of that and glared at him for a change, silently telling him to quit it. He didn't.

Finally, after a couple minutes of that, Cade managed to pin her down long enough for the trainer to get bored with them. He named Cade the winner and Clove got on her feet. She looked at him in disbelief and stormed off. Cade stared after her, trying to look just as indifferent, as he knew he should have felt.

But he couldn't help but understand a little bit more now why his little brother had the hots for that little girl. Cato sure was stupid for making it so obvious, but now, he actually couldn't blame the guy completely. Clove was something.

She had never been more frustrated and disappointed to gain consciousness before. She was hoping she never would. That she'd be free. She just wanted to finally feel free. She wanted to be away from her allies, away from the arena, away from all the people. She just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again. She wanted peace. She wanted peace so bad for the first time in her life. But she knew she was not going to get it. Not yet. Not in that moment.

As soon as she woke up again, she saw everyone shoot quick glances at her, as if they were afraid she would take out a grenade and blow them all up in the air in case she caught them stare at her for too long. If she had one, she sure would have done that. Because she was done. She was so done. She didn't say anything. Not one word. She didn't look at them. She just shook off the blanket, that she assumed Thresh had covered her with, and walked outside.

Clove sat outside of the building that had been their hiding place for too long by then. She just sat there for what seemed like a couple of hours, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on top of them.

Don't cry.

Tears were trying to tickle the back of her eyes but she stubbornly pushed them back. She was not going to cry. She was too proud for that. She had known all along how things were going to turn out. She had known that from that day they had picked them both for District 2 Tributes. So she was not going to cry. That was just how things worked in their world. And that's it.

Don't cry.

"Hey."

Cloe squeezed her eyes shut for a second when she heard his voice. He was probably the last person she'd want to have a conversation with in that particular moment. He reminded her of someone she had been trying to throw out of her head for a few hours now. He was too much like him.

"Are you ever going to move from this spot?" he asked her gently, not really expecting any sort of answer, which he was right about, because Clove just continued to stare at the ground in front of her. He let out a tired breath and sat down next to her, putting his elbows on his knees. He didn't say anything else, though. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him look up at the sky. And they stayed like that for a couple of minutes. That blissful silence and his company were soothing. Just like that one time by the stream the day after Marvel had been killed. She found his presence comforting. That was until he decided to shatter that little bit of peace she had managed to create in her head.

"Look, Clove.." he started uncertainly, having no idea how she'd respond to what he was about to tell her. "Cato made a choice. He knew what he was doing. He chose to-"
"I don't understand why." Clove said in a raspy voice all of a sudden, cutting him off and catching him off guard. She hadn't said a word for hours. Now was the time to say something? "I don't understand why he did that. I just," she paused to lick her dry lips. "I just don't get it. And I've been sitting here, trying to figure that out… But I got nothing."

Thresh looked at her, noticing the dark bags underneath her eyes, her milky pale face and bony cheeks. She seemed so vulnerable and innocent. So broken. He knew she would seriously hurt him for thinking that way of her, but that was all he could see. A broken girl. A girl who had just had about enough. A girl that was ready to surrender. "He did it for you." Thresh told her, knowing it was nothing obvious to her. Clove didn't see the world the way he always had. He couldn't blame her for how rough she came off to people, at first at least. She'd changed a lot. All of them did. But not even that helped her get used to being around normal people that had feelings for others. Not even that helped her understand.

"Why?" she asked, dumbfounded. "Why would he do something so stupid?"

Thresh sighed in resignation and looked away for a moment. How was he supposed to tell her that? How was he supposed to tell her something that would only shatter her even more?

He swallowed hard and without thinking much about his intent, he reached out and placed his hand over her small hand. She frowned and glanced at him, awaiting an explanation. But he wasn't going to give her one. He wanted her to feel something. Physically. A skin-to-skin contact. His warm hand over hers. They stared like that at each other for a minute or two, until he saw Clove's frown slowly fade away. And that's when he knew he could tell her: "He did it for you because he cared about you, Clove." Thresh whispered, even though he knew it was not going to stop the cameras from catching every single word that came out of his mouth. But he didn't give a damn. It didn't matter anymore. "He cared about you a lot." He said, squeezing her hand just a tiny bit. With a stunning look on her face, Clove looked away and up at the sky, biting her lip involuntarily, trying to stop what she knew was coming. "It's okay." Thresh said, having noticed the way she'd been fighting with herself. "It's okay, Clove."

She let out something that sounded like a sob that turned into a cough. Thresh stared at her sympathetically. He knew that deep inside Clove had known about Cato's feelings for her for some time now. He was almost certain of that. But she needed to be told. She needed to hear it in order to be able to make it real. Suddenly, he decided to do something that could either get him seriously injured or killed. But at that point, really, he stopped caring. His arm wrapped itself around her torso and he pulled her into him without asking for a permission. She didn't give him one, either. But she let him hold her like that, pressed to his chest. She buried her face in his jacket and went still. Tears finally made their way to her eyes and they stung her eyelids, trying to get out. She held them back. As she was hiding her face away from the cameras and her own self, as she realized she was being held for the first time in her pathetic life, just one thought went through her mind:

Don't cry.

Clove didn't remember the last time she felt so furious with someone. Blood was basically boiling in her veins, as she was going down the hall, looking for the cause of her rage. She had to find him. She had to know why.

She ignored the first two times in a row. But today? He just went overboard. She couldn't take it anymore. She felt so humiliated. How dared he?

At last, she saw him walking to the locker room. Tall, muscular, sandy blonde hair sticking out in all directions.

"Hey!"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder. As soon as he saw her, he rose his eyebrows, yet he didn't look all that surprised. That changed when her little hands pushed him to the side and up against the wall.

"What the-"

"What the fuck? I'm the one asking you what the fuck." She hissed, eyes shooting daggers. "The hell is your problem with me, Cade?"

He stared down at her with a frown. "I don't have one."

"The why the hell won't you fight me the way I deserve for you to?" Clove snapped angrily. "You made me look like a total loser in there this afternoon! And the time before that and the time before that. So what is your problem? Why won't you hit me?"

He looked down at her, slightly amused. And that made her want to punch that little smirk off of his face. "You really are something, aren't you?" Cade said, referring to how oblivious she was to everything and everyone around her. She had no idea who he even was.

"I still haven't got my answer." She hissed. Cade shook his head with another smirk. He realized it had been quite a long time since anyone made him smile a couple times in a row. Kudos to her.

"I'm not doing this for you." He told her, putting his big hands on her arms and pushing her away. Not gently. But too gently for her liking. She was too occupied, trying to figure out what that answer meant that she didn't even attempt to stop him from walking away. And so he did. And all she could was stare after him in confusion.

DAY 6

Before the sun fully enlightened the arena, they were already walking down the dusty street in complete silence. Katniss and Peeta were first, Thresh and Rue were following them and Clove was staying behind. She did not want or need anyone to walk by her side nor talk to her. She wanted to be as far away from them as she could, but seeing Thresh shooting her an occasional glance over his shoulder every now and then, she knew she couldn't stay too far behind. As much as she'd love to.

The plan was to get back in the woods, where it was harder for people to spot them from a few feet away. Unlike in the city, where they were visible to whoever was in any of the buildings around them or hiding in the alleys. Clove didn't care, though. She hoped someone would come and try to harm her. That way she would be able to take her stupid feelings out on them.

Thresh stopped suddenly, waiting for her to catch up. How she wished he hadn't.

"You good?" he asked her, walking by her side. "You feel okay?"

"I'm great." Clove responded coldly, now staring at Rue's back.

"Are you sure?"

"Can you just leave me be for a moment?" she snapped at him, making him stop walking. She sighed and also stopped, crossing her arms over her chest. He stared at her with furrowed eyebrows, not knowing how to react. She looked away, feeling somehow exposed while he was looking at her so intensely. And he knew what made her act this way. She felt awkward and embarrassed because she had let him comfort her last night. She couldn't accept the fact she'd allowed herself to feel something and that he was there to witness it.

"Clove, I wasn't bothering you all night." He reminded her. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

She huffed and carried on walking, shaking her head with annoyance. She quickly caught up with Rue, but she still could feel Thresh's eyes on the back of her head.

"Stop staring." She hissed, looking back at him.

"I'm not-"

But Clove never heard what he was not doing, because a series of loud and sudden gunshots interrupted him. Before she knew what was going on, she felt strong arms wrap themselves around her and pull her back and into the alley to their left. She yelped in surprise, as her back hit the wall of the building they found themselves next to. Clove looked up at Thresh with wide eyes, panting and feeling her heart beating fast in her chest. Thresh looked to the side and saw Rue crawling away to safety, as the gunshots continued. As soon as they stopped, his eyes met Clove's. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She gasped with a nod. "Where's-"

"Peeta!"

Clove looked at Thresh with horror written on her face before they both decided to peak their heads out to see what happened on the street.

Someone was lying there. Maybe fifteen feet from them. Someone with light brown hair.

"Shit," Clove swore. "it's Peeta."

"Rue, stay where you are!" Thresh told the little girl and she just nodded from her hiding spot, shaking slightly out of fear.

"Katniss!?" Clove yelled, hoping to hear the other girl.

"Peeta!" A shaky voice cried out from somewhere. "Oh God, Peeta!"

Clove risked another peak from behind the building and saw District 12 girl hiding behind a big trash can. Another round of shots were fired their way and Clove quickly pulled her head back, breathing heavily. "Fuck." She gasped, trying to think. "Katniss! Can you hear me?!"

"Peeta!"

"Katniss, let me know if you can hear me!" Clove yelled as loud as she could. Silence answered her at first. And then after a few, long moments:

"Yeah.." a cry rang out. "I can hear you." Katniss choked out.

Another round of shots hit the garbage can and Katniss screamed out.

"Listen to me!" Clove called to her, not wanting to risk another peak. "You need to get out of there before he hits you too! Wait for him to reload and run for cover!"

"No, I can't!" Katniss cried out.

"Yes, you can!"

"No, I CAN'T!"

"Katniss, he's eventually going to hit you!"

But Katniss just cried out. Clove glanced at Thresh and noticed pure fear filling his eyes. She couldn't blame him. This was not how things were supposed to me. This was something they would have never seen coming.

Clove was staring at Thresh for a while, trying to stay calm. Contained. In control. Just how Cato used to be. What would he do if he were here?

She took a deep breath and everything became clearer. The gunshots didn't seem as loud. Katniss' cries didn't sound so terrifying. That fear in Thresh's eyes wasn't making her skin crawl any longer. She knew what to do. Just like that.

"Katniss, stay where you are! I'm coming to get you!"

"What?!" Thresh gasped, grabbing her arm before she had a chance to run off. "Are you out of your mind, he's gonna shoot you!"

"No, he won't." Clove told him. "He's an amateur. He'll miss."

"Just wait here, she can do it!"

"No, she can't! She's paralyzed!"

"You're not gonna make it!"

"Look, she saved my life!" Clove cried out, as more shoots echoed in the arena and hit the garbage container behind which Katniss was still hiding. Thresh blinked quickly, as her words shocked him more than anything else she'd said or done in the Games so far. They stared at each other for another moment until Thresh broke the eye contact and let go of her arm. Clove took it as a permission to go through with her plan. And she was sure as hell going to do just that. Cato had done it for her. It was simply something she knew she had to do. She felt that such an act would put some sense into her empty life. But what was even weirder, she wasn't about to go out there and risk her life to make herself feel something. To make herself a better person. No. She was not about to do that for herself.

After another round of bullets hit the trash can and the wall right next to them, she took off running. The sniper was fast to reload and when she was only halfway there, he began shooting at her again. She ran in a zigzag pattern the rest of the way, hearing Thresh's yells in the background. At last she jumped behind the trash can, collapsing on the ground right next to Katniss who was sobbing and mumbling Peeta's name under her breath. "Katniss, look at me!" Clove shouted, grabbing her shoulders in a hurry. "Katniss! LOOK at me!" she gave her shoulders a firm shake and Katniss lifted her head and looked her straight in the eyes, though she probably couldn't see much through all the tears. "Do you think you can get him from here?"

Silence.

"Katniss! Can you get him from here!?"

"What?"

Clove bent down, when more bullets hit the trash can, some of them went through it and almost hit them. She knew they were quickly running out of time. "Dammit!" she swore and looked at Katniss once again. "Give me your bow."

"What-"
"Give me your bow and arrows now!" Clove yelled at her. The other girl flinched, but quickly responded and did as she was told. "Okay, now listen. You need to run a zigzag as fast as you can and turn into the alley!"

"What!? No, I can't-!"

"You don't have a choice! Wait for him to reload and go!" Clove told her, making sure she understood every word. "I need him to give away his position so that I can shoot him from here!"

"Can you even shoot?!"

Clove froze for a second. It was almost like a pregnant pause. Almost. "Dude, I am from District 2, aren't I? Ready?"

Katniss nodded, throwing a glance at Peeta's still body on the ground, as she held back another sob. And then it happened.

"GO!"

And she did. She took off running in a zigzag pattern just like Clove did before. The Sniper immediately began firing and, having grown frustrated playing games with them, he stood up. Now Clove could see him on top of the building in front of her. She quickly got on her feet, as well, and lifted the bow, trying to aim as best as she could. Knowing every second made a difference in whether Katniss was going to make it or not, she pulled back the arrow, feeling sweat drip down the back of her neck.

"Don't miss, don't miss, don't-" she told herself under her breath before she let go of the arrow.

Gunshots stopped all of a sudden. Clove saw the guy collapse when the arrow hit his neck, eliminating him from the Games. She allowed a small smile to enlighten her face.

"Clove!" Thresh called to her, running toward Peeta. She waved, letting him know she was okay and went to meet him halfway. They stopped when they reached his unmoving body. Clove kneeled and put her fingers on the side of his neck, looking for pulse. They heard, more than saw, Katniss coming. Her loud sobs broke the dead silence. She fell on her knees right next to Clove and just watched, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Peeta," she sobbed, placing her trembling hand on his chest. Clove glanced at her and Katniss returned it and stared, as if awaiting a verdict. "There was no cannon." She said, shaking her head, not wanting to embrace the facts. "I heard no cannon, there was no cannon." She cried out, the look in her eyes pleading Clove to deny the horrible truth. Clove had no heart to tell her that she had in fact heard the cannon. Even despite the gunshots, she did hear it. As much as she wish she hadn't.

"I'm sorry." Clove told her and God damn it, she meant it. Katniss broke down. She began crying like she hasn't cried yet. Not even when the little boy from District 4 had lost his life. She buried her face in the crook of Peeta's neck and cried. And then cried some more. Clove swallowed hard and looked away, before she decided to get up and turn her back on the Star-Crossed Lovers… that were no more.

Clove saw Thresh getting Rue out of her hiding place. She wrapped her little arms around his torso and held on. "It's okay." He told her softly. "We're okay."

Rue nodded and then lifted her head to look at Clove. She sent her a small, sad but angelic smile and Clove couldn't help it. She couldn't fight it.

She smiled back.

Clove opened the door to her dorm and slipped inside, trying to be quite but not in order not to wake up her stupid roommates. She'd always thought that practicing sneaking in as quietly and as quickly as she could was a good idea. It seemed like training never ended for her. She always made sure she was practicing something throughout the day. Even if it was as silly as sneaking inside the dorm at 5 in the morning after she had spent all night training with Cato.

She was yet to realize that this time things were going to be a bit different. The early sunlight was streaming inside the room through the window and Clove quickly learned that every single girl was already awake. And they all stared at her, making it seem like they had been waiting for her to get back. Clove glanced at each one of her roommates and rose her eyebrows. "You didn't have to wait for me, but thanks for the concern." She told them, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Clove headed for her bed, but was quickly stopped when her favorite blonde-haired roommate blocked her way.

"How was your night, Clove?" she asked, faking a sweet smile. "Did you and Cato get all sweaty?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Clove hissed, not in the mood for her stupid games. She just wanted to lie down for the two hours that she had left before they all had to be up. And so she pushed past the Blonde and made it to her bed.

"You do know it's forbidden, right?"

Clove closed her eyes, trying to keep calm, as she took off her jacket. "Your voice is getting on my nerves so how about you go ahead and shut the hell up?"

"I just don't get what he sees in you." The girl continued, though and the rest agreed with her with a few quiet "yeah's". That gave her more confidence to keep going: "I mean, you're such an outcast."
Clove turned around and placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at the girls in front of her. "I'm also very good." She whispered dangerously low.

"In bed?" the Blonde laughed. "yeah right, Clover." She mocked, lifting her head proudly. "I would be able to show him a great time. I'd do a much better job cheering him up after his brother kicked the bucket."

They all started laughing, but they didn't have more than two seconds for that, because Clove already had the girl pinned to the wall with a knife to her neck. Everyone stopped laughing and stared at the scene before them with wide eyes.

"What's your name again?" Clove asked, faking politenes and not trying to hide her indifference.

"S-Sasha." The girl whispered, trying to get rid of the fear that Clove knew had already overcome her.

"Right." Clove snapped dismissively. "Well, Sasha. I'm going to give you a piece of advice. Say anything about my training with Cato or call me Clover again, and I will gladly show you just how dark red your blood can be." She told her and she was being anything but funny. Sasha saw madness in her eyes and she knew Clove meant every word. "Now do you understand or do you want me to repeat that slowly enough for your dumb ass?"

Sasha shook her head, letting her know she understood. Loud and clear.

"Good." Clove said and let go of her harshly, the knife brushing her neck as she moved away, not hard enough to draw blood though. "And one more thing. Don't ever mention his brother again." She threatened her and the rest, twirling the knife between her fingers. "Unless, of course, you'd all like to give me a perfect opportunity to practice my cutting skills? Anyone?"

All the girls quickly looked away from Clove's piercing glare and walked away to take care of their own stuff. Clove sent Sasha one last look and went to lie down, as if nothing happened. But as her hand squeezed the handle of her knife under the covers, she knew that the blood-thirsty part of her was wide awake.

"Are you sure you want to come?"
Clove rolled her eyes with a sigh. It must have been the third time he'd asked her that. "Thresh, you're going to need me in there. You need back-up."

"What about the girls?"

Clove glanced to Katniss who was sitting with her back pressed to the wall behind her. Rue was right next to her, resting her head on Katniss' arm, trying to give her some comfort.

"They'll be fine." Clove told Thresh. "We gotta move fast."

He stared at her and she could tell he was fighting with himself whether he should let her come or not. But he knew he didn't actually have the power to make her stay. "Okay." He sighed finally, his eyes finding Rue's. "You gonna be alright?"

She nodded with an assuring smile. Katniss said nothing. She just continued staring at the wall, fresh tears filling her eyes all over again.

"Okay.." Thresh sighed, agreeing to the idea. Even though Clove could tell how much he didn't like for her to go with him. "Come on."

Clove nodded and both of them walked out of the building where Katniss and Rue were supposed to wait for them to come back.

They waited a few seconds, listening carefully to make sure there weren't any suspicious sounds anywhere close to them. And then they quickly crossed the street and stopped right in front of the building, on top of which the sniper had been shooting at them.

That was the plan. Go up there and find out who that person was and whether they could collect anything that'd come in handy. Like the gun, for instance. But with that came a huge risk that something or someone would try to stop them. In fact, Clove was almost sure something would go down while they were in there. Still, they had to try.

"Okay. Ready?" Thresh asked, looking over his shoulder, alert to the maximum.

"Always." Clove responded, thankful for a little bit of distraction from her depressing thoughts of Cato and another lost ally.

"You sure it's a good idea?" he murmured, glancing down at her uncertainly. Clove returned his stare immediately. Was she sure?

"No." she told him honestly. "Are you?"

Thresh let out a heavy breath and shook his head. "Nope."

Having heard his response, Clove did the last thing Thresh would have expected of her. She smiled.

"Let's go inside then."

A/N: Thank you so much for all your reviews and for following my story! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will try to update ASAP!

(By the way, there will be a lot going on in next chapter, I've already started writing it.)

Again, THANK YOU and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)