Turning around, I spotted a small pond and crawled my way over to it. Panting from all of the running, I plunged my hand into the water. I let out a scream as the blisters went away. I begin to rub at the blisters with my other hand, gasping.
"The water! The water has healing properties." I called over to Peeta and Fin. Peeta groans as he crawls over to me and the water. We groan loudly as we slid into the water. I rubbed the water a over me to get rid of the blisters. After Peeta and I were done, we went and got Fin. Dragging him into the water, I held him afloat as Peeta wash the blisters off him. "We need our weapons." I told Peeta. He ran off to get them and I took over of caring for Fin. Once Fin was able to move on his own, I went and sat on a rock near him. Peeta brought our weapons over and then went to get some water. I looked over to Fin. "I'm sorry about Mags." He looks up at me then back to the water.
"She was never gonna make it." I placed an hand on his.
"I know but I'm still sorry. I know what it's like to lose someone." I told him, my voice soft. He sent me a small smile.
"Thank you." I smiled and nodded, letting him go back to cleaning his trident. I looked at him when he nudged me. He nodded his head for me to look behind me. I turned and saw the monkey mutts again. I calmly took an arrow out of my quiver and stood up with Fin. "What?" We looked around us, the mutts surrounded us. I look to my right and through a gap in the trees, I could see the Cornucopia.
"Peeta." I called to him, gently.
"Yeah?" I rolled my eyes at his loud response as he turned to look at me.
"Walk over here slowly." He turned back as a monkey came close to him and roared in his face. He slowly walked backwards from the mutt to Fin and I. The mutts following him.
"Whoa." The monkeys continued to growl at us. We all glanced around, trying to keep track of the mutts.
"Get to the beach." I order them and made to move but the mutts blocked the way. I let out a gasp as they moved closer to us and their growling intensifies. I turn to look behind me as Peeta kills one. I began to release arrow after arrow at the mutts while the boys stabbed. I turned back to the patch for the beach, it was clear of the monkeys. I spun around at the sound of one of the mutts getting very close to me and find it flying at me. I let out a shriek and hold my bow against it as it plunges me underwater. I try to push it away from me with little results as it snaps at my face. Someone pulls me out from the water after the kill the mutt.
"We gotta get to the beach!" Peeta exclaimed as I gasped for air. We being to run to the beach with the mutts behind us. A mutt jumps on me and drags me to the ground then goes after Peeta. The monkey jumps but attacks with someone else. Peeta stabs it and pushes it away from the person. I'm trying to kick another mutt away from me when Fin stabs it. I move to Peeta.
"Who is that?" I asked him.
"A Morphling! Help me get her!" He said and we drag her with to the beach with Fin protecting our backs. We pull her into the water and Peeta tries to calm her down. "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay." He told her. "It's okay. Shh!" She's wheezing for air. "Hey, you wanna see something? Look up. Look." We all look up. "Look at it. Look at that." The sun was beginning to rise causing that color of orange Peeta liked, to show in the sky. "It's incredible, isn't it?" He asked her. "All those colors. Don't worry about anything else." He looked back up to the sky. "I'll be right here with you. It's okay. It's okay." Her wheezing stops and the cannon goes off. Peeta lays her down in the water and we moved back to shore. I took Peeta's hand in mine as we watch the aircraft take the female Morphling away. "She sacrificed herself for me and I didn't even know her name."
"Sacrifice?" I questioned him. He looked at me.
"It's what it looked like." I turn back to the aircraft in wonder.
"That doesn't make any sense." I said. The aircraft took off with the body inside it. I look over to see Fin spear something with his trident. He pulled it up and at the bottom was a big red fish. He walked over to me and handed me the fish. "Thank you." He just nodded and went back to fishing. Using Peeta's machete, I cut the fish open. I debone it a little and gutted it before taking a bite. Peeta found some clams and was opening one up to eat. He plucked something out of it and handed it to me.
"Look. For you." I look at the small black circle and took it in my hand. I let out a gasp when I realize it's a pearl, I look back to him.
"Thank you." He smiles at me and I lean over to place a kiss on his cheek and place the pearl in my quiver pocket. We snap our heads up when we hear a woman screaming in the distance.
"That's new." Peeta said as we all stood up. We watched as a giant wave of water rushes towards the Cornucopia and a cannon fires. The water reaches the island but doesn't come straight at us until it splashes back into the water and causes a smaller wave, that washes over our feet. A aircraft comes to take the body away. I turned to look down the beach and spotted someone along the edge.
"Someone's here." I told Peeta and Fin as I took a arrow out. They followed my lead and hid in the leafs, watching the new arrivals.
"Johanna?" I heard Fin muttered and before I could stop him, he jogged over to the group. "Johanna!" He shouted.
"Finnick!" She shouted back. She lets out a laugh as he got closer to her.
"Guess we have more allies." Peeta said and followed after Fin. My lips thinned out and I looked away, letting out a huff of anger then followed after my boys.
"Well . . . I got 'em out." I heard Johanna as I got closer to them. I looked over to Beetee, who was in the water. He was covered in a red substance. "We were all the way deep into the jungle where I thought it was gonna be safe." Then I noticed that Mason and Wiress was covered in the same red substance. "That's when the rain started. I thought it was water. It turned out to be blood." I jolted back a little in repulse at knowing what they were covered in now.
"Tick tock." I looked to Wiress.
"Hot, thick blood." Mason pushed her away. "It was coming down."
"Tick tock." Wiress repeated.
"It was choking us." Mason scoffs. "We were stumbling around, gagging on it, blind."
"Tick Tock." I shot a concerned look towards Wiress.
"That's when Blight hit the force field." Wiress kept repeating the same two words over again and again. "He wasn't much, but he was from home."
"What's wrong with her?" I asked with concern.
"She's in shock." Beetee told me. "Dehydration isn't helping." I help him stand up from the water. "Do you have fresh water?" He asked me.
"We can get some." I told him then jerked my head to Mason and Wiress.
"Tick tock." Wiress took Mason by the shoulders and spanned her around.
"Listen. Stop it!"
"Hey!" I shouted at Mason. "Lay off her!" I charged after her when she pushed Wiress to the ground.
"Just sit down!" I shoved her away from Wiress. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Fin called and pulled Mason away from me.
"I got them out for you!" I gave her a confused glare as Fin dragged her away.
"It's okay. It's oaky." Fin told her as Peeta moved me away from them.
"Let me go, Finnick." I turned to Peeta.
"For me? What does that mean?" I asked him.
"You did want them as allies." He said. Wiress picked herself back up and stared at us.
"Tick tock." She said. I tossed my bow to the ground and handed the quiver to Peeta.
"Let's clean you up, Wiress." I said to her and moved her to the water.
"Tick tock." She grabs my hands. I nodded along.
"Tick tock." I said. She nodded.
"Tick tock." She repeated. I sat her down in the water and begin to wash the blood out of her hair. Mason cleaning her ax to my right. I look over to Beetee, seeing him mess with some wire or something.
"What's Beetee have there?" I asked her.
"The coil? It's some kind of wire." She told me.
"Mmmm." He must've gotten from the Cornucopia. Suddenly, Wiress lets out a loud gasp.
"Tick tock! Tick tock!"
"All right. I can't." I head Mason say. "Have fun with Nuts." I sent a quick glare to her retreating back then turn my attention back to Wiress. I look up as I hear the machine powering up again and the lightening strikes the tree. 'Tick tock?' I thought while looking at lightening storm. I look at the Cornucopia. 'Tick tock.' I snapped my gaze to the floats that divided the water into sections.
"Tick tock." I look down to Wiress. 'A clock.'
"It's a clock." I whispered. "It's a clock!" I exclaimed to Wiress. "You're a genius, Wiress!" I walked us back to the others, explaining to them what I just figured out with Wiress. "The entire arena seems to be laid out like a clock with a new threat every hour, but they stay only within their wedge." I pointed to the tree. "It starts with the lightning. Then the blood rain, fog, monkeys." I motion to each sections as we walk to the Cornucopia. "That's the first four hours. At 10:00, that big wave hits from over there."
"Wiress, you're a genius." Fin tells her as he walked passed.
"Look, the tail points to twelve." Peeta said, pointing to the tail of the Cornucopia.
"That's where the lightning strikes at noon and midnight." Beetee moved over to Peeta.
"Strikes where?" He asked. I point to the huge tree.
"That big tree." I told him.
"Good." I heard Wiress sing 'Hickory dickory dock' in the background. Peeta draws the clock in the black sand of the Cornucopia.
"So 12:00 to 1:00, lightning. Then 1:00 to 2:00 is blood. Then fog. And then monkeys." He said as he made each wedge.
"And then 10:00 to 11:00, the wave." I said, looking at the clock. "What about everything else? Did you guys see anything?" I asks them.
"Nothing but blood." Mason said.
"It doesn't matter." Peeta stated, "As long as we steer clear of whichever sector is active, we'll be safe." I turn to look at Wiress when she gasps. My eyes widen in horror as I saw Gloss yank a knife out of her. I quickly shot a arrow into him, making his cannon go off. Mason pushes me out of the way and throws her ax at Cashmere. I look up from the ground and fire an arrow at the other part of the Career pack then chase after them. Suddenly the island begins to spin, I fall to the ground and slide down to the water. I grab hold of a ledge but my fingers slip, I let out a scream as I slid to the water. Mason grabbed my hand and hook her ax into the rock.
"Hold on!" She called me, but my fingers begin to slip out of her hold. "No!" I flew into the water, tossing and turning. I swam towards the surface as fast as I could once the spinning stop. I gasped for air when I break the surface, coughing up water. I drag myself up on one of the floats, still coughing as everyone ran towards me.
"You okay?" I heard Peeta ask me. I give him a thumbs up as I turn over.
"Let's just get what we need and get off the bloody island." Mason said as Peeta helped me up. We grabbed what we needed and head back to the beach, I took the rest of my hair holder and let it dry.