the wonder of being afraid| cloves story

Chapter 14

I wake up from my coma. I feel my face to see of the pustules are still there- they are. My leg is oozing pus from the burn. I look ahead of me and see a large puddle of water. I tap Barnabus with the back of my hand. 'Hey' I say. He jumps and wipes his eyes. 'Safe?' I ask, pointing to the water. He shrugs 'I guess we won't know unless we try' he says. I pull my dropper from my backpack and fill it with water. I take it to my leg and drop it in. The sizzle on my leg indicates it's working. I scream out in joy and pain. I get in the  water and the pustules disappear. Barnabus joins me, hissing in joy and delight as he bathes in the water. My leg has formed a single scar and the pustules have simply vanished. Once I'm satisfied, I get out. I sit with my elbows on my knees, cross legged. I hear a loud rustle in the bushes and stand up to see who it is. As they emerge from the bushes, my muscles relax. 'Where were you?' Asks Sena, seemingly disoriented. Johanna keeps repeating something I can't hear. Senas dirty blonde hair is now stained red, she has it on her face too. 'What happened' asks Barnabus. 'Thick, red hot blood' says Sena, 'Then Gus hit the force field' she says, her bottom lip trembling. 'He wasn't much but he was from home.'
I think of Brutus, how I considered him a friend, and now he's dead. I shake the thought from my head. I put my backpack on and pick Johanna up 'Come on, let's get you cleaned up' I say. The rest of the gang follow, Johqnnas singing becomes louder and louder. 'Why is she singing?' I ask Blight, he knows Johanna better than all of us. 'Shock' he says. We reach the beach with nobody around, which is good. Sena cleans her self up, while I wash Johanna. 'Tick tock tick tock' she's saying, but what does she mean? I know there are 24 hours in a day, 24 tributes. One whole hour dedicated to our deaths. Oh no
This is a clock.
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'Johanna your a genius!' I say taking her face in my hands, kissing her forehead. She squeals in delight, after someone finally figured out her code. 'Guys! To the cornucopia!' I call. We all climb up on the rocks and walk to the cornucopia as I explain my theory to the group. 'The entire arena is set out like a clock, with a new threat every hour, because there is 24 of us, the game makers were expecting one of us die every hour.' I say. 'First the fire, fog, and the blood. That's the first 3 hours.' We make it to the cornucopia. 'And when it's midnight or noon, lightning strikes' Sena contributes. 'Where?' Asks Blight, peering to see. 'That big tree' Sena points. 'Good' Blight says to himself. We make a plan, that if someone dies then we wou-
I hear a cannon. I turn to see a line of blood on Johannas neck. As Cashmere smiles at her work, my knife finds a way in to her chest. Another cannon sounds as Gloss climbs up on the rocks. Sena picks up her sickle 'No!' I shout 'Leave him!' Senas sickle slams into Gloss' chest, his cannon booms immediately. 'No!' I scream, a cry caught in my throat. I have no time to finish off Sena, because Paisley and Thomas from 9 come blazing in with arrows left, right and centre. I pull a knife from my vest and piff it at Thomas, who dodges it just in time. I give chase with Sena behind me. I run, my axe in hand. I fall and I stay down. The cornucopia spins around in a 360° angle. I whack my axe into the rocks, Senas hand holding mine. 'Hold on!' She shouts. A scream comes out of me, I'm not sure out of terror or pain. I feel my hand slipping with sweat as Sena digs her sickle into the rocks, providing another support. I'm slipping, my hands can't hang on, so I let go and fall into the water. I sink for a little while, and then I swim up to the top and tread water. I climb on the rocks and cough and splutter. 'Clove? Are you okay?' Says Barnabus. I cough up more water and give him a thumbs up. He pats my back and I throw up water. 'Thanks' I say groggy. Sena and Blight help me to the beach, while Barnabus keeps look out for more tributes. We all sit on the beach, tired and sick. We make a leaf into a bowl so we can throw up if we need to. As I'm re-doing my hair, a wave comes over the other side of the arena, the remains of it coming over the cornucopia and landing at our feet. A cannon booms signaling the 3rd death today. 'Who's was that?' I ask Blight. 'Cecelia from 8' he says. I didn't know her, but I did see her around the training centre. 'So other than us and the 9s, who else is left?' I ask the group. 'Ayden and Chaff I think' says Sena. 'There out numbered, I doubt they'll attack again. We're safer here on the beach.' Says Barnabus. 'So what do we do? Hunt them down?' Sena counters. A scream comes from the jungle, I ignore it, assuming its Paisley. But it shouts my name. I jump to my feet, recognising the voice perfectly.
Katniss.
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' KATNISS!' I'm screaming, 'KATNISS!!' I follow the screams until I'm faced with a bird, going around in circles. I swing my axe, killing it instantly. Another scream but from a guy. 'CATO!!!' I'm yelling, tears in my eyes. 'Clove! Help me please help me Clove!!' He's saying. Barnabus catches up with me 'Clove! It's not real!' He says calmly. 'JABBERJAYS COPY BARNABUS, I NEED TO FIND THEM' I shout. Another swing of my axe and the screams have stopped. 'CLOVE!' Hollister screams. 'HOLLISTER!!' I say. I run and don't stop, his voice gone with a knife. 2 male voices are calling out to me 'CLOVE! PLEASE HELP US CLOVE!' They're saying. 'PEETA! MARVEL!!' I cry, Peetas voice gone with my axe, but as Marvels bird is in front of me, I swing my axe and my world goes black.