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Chapter Fifteen
TELLING TIME
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The group is in bad shape — you can see that right off. One is being practically dragged out by two of them, and the third wonders in loopy circles, as if deranged. They're a solid brick-red color, as if they've been dipped in paint and left out to dry.

"Who is that?" Peeta asks. "Or what? Mutations?"

I see Katniss draw back an arrow, readying for an attack. But all that happens is that one who was being dragged collapses on the beach. The dragger stomps the ground in frustration and, in an apparent fit of temper, turns and shoves the circling, deranged one over.

Finnick's and my face light up. "Johanna!" we both call out, and run for them.

"Finnick! Ember!" we hear Johanna's voice reply. At the mention of our names I see one of the other people look up.

"Ember!" I hear Nolan say as he runs up to me.

I quickly wrap my arms around him, hugging him for dear life. "I was so scared for you." I admit.

Breaking away from the hug, "I know, so was I."

Johanna looks over at us and nods his head, "Yeah, everytime a cannon went off, he would get worried."

I bring her in for a hug as well. "Thank you for keeping him safe." I tell her.

I look at the other two in their group. Beetee is on the ground on his back and Wiress who's regained her feet to continue making loops. "Nuts and Volts?" Peeta says as they approach. "I've got to hear how this happened."

Johanna explains that they were in the jungle. "We thought it was rain, you know, because of the lightning, and we were all so thirsty. But when it started coming down, it turned out to be blood. Thick, hot blood. You couldn't see, you couldn't speak without getting a mouthful. We just staggered around, trying to get out of it. That's when Blight hit the force field."

"I'm sorry, Johanna," says Finnick.

"I'm sorry." I say, knowing from Finnick how hard it can be to lose your fellow district partner and mentor.

"Yeah, well, he wasn't much, but he was from home," she says. "And he left me alone with these two." he nudges Beetee, who's barely conscious.

"Hey, what about me?" Nolan asks.

Johanna shuggs, "I guess you're alright." Nudging Beetee with her shoe she says, "He got a knife in the back at the Cornucopia. And her —"

We all look over at Wiress, who's circling around, coated in dired blood, and murmering. "Tick, tock. Tick, tock."

"Yeah, we know. Tick, tock. Nut is in shock," says Johanna. This seems to draw Wiress in her direction and she careens into Johanna, who hashly shoves her to the beach. "Just stay down, will you?"

"Lay off of her," Katniss snaps.

Johanna narrows her brown eyes at Katniss in hatred. "Lay off her?" she hisses. She steps forward before me or Finnick can react and slaps her hard. "Who do you think got them out of that bleeding jungle for you? You —" Finnick tosses her writhing body over his shoulder and carries her out into the water and repeatedly dunks her while she screams a lot of really insulting things at Katniss.

Once Johanna is rinsed off, I glance up at Finnick. I know I need to tell him. Finnick and I retreat back to the beach but also a few feet from the others as most of them are still rising off and Peeta and Katniss are to the side talking. "I know you mentioned yesterday that you had to tell me something. But I have to tell you something as well, and now is probably the worst possible time. I should have done it months ago, but..." I trail off suddenly, nervous. I know almsot for certain that the cameras are on us. I glance up into his eyes and he looks at me curious. "Okay, so you know what I said at the interview?" I ask him and he nods his head. "I meant that for you. I love you Finnick."

He is quiet for a few moments and I fear that I have just ruined our friendship. But then he grabs my hand with one of his and stares down at me. "Well that's good to hear, because I love you Ember. I have for a long time now."

Finnick stepped closer, capturing my lips in his for the first time. I felt like I was floating as his hands were sitting lightly on my waist and my hands snaked around his neck. When we break apart, I stare up with a smile .

"About time." Nolan says as he makes his way onto the beach from the water with a smile on his face. I had talked to him and Willow before about how I felt about Finnick.

"Did they finally get together?" I hear Johanna call out as she swims back to shore.

This causes Katniss and Peeta to look over in our direction. All of them are waiting for an answer. "I mean, yeah. No, I don't know." I tell them.

After all the excitement, Katniss gets to work examining Beetee. Peeta lifts him into his arms and Katniss takes Wiress by the hand and they go back to the beach camp. She sits Wiress in the shallows so she can get washed yo a but, she just cltuches her hands together and occasionally mumbles, "Tick, tock." I walk over to her and help. I unhook Beetee's bet and find a heavy metal cylinder attached to the side with a rope of vines. I can't tell what it is, but if he thought it was worth saving, I'm not going to be the one who loses it. I toss it up in the sand. Beetee's clothes are glued to him with blood, so Peeta holds him in the water while Katniss and I lossen them. It takes some time to get the jumpsuit off, and then we find his undergarments are saturated with blood as well. There's no choice but to strip him naked to get him clean, but I have to say this doesn't make much of an impression on me anymore. You kind of get used to it after a while.

We put down Finnick's mat and lay Beetee on his stomach so we can examine his back. There's a gash about six inches long running from his shoulder blade to below his ribs. Fortunally it's not too deep. He's lost a lot of blood, though — you can tell by the color of his skin — and it's still oozing out of the wound.

I sit back on my heels, I have no idea what to do to help him but it looks like Katniss does. "I'll be right back," she tells me and Peeta. She wasn't gone long before she came back onto the beach with a handful of moss. She makes a thick pad out of the moss, places it on Beetee's cut, and secures it by tying vines around his body. We get some water into him and then pull him into the shade at the edge of the jungle.

"I think that's all we can do," Katniss says.

"It's good. You're good with this healing stuff," I say.

She smiles and then she says that she is going to go help out Wiress. I take the spile and the woven bowl that Finnick had made and get water for Johanna and Nolan. I take Peeta with me to cut a hole into the tree. With his help it doesn't take a long time. "So, you and Finnick."

I hold the bowl under the water flow as I feel heat run to my face. "Well I have had a crush on him for years, and now is the worse possible time." I say.

He laughs a little. "I think you guys are cute together."

I thank him and then head back to the group as Katniss is too. I give the water to Johanna, who gullps it and stuffs herself with shellfish. Nolan does the same. Finnick tells them about the fog and the monkeys in a detached, almost clinical voice, avoiding the most important detail. He spoke in a different voice than he had a few minutes ago when he had told me he loved me.

Everybody offers to guard while the others rest, but in the end, it's Johanna and I who stay up. Me because I'm really rested, she bause she simply refuses to lie down. The two of us sit in silence on the beach until the others have gone to sleep.

Johanna glances over at Finnick, to be sure, then turns to me. "How'd you lose Mags?"

"In the fog. Finnick had Peeta. Me and Katniss carried Mags for a while. Then we couldn't lift her. Finnick said he couldn't take them both. She kissed him and walked right into the posion," I say.

"She was Finnick's mentor, you know," Johanna says accusingly. At first I thought she was talking to me and I was confused because of course I knew that. But then I see Katniss sit up.

"No, I didn't," she says.

"She was half his family," Johanna says a few moments later, but there's less venom behind it.

We watch the water lap up over the undergarments. "So what were you doing with Nuts and Volts?" Katniss asks.

"I told you — I got them for you. Hyamitch said if we were to be allies I had to bring them to you," says Johanna. "That's what you told him, right?"

Kantiss nods her head. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"I hope so." She gives her a look filled with loathing like she is the biggest grab possible in her life. I wonder if this is what it's like to have an older sister.

"Tick, tock," I hear behind me. I turn and see Wiress has crawled over. Her eyes are focused on the jungle.

"Oh, goody, she's back. Okay, I'm going to sleep. You and Nuts can guard together," Johanna says. She goes over and flings herself donw beside Finnick.

"Tick, tock," whispers Wiress. Katniss guides her in front of us and gers her to lie down, stroking her arm to soothe her. She drifts off, stirring restlessly, occasionally sighing out her phrase. "Tick, tock."

"Tick, tock," Katniss says softly. "It's time for bed. Tick, tock. Go to sleep."

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Hey guys, thank you guys so much for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it and if you did then don't forget to vote and comment.

I am currently working on the third book, and finding it hard to find inspiration to write it. Maybe I need to reread the hunger games or rewatch the movies to get some inspiration. I'll finish the story eventually though.

I also really want to write an original story. I have a few plot ideas but I'm not sure about them.

Anyways thank you guys so much for 6.2k reads and 179 votes on this story and 27.9k on the first book Ember in the Flames and 762 votes. It means so much to me that people are reading these books.