THIRTY FOUR

TICK TOCK GOES THE CLOCK

They burst onto the beach with another tribute in their arms. Peeta and Katniss dragged her into the water as the life escaped her lungs. Talia was sitting in the treeline, watching as Finnick scrambled out of the rainforest and swung his trident round towards the mutant monkeys that refused to step onto the sand.

"Finnick!" Talia calls, rushing out towards him, her calf was still torn open, and her facial wound still bleeding every now and then. Gwen follows her out of the trees.

"Talia!" He says, he drops his trident and rushes to her, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up. She squeezes him tightly in her arms, her eyes welling with tears.

"I was so worried, me and Gwen have been here ages wondering if you'd come down to the beach,"

"I thought you were dead," Finnick says, shaking his head. They part ways and Finnick briefly greets Gwen.

"Who's she?" Talia asks, nodding towards Peeta and Katniss who were holding onto another tribute in the water.

"District 6," Finnick says.

"The morphling?" Talia asks, "How'd she die?"

"Sacrificed herself to the monkey mutts, saved Peeta's life," Finnick replies, looking at Talia's wound, "What happened in the forest?"

"My ankle got caught, ripped my calf open when I pulled my leg away and hit my head right onto the side of a rock, Gwen had been tracking us the whole time, and she found me at the beach," Talia says, "We've finished all my water, do you think you could get us some?"

"Of course," Finnick nods, watching as Peeta and Katniss allow the District 6 tribute to float away, ready for the hovercraft to come and collect her.

"Glad to see you're okay," Peeta says to Talia as he approaches. Katniss and Talia nod at each other.

"Who's your friend?" Katniss asks.

"Gwen Baker, District 9," The blind woman replies, "We met briefly at the President's Manor,"

"I remember," Katniss says, "Nice sword,"

"Thank you," Gwen replies, her back held a thin sword, much like that of a samurai.

Finnick returns with a canister of fresh water which the group share around, each taking a drink.

"There's fish in the water," Talia says, "I could try and catch us some,"

"Perfect, thank you," Peeta smiles.

Talia is about to pick up Finnick's dropped trident when Finnick grabs it for himself, "You sit down, your leg looks pretty bad,"

"I'm fine," Talia frowns, "It just needs something wrapped round it,"

"I'll get us the fish, you sit," Finnick says before placing a kiss against Talia's forehead.

"Fine," Talia mutters before sitting down just within the treeline. Her leg was bad, it was painful to walk on that foot but what else could she do but suffer it?

"I have some ointment, I was sponsored it," Katniss says, sitting down beside Talia.

"Are you sure?" Talia asks, wiping the sweat on the back of her sleeve.

"Yeah," Katniss says, reaching into her pack and pulling out a small tin, she hands it over to Talia, "You don't need to use much,"

"Thank you," Talia says, offering a small smile, "And thank you for keeping Finnick safe,"

Katniss just nods before getting up and walking over to where Peeta stood watching Finnick trident hunt. Talia applies some of the ointment to her calf before putting some on her forehead. It soothed both wounds straight away, and Talia could finally relax a little. Gwen occupied her with talkings of District 9 while they waited for Finnick to get enough fish for them all. It didn't take long, and they were soon settling down to eat it. They're halfway through their meal when they hear a scream echo around the arena. Talia looks up immediately, reaching for the knife Gwen had given to her, her spear long since missing. Across on the other side of the arena huge waves start to pour down one section of it, the tsunami rushes down as the cannon booms, spreading out across the beach and over the lake, right to their feet. They all stand up, watching as a hovercraft speeds in to collect the dead tribute. Katniss's eyes follow the vehicle across the sky before falling to the beach just a bit along from their patch.

"Someone's here," Katniss mutters and the group turn to look where her eyes are facing.

Three people stumble onto the beach, soaked in a red liquid Talia could only assume was blood. Two of the fall into the water while the other starts to shout.

"Johanna," Finnick says, grabbing his trident and rushing out across the beach, Talia quickly follows. Finnick might trust Johanna, but Talia didn't. "Johanna!"

"Finnick!" Johanna calls back, storming towards him and Talia.

"What the hell happened?" Talia asks as they come to a stop. Peeta and Katniss quickly join their side. Talia realises its Beetee and Wiress in the water.

"I found them after the bloodbath, and we took to the forest, we were at the edge and then this rain started...I thought it was water...But it wasn't. It was this hot, thick blood. We were stumbling round, gagging on it...That's when Blight hit the forcefield...He wasn't much...But he was from home," Johanna explains.

"I'm sorry," Talia says, and Johanna nods, glancing towards Beetee and Wiress.

Wiress keeps mumbling 'tick tock' as she grins wildly, she grabs Johanna and starts saying 'tick tock, tick tock' repeatedly. Johanna swings her round and shoves her.

"Hey!" Katniss yells, grabbing Wiress, and turning to Johanna with rage in her eyes, "Leave her alone,"

"You should be thanking me," Johanna spits, throwing her axe into the sand, "I got them out for you,"

Johanna glances Katniss up and down once before turning and stalking into the water to clean off.

"For me?" Katniss asks, looking at Peeta, "What does she mean?"

"You did want them as allies," Peeta mutters and Talia looks out at the water.

"Wiress, you should get cleaned off," Talia says to the woman who was still grinning and repeating the words.

"I'll help her," Katniss says, taking the woman's arms and guiding her into the water.

Talia, Finnick and Peeta sit at the edge of the treeline, soon joined by Beetee who was carrying a coil wire. He sits down with the group and dries off his glasses.

"How have you all been holding up?" He asks.

"Fine, mostly," Finnick replies, "What about you?"

"Hurt my leg but other than that we're okay, do you have fresh water?"

"We can get some," Talia says, glancing at Peeta. The blonde nods and heads off to get Beetee some water.

Katniss, Wiress and Johanna finally rejoin the group, and Katniss looks at them all.

"It's a clock," She says, "That's why Wiress keeps saying tick tock,"

"What's a clock?" Johanna asks, leaning against the tree.

"The arena," Talia says, catching on to Katniss's idea, "It makes sense, 12 sectors, 12 numbers on a clock,"

"And each hour, there's a new threat?" Peeta asks, looking towards the trees.

"Exactly," Katniss nods, "But the beach seems protected, if we stay here, we don't have to face whatever's in the forest,"

"Perfect," Talia nods.

"I think we should resupply," Katniss says, looking over her shoulder at the cornucopia, "Then we can sit on the beach and wait...For something,"

"Lets do it," Talia says, getting up, she laughs, "I'm getting a little bored of only having a knife,"

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Thank you for reading & i hope you enjoyed!

~bobbybasic
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