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★★★
I KNOW I NEED TO destroy the Careers' supplies. I've gotten severely off track since the fire came and Rue died, but I'm afraid my mental state will deteriorate completely if I don't focus on something, anything.
"Clove," I whisper, gently nudging her. She's snoring lightly on top of my sleeping bag, the several days of no sleep finally catching up with her. The sun's starting to rise, soft gray light brightening the inside of the cave.
"Clove," I say a little louder, and in less than a second, she has me pinned up against the wall with a knife pressed to my throat. I yelp. "Where—You—do you sleep with a knife?"
She rolls her eyes and smirks when she sees it's just me. "Obviously. What is it?" She looks at me closely, then glances behind her to the weak sunlight penetrating the leaves obscuring the entrance. "Did I sleep the whole night?"
"Yes," I say timidly. "I didn't want to wake you."
Clove frowns briefly before stepping back and releasing me. "You said you'd wake me."
"I said I'd wake you if something happened." I shrug. "Nothing happened."
"You should've slept," she mutters, then rearranges the knives in her jacket and looks up at me. "What're you planning?"
I'm temporarily confused about the fact that she apparently cares about my wellbeing, but snap out of it once I process the question. "I'm going to blow up the Careers' supplies."
Clove stiffens. Maybe I should've worded that differently. "Blow up?" she asks carefully, turning to pierce me with her dark eyes.
"Um..." I think briefly of lying before deciding it's too late now. "I figured it out a little while ago. You're—the Careers are using Gavin because he was able to reactivate the mines."
"Huh." Clove frowns at me. "What else do you know about the Careers?"
"That's... That's it, I guess."
Clove's knowing smirk returns to her face. "Well, in any case, we should get going now. What's the plan?"
There isn't really a plan, since I was hoping to stay in the cave for a little longer and make one, but it's a little hard to say that when you're facing a bright-eyed Clove Kentwell, ready to go. I think this is one of the first times I've ever seen her genuinely happy.
I shrug. "The plan... is to get to the Career camp and hope they aren't there. Then we improvise."
Clove laughs gleefully. "Love that. Come on, then."
I protest as she uses her wrapped hand to pull out a knife. "Don't put pressure on that!"
