A clock.
Livia could almost see the hands ticking around the twelve-sectioned faces of the arena.
Each hour began a new horror, a new Gamemaker weapon, and ended the previous.
Lightning, blood rain, fog, monkeys- those were the first four hours on the clock.
And at ten, the wave.
And then Livia didn't know what happens in the other seven, but she knew Wiress was right.
At present, the blood rain was falling and they were on the beach below the monkey segment- far too close to the fog for her liking.
Did the various attacks stay within the confines of the jungle?
Not necessarily.
The wave didn't.
If that fog leached out of the jungle, or the monkeys returned...
"Get up", Livia ordered, shaking Peeta and Finnick awake- and entail the rest of the group, "Get up- we have to move."
There was enough time, though, to explain the clock theory to them.
About Wiress's tick-tocking and how the movements of the invisible hands triggered a deadly force in each section.
Livia was sure she'd convinced everyone who was conscious except Johanna, who was naturally opposed to liking anything she suggested- but even she agreed it was better to be safe than sorry.
While the others collected their few possessions and got Beetee back into his jumpsuit, Livia roused Wiress.
She awoke with a panicked, "tick, tock!"
"Yes, tick, tock, the arena's a clock. It's a clock, Wiress, you were right", Livia assured, "You were right."
Relief flooded her face- probably because somebody had finally understood what she'd known probably from the first tolling of the bells, "Midnight."
"It starts at midnight." Livia confirmed.
A memory struggled to surface in her brain.
A clock.
No, it's a watch, resting in Plutarch Heavensbee's palm.
"It starts at midnight."
And then her mockingjay lit up briefly and vanished.
In retrospect, it was like he was giving her a clue about the arena.
But why would he? At the time, she was no more a tribute in the Games than he was.
Maybe he thought it would help her as a mentor.
Or maybe it had been the plan all along.
Wiress nodded at the blood rain.
"One-thirty." She said.
"Exactly. One-thirty. And at two, a terrible poisonous fog begins there", Livia explained, pointing at the nearby jungle, "So we have to move somewhere safe now."
She smiled and stood up obediently.
"Are you thirsty?" Livia asked, handing her the woven bowl and watched as she gulped down about a quart.
Finnick gave her the last bit of bread and she gnawed on it.
With the inability to communicate overcome, she was functioning again.
Livia checked her weapons and then tied up the spile and the tube of medicine in the parachute and fixed it to her belt with vine.
Beetee was still pretty out of it, but when Peeta tried to lift him, he objected.
