A/N: This is an AU plotline that takes over on page 378 of Catching Fire, as if Katniss never realized the force field needed to be destroyed. This is a joint-fic written by Alex (a.k.a. avatardn-n) and I (Taylor or taylorjeanjn, if you're wondering). It's rated T for your normal Hunger Games violence. Each chapter will alternate between Peeta's point of view (written by Alex) and Katniss's (written by me).
Disclaimer: We don't own the Hunger Games trilogy, nor are we making any money from this.
Enjoy!
-The Leeg Twins
- PART ONE -
The Interruption
This is it, I think as I run as fast as I can from the lightening tree, losing sight of Beetee and Finnick as I do. Seconds ago we were right on track, already savoring our victory against Brutus and Enobaria. But then the coil was cut. It dawned on me that Katniss and I never should have split.
Everything happened in matter of seconds. Beetee, Finnick, and I were waiting for Katniss and Johanna and next thing I know, I'm running for my life before Finnick catches me. At some point I lost him and started running from Enobaria instead, luckily I find a bush that's one of the easiest to use as concealment. But then the unthinkable happens. I hear a cannon fire.
"Katniss!" I shriek.
What do I do? What do I do? I scream inside my head. I don't know who that cannon fired for. I don't know who just died and who's still alive. My heart races a mile per hour and my mind can't form coherent thoughts. The only thing clear in my head is that I must get to Katniss. Another cannon fires. And I have to do it quick.
I hear a stampede of feet nearby. I'm sure it must be Finnick or Enobaria trying to find me. Assuming they're still alive. I do my math and think how improbable it would be for Katniss to be alive if they are too. No, I hope it's Katniss. As much as I pray it's her though, there's no other way to find out than to abandon my impromptu hideout. I squeeze my eyes shut, hear my uneven breathing and try to calm myself down.
"Okay, Peeta," I tell myself, "At the count of three. One…two… three!"
I sprint out of the bush and run in some direction. It's hard to tell which since the moon's not particularly bright tonight. I stumble and fall more than twice in a row. By the time I'm out of the way of the largest tree roots, my bad leg's aching like it just got chopped down again.
A third cannon sounds. Screaming her name is the best I can do to maintain my wits.
"Katniss! Katniss where are you?" I shout. I don't care I reveal my position. All I want to know Katniss is still alive. She has to! She can't be dead!
"Peeta?" I hear a girl's voice calling my name. It's Katniss. She sounds far away, though. For a minute, I sigh relieved, but then I remember that although the cannons have stop firing, we are still playing. We are still on the Games. And Katniss can still die.
"Katniss!" I shout. "Where are you?"
I keep running in no particular direction when I don't hear her screaming my name again. The physical exertion is wearing me out rapidly. My breath's sharp and my chest hurts the way it has ever since I bumped face first onto the force field. My knees are starting to give out, but I can't give in just yet. Katniss is still here somewhere. She's in danger.
"Peeta!" she screams. "Peeta, where are you?" She sounds a little more desperate, but also closer. I've almost find her.
"PEETA!" Her voice is torn, I think she ran into trouble. Johanna must be hurting her, but it's hard to tell with the jungle so dark. If she's anywhere near, it's more probable I'll miss her. I see some nearby bushes shaking. I pull my knife without hesitation, ready to kill. Whoever wants to reach Katniss will have to go over my dead body first, literally.
A figure steps out of the bush.
"Who is it?" I snarl.
"Peeta!" It's Katniss. I almost drop my knife, thinking I was about to lunge forward for the kill.
"Katniss!" I run to her and immediately pull her into my arms. I hear her giving a small whimper, but I´m so glad to see her I ignore it. Instead I kiss her head, her forehead, and one of her cheeks. She's here. She's okay. Even in the middle of the havoc, everything is suddenly better.
"Are you okay?" she asks, her voice muffled in my shirt.
"Yes, I am," I answer, breaking apart but holding her face in my hands. "What happened? What's going on?" Before I keep bombarding her with my questions, I notice a warm liquid has stained my right hand. It's blood and it's coming from Katniss' arm.
"Katniss, your arm!"
"It's nothing," she says shrugging away from me. Her voice is coarse. "We need to find shelter quick or they'll gain up on us."
I agree. She looks around for somewhere safe to hide, but it's almost twilight. The sun will be up soon and bushes won't do anymore.
"We have to climb a tree," she decides.
My leg hurts unbelievably bad, but she's right. The only safe place is the heights. An unpleasant feeling settles in my stomach when I think how much I hate them, but it's the only way to survive so I don't question our new plan.
As we walk I´m able to assess Katniss´s real physical condition, which is worse than bad. She trips and leans to the right when she walks. I notice not only her bloody arm but a black bruise on her temple. Five minutes pass and we don´t make any progress. In the end, I force her to let me carry her. It´s hard because my chest still hurts despite how light she is, but this is the only way to survival.
"Grab me some of that moss," she instructs me after I set her on the base of the tree's trunk. I peel as much of the greenery as I can and give it to her. She wraps her arm around it and tucks the rest on her belt.
"I'll go first," she says and wobbles as she stands up again. The morning light starts to seep through the dense wildlife, and I can see her squeezing her eyes shut as she stands.
"I can try and climb with you on my back," I say, worried she might fall on her way up.
"No, it's okay. I'm fine." She shrugs away from my touch and, very stoically, climbs up only stopping a couple of times and wincing every now and then.
"Your turn!" she says up from a very tall branch. On her command, I cling to the tree trying my best not to fall. Halfway up, I slip a bit and gasp, certain that my arms will give in. Next, I hear the branch I'm supporting my bad foot on snapping.
"I can't, Katniss!" I gasp. "I'm going to fall!"
"No you won't! Just keep climbing!" She says. "You're almost here!"
I gulp and calm down, then resume my climbing. I reach the branch Katniss picked and with her help, I'm able to sit . Thankfully it's sturdy enough to support my weight and Katniss's.
"Thank you."
Katniss nods in response.
I take a minute to catch my breath and then say, "Let me see your arm."
"It's no use, Peeta."
"Just let me see it, okay?"
Katniss sighs exasperated, and unwraps her soaked moss bandage. I feel sick to my stomach when I see the wound. It's deep and messy. It looks like someone took a small spoon and carved a hole on her forearm.
"I told you it's no use," she says as-matter-of-factly when she catches sight of my green face. But she knows what that wound means. We need to treat that or… No, there's no 'or'. We need to treat that, and soon.
"What about your head?" I ask, barely touching the bump with my fingertips. She winces.
"Don't!" she exclaims. "Johanna hit me on the head when Enobaria and Brutus cut the wire. She cut my arm as well. She had an alliance with Finnick. I heard him looking for her."
"We shouldn't have split," I say, allowing some guilt in my voice. "You were right."
"It doesn't matter now, Peeta. It's already done," she says bluntly. It takes me aback, I don't know what I was expecting now that it's us against the world again. Some making out on the tree until we fell? I don't know. In either way, her head is far more into the game than mine. I need to concentrate.
"What about you?" she asks me, her voice a notch softer. "Did Finnick hurt you? Or Beetee?"
"No," I admit. "I didn't stick around Finnick long enough to test his loyalty. But I heard Beetee whining nearby. I think he's hurt. Maybe he got electrocuted."
The foggy gray of early morning is slowly replaced by the golden strands of a rising sun. I can see everything clearer now. The jungle begins to wake up, and the color of Katniss's blood intensifies.
"Give me some of that moss," I say. She rips a portion off her belt, and I gently take the soaked one off her arm. I wipe the surrounding area clean and press the wound with my hand. I know next to nothing about first aid, but some of Katniss's knowledge stuck with me. I try to stop the bleeding.
"So what now? You think the Gamemakers will throw us a Feast?" I joke, though I hope they do. There's no way Katniss will get better by merely relying on the jungle's resources.
"Don't say that." She scowls at me. "You're not going to the Feast. I mean, there won't be a Feast in first place."
"Or maybe I can ask Haymitch for some sleep syrup."
She jerks her arm away from me but she winces at the abrupt motion. "Stop that. You won't. Didn't you just admit it's better if we stick together? Besides, I'd like to see you climb this tree again."
"Well Katniss," I say, a bit more irritated, "I hate to break it down to you, but if we don't get that wound cleaned up you'll get—"
"Blood poisoning," she finishes my sentence and stares knowingly at me. "I'm not stupid, Peeta."
"Never said you were."
She scoots closer to the trunk and stands up. I look puzzled at her. "Here," she says. "I'll climb up to see if I can spot the others. If it's clear, we can get down to look for something to use. How's that?"
"But your arm…"
"Peeta, I'll be okay!" she scolds me, though laughter is mixed up in her voice. "I'll be back in a minute."
She climbs up but I fix my eyes on her, ready in case she falls. It takes a while, but she reaches the top of the tree. I get distracted and look at the sky, thinking about how there's not the slightest drop of cool, clean water. There aren't any clouds, or sign or them. No rain.
"No rain…" I repeat to myself. But then, the word triggers an ignored, crucial fact about our position. Rain. Clouds. Storms. Lightening. The lightening tree. Suddenly, my mind is only occupied by one single question: What time is it?
"Katniss?" I shout, hoping she listens. I startle her, she almost falls.
"What?" she shouts back, irritated, though I can tell it's only because of the surprise. "You almost made me fall."
"I'm sorry! But… do you know what time is it?"
She's about to snap at me, but the clever comment tangles somewhere in her throat and I see my point finally dawning on her, too.
"No," she says. "No, but…" She looks around her, trying to figure out where we are.
I wait for her to come down, in my own small way trying to figure out where we are. A funny sensation invades my left leg, something I didn't feel before because of the prosthetic. Some kind of warm rope is tying around it, like a coil. I look down, slowly. I jump and grab the tree trunk before I lose my balance. It's a snake. A thick bright red, yellow, and black snake. A scream builds up on my chest but I tense up. Don't you dare to move one muscle, I think.
"Uh… Katniss?" I say, but she doesn't answer. Meanwhile, the snake keeps coiling up my thigh.
"We're in five!" she finally shouts, but she doesn't come down.
"Katniss!" No answer. "KATNISS FOR THE LOVE OF LIFE, COME DOWN!"
"What now?" she shouts from up the tree, irritated again. And rightly so. I wouldn't have been surprised if my screaming sent her falling down the tree. But I don't dare to look up to see if she even notices what's going on.
"Peeta!" she exclaims. I can hear her voice closer. All of a sudden, an arrow goes through the snake on my thigh, sending it flying to the ground, dead. She's on our branch now.
"Where did that… your foot!" she exclaims and nudges the bright green snake claiming my foot with her bow.
I look down and see a nightmare. The floor is covered with thin serpentine bodies of all colors and sizes and they are slowly crawling their way up the trees.
"We have to get down!" I say and immediately hug the tree trunk, before it's too crowded with snakes.
"Wait, let me go first!" Katniss exclaims. "You'll fall!"
"No time!"
I slide down carefully, ignoring the warm bodies of the snakes circling my limbs.
"Watch your left arm!" Katniss yells, knocking a yellow snake with her bow that was about to bite me. "Careful, I'm getting down!" she says.
"Okay!"
I can tell she's struggling. I hear her wince and grunt as she goes down, sign her arm is not doing better at all, but she manages. It's a tall tree, but we work our way down steadily. Some nine feet before we touch the ground, I hear a branch snap and then, everything happens in a blur.
"Katniss!" I yell, when I see her falling down the tree. I reach for her but don't catch her. Instead, I lose my grip and fall as well, landing on a pool of snakes.
The fall knocked the air out of my lungs, but thankfully the reptiles supported it. I check the mobility of my limbs. I still work. Hearing an unnatural hissing, I get up shaking my body to get rid of the snakes that were already claiming me. I see a bulk of snakes rising, at first I think it's a mutt, but then I spot the bow and the braid.
"Katniss!" I run to her, popping a few snake heads on my way. Loud, heavy feet finally have a use in the Hunger Games. I yank her up and shake off the snakes, feeling small tiny pinches on my hands as I do.
"Run!" she yells. "Run!" I grab her good arm and pull her along. The larger snakes, some black and some deep green spot us and slither their way to us. I hear that unnatural hissing again. I know it's them. In their race to catch up with us they even bite some other smaller snakes that block their way. When I notice I'm running faster than Katniss, I figure we're in great danger. She stops several times.
"Come on, Katniss! Don't stop!"
She nods. "Sorry. There, that's the way out!" She points at a pair of thin trees that aren't covered with snakes. We sprint but just as we cross to the next hour in the clock one of the black snakes, the largest one, bites on Katniss's ankle twice. She whimpers and falls to the ground.
"Katniss!" I cry. The snake still hangs around. The other two accompanying it got blocked on the last hour section by an invisible wall like the jabberjay one. The snake rolls up to form a spring and poises for an attack. I pull Katniss out of the way, and reflexively, pull my knife out. Just as it lunges towards me, I sidestep, throw my weight on it and cut its head off. A bath of warm blood covers me. I'm sick to my stomach because the smell is unlike any other. Some mixture between rotten flesh and wet earth. Something that smells of Katniss and death at the same time. I try to ignore it but the image of me murdering Katniss, triggered by this scent, is impossible to push aside. Before I return to her, I have to stop and vomit the meager amount of food I had in my stomach. With my hands, I smear the blood away from my face, trying to lessen the unpleasant odor.
"Katniss!" She's still sitting at the base of the tree where I left her.
"Peeta!" She stands up even though I tell her not to. She wobbles and stumbles her way to me, locking her arms around my neck. "Are you okay?"
I nod. "Let's just sit for a while," I say and we both go to lean on the tree. Even when we got out of the five o'clock zone, I can still hear the hissing of the snakes. Katniss keeps quiet, but I can see she's in pain. She got bit on the ankle and her arm is bleeding freely, now that her bandage is gone.
"Do you have any more moss left?" I ask her.
"Yes, it's the last portion, though." She hands me the last piece of moss. It's smaller than the others, but it'll have to do. She offers me her arm and I start to wipe it clean.
"We'll have to make sure to get some more later," I say. "How's the ankle?"
"Peeta, we need to get moving," she says suddenly.
"No, we need to take care of you. You're hurt," I say, stubbornly.
"No, you don't understand!" she urges, ignoring me and standing up quickly. She's forced to keep still for a bit though because the blood loss is finally getting the best of her. Thinking of the consequences this might bring later on makes my stomach drop. I think of a Feast again, and how imperative it is to save Katniss's life.
"Listen!" she says again. I do listen but hear nothing.
"I can't hear anything!" Suddenly I realize what a great danger we're in. We are caught in the clock.
"What's on six?" she asks. But I don't answer. The rumbling and the trembling ground answer her. It's the beast, and by the commotion I can tell it's big, even if I'm no hunter.
She pulls my arm and heads away of the vibrating, but the nature of the mutt becomes clearer. The thumping becomes a mini earthquake, and soon I spot the creature in the distance. It's a… something. Pink, apparently made of human flesh, eyeless, with big nostrils, and a human mouth with deadly sharp teeth.
Katniss stops pulling and slips her hand into mine. I squeeze it as we both freeze. The animal sniffs the air for a while, deciding where to charge. I'm containing my breath because I know I'm easier prey, being I'm covered in blood. Slowly I release the air from my lungs but just as I inhale again, the thing spots me and charges full speed, opening its mouth and releasing a horrible screaming sound. It's a girl. I know who it is. It's Prim.
"Run, Katniss!" I push her. "Move away from me!" I shove her, because I know how paralyzed she is. Just in time, adrenaline kicks in and Katniss runs to a sprint. It doesn't take me much longer to catch up with her, and halfway through, she's forced to stop.
"Wait, I'm dizzy," she gasps and supports her hands on her knees with her head looking down. "Go on." She lets go of my hand. "I'll meet you… at the tree."
"Absolutely not. I'm not leaving you here!" I say, knowing to stop is to meet death. I push her but she doesn't respond. Meanwhile, the beast gains up on us. "Come on, Katniss! Move, don't give up! You are not dying today! Move!" That's all I can do to encourage her, but she's too tired, too weak, and too wounded to keep running. Our time runs out. The beast catches up and at the last second, I react with an impulse. I yank Katniss's bow from her hand and pull an arrow from the sheath. I'm clumsy with it, but I manage to shoot. The arrow only catches on one of the beast's paws, making him angrier.
"Stop!" Katniss coughs. "You…are…wasting…my arrows!" She snatches the weapon from me and starts shooting herself. The first arrow lodges on the beast's chest, making it slower. "I can't run for much longer…"
"You're doing fine," I say, spotting the beach in the distance. "Just keep shooting, we're almost there!"
One arrow more. Two arrows more, and the thing finally collapses.
"There! It's there!" I exclaim. We run and stumble our way down to the sand, neither sure of how we survived. I'm breathless, and so is Katniss. I lie there for a while, trying to control my breathing. Finally, when I am fairly recovered, I sit up.
"How are you?" I ask, scooting next to her.
"Alive," she says.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that," I say, unable to stifle a laugh. "Let me see the ankle." I move down so she doesn't have to. It's like an orange replaced her ankle.
"It's blue," I say, raising my eyebrows.
"I know," she says. "How's your knowledge on snake bites?"
"Nonexistent." And it really is. My only reliable knowledge consists on the best way to mix icing to get a soft orange shade. It isn't exactly Games material.
"Well... I remember I once saw a guy who got bit by a rattle snake on the Games. He took a knife, peeled off the bitten part and sucked out the venom. Maybe we could give it a shot?"
"Or maybe we could just chop my foot down. Ga... my cousin once got bit by a stray snake. We didn't cut anything," she says, obviously not very fond of the idea. But to be honest, I'm glad. I don't think I have what it takes to harm Katniss in anyway, even if it's for her benefit. "We should patch this up first, anyway, don't you think?" She shows me her arm. I nod.
"Though we should clean it up over there," I say pointing at the sea. "Then we can bandage it." I stand up, offering her my hand, but her movements are clumsy and slow. Unlike Katniss.
"Here, let me carry you."
"I don't need-"
"You need to rest and do as little as possible. That's why I am carrying you, no other reason," I say just as I lift her in my arms.
"Is your ankle the only place you got bit?" I ask as I walk towards the beach.
"I think so. What about you? Did you get bit?"
"Only on my hands, though I think they're only from small snakes. They weren't poisonous." I feel Katniss getting heavier. I shake her awake. "Hey, don't fall asleep," I say softly, kissing her forehead. She startles. I don't show it, but this is Katniss most mortifying symptom yet. Her drowsiness might be due to the exertion, but the snake bite, Johanna's attack, and the loss of blood spring to my mind as the most likely reasons. If I am not able to find a way to help her get better... she could die. I feel my stomach turning and my knees buckling at the idea. No. She will live. She has to. I can't bear to consider what can happen if she doesn't, my only alternative is to have only one plan, and that is to save Katniss. I snap back to reality when my feet touch the warm saltwater.
"Come on Girl on Fire, let's get you to swim a bit."
a/n: Alrighty! That's it for now! If you liked this chapter make sure to let us know. Also, keep tuned for chapter two, coming to you next week.
-The Leeg Twins
