I glance down at my finger. You can't see it anymore, the rip in my skin from which my blood was taken at the reaping. It healed a about a week after it was inflicted. It hurt, but it would have hurt more to have a tracker injected into my arm, or to be burnt with lethal game maker-controlled fire, or to be stung by lethal tracker jackers or to have my forehead scraped by Clove's knife.
It's the middle of the day in Twelve, and consequently, scorching hot. From what I can see on the television, it's the same in the arena. The stream by my courageous sister, Katniss Everdeen and the boy from our district, Peeta Mellark has dried up in order to draw them to the lake for the brutal showdown of the games. I'm not sure if I believe the "Star-Crossed Lovers of District Twelve" but Peeta seems to mean well, and Katniss has kissed him a few times. His father, the baker, is a fair man, and always puts an affordable price on his goods.
The camera cuts to Cato again, Thresh's dead body lies still behind him, a cannon sounds and his portrait is broadcast into the darkening sky. Suddenly a single earsplitting howl fills the air, and others soon join it. Cato's body armour glints in the abrupt moonlight as he swiftly flees the scene. Katniss and Peeta's faces appear onscreen, "The Finale," Katniss whispers as she hears a bark and sees the sky turn black. Cato bursts into the clearing and the pair from District Twelve stare at what's chasing him.
They are mutts for sure. The biggest dogs I've ever seen come galloping after the unlucky trio. Then something catches my eye: one of the mutt's eyes are green, like emeralds, a face comes into my mind, her name was Glimmer, the tribute from District One. I can't believe what they've done - The game makers have made mutts from the dead tributes.
Cato is the fastest, he runs, almost flies, despite his injuries from the bloody battle with Thresh. Katniss is hot on his heels, as the mutts are to poor Peeta. The action is downright thrilling and makes you sit on the very edge of your seat like an action movie, except this is real life. This infects me with fear for every poor soul involved. As Peeta scrambles helplessly to get to the top of the cornucopia, Katniss leans over and pulls him up, mutts snapping all around them. She turns to draw an arrow, but when she turns back her plan of winning with Peeta has been ruined. Cato has him in a chokehold, if he goes down, Peeta goes with him. Fortunately Peeta is more than just a baker's boy, he discreetly signals for my sister to shoot Cato's hand. The arrow is released before Cato knows it. At once, he lets go, his bloody hand quivering from the pain of the arrow. A slight nudge from Peeta is all it takes to send him flying off the cornucopia into the eager jaws of the mutts below.
I half expect it to end there, but I've watched the games too often to think the game makers would let it happen as little violence as that. Katniss doesn't want to shoot again, so leaves the bloodthirsty mutts to tear him apart. Tear him apart they do, but no cannon sounds. Katniss needs to finish it. A close up shows Cato covered in blood, begging for her to end his dreadful suffering. Instead of focusing on Cato, she attempts to fix Peeta, his leg is bleeding ferociously. I will her to remember what I taught her, Make a tourniquet, I think, Stop the bleeding.
As if by magic, she remembers, tears the sleeve off her shirt, ties it to her arrow, then ties it around Peeta's leg to stop the thick, red blood.
Meanwhile, Cato is still miraculously alive. Wanting the horrendous suffering to be over, she quickly shoots his head. Gale shouts with joy, "She's won! She's won it!", I join in his celebration and even my mother's mouth cracks into a smile. Claudius Templesmith's voice booms into the arena, I assume to say congratulations but I'm dreadfully wrong. Apparently there can only be one winner, of course, they were never really going to allow two. A salty tear slides down my face, Katniss might not be coming home, even after all of that.
Katniss pushes her silver bow and arrow into Peeta's shaking hands, she obviously would rather die than live with the terrible guilt of killing him this way.
But instead of refusing to shoot her, Peeta, takes the bow and arrow and arrogantly smirks at my sister. I don't know what he's doing. "It was all an act, to get your trust." He says, before shooting her in the heart. I see her dark braid fly behind her as she falls lifelessly to the hard ground.