I ran and I ran, but I saw no end. Was it possible that no matter how far I made my feet pummel the soft earth, I would never stop? I had to stop, there was nothing else to do, nothing smarter. As I kneeled there, panting, I tried to take in my surroundings for the first time. There were tall trees, so tall I couldn't be bothered to try and imagine where they stopped…they probably didn't, for all I cared. If I sniffed very carefully, which my laboured breathing wouldn't allow me to do at this moment, I could probably locate the water source that had been tempting me this whole time. Or maybe it was my imagination. The heavy undergrowth allowed only for spots of harsh sunshine to bathe the earth, and even as I inched toward it, setting my bare big toe in a patch of sunlight, I realised how artificial it really was. Like this whole world really; we were manufactured to believe the grotesque lies; ones that promised us, in its sweet, innocent voice, that we would make it out. That this was nothing but a mere happening, and once we blinked, it would all go back to normal.
If I had the energy to shake my head I would. I was just about to let myself fall to the ground, deciding that if I was going to die, it might as well be now and quick, when it came.
At first I thought I was imagining the sky blue eyes, the shaggy sunshine fur…the letter on the collar.
P.
When it spoke, all doubts were shattered.
"Katniss," it called, but not to me, for it had turned its head sideways, as if waiting for something to respond, "I have the girl,"
The mutt rose on two of its four paws, and all I could so is stare when the slightly smaller mutt comes out, covered in slick black fur, the eyes gray as steel, with a touch of ice.
Peeta and Katniss had once more come for me, and now, I could run no more.