Hey everyone, this is my first Hunger Games fanfiction! Tell me what you think!
~You did it alone, you did it for fun~
The tributes were lining up as their mentors prepared them for their interviews. Of course, Haymitch was here, but he wasn't proving to be any help. The only thing he could say to Peeta and me was to make them like us. He made it sound like it was the easiest thing ever. I'd never really been the best at making friends, so this might be even harder than the Hunger Games. I was snapped out of my thoughts when the interviews started. Normally, I wouldn't pay any attention to them, but I wanted to see what my competition was like and how hard it would be to get sponsors.
The first few interviews were exactly was I expected, the Careers talking about how they were going to win the games to bring honor to their districts. It all changed when the boy, Cato, from District 2 walked onto the stage. He was tall and muscular, with blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He was handsome, I had to admit, but I couldn't think of him like that, or in any way. Having any thoughts of him would only make it harder in the games. Besides, who had ever heard of a love story inside the games?
"So Cato, tell me," Caeser started with his usual questions, "are there any special girls back home?" The crowd went completely silent, awaiting his answer. He answer would be yes, of course, with his looks, I'm sure he had girls lining up back home.
"Not really," he replied, "I never really had time for that." His answered shocked me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. He'd probably been in training for the games since a young age, with all his attention focused on being prepared for the games and one day volunteering.
"There isn't one girl who's caught your eye?" Caeser was really trying to pry something out of Cato to dangle in front of the audience.
"There is one girl, but she isn't from home," he answered, making everyone in the audience focused on him.
Caeser continued to ask him if it was a girl from the Capitol, desperately wanting to know her name, but Cato shook his head saying no.
"She's one of the volunteers?" Caeser was truly interested now and so was the rest of the audience. Of course, he didn't wait for Cato to answer, he just kept up with his line of questioning, "Can we have a name?"
"Tell you what, when I win these games, I'll come back and tell you all about her." Just like that, his interview was over and the rest of the tributes walked onto the stage, each giving their own perspective on the games.
My interview came and went; Haymitch even told me I did a decent job, which may have been the nicest thing he'd ever said to me. Now it was time for Peeta to go up. He shouldn't have any problems; he'd always been good at making friends.
Caeser started with his usual questioning, asking Peeta if there was a girl back home, but Peeta seemed to pause at this, as if he was wondering whether or not to tell.
Finally, Peeta gave in and started talking to Caeser about it. Apparently there was a girl, but Peeta seemed to be sad whenever he talked about her. Caeser told him to go out there and win the games so he can win the girl of his dreams.
"I don't think that is going to help me," Peeta responded, the sad expression returning to his face as the audience hung on every word he said.
"And why is that?"
"Because she came here with me."
That was then and this is now. Peeta and I were no longer arguing over his proclamation of love; we were running from mutants chasing after us. The canon just went off, signifying that there were only three of us left. Either Thresh or Cato had just died. If Peeta and I could manage to outlive the last person, we could go home, together. That's all that mattered right now, keeping Peeta safe.
"Come on!" I shouted at him. We were almost to the cornucopia, where we should be safe.
They were chasing us, but Peeta and I kept running. We didn't stop until we made it to the cornucopia. He helped me up, and then he came up. The second he got up, I felt relief rush through me. We did it, we were safe now. The mutants clawed at the metal structure, but they couldn't come up. Now all we had to do was wait out the other tribute, who would soon be attacked by them. No one could outrun them for that long.
"Peeta we're…" I spun around to celebrate with him, but the sight I saw was not one for celebration. Cato was here, with his arm wrapped around Peeta's neck, cutting off his air supply. Peeta struggled to rip his arm away, but it was no use. Cato was too strong for him.
"Cato," I glared at him, putting an arrow in my bow and raising it at him, just in case he decided to do anything he would regret.
"I wouldn't do that, girl on fire. You kill me and I'll drag him down with me," he warned and I knew he was right. We'd made it this far; I wasn't going to risk Peeta's life.
I could hear the mutants clawing at the cornucopia, as if they were a reminder that my time was running out. I had to make a decision soon or else Peeta was going to suffocate.
"One more kill, that's all I need," Cato mumbled. I couldn't make sense of what he was saying. The rules changed so that two victors could be crowned only if they were from the same district. If Cato killed Peeta, he would have to kill me too.
Peeta's face was turning blue as he continued to struggle with Cato. I drew my bow even tighter, not knowing what to do. I was completely helpless. I couldn't do anything to help Peeta.
Just then, Peeta took his finger and drew an x on Cato's arm. I knew what I had to do now, but so did Cato.
"Don't even think about it," his grip on Peeta tightened, "if you raise that bow any more, I'll kill him."
I lowered it a little, to make Cato think I was listening to him. In truth, I had no idea what I was going to do. Peeta was going to die soon anyways, even if I didn't do anything to stop it. I had to do something. I had to save the boy with the bread, if it was the last thing I do.
I raised my bow up quickly, hoping to throw Cato off, but he was faster than I was. Before I could even react, Cato pulled a knife out and shoved it into Peeta's stomach, blood instantly started gushing out.
"Peeta!" I screamed and ran towards him. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Peeta collapsed into my arms. There was blood everywhere; I couldn't even find where it was coming from. He was still alive, but not for much longer. I could see his eyes starting to close. "No Peeta stay with me!" I shouted at him, stroking his forehead.
"Katniss," he struggled to say. His eyes closed and I heard the canon go off. No he couldn't be dead! I started to shake him, shouting his name.
"It's no use," Cato whispered in my ear. I was so focused on Peeta that I didn't even notice Cato was near me. I wanted to attack Cato, scream at him and shove him into the mutants, but they weren't there anymore.
Before I even had time to think, the Capitol music started to play and a voice started to talk.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games!"
Thank you for reading! Leave a review and tell me if I should continue!