Chapter seven
For days the rain proceeds to continue in endless sheets. Our food is almost gone, but on the bright side there's plenty of water! It rains for a few more hours without any fights or deaths. The audience will be getting bored. Everyone is most likely uninjured. The rains keeps us hostage in the cave, without food. It's the fourteenth day in the arena and we are slowly starving to death. I wonder how the other tributes are faring. Foxface is injured but she's probably fine. Thresh, Cato, and Clove are fine too. I can tell. The day is uneventful until late at night. After the usual announcements Claudius Templesmith invites us all to a feast. "We need food." I say. "Now hold on. Some of you may already be declining my invitation." He says. What, why would anyone decline his offer? "But this is no ordinary feast. Each of you needs something desperately." Food, we need food. But what do the careers need. "Each of you will find that something in a backpack marked with your district number, at the cornucopia at dawn. Think hard about refusing to show up. For some of you this may be your last chance." It's silent again, as we take in his message. It's still raining but it's a bit more subdued. At least I can see now. "We have to go." She says. "Okay. We'll go." We pack up our things and hide them in the cave. If one of us dies the other will now where to find it. If we both die, well at least it won't benefit anyone else. A few hours before dawn we set out into the rain with only, our jackets, weapons and water, everything else is hidden in the cave under rocks. We wait under a bush safely hidden from everything in the few remaining hours until dawn. At what seems to be dawn we stare at the cornucopia as a table draped in a white table cloth rises into the arena. Immediately Foxface emerges from inside the cornucopia. Unfazed by her sneaky entrance both Clove and I run for the table. I stop for a moment load my bow and rush for the cornucopia. I've touched the big backpack marked with a twelve when I'm slammed against the cornucopia. It's Foxface. I struggle underneath her. I stab her in the leg with my arrow and she flinches. Clove has reached us and I know this is the end. There's no sign of Rue though it's impossible to see. She pulls out a small knife and is just about to stab me when she's thrown off. Clove looks down at me and I'm about to thank her when she's yanked off the ground. Thresh holds her like a rag doll in the air. I stare at her and can see the fear in her eyes. Rue has the backpack on and pulls me from the ground. "I'm sorry my foot was caught! We have to go." I feel glued to the ground as Clove struggles against his firm grasp. "Were you trying to kill this girl just like all the others!" he says. "No! I was trying to help. I would never kill her!" she says begging for mercy. "She was" I plead. Thresh can't hear me and he turns his attention to Clove. "I don't believe you!" He says slamming her head into the cornucopia. She screams and I gasp. The dent in her skull in unmistakable. "Cato! Cato! Cato!" She screams. Rue is frozen next to me as he brings her down against the cornucopia again. Cato enters the clearing and run towards us. He panics as he spots Clove on the ground. Thresh grabs both backpacks and disappears to the edge of the clearing. We sit there horrified as Clove struggles to breath. "What happened?" he asks tears streaming down his face. He's crying. "She…she saved me from Foxface, but Thresh thought she was going to kill me. I… I tried to explain but he wouldn't listen. I'm sorry." He stares at Clove begging her to stay with him. "Please don't go! We were supposed to win!" He hugs her openly crying. I stare unable to do anything. Her eyes glaze over and he chokes on his words. He brushes the hair out of her face and closes her eyes. He gently sets her down in the grass. Thresh who has been waiting at the edge of the cornucopia runs out with a sword. It must have been in his backpack. Cato sees him and jumps up in front of us. Is it just me or is he shielding us from Thresh? It's probably just me. Without any explanation the attack each other. "You killed her! You killed my Clove!" Cato screams a wild rage in his eyes. They fight until both of them have multiple cuts. Thresh has Cato on his knees and I cover my eyes as I hear a sickening impact. Thresh pulls his sword out and Cato falls to the ground. A moment later his cannon sounds. Rue pulls me to my feet and Thresh disappears into the field. I stare down at Cato covered in blood. I pull out the remaining flowers and cover Cato and Clove in them. "I'm sorry. I failed." I say. Four of us left I think. One crazy fox, one giant might as well be career, and two pitiful little girls. Let the games begin.
Cloves point of view
It's freezing out and I stare intrigued at my breath making fog in the cold. Cato moves closer to me just as the table rises out of the ground. He looks at me with fierce eyes, "Don't die for them." He says. I nod and run onto the clearing just after Prim does. She's just reached her backpack when Fox-girl slams her into the cornucopia. She struggles for a moment stabbing her in the leg with her arrow. I throw her off of Prim and she nods gratefully at me. I'm about to finish fox-girl off when I'm lifted off the ground. For a moment I think its Cato but from the fear in Prims eyes I know its Thresh. I try to get away but it's no use. This is the end. "Were you trying to kill this girl just like all the others!" he says. I'm trembling and fumble with my words, "No! I was trying to help! I would never kill her!" "She was!" Prim squeaks but he can't hear her. "I don't believe you!" Thresh says. Everything is a blur as he slams my head against the cornucopia. I feel like I have been hit by a sledgehammer. I scream because the pain is so intense and I can't take it. I can feel the dent in my skull and I really hope my family isn't watching. "Cato! Cato! Cato!" I scream because if I'm going to die I want to say goodbye. He slams me against the cornucopia again and I gasp for air. I can't breathe and it only adds to the pain when he drops me on the ground. Cato runs towards us panicking when he sees me. "What happened?" he asks. Tears flow down his face and I know he's heart broken. He's crying in front of everyone. "She…she saved me from Foxface, but Thresh thought she was going to kill me. I… I tried to explain but he wouldn't listen. I'm sorry." Prim says. He stares at me with intense eyes. He's lost to many people he cares about. How will he live through losing another? "Please don't go! We were supposed to win!" he begs. He pulls me off the ground openly crying. He chokes on his words and sets me on the ground. I'm still alive but not for long. My heart must barely be beating. Everything is blurry as he brushes the hair out of my eyes. I hear the clash of metal and Cato's wild screams. "You killed her! You killed my Clove!" I'm at peace when he says that. I'm his Clove. I will always be his Clove. Then everything fades to black.
Prims point of view
We run from the horrors left behind us. Unlike all the other deaths these ones leave a hole in my heart. I respected them; they saved our lives on more than one occasion. Tears slip down my face and I feel like the old Prim again. Sniveling over the most threating tributes deaths. That isn't how a victor acts, but I don't care. Their deaths leave a broken trail behind us. I feel like I died with them. This arena stole a piece of me, and if I make it out I'll never be the same. We make it back to the cave and quickly uncover our things. The rain around us only adds to the misery of it all. I unzip the backpack to find some of the grandest food the Capital has to offer. They even gave us plates and silverware! We take some of the stew covered in thick gravy and put even amounts on both plates. I also take some of the grapes and distribute them as well. The food is rich and I remind myself to go slow. I ate so much on the train I threw up. I pour two steaming mugs of the sweet brown liquid they call hot chocolate and we feast on the delicious dinner. The meal has an amazing effect on us both. I almost forget my troubles until the Capitals announcements. Cloves face light up the sky and I stare at it. She didn't seem evil or mean. She just wanted to go home. Cato's face appears next and my heart sinks. I'm certain now that when he jumped up to fight Thresh he was protecting Rue and I. I failed them both. We will win, and no one will forget them as hard as they try. I will honor their memory. The sky is dark once again and I play with my food discouraged. "We'll win." Rue says. I nod and take a sip of the stew. Day fifteen is coming to an end. Cato and Clove have both died at the feast because of me. It's my fault. I can hear Katniss now. She would hug me and tell me it wasn't my fault. She would say there was nothing I could've done. But it's not true! They would both be alive if it weren't for me! I finish my meal n silence before burying myself in the sleeping bag. Concealed from the cameras the tears flow freely. I silently say goodbye to Cato and Clove and thank them for my life. I wipe away the tears and fall into a restless sleep. We've been in the arena for fifteen days and I'm more heart broken than I have ever been in my entire life. I never really understood why the games have such a big impact on victors. Now I know. I thought losing my father was awful enough. It's not like this despair is knew for me and my family. As hard as we try the odds just never seem to fall in my favor.
