Chapter 7: The Feast
If Gale is angry that Katniss disobeyed his orders when she returns to the cave, he doesn't show it. He seems rather impressed with her blowing up the Careers' supplies and that the Games have rapidly hurtled down into the Top Six.
On the twelfth day in the arena, Claudius Templesmith's voice booms out over an intercom:
"Attention, tributes, attention. Tomorrow at sunrise, there will be a feast at the Cornucopia. Each of you needs something: desperately. And we plan to be…. generous hosts."
Katniss reads between the lines faster than either Gale or myself. "Your medicine," she says to Gale.
"You're not going to go," Gale says sternly, and for the first time in my life, I find myself wanting to roar in approval at his words. Yeah, Gale's right, don't go! Let Cato and Clove fight it out! Talking in your head is a convenient loophole to the No Outbursts rule.
Katniss seems thoroughly unimpressed by Gale's resoluteness as she gathers their bows anyway. "Yeah? Well, you need it, and you can't walk."
"Catnip…."
She rounds on him. "You would do it for me. Wouldn't you?"
Both hunters hold each other's gaze and for one mad moment, I think it might be sexual tension that they'd break with a kiss. Instead, Gale sighs.
"Fine. Just….. be careful. You got lucky the last time you went off the reservation."
I chuckle nervously at his words. For all his faults, Gale definitely has a sense of humor. I'm more frustrated at Katniss, though. God, she is stubborn. But then again, I always knew that; it's one of the things that makes her so attractive to me.
In the wee hours of the next morning, Katniss leaves for the Feast. By the time she reaches the treeline, the sun is just beginning to poke over the horizon, announcing the arena's thirteenth day. At precisely sunrise, a table rumbles right up out of the ground, holding four backpacks that are each marked with a district number: 2, 5, 11 and 12.
Katniss just begins to sprint for the table when she stops short. Out of the mouth of the Cornucopia itself runs none other than the RedHeaded Girl. She seizes the backpack marked 5 and dashes for the trees, in and out of there in less than a minute. I have to admit, it was an ingenious strategy.
But it has also cost my beloved valuable time. She hurtles for the table, realizing she needs to get Gale's medicine and get out of there before –
The knife appears before it's owner does, and Katniss barely manages to dodge it by ducking back behind the giant horn. She readies her bow, but can't get an arrow notched in time before Clove rushes her and tackles her. The girls desperately wrestle and kick and scream, and I want to do all of it right along with them, particularly to that Clove bitch. Clove finally pins Katniss underneath her and holds a knife to her throat.
"What? Did you think you would get that pack before your boyfriend does?"
Katniss grimaces defiantly, not giving up as she struggles to upend the evil girl before her. Clove reads into this.
"Oh, I see. You were going to help him, right? Aw, that's sweet. Sorry, Fire Girl, but you've failed – just like you failed to help with District 11. Oh, yeah, we killed her. What was her name? Rue?" At this, Katniss growls and flails more, enraged Clove would dare to say her name. "We killed her, and now…. we're going to kill you."
"No," I whisper in horror, wanting to cry.
WHAM! A black blur suddenly bulldozes Clove straight off of Katniss. Next second, I can see that the blur is actually Tresh, the boy from 11. Funny, I haven't seen the cameras even give one glimpse of him since the Games begin.
Now, the monstrous boy has Clove pinned to the Cornucopia. And he is mad.
"You said you killed her? I heard you!" he snaps, when Clove frantically tries to deny it. It's almost cruel how much I'm smiling now. Clove has run her mouth one too many times. And she knows it, too.
Unfortunately, so does Thresh.
"Cato! CATO!"
"You said her name! You said her name!"
There is an ominous thudding noise as Thresh slams Clove repeatedly into the Cornucopia until he draws blood. He finally drops her limp body to the grass. I have no time for relief, however, as the dark boy whirls on Katniss.
But he does not attack, even as Katniss stares up at him with fear in her eyes for the first time in the whole Games. Thresh points to her.
"Just this time, Twelve! For Rue." And seizing his pack and the one now solely belonging to Cato, he disappears into the woods. Katniss wastes no time getting out of there herself, her own backpack now in hand.
I can't believe it. He actually let her go. More than that, he led Cato purposefully away from her by taking the second backpack.
I am overcome with gratitude at Thresh's mercy and at Katniss's safety. She got lucky again.
I only hope it never runs out until after she is the last tribute standing.
